By Francisco Salazar
CortinAteatro is set to present a New Year’s Eve concert on Dec. 30 at the Alexander Girardi Hall in Cortina d’Ampezzo.
The operatic concert will feature famous arias as well as waltzes and excerpts from operettas.
The concert will feature soloists soprano Lara Lagni and tenor Gian Luca Pasolini. They will be joined by the Orchestra Regionale Filarmonia Veneta and conductor Mattia Rondelli.
The program will include Gioacchino Donizetti’s ouverture and “Ah! Mes Amis” from “La Fille du Régiment,” “Salut d’Amour” by Edward Elgar, Musetta’s Waltz and “O soave fanciulla” from “La Bohème,” and “Dein ist mein ganzes Herz” by Franz Lehàr as well as “Tace il labbro” from “The Merry Widow.”
The program will also include “Quadriglia” from “Un Ballo in Maschera,” “Mein Herr Marquis” from “Die Fledermaus,” the “Frühlingsstimmen Waltz,” “Pizzicato Polka Op. 234,” “Polka Schnell,” “Polka thunder and lightning Op. 324”, and the Danube Waltz.
By David Salazar
Miller Theatre is set to present a composer portrait of Suzanne Farrin on Feb. 2, 2023.
The showcase will feature the world premiere of “Their Hearts are Columns” as well as performances of “dolce la morte: unico spirto, come serpe, veggio, l’onde della non vostra, rendete,” “Il Suono,”” “corpo di terra,” “polvere et ombra,” and “Time is a Cage.”
Performers include soprano Alice Teyssier and countertenor Eric Jurenas. They will be joined by such soloists as violinist Josh Modney, cellist Mariel Roberts, and harpist Nuiko Wadden. Vimbayi Kaziboni leads the International Contemporary Ensemble.
The event will also feature an onstage discussion with Farrin and Melissa Smey.
Farrin is a Guggenheim Fellow and Rome Prize winner. Her first opera is “Corpo di Terra” and her music has been performed at such venues and companies as Theaterforum (Germany), Town Hall Seattle, Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, Symphony Space, and Wigmore Hall, and festivals including The BBC Proms, Mostly Mozart, Göteborg International Biennial for Contemporary Art, Matrix, Alpenklassik, Music in Würzburg, and BAM’s NextWave, among many others. She is also a performer of the Ondes Martenot, an electronic instrument created by engineer Maurice Martenot.
By Francisco Salazar
Lithuanian tenor Kristian Benedikt is apologizing for his recent performance in Belarus.
The tenor, who was criticized for performing in Minsk, said he went to Belarus at the invitation of an evangelical bishop and took part in pre-Christmas events to support his friends suffering repressions of the Minsk regime.
He said, “I performed at a concert organized and directed by Oksana Volkova, my stage partner, a mezzo-soprano who has performed several times with the Kaunas Symphony Orchestra.”
He added, “My motive was to pay a pre-Christmas visit and to say with that visit that you are my friends, even if there’s the Lukashenko regime, even if there’s a risk I will be provoked if I go.”
Benedikt also added, that some of his friend’s pastors were imprisoned in Belarus and their church buildings were seized. “Why would I disown them? Why would I turn my back on them? Belarus is full of people just like us who want freedom.”
Benedikt also clarified that there was no one from Lukashenko regime in the concert.
The statement comes after many public figures and politicians, including Culture Minister Simonas Kairys condemned the tenor’s participation in a concert at the National Opera of Belearus.
The Culture Minister said, “I am shocked, to put it simply. Indeed, such choices are incomprehensible to my common sense. The question is, in principle, what is going on in a person’s mind to make such choices? Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined that such well-known personalities would travel to Minsk to perform.”
The Minister added that while Benedikt did not break laws, his choice to perform in Belarus was morally unacceptable.
Jonas Sakalauskas, General Director of Lithuania Opera and Ballet Theatre added, “So long as I am director, Benedikt will not sing here…This act is a betrayal of Lithuania.”
The tenor has vowed not to perform in Russia and has supported Ukraine with prayers and regular donations.
Belarus has been an ally of Russia throughout the war helping the Russian government with arms and training the Russian army.
By Francisco Salazar
The Metropolitan Opera has announced that it will withdraw up to $30 million from its endowment, give fewer performances next season, and accelerate its embrace of contemporary works.
