By Francisco Salazar
Opera North has announced that Richard Mantle OBE DL will retire as General Director in 2023 after almost 30 years of leading the Company.
Mantle joined the company in 1994, following previous roles as Managing Director at Edmonton Opera in Canada, at Scottish Opera, and as Deputy Managing Director at English National Opera.
He was later awarded an OBE in June 2013 for services to music, is a Deputy Lieutenant of West Yorkshire, and holds honorary doctorates from both the University of Leeds and the University of York.
As the General Director of Opera North, Mantle has seen the Company transform into a complex, multifaceted arts organization ready to meet 21st-century challenges, delivering large-scale touring opera and a symphonic concerts program as well as eclectic music, talks, and film program of the 300-seat Howard Assembly Room in Leeds.
He also led two significant capital developments of Opera North’s estate, including the Transformation program which created purpose-built rehearsal facilities and led to the opening of the Howard Assembly Room in 2009, and the recent Music Works project to create additional rehearsal space for the Orchestra and Chorus, dedicated Education studios, and improved front of house facilities for the Howard Assembly Room, including Kino, a new restaurant and bar on New Briggate which opened in 2022.
In a statement Mantle said, “A little over two years ago before Covid intervened, I had been considering the possibility of retiring though I was keen to see the completion of our ambitious Music Works project and to welcome Garry Walker as our new Music Director. Opera North has now come through the considerable challenges of the pandemic intact and in good shape. We have completed a full season of opera and music, culminating in the incredible experience of ‘Parsifal,’ we have finally completed Music Works, and we are delighted that Garry Walker has relocated to the UK and joined us here in Leeds as Music Director. Having discussed this at length with our Chair, Paul Lee, we have agreed that now is the time to instigate a process to identify and appoint my successor. I anticipate that I will step down at the end of 2023; the exact date will be flexible depending on the appointment of a new General Director.”
By Francisco Salazar
San Sebastian’s Kursaal Eszena has announced its 2022-23 season which will feature 11 concerts from Sept. 28, 2022 through Jan. 13, 2023.
For the purposes of this article, we will only focus on vocal performances.
William Christie will conduct his ensemble Les Arts Florissants in a concert featuring the works of Handel.
Performance Date: Oct. 12, 2022
Piotr Beczala will present a concert four years after performing at the legendary house. The tenor will showcase a varied program of arias and songs.
Performance Date: Nov. 15, 2022
The season will also feature Patti Smith, who will open it, Isabelle Faust, Mitsuko Uchida, Mahler Chamber Orchestra, and Scapino Ballet Rotterdam.
By Francisco Salazar
Rai 5 is set to broadcast a production of “I Capuleti e i Montecchi” from the Teatro Massimo di Bellini.
The company will showcase a production by Gianluca Falaschi with Fabrizio Maria Carminati conducting the masterpiece. The work will feature Ruth Iniesta in her role debut as Giulietta and Chiara Amarù as Romeo. The cast will also feature Marco Ciaponi as Tebaldo, Alexey Birkus as Lorenzo, and Antonio Di Matteo as Capellio.
The bel canto opera is being presented as part of Bellini International, which celebrates the works of the Italian composer and which will see concerts dedicated to the composer’s music.
“I Capuleti e i Montecchi” is set to be performed on Sept. 23 and 25, 2022.
By Francisco Salazar
Raehann Bryce-Davis is set to open the George London Foundation for Singers 2022-23 season.
The mezzo will perform a recital on Oct. 2 at the Morgan Library & Museum. The showcase will feature Amy Beach’s “Three Browning Songs;” Wagner’s “Wesendonck Lieder;” three songs from Peter Ashbourne’s “Fi Mi Love Have Lion Heart,” based on Jamaican folk songs; songs by Melissa Dunphy, Margaret Bonds, and Florence Price; and the world premiere of Maria Thompson Corley’s “The Beauty in my Blackness.”
