By Francisco Salazar
The Orquesta y el Coro de RTVE in Spain has announced its 2022-23 season.
The season will be themed “Raices” and will feature a number of vocal performances highlighted here:
Pablo González conducts Mahler’s Symphony No. 3 with Stefanie Irany.
Performance Dates: Oct. 6 & 7, 2022
Pablo González conducts Nuria Núñez Hierro’s ‘Enjambres’ and Leos Janácek’s “Mass” with Gun-Brit Barkmin, Anna Lapkovskaja, Ludovit Ludha, and Wojtek Gierlach.
Performance Dates: Oct. 13 & 14 2022
Pinchas Steinberg conducts Leonard Bernstein’s Psalms with Carlos Mena and Orff’s “Carmina Burana” with Sonia de Munck, Carlos Mena, and Javier Franco.
Performance Dates: Oct. 27 & 28, 2022
Josep Pons and Sarah Connolly team up for an all-Mahler program.
Performance Dates: Nov. 17 & 18, 2022
Jan Willem de Vriend conducts Haydn’s “The Seasons” with soloists Mari Eriksmoen, Joel Williams, and Hanno Müller-Brachmann.
Performance Dates: Nov. 24 & 25, 2022
Pablo González conducts music by Szymanowski and Ravel with violinist Benjamin Schmid and tenor Steve Davislim.
Performance Dates: Jan 19 & 20, 2023
Christoph König conducts Mahler, Luis de Pablo Costales, and Rachmaninov with soloist Regula Mühlemann.
Performance Dates: Feb. 9 & 10, 2023
Pietari Inkinen conducts a program of music by Richard Strauss and Mahler with baritone Michael Nagy.
Performance Dates: Feb 23 & 24, 2023
Pablo González conducts Strauss’ “Four Last Songs” with Jacquelyn Wagner and Prokofiev’s “Alexander Nevsky” with Anna Lapkovskaja.
Performance Dates: April 27 & 28, 2023
Pablo González conducts Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 with soloists Berna Perles and Gerhild Romberger.
Performance Dates: May 11 & 12, 2023
By Francisco Salazar
The Palau de les Arts in Valencia has announced its 2022-23 season featuring opera, zarzuela concerts and inetrnational stars.
Opera
Jamie Man’s “Zelle” will be showcased with countertenor Steve Katona, Ryoko Aoki, Jackie Janssens, Asko|Schönberg, Wiek Hijmans, Joey Marijs, and Tatiana Rosa. Man conducts his work.
Performance Date: Sept. 16, 2022
Alex Esposito, Eleonora Buratto, Silvia Tro Santafé, and Ismael Jordi star in Donizetti’s “Anna Bolena.” Maurizio Benini conducts the production by Jetske Mijnssen.
Performance Date: Oct. 1-13, 2022
Saimir Pirgu, Federica Lombardi, Mattia Olivieri, Manuel Fuentes, Marina Monzó, Damián del Castillo, and Jorge Rodríguez-Norton lead Puccini’s “La Bohème.” James Gaffigan conducts the production by Davide Livermore.
Performance Dates: Dec. 9-23, 2022
Elena Zaremba, Brandon Jovanovich, Norman Reinhardt, Petra Lang, and Corinne Winters star in Janacek’s “Jenůfa” with Gustavo Gimeno conducting the production by Katie Mitchell.
Performance Dates: Jan. 19-29, 2023
Joan Font conducts Pauline Viardot’s “Cendrillon” with Manuel Zuriaga directing. Marcelo Solís, Rosa María Dávila, Mariana García, and Pilar Garrido star.
Performance Dates: Feb. 9-18, 2023
Marc Minkowski conducts Handel’s “Alcina” in concert with Magdalena Kožená, Erin Morley, Elizabeth DeShong, Anna Bonitatibus, Valerio Contaldo, and Alex Rosen.
Performance Date: Feb. 19, 2023
Riccardo Minasi conducts Mozart’s “Don Giovanni” in a production by Damiano Michieletto. Davide Luciano, Gianluca Buratto, Ruth Iniesta, Xabier Anduaga, Elsa Dreisig, Riccardo Fassi, Jacquelyn Stucker, and Adolfo Corrado star.
Performance Dates: March 2-12, 2023
Stephen Gould, Ain Anger, Ricarda Merbeth, Elena Zhidkova, and Kostas Smoriginas star in Wagner’s “Tristan und Isolde.” James Gaffigan conducts Àlex Ollé’s production.
Performance Dates: April 20-May 3, 2023
Monteverdi’s “L’incoronazione di Poppea” will be conducted by Leonardo García Alarcón and directed by Ted Huffman.
