By Francisco Salazar
Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s art collection and personal items are being auctioned off near Washington this month with proceeds going to the Washington National Opera.
The late Supreme Court Judge was a lover of the arts and appeared at the Washington National Opera in “La Fille du Régiment.” Among her possessions are Picasso ceramics, old masterworks, and a famous fur coat. Other personal items that will be in the auction are several plaques and medals that she was awarded during her long career.
The sale, organized by an auction house in Alexandria, Virginia, will take place on April 27 and 28, and underscores the superstar status of the late judge who was popularly known as “RBG” when she died in September 2020 at the age of 87.
When Ginsburg died the Washington National Opera released a statement noting, “The Justice was a champion of the arts at large — but nothing came close to her passion for opera. She was a frequent attendee of Washington National Opera events.”
By David Salazar
The Metropolitan Opera is teaming up with the Polish National Opera to bring together major Ukrainian musicians to form the Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra.
The ensemble will be comprised of refugees, Ukrainian members of European orchestras, and musicians in Kyiv, Lviv, Kharviv, Odesa, and from around Ukraine.
The ensemble will take on a European and American tour between July 28 – August 20 with stops across such countries as the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and the Netherlands. In the United States, the orchestra will perform in New York and Washington D.C.
The ensemble will be led by Keri-Lynn Wilson in performing a program featuring music by Valentin Silvestrov, Chopin, Brahms, and Dvorak. Liudmyla Monastyrska will also join in with an aria from “Fidelio.” Ukrainian pianist Anna Federova will also perform.
Rehearsals will begin on July 18 with the opening performance slated for the Polish National Opera.
“I wanted to bring the best orchestral musicians of Ukraine together, from both inside and outside of their country, in a proud display of artistic unity,” Wilson said in an official press release. “I look forward to leading these gifted musicians across Europe and to the United States. This tour is an expression of love for their homeland and to honor those who have died and have suffered so much.”
By Chris Ruel
Photo: Elmer de Haas
Orquesta Sinfónica del Principado de Asturias in Oviedo has announced maestro Nuno Coelho as its newly appointed Chief Conductor.
The 33-year-old Portuguese maestro was the winner of the 2017 Cadaqués International Conducting Competition, and currently serves as Guest Conductor of Orquestra Gulbenkian. Coelho’s 2021-22 season includes eight debuts across Europe, making appearances in Germany, Sweden, Luxembourg, and Spain, among others.
He has conducted several concerts as a Dudamel Fellow with the Los Angeles Philharmonic during the 2018-19 season.
The maestro has led productions of “La Traviata,” “Cavalleria Rusticana,” “Rusalka,” “Das Tagebuch der Anne Frank,” and “Parsifal.”
By Francisco Salazar
(Credit: Gianfranco Rota)
Francesco Micheli is set to make history by becoming the fourth Italian director to stage a new opera production in the 88-year-long history of the Glyndebourne Festival.
Micheli will make his debut at the 2022 edition of the Festival, staging Georg Friedrich Händel’s “Alcina.” He follows such Italian directors as Damiano Michieletto, Franco Enriquez, and Franco Zeffirelli in leading a production with the company.
In a statement, Micheli said, “Händel staged a world at its sunset, the enchanted and noble world of the Age of Chivalry of Ariosto’s Orlando Furioso. He did so through a magic-filled opera, full of special effects. This is why I imagined the show as a tribute to the most magical and nonetheless real thing I know: the theatre. The world of declining chivalry epics is reflected in the revue, a theatre expression that had its peak of popularity between the 1930s and 1950s, only to be overcome by modernity. Right now, while our continent is at risk of explosion – concludes Micheli – adopting as a Patron Saint a German composer who trained in Italy and who rose to success in England, is only a healthy process.”
“Alcina” is set to be conducted by Jonathan Cohen who is leading the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. The opera will star Jane Archibald in the title role, Rowan Pierce playing Oberto, Samantha Hankey and Svetlina Stoyanova alternating in the role of Ruggiero, Beth Taylor as Bradamante, Stuart Jackson and Alastair Miles respectively as Oronte and Melisso.
“Alcina” will be performed from July 2 through August 24, 2022.
By Chris Ruel
The Opera Buffs will present a gala evening of Donizetti favorites, including excerpts from “Lucia di Lammermoor,” and “La Fille du Régiment” at Zipper Hall, The Colburn School in Los Angeles on May 13, 2022.
Opera Buff Alumni will join a full chorus and orchestra, under the baton of maestro Brent McMunn, to showcase the Act one Fountain Scene, and complete Act two of “Lucia di Lammermoor,” and Act one of “La Fille du Régiment.” Starring in the roles of Lucia and La Fille is Michelle Drever and Sunwoo Park, respectively.
Joining Drever in “Lucia di Lammermoor” will be Ben Lowe as Lord Enrico Ashton; Arnold Geis as Sir Edgardo di Ravenswood; Chris Hunter as Lord Arturo Bucklaw; Tivoli Treloar as Alisa, companion of Lucia. The Chorus will sing the parts of the Ladies and Knights related to the Ashtons.
In “La Fille du Régiment,” Park will share the stage with José Luis Maldonado as Sulpice; Arnold Geis as Tonio; Marina Harris as The Marquise of Berkenfield; and the Chorus in the roles of French soldiers and Tyrolean peasants.
A reception will precede the concert. Please note that all COVID restrictions remain in place at the venue.
