By David Salazar
San Diego Opera is set to world premiere Nicolas Reveles’ “Ghosts” on April 14, 2023.
The work is comprised of three operas including “Eden,” “Dormir,” and “House.”
“Eden,” which is based on a libretto by John de los Santos, is a tribute to Edgar Allan Poe. “Dormir” was written by Michael Vegas Mussman and explores what might happen when Old World spiritual practices collide with the Christian belief system. Finally, “House,” which was written by Reveles, explores how trauma haunts us like ghosts.
In an official press statement, Reveles professed a love for the horror genre.
“It’s a wonder to me why more opera composers aren’t drawn to the genre because it is full of opportunities for dramatic music and passionate vocal expression,” he added. “’Lucia di Lammermoor,’ ‘Pagliacci,’ and ‘Il tabarro’ are notable exceptions in the standard repertory. And a smattering of Poe-influenced operas and even operas based on novels by Stephen King have appeared more recently. ‘Dormir,’ completed just before the pandemic of 2020, and ‘House,’ written during the early months of the pandemic, are an attempt to bring the genre of operatic horror into a smaller space where, in my mind, they would have more of an impact on audiences than in a grand theatre.”
The performance will feature mezzo-sopranos Emily Fons and Ann McMahon Quintero, alongside tenor Andres Acosta. Bruce Stasyna conducts while de los Santos directs.
San Diego Opera will present additional performances on April 15 and 16, 2023.
By David Salazar
The Lorelei Ensemble is set to present Julia Wolfe’s “Her Story” on March 16-18, 2023.
The showcase, which will represent the Northeast Premiere performance of the work, will feature the Boston Symphony Orchestra under conductor Giancarlo Guerrero. There will be a total of three performances during the run.
The work was written for the Lorelei Ensemble and features words “of historical figures and the spirit of pivotal moments to pay tribute to the centuries of ongoing struggle for equal rights for women in America.” The work lasts 30 minutes.
The world premiere took place with the Nashville Symphony; those performances were recorded and will be released in the coming months.
Prior to the performances, the Lorelei Ensemble will join artist Suzanne Bocanegra and actor Lili Taylor for “Honor” at the Institute of Contemporary Art on Friday, Feb. 10, 2023. The ensemble will also join forces with Boston Ballet” for “Our Journey” on April 6-16, 2023. That event will showcase music by Debussy and Sfjan Stevens.
By David Salazar
Bayreuth Baroque has announced its 2023 festival slate.
The company announced that it will kick off with Händel’s “Flavio, Re de’ Longobardi.” The opera will be directed by Max Emanuel Cencic and conducted by Benjamin Bayl. It will star Max Emanuel Cencic, Julia Lezhneva, Sreten Manojlovic, Rémy Brès-Feullet, Sonka Runje, and Yuriy Mynenko.
Performance Dates: Sept. 7 – 17, 2023
Next up is “Valer Sabadus: Opera arias by Carl Heinrich Graun.” The showcase will feature countertenor Valer Sabadus alongside the {oh!} Orkiestra under Martyna Pastuszka.
Performance Dates: Sept. 8, 2023
Next up is a recital starring Reginald Mobley. The countertenor will perform works by Henry Purcell, George Frideric Händel, and Ignatius Sancho alongside harpsichordist Violaine Cochard and viola de gamba player Christine Plubeau.
Performance Dates: Sept. 9, 2023
Véronique Gens will join forces with Ensemble Les Surprises and Louis-Noël Bestion de Camboulas for a program of music by Jean-Batiste Lully, Henry Desmarest, André Cardinal Destouches, Pascal Collasse, and François Rebel / François Francœur.
Performance Dates: Sept. 10, 2023
Maayan Licht and harpsichordist Guy Maori will present a Dinner-Concert featuring music by Händel and Vivaldi.
Performance Dates: Sept. 11, 2023
That is followed up by a production of “L’Orfeo” starring Rolando Villazón, Theodora Baka, Irini Bilini, Myrsini Margariti, Sophia Ptasi, Lenia Safiropoulou, Marios Sarantidis, Latinitas Nostra, Maria Palaska, and Savina Yannatou. Markellos Chryssicos conducts and Thanos Papakonstantnou directs.
