By Francisco Salazar
The Metropolitan Opera has announced a cast change for its opening night of “Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk.”
The company said that Irina Rindzuner would sing the role of the Convict making her Met debut. She will replace Marcy Stonikas.
Rindzuner is an American dramatic soprano who is well known for her interpretation of Turandot which she has sung 84 times in theaters across the globe including Gran Teatro Puccini, Den Norske Opera, Teatro Municipal de Santiago de Chile, Minnesota Opera, National Lyric Opera of New York, Opéra Nice Côte d’Azur, Saarländisches Staatstheater, and Braunschweig Staatstheater, among others.
She joins a cast that includes Svetlana Sozdateleva, Brandon Jovanovich, Nikolai Schukoff, John Relyea, Maria Barakova, Rodell Rosel, Goran Jurić, Alexey Shishlyaev, and Alexander Tsymbalyuk. Keri-Lynn Wilson conducts.
By Afton Wooten
Pedro Halffter’s new opera “Klara” will make its American premiere on October 12, 2022 in Paine Hall at Harvard University.
The opera’s original version, which premiered this August in Villafranca del Bierzo, Spain, featured the protagonist as an AI robot able to learn about and examine the world around her. Through the chaos of war, Klara arrives at the question “What is a human being?”
This version of the opera follows the title character Klara, a young woman living peacefully until she is affected mentally by war. Klara struggles with the decision to go into the unknown future as a refugee.
Halffter’s original score pulls from refugee stories throughout history. Ashley Galvani Bell reprises her role as Klara, along with mezzo soloist Anna Tonna, pianists Pedro Halffter and Sergio Martínez Zangróniz, with stage director Antón Armendariz Diaz.
Divaria Productions partners with The Harvard Program in Refugee Trauma (HPRT), and the Chester M. Pierce, MD, Division of Global Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry at the Massachusetts General Hospital, and Harvard Medical School to present this new opera. All proceeds will support HPRT’s work with Ukrainian refugee women and children.
By Francisco Salazar
The Opéra de Dijon has announced Débora Waldman as the Associate Conductor.
The company announced that Waldman will conduct one opera with the company a year and will begin with a production of “Stiffelio” in November 2022.
In a statement, the Dijon Opera said, “Music director of the Orchestre National Avignon-Provence, the Dijon public was able to discover her at the head of the Orchester Dijon Bourgogne during the opera “Don Pasquale” by Donizetti, produced by the Dijon Opera and presented in May 2022.”
Waldman is the Music Director of the Orchestre National Avignon-Provence and became the first female Music Director in France. Originally from São Paulo, Brazil, Waldman studied orchestral conducting and composition at the Universidad Católica de Argentina in Buenos Aires and continued her studies in France at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique.
By Francisco Salazar
The Boston and U.K.-based Enigma Chamber Opera will continue its exploration of chamber works by Benjamin Britten with two performances of “The Prodigal Son.”
The work is the third of Britten’s three Parables for Church Performance and will be directed by Artistic Director Kirsten Z. Cairns.
“The Prodigal Son’s” libretto is by William Plomer, and tells the story of two sons of a farmer – the older a hard-working laborer who tends to the family business and the younger, whose reckless ways see him leaving with then squandering his inheritance in a far-off city. Destitute and defeated, the younger son returns home, begging his father to take him back.
In a statement, Cairns noted, “Often with this story we are meant to identify with the Younger Son or the Elder Son. I found myself wondering if we ought to identify with the Father. I am struck by the biblical line, ‘While he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him, and kissed him.’”
The production will star Omar Najmi as The Tempter/Abbott, Aaron Engebreth as The Father, David McFerrin as the Elder Son, and Matthew DiBattista as the Younger Son. Paul Soper, Tom Oesterling, and Daniel Fridley are chorus members playing servants, beggars, and other characters.
“The Prodigal Son” will be performed on Oct. 21 and 22 at Boston’s Cathedral Church of St. Paul. The work will be streamed on the Enigma Chamber Opera YouTube page for one week starting Oct. 28 at 7 pm.
By Francisco Salazar
The Royal Choral Society is set to celebrate its 150th anniversary with a season that reflects its illustrious history and its connection with some of the most significant names in the musical world.