Performance Dates: May 11-16, 2023
Zarzuela
“El cantor de México” will be conducted by Óliver Díaz and directed by Emilio Sagi. Rossy de Palma leads the cast that also includes José Luis Sola, Enrique Baquerizo, Toni Marsol, Juan Luis Martínez, Ana Goya, María José Suárez, Nagore Navarro, and Eduardo Carranza.
Performance Dates: Nov. 4-13, 2022
Lieder
Andrè Schuen joins the Orquestra de la Comunitat Valenciana and conductor Anna Sułkowska-Migoń for a Wagner program.
Performance Date: Oct. 15, 2022
Christian Gerhaher and Mathieu Pordoy perform an all-Brahms program.
Performance Date: Dec. 17, 2022
Marina Rebeka and Mathieu Pordoy perform the music of Giuseppe Verdi, Francesco Paolo Tosti, Ottorino Respighi, Cesar Cui, Piotr Ílych Tchaikovsky, and Sergei Rachmaninoff.
Performance Date: Feb. 4, 2023
Nadine Sierra and Vincenzo Scalera take on the music of Saverio Mercadante, Franz Schubert, Robert Schumann, Gabriel Fauré, Francis Poulenc, Joaquín Rodrigo, Joaquín Nin, and Manuel de Falla.
Performance Date: April 1, 2023
Marianne Crebass and Alphonse Cemin bring a recital of music by Maurice Ravel, Claude Debussy, Jesús Guridi, Frederic Mompou, and Manuel de Falla.
Performance Date: May 7, 2023
Grans Veus
Cecilia Bartoli performs a program entitled “Farinelli y su tiempo” with Xavier Laforge, Les Musiciens du Prince-Monaco and Gianluca Capuano.
Performance Date: Nov. 3, 2022
Juan Diego Flórez and Vincenzo Scalera return to the Palau de les Arts.
Performance Date: May 28, 2023
Symphony
Vasily Petrenko conducts a Cherepnín, Rachmaninoff, and Mussorgsky. Roman Burdenko is the soloist.
Performance Date: Dec. 16, 2022
James Gaffigan conducts Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 with Jamie Barton and Sydney Mancasola.
Performance Date: Feb. 10, 2023
Antonello Manacorda conducts the Valencia orchestra and chorus in Berlioz, Debussy, and Palau.
Performance Date: March 24, 2023
Baroque
Èlia Casanova and Quiteria Muñoz perform “La Tendresa.”
Performance Date: March 22, 2023
Aurora Peña, Adriana Mayer, Gabriel Díaz, and Diego Blázquez perform Concerto 1700.
Performance Date: March 23, 2023
Èlia Casanova and Pino de Vitorio perform in a concert entitled Capella Ministrers.
Performance Dates: March 29, 2023
“Al Ayre espanol” will perform alongside Maite Beaumont in music by José de Torres and Georg Friedrich Händel.
Performance Date: March 31, 2023
By Chris Ruel
Opera for Peace Academy, in collaboration with the European Investment Bank, LUISS University, the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, l’Accademia Internazionale di Musica e Arte, and Opera Europa, will close out its inaugural installment by presenting a concert of opera’s greatest arias and ensembles at the Istituto Pontificio in Piazza S. Agostino in Rome, on June 5, 2022.
The concert, which is free and open to the public, will feature all 21 of the Academy’s emerging artists.
The Academy is the first program of its kind dedicated to peace and social justice worldwide. Two of the artists selected are Ukrainian and received full scholarships to attend.
Participants attended masterclasses, individual training, and had access to opera powerhouses Thomas Hampson, Lawrence Brownlee, Ludovic Tézier, Damiano Michieletto, and Angela Meade.
From house superintendents to the former President of the European Economic and Social Committee, several speakers took part in workshops focusing on sustainability, promoting positive peace with the Institute for Economics & Peace, gender equality, and social entrepreneurship.
“Our ultimate goal, after having detected the greatest talent is to support them in their training to help them to become, through lyric art, ambassadors of peace and our positive values in a period where the world needs peace, hope and beauty more than ever, we believe that music can heal souls, save lives and unite people instead of dividing them. A special thank you to our sponsors the EIB, and partners, and all the professionals that give their time and experience to help create the artists of tomorrow,” said co-founder Julia Lagahuzère in a press statement.
