By Francisco Salazar
The Metropolitan Opera Guild has announced that it will celebrate the legacy and impact of the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program at the Guild’s 88th Annual Luncheon.
The event, which is set to take place on Nov. 10, 2022 at Cipriani 42nd Street in New York City will feature spoken and musical tributes by LYADP alumni Stephanie Blythe, Michelle Bradley, and Sondra Radvanovsky, as well as current Young Artist Jonah Hoskins.
There will also be digital remarks by such LYADP alumni as Dwayne Croft, Michelle DeYoung, Ying Fang, Christine Goerke, Ryan Speedo Green, Anthony Dean Griffey, Nathan Gunn, Kate Lindsey, Erin Morley, Tamara Mumford, Kevin Murphy, Heidi Grant Murphy, Lisette Oropesa, Nimrod David Pfeffer, Morris Robinson, Craig Terry, and Bryan Wagorn.
In a statement, Richard J. Miller, Jr., President of the Metropolitan Opera Guild said, “The Guild is honored to salute the rich history and singular accomplishments of the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program. For more than thirty years, the LYADP has identified, educated and nurtured the best young talents in our field; in so doing, they have guaranteed a brilliant future for the art form we all love. Ensuring a future for opera through audience development has always been the goal of the Guild’s programs, and our Annual Luncheon helps make those programs possible.”
Melissa Wegner, Executive Director of the LYADP, added, “On behalf of the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program, I am honored that the Metropolitan Opera Guild has chosen to celebrate the program at its Annual Luncheon. The impact and legacy of the LYADP is evident nearly every night on the stage of the Met and other great houses around the world, which is thanks to our intrepid artists and the tireless work of our unparalleled faculty and staff. We thank the Guild for continuing to invest in the future of opera through its education and fundraising efforts, so these talented Lindemann artists have audiences to dazzle for many years to come.”
The Metropolitan Opera Guild’s Annual Luncheon has been a highlight of every opera season for more than eighty years, bringing together artists and their fans to celebrate legendary figures and institutions from the world of opera. Recent honorees include Harolyn Blackwell, Thomas Hampson, Diana Soviero, Marina Arroyo, Stephanie Blythe, Christine Goerke, Denyce Graves, Renée Fleming, the Metropolitan Opera Eric and Dominique Laffont Competition, Anna Netrebko, Patricia Racette, and Teresa Stratas.
By Francisco Salazar
(Credit: Dario Acosta)
Angela Meade has canceled her concert at the Rossini Opera Festival.
The festival said, “due to sudden health reasons, Angela Meade has canceled the concert scheduled for August 18 at 3.30 pm at the Rossini Theatre. However, a symphony concert conducted by Maestro Daniel Smith will be held on the same date.”
As a result, ticket holders can request a credit for future concerts, choose another concert, or request a refund.
Meade recently performed at the Verbier Festival in a concert performance of “Un Ballo in Maschera” as well as with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra.
The soprano is set to return to the stage in September for “La Forza del Destino” in A Coruña. She is also set to perform at the Bayerische Staatsoper, Metropolitan Opera, and the Bilbao Opera during the 2022-23 season.
By Francisco Salazar
The Arena di Verona is offering audience members alternate performances following the cancelation of Bizet’s “Carmen” on August 11.
The company noted that following inclement weather, it was forced to cancel in the middle of the performance.
The company said that “all spectators with a 8/11 ticket can return this weekend on 13 August 2022 for “Turandot” or 14 August 2022 for “Carmen,” subject to availability, by buying a ticket at the symbolic price of € 2.50 in the same seat category purchased for the 8/11 show.”
The company added that spectators will also “have the opportunity to purchase tickets with a 50 percent discount for the performances of 18, 19, 20 or 21 August 2022 (“Nabucco,” “Turandot,” “La Traviata,” “Aida”), subject to availability, in the same seat category purchased for the 8/11 show.”