Performance Dates: Sept. 12 & 13, 2023
Bruno da Sá performs with nuovo barocco under Dimitris Karakantas. The showcase features music by Francesco Scarlatti, Leonardo Vinci, Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, Francesco Durante, Carlo Sellitto, Domenico Cimarosa, Johann Adolph Hasse, Tommaso Traetta, Nicola Antonio Porpora, and Riccardo Broschi.
Performance Dates: Sept. 14, 2023
Dennis Orellana will perform a concert featuring music by Alessandro Scarlatti, Girolamo Fantini, Antonio Maria Bononcini, Francesco Gasparini, Bernardo Pasquini, and Antonio Caldara. She appears alongside musicians such as Julian Zimmermann, Diego Ares, and Sophie Lamberbourg.
Performance Dates: Sept. 16, 2023
The season draws to a close with a concert starring Daniel Behle and Concerto Köln. Egenii Sviridov conducts.
Performance Dates: Sept. 16, 2023
By Francisco Salazar
The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra has announced a new Second Horn Player.
The orchestra took to social media and said, “We’re thrilled to announce our new Second Horn, Roy Femenella! After a grueling three day audition process with highly talented horn players, we finished with a final round consisting of two fine hornists: Roy and David Alexander. We couldn’t be happier with this outcome!”
Femenella was previously a frequent substitute at the Met and has made many appearances with the Boston Symphony and Boston Pops. He has also performed with l’Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, the Swedish Radio Symphony, the New World Symphony in Miami, and has been a guest Principal horn of the Orquestra Metropolitana de Lisboa in Portugal, and the Orquesta Sinfónica de Minería in Mexico City.
He was a winner of the New World Symphony’s concerto competition and recently participated in the productions of the upcoming films “Crater” for Disney and “Maestro” for Netflix.
By David Salazar
Semperoper Dresden is set to bring back Willy Decker’s production of “Der Ring des Nibelungen” this February.
This revival will celebrate the 20th anniversary of this staging’s first performances and the first in five years. In sum, there will be two cycles – one starting on Jan. 27 and running through Feb. 1 and a second between Feb. 5-10, 2023. Christian Thielemann conducts both.
Audiences will see Ricarda Merbeth as Brünnhilde. She will be joined by Daniel Behle, Stephen Milling, Waltraud Meier, Allison Oakes, Michal Doron, Lawson Anderson, Markus Marquardt, Christa Mayer, Adrian Eröd, John Lundgren, Andreas Schager, and Georg Zeppenfeld, among many others.
The “Ring” was set for a revival back in 2020-21 but was canceled due to COVID-19 and its lingering impact.
The company revealed that it will also present a series of accompanying events including “Of Heroes and Battle Maidens” on Jan. 26, 2023 as well as “Wagner.Kino.Oper,” a film series that will showcase such works as Fritz Lang’s “The Nibelungen” and Visconti’s “Ludwig II,” among others.
By Francisco Salazar
American Tenor Michael Fabiano is set to make his Melbourne debut on Feb. 12, 2023.
The recital, which is set to take place at Melbourne City Recital Hall, will showcase the tenor in a selection of impressive tenor arias by some of the greatest opera composers including Puccini, Verdi, Tosti, and Duparc.
Accompanying Fabiano will be distinguished pianist and vocal coach Laurent Phillippe who has helped develop many young opera singers to international acclaim.
Fabiano is also set to perform in “Adriana Lecouvreur” with Opera Australia at the Sydney Opera House from Feb. 20 to March 7, 2023. The tenor is currently performing at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in a production of “Tosca” and will reprise the opera at teh Wiener Staatsoper this season.
By David Salazar
Norlandsoperan has announced that Sara Hardell Flagge will be its new communications and marketing director.
Flagge has previously worked as a strategy consultant at the Umeå-based marketing and business development agency Oddo. Over the course of 10 years, she has worked on brand development and strategic communication, and marketing. Additionally, she has given lectures in Strategic Communication at Umeå University and has a Ph.D. in Arts and Visual Design from Lund University.
She will commence her tenure on April 10, 2023.