The news comes after a lackluster box office over the past month and due to the fact that certain modern works like “Fire Shut up in My Bones and “The Hours” are selling better than classics.
According to the New York Times, the shift comes as “the pandemic and its aftermath continue to roil the Met.”
In a statement, General Manager Peter Gelb said, “The challenges are greater than ever. The only path forward is reinvention.”
The Met’s decision to dip into its endowment of $306 million comes as a way to cover operating expenses this season and to help offset weak ticket sales and a cash shortfall that emerged as some donors were reluctant to accelerate pledged gifts amid the stock market downturn.
Gelb said he hopes to replenish the endowment in the coming months.
The Met also announced that it will cut its performances by 10 percent next season. This season it is giving 215 performances.
According to the New York Times, attendance has been generally anemic to classic works like “Don Carlos,” which sold a total of 40 percent. Other works with low ticket sales have included “Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk” and “Peter Grimes.”
In comparison “The Hours” this season drew sold-out houses and last season “Fire Shut up in My Bones” was also sold out.
Gelb also announced that “the Met will open each season with a new production of a contemporary work” with Jake Heggie’s 2000 opera “Dead Man Walking” set to kick off the 2023-24 season. Next season will also include the premieres of Anthony Davis’s reworked “X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X,” Daniel Catán’s Spanish language “Florencia en el Amazonas” and John Adams’s “El Niño.”
Additionally, the company will revive “Fire Shut Up in My Bones” and “The Hours,” with Renée Fleming, Joyce DiDonato, and Kelli O’Hara returning.
Regarding the move, Gelb added that major stars are increasingly interested in performing music by living composers.
By David Salazar
Conductor, pianist, and composer Luis Izquierdo has passed away. He was 91.
Born in La Coruña, Spain in 1931, he was a renowned pianist who debuted at 15. He studied at the Royal Conservatory in Madrid where he won two major prizes, the Premio Extraordinario and the Primer Premio de Virtuosismo de Piano.
From there, he became a professor of accompaniment between 1952-59, before studying conducting under Hans Swarowsky in Vienna and Gerhard Wimberger in Salzburg. He graduated as a Kapellmeister at the Mozarteum.
He returned to being a professor of Piano at the Conservatorio Superior de Música in Seville and then became the director of the Asociación Coral de Sevilla, a post he would hold until 1971.
Starting in 1964, he became the conductor of the Orquesta Filarmónica de Sevilla until 1990.
He had a varied repertoire, interpreting works of Bach, Bartok, Beethoven, Telemann, Pergolesi, Verdi, Mozart, Puccini, and Donizetti, among many others. Per El Correo de Andalucía, he conducted almost every single Spanish orchestra and over 800 works in his lifetime. He was also a champion of developing cultural life in Seville, constantly programming major soloists during the height of his performance career between 1965-90.
By Logan Martell
San Francisco Opera Museum at San Francisco International Airport has unveiled its new exhibition, “San Francisco Opera: A Centennial Celebration.”
On view through August 13, 202, the exhibit captures the company’s history through selections of costumes, stage props, set models, videos and archival photographs from the collections of SFO, the Museum of Performance + Design, and the Metropolitan Opera Archives.
Highlights of the exhibit include the cape and hat worn by tenor Beniamino Gigli in their 1923 production of “Romeo et Juliette,” soprano Kristen Flagstad’s Brunnhilde costume from their 1935 “Die Walkure,” the military costume worn by soprano Lily Pons in their 1940 production of “La Fille du Regiment,” “the dress soprano Dorothy Kirsten wore in their production of “Manon,” and Leontyne Price’s costume from their 1981 production of “Aida.”
“SFO Museum is delighted to feature the history of San Francisco Opera during the Company’s Centennial Season,” said SFO Museum’s Curator of Exhibits Daniel Calderon in an official press release. “San Francisco Opera is such an important cultural and artistic institution, and their story is both local and international. With their support, along with loans from the Museum of Performance + Design and the Metropolitan Opera Archives, SFO Museum has assembled a vibrant exhibition of costumes, photographs and artifacts that span almost a century of opera history. We know the exhibition will spur the interest of our traveling public and hope it will make new opera fans in the coming months.”
