By David Salazar
Opera Memphis is set to present Puccini’s “Tosca” starting on Jan. 27, 2023.
The famed Italian work will star Leah Hawkins in the title role alongside Rafael Davila as Cavaradossi and Todd Thomas as Scarpia. Ned Canty will direct while Ari Pelto will conduct.
There will also be a behind-the-scenes feature broadcast via WKNO 91.1 FM featuring the creative team and led by Darl Snodgrass. Audiences can also stream the feature on the station’s official website.
There will be an additional performance on Jan. 28, 2023. Both showcases will take place at the Germantown Performing Arts Center.
Following this production, Hawkins is set to appear at the Metropolitan Opera as Musetta in “La Bohème” before heading to Santa Fe Opera for another production of “Tosca.” She will also give the Marian Anderson Award Recital with Washington National Opera.
Thomas is set for productions of “Aida” at Tulsa Opera and “Tosca” at Florida Grand Opera, while Davila will follow this Memphis series with “Ernani” at Sarasota Opera.
By Francisco Salazar
Marin Alsop is taking aim at the Golden Globe-nominated film “Tár” in a new interview with Time U.K.
The conductor told the British news source, “I was offended: I was offended as a woman, I was offended as a conductor, I was offended as a lesbian.”
Alsop noted that a lot of the movie had parallels with her life but that she had not heard of the film until August. Upon watching the movie, she called it a “pseudo-reality” and while it was “interesting,” she said it was “slightly dangerous because people may get confused about what’s real and what’s not.”
She added that seeing a woman conductor as an abuser was heartbreaking.
“To have an opportunity to portray a woman in that role and to make her an abuser — for me that was heartbreaking. I think all women and all feminists should be bothered by that kind of depiction because it’s not really about women conductors, is it? It’s about women as leaders in our society. People ask, ‘Can we trust them? Can they function in that role?’ It’s the same questions whether it’s about a CEO or an NBA coach or the head of a police department.”
Alsop also noted, “There are so many men — actual, documented men — this film could have been based on but, instead, it puts a woman in the role but gives her all the attributes of those men. That feels anti-woman. To assume that women will either behave identically to men or become hysterical, crazy, insane is to perpetuate something we’ve already seen on film so many times before.”
“Tár” tells the story of Lydia Tár, a conductor widely considered one of the greatest and the very first female director of a major German orchestra. The film stars Cate Blanchett who is widely touted as a frontrunner to receive an Oscar nomination and is up for three Golden Globes including Best Picture.
By David Salazar
The Metropolitan Opera Guild has announced the return of the Community Voices Choir.
The organization, which was originally called the Creative Aging Choir, will resume in February. There will be no auditions and all singers of all backgrounds and experiences ages 55 and up are welcome.
The ensemble will take place during a 10-week program on Wednesdays starting on Feb. 1 and running through March 29, 2023. The organization will deliver a performance on April 5, 2023 at the Kaplan Penthouse located at the Samuel B. and David Rose Building. All participants must commit to 10 sessions as well as deliver a participation fee of $30.
The program will be led by Composer and Choral Conductor Lisa Holsberg as well as soprano and Guild Teaching Artist Gina Hanzlik.
“Last season’s initial cycle of this program provided an opportunity to build a new community of learners who came together to make music after months of isolation,” said Stuart Holt, Director of Learning and Engagement, Metropolitan Opera Guild, in an official press statement. “We hope that this second cycle of the program can continue to highlight the transformative impact that music can have on all students, regardless of age, ethnicity, experience, or expertise.”
By David Salazar
Soprano Ying Fang is set to present the Robert E and Jean Ann Titus Family Recital for The Dallas Opera on Jan. 15, 2023.
The showcase will take place at Moody Performance Hall at 2 p.m. local time and will feature the Chinese soprano in performance with pianist Ken Noda. The concert will feature works by Bach, Schubert, and R. Strauss. There will also be a series of Chinese folk songs on the program.
Fang, a graduate of The Juilliard School and the Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artist Development program, has performed all over the world at such companies as the Metropolitan Opera, the Wiener Staatsoper, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Dutch National Opera, Opéra national de Paris, and the Salzburg Festival.
Following the recital, Fang is scheduled for a performance in San Francisco; productions of “Le Nozze di Figaro” at the Vienna State Opera and Opéra de Monte-Carlo; “Don Giovanni” at the Metropolitan Opera and Müpa Budapest; “Falstaff” in Salzburg; and concerts in Leipzig, among others.
The Robert E and Jean Ann Titus Family Recital is an annual tradition at Dallas Opera which aims to bring the community and artists together around a celebration of art song.
By Nicolas Quiroga
The IMQ insurance has announced that it will be a major supporter and collaborator of the ABAO Bilbao Ópera’s 2022-23 season.
Per an agreement between the two organizations, IMQ, a major health insurance organization, will provide private insurance for health services to ABAO during its 71st season. The agreement was reached and signed by Beatriz Astigarraga and Juan Carlos Matellanes, presidents of IMQ and ABAO Bilbao Ópera, respectively.
IMQ is part of a business group with more than 50 companies that cover a wide range of health services. The organization is a leaded in private health insurance in Euskadi and around the country.
Next up for ABAO Bilbao are productions of “Così fan tutte,” “Tosca,” and “Il Trovatore.”
By Francisco Salazar
Julius Drake has signed with Askonas Holt for worldwide management.