Pianist Jeanne-Minette Cilliers will accompany the mezzo.
Bryce-Davis is a rising star who has performed with the Washington National Opera, Oratorio Society of New York, Metropolitan Opera, Los Angeles Opera, Dutch National Opera, La Monnaie de Munt, Glimmerglass Festival, Staatstheater Nürnberg, and Opera Ballet Vlaanderen, among others.
By Afton Wooten
The Town Hall will open its 2022-23 season with the NYC premiere of “MEMORY GAME” by Meredith Monk on Oct. 15, 2022.
“MEMORY GAME” examines pivotal times in Monk’s career. The work explores her groundbreaking interdisciplinary work and life experiences. The set of songs chosen carries the narrative.
She will headline Town Hall for a third time along with her Vocal Ensemble including Theo Bleckmann, Katie Geissinger, and Allison Sniffin. They will also be collaborating with Bang on a Can All-Stars. The program also includes Monk’s other works such as “Spaceship,” “Memory Song,” “Gamemaster’s Song,” Migration, “Double Fiesta,” from “Acts from Under and Above,” and more.
Monk told DownBeat magazine, “The first time that I ever worked with Bang on a Can … was in the late ‘90s. That was really, in a way, the beginning of this project. It’s exciting to hear these songs again in a new way, with more of an instrumental aspect added onto the vocal.”
This season focuses on women composers who have impacted American culture. Upcoming performances include the Eighth Blackbird ensemble and the NYC debut of Laura Kaminsky’s “Hometown to the World.”
By Francisco Salazar
The Premio Internazionale Ottavio Ziino is set to hold its finale on Sept. 22 at the Teatro Ghione in Rome.
The finals will celebrate the competition’s 21st edition and will see the first prize winner take home 8,000 euro and the Coppa “OTTAVIO ZIINO.” The second prize winner will receive 4,00 euro and the Targa “OTTAVIO ZIINO” while the third prize winner will take home 2,000 euro and the Targa “OTTAVIO ZIINO.”
The elimination rounds were held in the summer at the Teatro alla Scala, Teatro Verdi di Trieste, Auditorium Cité Internationale des arts di Parigi, Teatro Real de Madrid, Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia de Valencia, Teatro San Carlo di Napoli, Teatro dell’Opera e del Balletto di Ankara, Teatro dell’Opera Alexander Spendiaryan di Yerevan, Teatro Wielki – Opera Nazionale Polacca a Varsavia, and Teatro dell’Opera di Roma.
There will be three juries at the finale, a technical jury, a critics jury, and an audience jury.
The jury is headed by Francesco Giambrone, Sovrintendente of the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, and also features Massimo Biscardi, Sovrintendente of the Fondazione Lirico-Sinfonica Petruzzelli e Teatri di Bari; Liviana Caporale, Casting Manager of the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia; Waldemar Dabrowski, General Manager of the Teatr Wielki di Varsavia; Brian Dickie, former General Director of the Chicago Opera Theater; singer Murat Karahan; Toufic Maatouk, orchestra director of the Saudi Music Hubs; Dominque Meyer, Superintendent of the Teatro alla Scala; Paolo Pinamonti, Artistic Director of the Macerata Opera Festival; Paolo Rodda, Artistic Director of the Fondazione Teatro Lirico G. Verdi di Trieste; Sergey Smbatyan, from the Orchestra Filarmonica di Malta; Alain Surrans, General Director of the Teatro d’Angers Nantes Opera; Ilias Tzempetonidis from the Teatro San Carlo di Napoli; and Wally Santarcangelo, Artistic Director of the Concorso Lirico Internazionale “Ottavio Ziino.”
By Francisco Salazar
Following the death of Queen Elizabeth II, the Royal Opera House and BBC Proms have canceled performances.
The Royal Opera closed on Sept. 8 and canceled performances of “Don Giovanni” and the Aida Insight. The house said it would contact ticket holders for refunds or to change to another performance.