“Norrlandsoperan not only creates fantastic experiences for its audience, it also fulfills an important function for the development of contemporary performing arts nationally and internationally,” said Flagge in an official press statement. “It attracts me to be able to contribute at management level to strengthening Norrlandsoperan’s position both in and outside of Sweden.”
By David Salazar
Semperoper Dresden is set to bring back Willy Decker’s production of “Der Ring des Nibelungen” this February.
This revival will celebrate the 20th anniversary of this staging’s first performances and the first in five years. In sum, there will be two cycles – one starting on Jan. 27 and running through Feb. 1 and a second between Feb. 5-10, 2023. Christian Thielemann conducts both.
Audiences will see Ricarda Merbeth as Brünnhilde. She will be joined by Daniel Behle, Stephen Milling, Waltraud Meier, Allison Oakes, Michal Doron, Lawson Anderson, Markus Marquardt, Christa Mayer, Adrian Eröd, John Lundgren, Andreas Schager, and Georg Zeppenfeld, among many others.
The “Ring” was set for a revival back in 2020-21 but was canceled due to COVID-19 and its lingering impact.
The company revealed that it will also present a series of accompanying events including “Of Heroes and Battle Maidens” on Jan. 26, 2023 as well as “Wagner.Kino.Oper,” a film series that will showcase such works as Fritz Lang’s “The Nibelungen” and Visconti’s “Ludwig II,” among others.
By David Salazar
(Credit: Richard Termine)
The Metropolitan Opera is set to present “For Ukraine: A Concert of Remembrance and Hope” on Feb. 24, 2023.
The event will be presented to commemorate and honor the Ukrainians fighting to defend their country from Vladimir Putin and Russia’s invasion. Audiences will hear a performance of Mozart’s Requiem and Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony under the musical direction of Yannick Nézet-Séguin.
Soloists for the Requiem include Golda Schultz, Emily D’Angelo, Dmytro Popov, and Vladyslav Buialskyi. The concert will also open with a performance of the Ukrainian National Anthem and “Prayer for Ukraine” by Valentin Silvestrov.
“I am proud to lead the great Met Orchestra and Chorus as we continue to use music, an instrument of peace and healing, to show support for the people of Ukraine as they continue their quest for peace and an end to this war,” Nézet-Séguin said in an official press statement issued by the Met.
The conductor led a concert on behalf of Ukraine at the Met last March, shortly after the invasion. Additionally, he led a performance of the Ukrainian National Anthem prior to the opening performance of “Don Carlos” on Feb. 28, 2023.
The showcase is being presented in association with Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts and the Permanent Mission of Ukraine to the United Nations.
By David Salazar
WQXR, New York’s classical music radio station announced its 2023 roster of Artist Propulsion Lab (APL) participants.
The APL is the station’s innovative program designed for classical musicians to support the creation of original work and connections with new audiences. Artists must be nominated by members of the music field. This year over 100 artists were nominated. A team of producers, hosts, and project managers reviewed the entries and made the final selections.
The five new artists, cellist Zlatomir Fung, mezzo-soprano Briana Hunter, violinist Alexi Kenney, violinist and composer Curtis Stewart, and composer, vocalist, and saxophonist Shelley Washington will be given the space and resources to create new work and to share their diverse perspectives and projects through performances and multiple media outlets.
“The APL is an expression of WQXR’s commitment to connecting the artists who are reimagining classical music to our audience and the larger performing arts community in NYC,” said WQXR Chief Content Officer and Senior Vice President Ed Yim in a press release. He continues, “With our digital platforms and live event venue, The Greene Space, we’re able to provide these important voices with the support they need to create adventurous work and take full advantage of our multiplatform capabilities to connect with new audiences. The 2023 artists share our mission of making classical music relevant to the next generation of listeners, and we are all inspired by the energy they bring to the genre.”
Mezzo-soprano Kara Dugan, a 2021 participant of APL expresses her faith in the program by saying, “A highlight of my time with APL was commissioning and performing ‘In A New York Minute: Miniatures for Voice and Piano,’ a new work that spotlights women’s voices and perspectives. This piece explores our shared human experience in bite-sized songs that can be shared on the concert stage and on social media. Making classical music accessible and relevant to the next generation is so important, and I am grateful that the APL gave me a platform to do just that.”