The season will include works by Charles Gounod, Giuseppe Verdi, Antonin Dvorák, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, Edward Elgar, Ethel Smyth, William Walton, Ralph Vaughan Williams, and Malcolm Sargent, who had a 39-year association with the choir.
The season opens with “The World of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor” with Richard Cooke conducting and tenor Ben Hulett and violinist Fenella Humphreys as soloists. The celebration of the music of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor will include Hiawatha’s Wedding Feast.
Performance Date: Oct. 9, 2022
Christmas with the Royal Choral Society will include Mary Bevan conducted by Richard Cooke.
Performance Date: Dec. 12, 2022
The Carols at the Hall Royal Albert Hall will be conducted by Richard Cooke with Greg Beardsell. The concert will feature Fifteen carol concerts in the lead-up to Christmas at London’s favorite venue.
Performance Dates: Dec. 17-24, 2022
Händel’s “Messiah” will be performed on Good Friday. Richard Cooke conducts the performance starring Keri Fuge, Marta Fontanals-Simmons, Andrew Staples, and James Clerverton.
Performance Date: April 7, 2023
The season concludes with A Royal Celebration under Richard Cooke.
Performance Date: May 7, 2023
By Francisco Salazar
The Board of the Finnish National Opera and Ballet Foundation has announced it is recommending Thomas de Mallet Burgess as the next Artistic Director for the company.
“As an Artistic Director, Thomas brings a combination of experience and creativity that would boldly develop the future of opera at the Finnish National Opera,” said General Director Gita Kadambi.
English opera director de Mallet Burgess is currently General Director at New Zealand Opera, a position he has held since 2018. During his time he has transformed New Zealand’s national opera company. In 2012, he founded the innovative site-specific opera company, Lost & Found Opera in Australia and worked as its Artistic Director until 2018. He has also worked at the Canadian Opera Company, the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Opera Ireland and Wexford Festival Opera.
The Finnish National Opera said that the proposal followed a motion by General Director Gita Kadambi and was unanimously supported by the nomination and remuneration committee appointed by the Board.
Kadambi said, ”From many promising candidates, Thomas was the one who fulfilled our criteria best. He has excellent leadership skills and the artistic vision and talent needed for developing the opera art form and introducing it to new, broader audiences. Along with an extensive professional network, he has a track record in financially sound long-term planning. As an Artistic Director, Thomas has a combination of experience and creativity that would boldly develop the future of opera at the Finnish National Opera.”
The board will next hear personnel groups of the Finnish National Opera, after which it will decide upon the appointment in a meeting on Oct. 11, 2022.
By Afton Wooten
(Credit: Stephanie Berger)
The Dessoff Choirs will open its 2022-23 season with the North American premiere of “Duruflé and Lusitano.”
The concert will feature music by the first known Black composer to be published, Vicente Lusitano (1520-61), and the last Impressionist composer, Maurice Duruflé (1902-86). Dessoff’s Music Director Malcolm J. Merriweather will conduct the choirs along with soloists mezzo-soprano Lucia Bradford and organist David Enlow.
The program starts off with Lusitano’s motets and madrigals published in 1551. This is followed by a reduced version of Duruflé’s “Requiem.” The work dedicated to his father’s memory explores chant for both choir and solo voice with organ.
In regard to the elusive work of Lusitano, Merriweather explains, “Despite the quality of his music and his place in history, Lusitano’s works remain very rarely performed, if at all. This neglect is another example of a persistent pattern in the history of classical music wherein Black composers encounter prejudice and disenfranchisement. The Dessoff Choirs is honored to play a small role in maximizing Lusitano’s achievements and introducing his music to the classical canon’s collective memory.”
“Duruflé and Lusitano” will take place at Union Theological Seminary in Manhattan on Nov. 5 at 4 p.m. Masks and proof of vaccination against COVID-19 are required for audience members.
By Francisco Salazar
(Photo: Richard Termine)
On Sept. 22 the Metropolitan Opera hosted Olena Zelenska’s Foundation for a charity event.
The Foundation’s primary goal is to restore Ukraine’s human capital so that every Ukrainian feels physically and mentally healthy, protected, and able to exercise their right to education, work, and build a future in Ukraine.