By David Salazar
(Credit Johannes Ifkovits)
Famed tenor Piotr Beczala is set for his first tour through South America.
The tenor, who will go on tour with pianist Camillo Radicke in a program of music by Verdi, Tosti, Rachmaninoff, Puccini, Tchaikovsky, and Gounod, will kick things off with his debut at the Teatro Mayor Julio Mario Santo Domingo in Bogotá, Colombia on April 30, 2022.
The next stop of the tour will be at the Cultura Artistica in São Paulo, Brazil on May 3, 2022; there will be an additional performance at the Cultura Artistica on May 9. Sandwiched between those two showcases will be a May 7 performance at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires.
Beczala will cap the series of performances with a May 12 presentation at the Theatro Municipal Do Rio di Janeiro in Brazil.
After this South American tour, the tenor will head to Vienna for a recital with Sarah Tysman.
By Afton Wooten
Bard SummerScape will open with the world premiere of Ashley Tata’s interpretation of Molière’s “Dom Juan.”
Tata along with an all-women production team birthed this production which combines the original 17th century France setting with the 1970s American cultural following Roe V. Wade.
Tata describes this work by saying, “Our production is an invitation to collectively imagine a world where the 17th century France of Louis XIV and Molière overlaps with society right after the passing of Roe V. Wade and at the beginning of a period that will give rise to what I’ve come to think of as The Trump Baroque. Our dynamic duo are two women who live in a patriarchal society where strides towards equality have been made and on paper a woman or non-binary person have the same rights and opportunities as a cis-man—but we have a long way to go, baby. Class is the determining factor of one’s opportunities.”
The program which will run from June 23 through July 17 will also include Strauss’ “Die Schweigsame Frau” as well as a dance performance featuring music by David Lang.
By Francisco Salazar
The Orchestre Métropolitain de Montreal has announced its 2022-23 season featuring a diverse programing and international performers from around the world.
Here is a look at the Vocal Highlights.
Yannick Nézet-Séguin leads music by Elisapie Isaac and Rave.
Performance Date: Sept. 25, 2022
Lina Gonzalez-Granados conducts Sepideh Raissadat, Naomi Sato, Zhongxi Wu, and Sharon Azrieli in a program entitled Latin Waves.
Performance Dates: Nov. 3-6, 2022
Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts Bach’s Mass in B Minor with Erika Baikoff, Karen Cargill, Werner Güra, and Nathan Berg.
Performance Date: Dec. 18, 2022
François A. Ouimet, Pierre Tourville, and Chœur Métropolitain perform Schubert, Clara Schumann, Brahms, and Bruckner.
Performance Date: April 22, 2023
Yannick Nézet-Séguin and Angel Blue team up for a program of Keiko Devaux and Florence Price.
Performance Date: June 11, 2023
By Francisco Salazar
The Polish National Opera has announced the 2022 International Vocal Competition Stanisław Moniuszko.
The competition, which is the largest vocal competition in Poland, will be held from June 6 to 11, 2022.
Confirmed by its admission to the World Federation of International Music Competitions in 2019, every three years, young artists from different continents gather in Warsaw to present their talent in front of eminent representatives of the world of music, and the success achieved here becomes an important step towards an international career for many of them.
This year the competition will see jury members John Allison, chairman of the Jury – editor of the “Opera” magazine and music critic in “The Daily Telegraph,” Paul Hopper, Associate Artistic Administrator Metropolitan Opera, Peter Mario Katona, casting director of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Izabela Kłosińska, casting director of the Polish National Opera, Mariusz Kwiecień, director of the Opery Wrocławskiej, Gianluca Macheda, director of the agency GM Art&Music, Roberto Mauro, Artistic Director of the Canadian Opera Company, Eleonora Pacetti, director of the “Fabbrica” of the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, soprano Olga Pasiecznik, Nicholas Payne, director of Opera Europa, Contra alto Ewa Podleś, Tobias Truniger, Director of the Opera studio at the Bayerische Staatsoper, Anette Weber, Opera Director at the Opernhaus Zürich, and Edith Wiens, soprano and educator at the Internationale Meistersinger Akademie.
The event accompanying the final auditions will be a concert of the winners of the 9th edition of the International Vocal Competition. During the finals, there will also be a special performance from Jakub Józef Orliński and pianist Michał Biela.
This year there are 112 participants from 6 continents and as many as 28 countries qualified for a place on the podium of this year’s edition. The most represented country is Poland followed by Ukraine.
By Logan Martell
Sarasota Youth Opera and Child Protection Center have announced their partnership for the 2022 Giving Challenge, hosted by Community Foundation of Sarasota County.
The challenge will launch on April 26, 2022, with a Brown Bag Lunch & Learn in the Opera House Courtyard and lobby at noon. Martha Collins, Sarasota Youth Opera’s Director of Education, will discuss their education programs, year-round choral and performance training, and the activities planned for their upcoming summer camp.
Shelby Marsh, Child Protection Center’s Marketing Coordinator, will share insight into their organization’s mission and programs for protecting, intervening and treating victims of child abuse.
Sarasota Youth Opera provides education and performance opportunities for children aged 8 to 18 through their productions, summer camps, after-school choruses, and more.
For the last 40 years, Child Protection Center has furthered their mission through free therapy services, training workshops on identifying and reporting abuse, as well as intervention services, and performing forensic interviews and medical exams as evidential support.