With his new contract, Drake will be managed by Angelica Conner.
The English pianist is known for collaborating with such artists as Ian Bostridge, Sarah Connolly, Anna Prohaska, Sasha Cooke, and Gerald Finley.
His most recent recording of Janáček’s “The Diary of One Who Disappeared” with Nicky Spence won both a Gramophone Award and BBC Music Magazine Award. He recently curated a song series for Wigmore Hall, the Concertgebouw, New York’s 92nd Street Y, and Pierre Boulez Saaland has been Artistic Director of the Machynlleth Festival in Wales since 2009.
This season he will perform in Seoul and Daejeon with Ian Bostridge; in Barcelona and at Wigmore Hall with Catriona Morrison; and at the Schubertiadá Vilabertran with both Christoph Prégardien and Julia Kleiter. He also performs alongside Günther Groissböck at Wigmore Hall and the Prinzregententheater.
By Francisco Salazar
Arte is set to stream Jonas Kaufmann and Ludovic Tézier’s concert at the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden.
The concert, which is set to celebrate the company’s 25th anniversary on Jan. 8, will feature the tenor and baritone performing famous arias and duets from operas by Verdi, Puccini, and Ponchielli.
The Deutsche Radio Philharmonie will be conducted by Jochen Rieder.
The concert follows the release of “Insieme,” Kaufmann and Tézier’s album for Sony Classical, which was conducted by Antonio Pappano.
Following the concert, Kaufmann is set to perform a production of “Aida” at teh Wiener Staatsoper alongside Anna Netrebko and Elina Garanca, while Tézier will sing a production of “Rigoletto” at the Teatro San Carlo di Napoli.
By David Salazar
Soprano Angela Gheorghiu is headed to The Eli and Edythe BroadStage in Santa Monica, CA for a recital on March 4, 2023.
Joining the Romanian soprano will be pianist Alexandra Dariescu and violinist Alexandru Tomescu. They will perform music by Händel, Tosti, Strauss, and Massenet, among others. The concert will be presented as part of the “Celebrity Opera” series.
The Adjud native recently postponed a recital in Lucca due to illness, though she is scheduled to take on that performance at a later date. In the meantime, the diva returns to the stage for concerts in Paris and Brussels before making her Met Opera return in a series of performances of “Tosca” this April.
Gheorghiu will also perform in “La Bohème” as part of a Japan tour starting on June 1, 2023.
By Francisco Salazar
Daniel Barenboim has announced his resignation from the Staatsoper Unter den Linden as Music Director.
The legendary conductor and pianist said, “unfortunately, my health has deteriorated significantly in the last year. I can no longer provide the performance that is rightly demanded of a general music director. Therefore, I ask for your understanding that I will give up this job on January 31, 2023. I ask the culture senator to dissolve the contract between us at the specified time.”
He added, “Since 1992 I have been General Music Director of the Staatsoper Unter den Linden Berlin. The years have inspired us musically and personally in every respect. I believe that the Staatsoper and I were very lucky for each other. What makes me particularly happy and proud is that the Staatskapelle has chosen me as chief conductor for life. We have become a musical family over the years and will remain so. I appreciate all members of the Staatskapelle, including those who have since left. But I also express my admiration for the singers, the members of the choir, and all other employees of the State Opera, especially for my personal assistant Antje Werkmeister.”
He concluded, “I was also particularly pleased that Chancellor Angela Merkel and Bundestag President Wolfgang Schäuble accompanied me so pleasantly. I would also like to thank the Senator for Culture Klaus Lederer, who stood by me even in difficult times. Of course, as long as I live, I will remain closely connected to music and I am willing to work as a conductor in the future, also and especially with the Staatskapelle Berlin.”
Matthias Schultz, General Director of the Berlin house said, “the Staatsoper Unter den Linden owes an infinite debt of gratitude to Daniel Barenboim! For more than 30 years he has let his inexhaustible strength as an artist personality with worldwide charisma benefit this house and his Staatskapelle Berlin. There is great respect that Daniel Barenboim is now taking this step in the interest of the institution and resigning from his duties as General Music Director at the end of this month. One can only imagine how difficult it must have been for Daniel Barenboim to take this step. We all wish Daniel Barenboim all the best for his continued recovery! Daniel Barenboim will always remain connected to this house and the Staatskapelle Berlin.”
The news comes after the conductor returned to the stage on Dec. 31, 2022 to conduct a New Year’s Eve concert. It also comes as he announced back in the fall that he was taking a step back from conducting due to a serious neurological condition.
By Francisco Salazar
(Credit: Jorgen Frank)
Diana Damrau has canceled her upcoming performances at the Berlin State Opera.
The soprano took to social media and said, “I regret that I will be unable to perform at the Staatsoper Berlin next week due to illness. I am so sorry to disappoint anyone who was planning to attend. I am grateful that the talented soprano Hanna-Elisabeth Müller will be filling in for me.”
Damrau was set to perform Strauss’ Four Last Songs alongside the Staatskapelle Berlin and conductor Cristian Măcelaru. The program will remain as scheduled and will also include music by Bartók.
Müller is well known for her interpretations of Mozart, Strauss, and Wagner, and has performed at the Salzburg Festival, the Metropolitan Opera, the Teatro alla Scala, and Semperoper Dresden.
The concert performances are set for Jan. 9 and 10, 2023.