The “Carmen” performance is the most recent show that was canceled in Verona. On July 29, the company was also forced to cancel a presentation of “Nabucco” and on July 28, the “Aida” performance was unable to finish.
The next “Carmen” performance at the Arena di Verona is set to take place on August 13 with Elina Garanča, Maria Teresa Leva, Brian Jagde, and Claudio Sgura.
By Francisco Salazar
“Black Lodge” is set to make its world premiere at the Opera Philadelphia Festival O22 and the 2022 Philadelphia Fringe Festival.
The work is composed by David T. Little and is produced by Beth Morrison Projects. The new opera draws on the disturbing and complicated mythologies of the surrealist writer William S. Burroughs (Naked Lunch) and uses dance, industrial rock, classical string quartet, and opera to take viewers through a “Lynchian” psychological escape room.
The libretto was written by legendary poet Anne Waldman and story, screenplay, and direction by Michael Joseph McQuilken.
Part film screening and part industrial rock opera concert, the work will feature glam opera band Timur & the Dime Museum alongside musicians from the Opera Philadelphia Orchestra at the Philadelphia Film Center.
The work will premiere at the Philadelphia Film Center on Oct. 1 and 2, 2022 and then make its streaming debut on Oct. 21 on the Opera Philadelphia Channel.
By Francisco Salazar
This week audiences can hear the debut album for one of opera’s rising stars and a complete recoding of Jenůfa by one of the reigning divas of our time.
Jonathan Tetelman: Arias
Jonathan Tetelman releases his debut album on Deutsche Grammophon. The new album features arias from the French and Italian repertoire and was Recorded at the Auditorio Alfredo Kraus with the Orquesta Filarmónica de Gran Canaria and its Chief Conductor, Karel Mark Chichon.
Born
GRAMMY-winning choir The Crossing, led by Donald Nally, releases Born: The Music of Edie Hill and Michael Gilbertson, on Navona Records. Hill’s avian-inspired “Spectral Spirits” paints a colorful study of recently-extinct birds and their interaction with humankind, while Gilbertson’s “Born and Returning” addresses in raw and authentic language the complexities of our intimate relationships.
Spirits in Bondage
Poetry and music have often been described as “beautiful sisters” in the European tradition, and American composer Benjamin C. S. Boyle sets out to prove just how harmonious this kinship can be. Owing to pianist and art song expert Laura Ward as well as to a selection of top-class singers, these elaborate yet easily accessible vocal compositions are resplendently brought to life on “Spirits in Bondage.”
The lyrics underpinning this double album are often fantastical, but Boyle prudently renounces any notion of musical pomp and instead sets them in an agreeably-reduced, crystal-clear tonal language. Ward and her high-carat assortment of vocalists empathetically, wisely oblige and perform them likewise – and the result is magnificent.
Jenůfa
Opus Art releases the Royal Opera’s staging of Janáček’s powerful “Jenůfa.” The new production, which was shown in September 2021 saw Benjamin Poore from Operawire write director Claus Guth’s “clarity of vision allows the symbolic and psychological register of the opera to cut through, as well as the emotional rawness essential to Janáček’s dramas.” The new DVD features Asmik Grigorian in her Royal Opera debut, Karita Mattila, Nicky Spence, Saimir Pirgu, Elena Zilio.
By Francisco Salazar
The 76th Teatro Lirico Sperimentale has announced its new season which will take place in Spoleto in Umbria.
The season opens with “La Tragedie de Carmen” conducted by Carlo Palleschi and directed by Alessio Pizzech. The set design is by Andrea Stanisci and Luci Eva Bruno with costumes by Clelia De Angelis. The production will be shown at Teatro Caio Melisso.
Performance Dates: August 11-13, 2022
“Le Donne, I Cavallier, L’arme, Gli Arme” will feature music by Gustav Mahler. Enrico Girardi and Luci Eva Bruno directs.