In a statement, the First Lady of Ukraine said, “Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, we have managed to do a lot. We have organized 20 convoys of life, which made it possible to evacuate more than 550 children with cancer to hospitals in Europe, the USA, and Canada. We hosted the First Ladies and Gentlemen Summit to raise money and purchase more than 80 ambulances. We evacuated children from orphanages for their temporary stay abroad. We provided humanitarian aid to family-type orphanages. But every day brings more and more requests and needs. More funding is needed. That is why I am creating the Foundation. The Foundation will make it possible to significantly scale assistance to people and provide proper treatment and decent education to everyone who needs it.”
The event was attended by Peter Gelb and his wife Keri-Lynn Wilson, US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs of the United Kingdom James Cleverly, American TV host and actor Jimmy Fallon, actor Matt Damon, and actress Brooke Shields. Ukrainian stars performed at the charity evening while Andrii Biedniakov hosted the evening.
During the event, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy appeared via video and said, “We are fighting for freedom and protecting our people. We are doing everything possible to engage our friends – friends of freedom – worldwide who are willing to contribute to our struggle.”
The Metropolitan Opera has been on the frontlines of the Ukraine War having created the Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra, and done a fundraising concert for the efforts in Ukraine. The company has also cut ties with the Bolshoi Theatre and with such artists as Anna Netrebko and Hibla Gerzmava.
Leading Soprano Makes her Roles Debut as ‘Medea’ in Metropolitan Opera Premiere
By Francisco Salazar
(Credit: Marty Sohl/Metropolitan Opera)
On Sept. 27, the Metropolitan Opera is set to open the new season with the company premiere of “Medea.” The opera was made famous when Maria Callas rediscovered it in the 1950s and took it to the Teatro alla Scala, Royal Opera House, and the Dallas Opera. She also took the story (not the opera though) to the silver screen in a film by Pasolini. It was the opera with which she gave her last Italian performances. It later served as a vehicle for such divas as Leyla Gencer, Anna Caterina Antonacci, Monserrat Caballe, Anja Silja, and Shirley Verrett, among others.
Now Sondra Radvanovsky joins the ranks of the sopranos who will take on the role.
The Canadian-American soprano will interpet the Italian version for the first time in her career. She noted the role “can be serpentine, or what we’ve been calling the Hulk, or a goddess. It’s exhausting.” She added in a recent interview with the New York Times, “I could not have thought of a better role to be singing right now than Medea. It’s the best therapy you can ask for.”
With the new role, Radvanovsky will team up with Sir. David McVicar, with whom she has worked on many Met productions including, “Il Trovatore,” the historic Tudor trilogy, “Tosca,” and “Norma.” She recently did a new production with the director in Chicago of “Macbeth” in which she made her anticipated role debut as Lady Macbeth.
“Medea” will also mark her second opening night at the Met following the 2017-18 season opener of “Norma” with OperaWire stating that “Sondra Radvanovsky soared through the treacherously difficult role, bringing pathos and beauty to every moment she spent onstage.”
For audiences not in New York for the historic debut, the opera will be Live in HD. The soprano is also headlining two productions in Zurich this season and is returning to the Gran Teatre del Liceu, Canadian Opera Company, Teatro San Carlos, and Deutsche Oper Berlin.
Recent Recordings
Radvanovsky is one of the most distinct voices of her generation so here is a look at some recent performances including “Macbeth,” “Turandot,” and a preview of “Medea.”
By Francisco Salazar
The Semperoper Dresden has announced a cast change for its production of Verdi’s “La Traviata.”
The company announced that soprano Nina Minasyan will sing the role of Violetta Valéry in the new Semperoper production of “La Traviata.” Minasyan will replace Adela Zaharia, who, to her and the Semperoper’s great regret, is forced to cancel her Dresden debut due to illness. The production is scheduled to open on Oct 2, 2022.
Minasyan recently performed the role of Violetta Valéry at the Arena di Verona Opera Festival and also opened the Wiener Staatsoper in “La Bohème” as Musetta. The Armenian soprano last appeared at the Semperoper in the 2018-19 season, when she made her Dresden debut in the title role of “Lucia di Lammermoor.”
The new production of Verdi’s middle-period masterpiece will be staged by Barbora Horáková Joly and also stars Liparit Avetisyan, Alexey Markov, and Patrick Vogel. Leonardo Sini conducts.