The 21 participating artists, selected from an applicant pool of 150, include Aleksey Kursanov, Amanda Osorio, Ana Garotić, Angelord Blaise, Anna Bossert, Fatima Alhashmi, Geng Lee, Hannah Bullock, Hoa Khac Nguyen, Katie Norchi, Ketevan Chuntishvili, Leah Gunter, Leonardo Sánchez, Nadège Meden,; Nikolay Zemlianskikh, Rachel Barg, Samson Setu, Shuai Zhang, Violeta Samon, Vitalii Lashko, and Yolisa Ngwexana.
By David Salazar
(Credit: © 2022 Sarah M Golonka | smg-photography)
The Broad Stage is set to present the world premiere production of “The Conference of the Birds.”
The oratorio by composer Fahad Siadat and librettist Sholeh Wolpé will take the stage on June 18 and 19, 2022 at the Santa Monica, California-based stage.
The piece is based on Sufi poet Attar’s famed text about the “journey of the soul as it seeks union with the Divine.” It will star Anne Harley as Hoopoe, Fahad Siadat as the Narrator, and Catalina Jackson-Urueña and Toppy Dringman as dancers. The HEX Ensemble will also provide soloists, performing alongside The Contemporary Choral Collective of Los Angeles.
The work will be directed and choreographed by André Mergerdichian.
“We are the birds in the story. All of us have our own ideas and ideals, our own fears and anxieties, as we hold on to our own version of the truth,” said Wolpé in an official press statement issued by The Broad Stage. “Like the birds of this story, we may take flight together, but the journey itself will be different for each of us. Attar tells us that truth is not static, and that we each tread a path according to our own capacity. It evolves as we evolve. Those who are trapped within their own dogma, clinging to hardened beliefs or faith, are deprived of the journey toward the unfathomable Divine, which Attar calls the Great Ocean.”
By David Salazar
(Credit: © Todd Rosenberg Photography 2016)
The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts has announced its 2022-23 season.
For the purposes of this article, our focus will be solely on operatic performances in the LA-based company’s new season.
Soprano Camille Zamora will present “Havana Nights” as part of Sing for Hope’s residency. She will appear alongside the Mambo Kings.
Performance Date: Oct. 1, 2022
The company will showcase the U.S. Premiere of Pauline Viardot’s “Le Dernier Sorcier.” The performance will be preceded by a Center Stage panel.
Performance Date: March 3, 2023
Mezzo-soprano J’Nai Bridges will join forces with Ulysses Owens, Jr. for “Notes of Hope” in a program that will feature music by Debussy, Ravel, Duparc, Satie, Poulenc, and Ellington, among others.
Performance Date: April 27, 2023
By Francisco Salazar
The Teatro dell’Opera di Roma is set to revive a production of Verdi’s “Ernani” starting on June 11, 2022.
The production by Hugo de Ana will be conducted by Marco Armiliato and will showcase Francesco Meli, who reprises the role he debuted in 2013 under Riccardo Muti.
In a statement, Meli said, “The world is living through difficult times and opera asks itself questions and asks us questions about great civil and private passions, about honor, betrayal, and passion. Verdi’s music reaches places that we ourselves could not reach on our own: it is powerful, beautiful, and illuminating. Rehearsing ‘Ernani’ here at the Opera di Roma has given me further confirmation of this. But I’m also worried about Villa Sant’Agata, which is expected to be up for auction very soon. As an artist and an Italian, the villa is a symbol “in stone” of Verdi’s work. It is a beautiful house, rich with memories of Verdi and of Italian history. As Italians, we owe Verdi so much and that is why we should all make every effort so that the Villa becomes part of everyone’s cultural heritage to be enjoyed for what it is: Verdi’s home but also one of our memorial monuments.”
“Ernani” will star Ludovc Tezier, Giovanni Meoni, Evgeny Stavinsky, Angela Meade, and Anastasia Bartoli. The production opens on June 3 and runs through June 11, 2023. The first performance will be broadcast on Radio 3.
By Francisco Salazar
The Pacific Opera Project is set to end its 2021-22 “Fairytale Season” with a site-specific production of Stephen Sondheim’s “Into the Woods” at Descanso Gardens.
The work will be performed six times between July 8 and 17 will be directed by Josh Shaw and conducted by Desiree LaVertu. The choreography will be by Amy Lawrence and costumed by Maggie Green.
The cast will feature Julia Aks as Cinderella, Emily Dyer as The Baker’s Wife, Annie Fitch as The Witch, Jack Wilkins as The Baker, Dallas Perry as Jack, Amy Lawrence as Little Red, Phil Meyer as the Narrator, Jake Stamatis as Cinderella’s Prince/Wolf, Chris Hunter as Rapunzel’s Prince, Holly Sedillos as Rapunzel, William Grundler as The Steward/Milky White, Charlotte Munson as Jack’s Mother, Minta Mullins as Stepmother, Morgan Paige as Lucinda, Lenessa Age as Florinda, Rachel Freed as Granny/Cinderella’s Mother, and Jefferson Lanz as Cinderella’s Father.