Meanwhile, BBC Proms canceled two nights including the Last Night at Proms. The festival said, “Following the very sad news of the death of Her Majesty The Queen, as a mark of respect we will not be going ahead with Prom 71 on Sept. 9, or the Last Night of the Proms on Sept. 10.”
“Don Giovanni” is now set to open on Sept. 13 and the Royal Opera House is set to open its production of “Salome” on Friday, Sept. 9. Meanwhile BBC Proms was set to feature Lise Davidsen on the Last Night at Proms.
By Nicolas Quiroga
Vocal ensemble Chanticleer will kick off its 45th season with two tours this fall and winter.
The first tour, “Labyrinths,” will take place between September 18-24; that will be followed by “A Chanticleer Christmas,” which will tour the U.S. between December 11- 23, 2022.
The repertoire explored in these performances will include music by Stephen Paulus, Zhou Tian, Josquin des Prez, Joni Mitchell, Caroline Shaw, George Walker, and Trevor Weston, among others.
“’Labyrinths’ is about the twists and turns we take in our lives – some expected, some unexpected. Everybody’s labyrinth is different, and this program offers us a chance to explore those unique trajectories across cultures and time. Chanticleer’s repertoire is vast, and one of the things I cherish most about the ensemble is its ability to explore similar themes across the centuries and across genres,” ” said Music Director Tim Keeler in an official press statement regarding the tours. “Our Christmas program, for instance, always features incredibly diverse styles of music that all tell the Christmas story in their own unique way.”
“Labyrinths” will open in Sacramento, California with stops in Berkeley, Santa Clara, and San Francisco. “A Chanticleer Christmas” will open in New York City followed by stops in Chicago, Louisville, Oakland, Los Angeles, Petaluma, Sacramento, Carmel, San Francisco, Santa Clara, and Berkeley.
By Chris Ruel
After a short illness, renowned choral conductor Terry Edwards has died at age 83.
Prior to using his arms and hands on the podium to bring out the best in choral music, the 6’9” maestro used the same when blocking opponents on the basketball court, where he represented Great Britain at the 1964 Olympics.
Edwards left basketball behind to become a professional singer. Early in his music career, the conductor led the John Alldis Choir and Richard Norrington’s Schütz Choir of London before forming the famed London Voices in 1973.
When he arrived at Covent Garden, it was at the behest of Sir Georg Solti, one of Edwards’ greatest influences. During his tenure in London, Edwards rehearsed the Royal Opera Chorus in over 100 operas and worked with 43 composers and nearly 70 conductors, including such greats as Abbado, Gatti, Gergiev, Haitink, Mehta, Pappano, Rattle, and Thielemann.
Edwards was a well-known figure in the film music industry, having worked with Ennio Morricone, conducted the choral sections for “Star Wars,” all three of “The Lord of the Rings” soundtracks, the “Harry Potter” franchise, “Hunger Games,” and “Grand Budapest Hotel,” which won an Oscar for Best Soundtrack.
By David Salazar
(© Todd Rosenberg Photography 2012)
Conductor Riccardo Muti was given the 27th Faraglioni Prize in Capri on August 30, 2022.
The distinction was bestowed on the famed Italian conductor at the Grand Hotel Quisisiana for his contributions to arts and culture. It was presented to Muti by Marino Lembo, the Mayor of Capri.
The prize reads, “To Riccardo Muti, a legend in the classical music world, who has made his extraordinary contribution, of high cultural value, throughout the world, thanks to his exceptional artistic career, which sees him as the undisputed leader in the most prestigious theaters, with the most important orchestras. Through his Italian Opera Academy, he continues to pass on his long and invaluable experience to new generations by supporting and training the new conductors and opera singers of the future.”
Next up for the famed conductor are a series of concerts in Chicago at the end of September where he will conduct music by Brahms, Tchaikovsky, Mozart, and Rossini.