By Francisco Salazar
(Credit: Lena Obst)
The Hessischen Staatstheater Wiesbaden has announced the death of Christoph Stiller at the age of 53.
Stiller was the Musical Director of studies, Conductor, and Deputy Choir Director at the Hessian State Theater in Wiesbaden. He died unexpectedly on Dec. 17, 2022, shortly before a performance of “Hänsel and Gretel.”
Stiller studied at the Hochschule für Musik in Cologne before he was engaged at the Hessian State Theater in Wiesbaden in 1997, where he remained loyal for 25 years. He went on to conduct more than 500 performances with the company and held his position as Director of Studies with great integrative power.
During his time with the company, Stiller was also the first point of contact for conductors and production teams, who could always rely on his many years of experience at the Hessian State Theater in Wiesbaden and on his musical expertise in order to be able to start fruitful and smooth rehearsals.
Outside of his work at the Staatstheater, Stiller was also the musical director of the Wiesbaden City Choir. He also served as a guest at the Latvian National Opera in Riga and the Teatro Real de Madrid.
By David Salazar
Cecilia Violetta López has joined the cast of the Lyric Opera of Chicago’s “The Factotum.”
She will take over for Gabriella Reyes, who was originally announced as part of the cast.
López recently appeared at the Houston Grand Opera in “La Traviata;” she will reprise the role in May with the same company. She will also perform “Rusalka” at Opera Idaho and “La Traviata” at Opera Las Vegas, among others.
“The Factotum,” which premieres on Feb. 2, 2023, is created by Will Liverman and DJ King Rico with dramaturgy by Rajendra Ramoon Maharaj. It is inspired by Rossini’s “Il Barbiere di Siviglia” and updates the action to a Black barbershop in Chicago’s South Side. Running for two hours and 20 minutes with one intermission, “The Factotum blends soul, gospel, funk, rap, hip-hop, barbershop quartet, and R & B to create a unique type of opera.
López joins a cast that stars Livermann, Martin Luther Clark, Norman Garrett, Melody Betts, Keirsten Hodgens, Symone Harcum, Lunga Eric Hallam, Terrence Chin-Loy, Adam Richardson, Kedrick Armstron, andn Ron Dukes.
By David Salazar
Oper Frankfurt is set to present the world premiere of Vito Zuraj’s “Blühen” on Jan. 22, 2023.
The work, which was commissioned by Oper Frankfurt with generous support from Frankfurt Patronatsverein – Sektion Oper, will be conducted by Michael Wendeberg and directed by Brigitte Fassbaender.
It stars Bianca Andrew, Nika Goric, Michael Porter, Alfred Reiter, and Jarrett Porter, among many others.
“Blühen” is Zuraj’s second opera, following “Die Betrogene.” It tells the story of a woman who falls in love with a man young enough to be her son. The newfound love rejuvenates her physically, until she is confronted the stark reality that she has a terminal illness.
“This is more about taking time, and peace. The jokiness and volatility which my works are usually full of have been reduced here to short sections which needed a little lightening,“ Zuraj said in an official press statement.
By David Salazar
The Greek National Opera is set to present a new production of Verdi’s “Falstaff” starting on Jan. 26, 2023.
The showcase, which will be directed by Stephen Langridge, will run through Feb. 10 for a total of six performances.
“Our production is set in England in the 1930s. A time between the wars (Falstaff was an old soldier), with a scandalous Prince of Wales (like Hal in Henry IV) who will briefly become King Edward VIII, and a time when the hierarchies are rigid, with social class more respected than money,” said Langridge of his take on the Verdi classic. “‘Falstaff ‘is based on Shakespeare’s only fully English comedy, but the end is pure Verdi / Boito. ‘Tutto nel mondo è burla’ [all the world’s a jest] is their conclusion – and when we look around us at today’s chaotic world we can only agree, and then perhaps head off to the pub for a pint of warm ale and a laugh with Sir John!”
The opera will star Dimitri Platanias in the title role alongside Tassis Christoyannis, Vassilis Kavayas, Nicholas Stefanou, Yannis Kalyvas, Yanni Yannissis, Cecila Costea, Marilena Striftobola, Anna Agathonos, and Chrystanthi Spitadi. Pier Giorgio Morandi conducts.
The company’s 2023 season will also include productions of “Bluebeard’s Castle” and “Gianni Schicchi.”