In a statement issued by the company, Shaw said, “It’s ‘Into the Woods,’ actually in the woods – what else could you possibly want? We are so excited to bring this iconic musical to one of Los Angeles’s most iconic locations, Descanso Gardens.”
By Francisco Salazar
The Philharmonie Essen has announced its 2022-23 season.
Here is a look at the vocal and operatic highlights.
Magdalena Kožená and Yefim Bronfman perform a recital of music by Brahms, Dvořák, Martinů, Mussorgsky, and Bartók.
Performance Date: Sept. 5, 2022
Regensburger Domspatzen, Knabenchor Hannover, and Essener Domsingknaben perform in concert.
Performance Date: Sept. 17, 2022
Evelyn Ziegler performs alongside Udo Mertens, Carola Seibt, Sarah Koenen, Sebastian Bürger, Roland Schwark, Thomas Pauschert, and Wolfgang Kläsener in music by Pachelbel, Bach, Händel, and Mozart.
Performance Date: Oct. 9, 2022
Olga Pudova sings works by Strauß, Arditi, Glasunov, Shostakovich, Waldteufel, Gounod, Josef Strauß, Elgar, Richard Rogers, and Joseph Lanner. She is accompanied by Neue Philharmonie Westfalen and Ernst Theis.
Performance Date: Oct. 15, 2022
Florian Sempey teams up with Les Musiciens du Louvre and Marc Minkowski for works by Rameau.
Performance Date: Oct. 19, 2022
Carolyn Sampson, Marianne Beate Kielland, Thomas Walker, and Tobias Berndt perform Mozart’s Requiem with the Cappella Amsterdam, Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century, and Daniel Reuss. The program also includes Louis Andriessen’s “May” and Josquin Desprez’s “Nymphes des bois.”
Performance Date: Oct. 22, 2022
Burkina Electric will feature the Ensemble BRuCH. The ensemble includes Marie Heeschen, Sally Beck, Ella Rohwer, and Claudia Chan.
Performance Date: Oct. 29, 2022
Franco Fagioli stars as Händel’s “Ariodante” alongside Melissa Petit, Sarah Gilford, Lucile Richardot, Nicholas Phan, and Alex Rosen. Il Pomo d’Oro is conducted by George Petrou.
Performance Date: Nov. 5, 2022
Bettina Ranch joins the Essener Philharmoniker and Erik Nielsen for Wagner and Schumann.
Performance Dates: Nov. 10 & 11, 2022
Matthias Goerne and Víkingur Ólafsson perform a recital of music by Schubert, Schumann, and Brahms.
Performance Date: Dec. 5, 2022
Händel’s “Messiah” will be performed by Julia Doyle, Tim Mead, Thomas Hobbs, and Roderick Williams. The RIAS Kammerchor Berlin and Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin will be conducted by Justin Doyle.
Performance Date: Dec. 13, 2022
Eleanor Lyons, Eva Zaïcik, Ilker Arcayürek, and Thomas E. Bauer lead Ludwig van Beethoven’s Missa solemnis. The Collegium Vocale Gent and Orchestre des Champs-Élysées are led by Philippe Herreweghe.
Performance Date: Dec. 18, 2022
Diana Damrau and Matthias Höfs join the NDR Radiophilharmonie and Riccardo Minasi for a Holiday concert of music by Bach, Händel, and Mozart.
Performance Date: Dec. 22, 2022
Elvira Bill, Marcus Ullmann and Harald Martini join the Essener Domsingknaben and Kettwiger Bach-Ensemble. Wolfgang Kläsener conducts Bach’s music.
Performance Date: Dec. 26, 2022
Sofia Luz Held, Elvira Bill, Marcus Ullmann, and Harald Martini perform Bach’s “Weihnachtsoratorium.” Wolfgang Kläsener conducts.
Performance Date: Dec. 26, 2022
Jessica Muirhead, Bettina Ranch, Carlos Cardoso, and Baurzhan Anderzhanov join the Opernchor des Aalto-Theaters, Philharmonischer Chor Essen, and Essener Philharmoniker under Tomáš Netopil for Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9.
Performance Date: Jan. 1, 2023
Céline Scheen, Suzanne Jerosme, Paul-Antoine Bénos-Djian, Paul Figuier, Thomas Hobbs, Nicholas Scott, Benoît Arnould, and Edward Grint perform Purcell under Damien Guillon.