Performance Date: Sept. 14, 2022
Mozart’s “Don Giovanni” will be conducted by Salvatore Percacciolo and directed by Henning Brockhaus and Luci Eva Bruno.
Performance Dates: Sept. 13-18, 2022
Fiorenzo Carpi and Giorgio Strehler’s “La Porta Divisione” will make its world premiere. Marco Angius conducts and Giorgio Bongiovanni conducts.
Performance Dates: Sept. 2-4, 2022
“La Franchezza delle Donne” will be presented in a critical edition. The work by Giuseppe Sellitti and Tommaso Mariani will be presented in a double bill with “L’ammalato Immaginario” by Leonardo Vinci. Pierfrancesco Borrelli conducts and Andrea Stanisci directs.
Performance Dates: Sept. 9-11, 2022
By Francisco Salazar
Opera San José is set to present the international operatic conducting debut of prodigy composer/musician Alma Deutscher.
Deutscher will will take the podium for a production of her landmark opera, “Cinderella,” based on the classic fairytale.
The company will revive the 2017 production which sold out the California Theatre and marked the American premiere of the opera. Director Brad Dalton will return to revive his original production and the opera will star Natalia Santaliz as Cinderella, Ben Brady as The King, Stacey Tappan as Griselda, Rena Harms as The Stepmother, and Megan Esther Grey as Emeline.
Cinderella will be sung in English, with English supertitles. The opera is set to be performed from Nov. 12–27, 2022.
By Francisco Salazar
The Grand Teton Music Festival is set to livestream its semi-staged production of “La bohème.”
The production will be streamed on August 27 and features an all-star cast led by Nicole Cabell as Mimì, Jonathan Tetelman as Rodolfo, Meechot Marrero as Musetta, Ryan Speedo Green as Colline, Thomas Lehman as Marcello, and Carlton Ford as Schaunard.
Sir Donald Runnicles conducts the Festival Orchestra in the concert version directed by David Lefkowich.
The livestream is one of the two that the festival is set to present this season. The company will also present the August 20 concert on its digital program. That concert features the U.S. Premiere of living composer Detlev Glanert’s homage to Brahms, Idyllium, and Ingrid Fliter performs Robert Schumann’s popular Piano Concerto. Brahms’ Symphony No. 1 closes the program.
By Afton Wooten
DACAMERA is set to present the New York premiere of Tyshawn Sorey’s “Monochromatic Light.”
In February of this year, “Monochromatic Light (Afterlife)” made its world premiere in Huston under the baton of the composer. The same goes for this performance. Bass Davóne Tines is joined by the Choir of Trinity Wall Street, DACAMERA’s Artistic Director Sarah Rothenberg on piano and celeste, as well as violinist Kim Kashkashian, and percussionist Steven Schick. Peter Sellars directs.
This work was written for the 50th anniversary of Houston’s Rothko Chapel and co-commissioned by DACAMERA, the Rothko Chapel, and Park Avenue Armory.
Nine performances will take place between Sept. 27 and Oct. 8 at the Park Avenue Armory.
By Francisco Salazar
On August 12, the CortinAteatro will present Donizetti’s “L’Elisir d’Amore” for at the Alexander Girardi Hall in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Belluno.
The opera, which made its world premiere in 1832, is celebrating its 190th anniversary and will be presented for the first time in Cortina d’Ampezzo in a co-production with Musincantus, Fondazione Cassamarca, Orchestra Regionale Filarmonia Veneta, Comune di Treviso, andComune di Villorba.
The production will be directed by Marco Bellussi and will be set in the Basque countries. The melodrama has a rural mountain setting, and the festival notes that that will make it suitable for representation at an altitude of 1200 meters, at Regina delle Dolomiti.
The opera will star Bruno Taddia as Belcore, Leonardo Galeazzi as Dulcamara, Leonardo Cortellazzi as Nemorino, Rosalia Cid as Adina, and Caterina Marchesini as Giannetta.