Performance Date: Jan. 14, 2023
Ian Bostridge leads a program of Beethoven and Haydn with the Oberon Trio.
Performance Date: Jan. 15, 2023
Bettina Ranch leads Mahler’s Symphony No. 3 with the Kinderchor der Deutschen Oper Berlin, Aalto Kinderchor, Damen des Philharmonischen Chores Essen, and Essener Philharmoniker. Tomáš Netopil conducts.
Performance Dates: Feb. 2 & 3, 2023
Katharina Konradi, Anna Harvey, Patrick Grahl, and Krešimir Stražanac perform an all Mozart program with the Gaechinger Cantorey and conductor Hans-Christoph Rademann.
Performance Date: Feb. 9, 2023
Nikola Hillebrand and Alexander Fleischer lead a program with music by Schubert, Strauss, and Brahms. Daniel Finkernagel moderates.
Performance Dates: Feb. 19, 2023
Humperdinck’s “Hänsel und Gretel” will be performed.
Performance Date: March 12, 2023
Jessica Muirhead, Bettina Ranch, and Richard Samek perform under the Opernchor des Aalto-Theaters, Philharmonischer Chor Essen, and Essener Philharmoniker and conductor Tomáš Netopil. The program includes Mozart’s Symphony No. 39 and Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 2.
Performance Dates: March 30 & 31 2023
Bach’s “Matthäuspassion” will be conducted by Justin Doyle and will star Julia Sophie Wagner, Benno Schachtner, Patrick Grahl, Benjamin Glaubitz, Konstantin Krimmel, and Dominic Barberi. The concert includes the RIAS Kammerchor Berlin and Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin.
Performance Date: April 7, 2023
George Benjamin conducts his opera “Lessons in Love and Violence” with Evan Hughes, Gyula Orendt, Georgia Jarman, Paul Curievici, Samuel Boden, Hannah Sawle, Krisztina Szabó, and Tristan Hambleton.
Performance Date: April 30, 2023
Fatma Said performs a program of Vivaldi, Händel, and Purcell with Concerto de’ Cavalieri and conductor Marcello Di Lisa.
Performance Date: May 20, 2023
Joyce DiDonato, Il Pomo d’Oro, and Maxim Emelyanychev bring their “Eden” concert to Essen.
Performance Date: June 15, 2023
Anja Harteros and Wolfram Rieger perform in recital.
Performance Date: June 17, 2023
Jessica Muirhead and Heiko Trinsinger perform Antonín Dvořák’s “Te Deum.” The Philharmonischer Chor Essen, Opernchor des Aalto-Theaters, and Essener Philharmoniker are led by Tomáš Netopil.
Performance Dates: June 22 & 23 2023
By Francisco Salazar
Il Festival Verdi e Verdi Off will team up with the Teatro Nazionale dell’Opera e del Balletto di Albania for a production of “Un Ballo in Maschera.”
The festival, which will take place between May 31 and June 4, will showcase a production of “Un ballo in maschera” in a historic production from 1913 by Giuseppe Carmignani.
The Verdi Off portion of the project will bring Verdi’s music to Tiranna’s parks, piazzas, and city streets.
“Un ballo in maschera” will debut at the Teatro Nazionale dell’Opera e del Balletto di Albania on June 1 and will be shown four times through June 4. Deniola Kuraja will conduct the opera with a cast that incudes Albania Eva Golemi / Lada Kyssy (Amelia), Dario Di Vietri / Milen Bozhkov (Riccardo), Armando Likaj / Kendi Lajos (Renato), Alla Pozniak (Ulrlica), Bledar Domi (Samuel), Xhieldo Hyseni (Tom), Renisa Laçka / Rovena Xhelili (Oscar), Artur Vera (Silvano), and Erlind Zeraliu.
By Francisco Salazar
San Francisco Opera is set to present “Eun Sun Kim Conducts Verdi,” a one-night-only concert honoring the work of Italian composer Giuseppe Verdi.
The concert is set to be performed on June 30 at the War Memorial Opera House and will include soloists Nicole Car, Arturo Chacón-Cruz, Etienne Dupuis, and Soloman Howard. The concert will also include San Francisco Opera Adler Fellows soprano Mikayla Sager, tenor Edward Graves, bass Stefan Egerstrom.
Kim will conduct selections from “Luisa Miller,” “Il Trovatore,” and “Don Carlo”
Following the concert, there will be a party with Kim and the cast at the Green Room at the Veterans Building. Proceeds benefit the company’s annual campaign in support of Kim’s vision for the future of opera.
For those not in San Francisco, the concert will be live streamed on the company’s streaming platform.
