In the past eight months, many opera houses have used streaming to reach audiences around the world. This is a format that is new to many companies; however, some of the most prominent opera houses, such as the Metropolitan Opera, have been using this format for years. And while the aim with this format is to maintain companies relevant in {…}
(Photo: David Beale) Every Friday, Polina Lyapustina delivers a short essay on some of the most sensitive topics in the industry with the intent of establishing a dialogue about the opera world and its future. The choice of topics discussed, how they are researched, and how they are portrayed is conducted independently of OperaWire’s editors. With the end of the {…}
(Photo: Oleg Laptev) Every Friday, Polina Lyapustina delivers a short essay on some of the most sensitive topics in the industry with the intent of establishing a dialogue about the opera world and its future. The choice of topics discussed, how they are researched, and how they are portrayed is conducted independently of OperaWire’s editors. First, I’ll say, that the {…}
(Photo: Hasan Almasi) Every Friday, Polina Lyapustina delivers a short essay on some of the most sensitive topics in the industry with the intent of establishing a dialogue about the opera world and its future. The choice of topics discussed, how they are researched, and how they are portrayed is conducted independently of OperaWire’s editors. “Through the stories we tell {…}
Photo by Daniel Thiele Every Friday, Polina Lyapustina delivers a short essay on some of the most sensitive topics in the industry with the intent of establishing a dialogue about the opera world and its future. The choice of topics discussed, how they are researched, and how they are portrayed is conducted independently of OperaWire’s editors. Last week, a €1.8 trillion {…}
(Art by Zuleyka V. Benitez, used with permission from Haymarket Opera Company) Every Friday, Polina Lyapustina delivers a short essay on some of the most sensitive topics in the industry with the intent of establishing a dialogue about the opera world and its future. The choice of topics discussed, how they are researched, and how they are portrayed is conducted {…}
(Photos from protests in Bologna by soprano Federica Vitali) Every Friday, Polina Lyapustina delivers a short essay on some of the most sensitive topics in the industry with the intent of establishing a dialogue about the opera world and its future. The choice of topics discussed, how they are researched, and how they are portrayed is conducted independently of OperaWire’s {…}
(Photo: Joshua Reddekopp) We, critics, forgot how to look around. Always concentrated on our perspective, our goal, we come to the theatre, ready to collect the proofs of our case. But now, what we see is impossible to ignore — it’s too unreal. Halls that are two-thirds empty we now call sold-out. Rehearsals in masks are a new normal. Distanced actors play {…}
Recently, mourning the death of truly great soprano Jessye Norman, many opera singers, directors, and other professionals shared an extract from her amazing interview for BBC HARDtalk, in which she covered many important topics on the opera industry and education. But what people shared was a very particular short piece, where she shared her thoughts on opera critics. Question: Did {…}
A prestigious showcase of the opera world , the Rolex Ambassadors Gala, took place at La Scala earlier this month. Big names and outstanding performances. A unique opportunity to see the stars of the opera world together: Juan Diego Flórez, Jonas Kaufmann, Sonya Yoncheva, Yuja Wang, Plácido Domingo and Gustavo Dudamel conduct Wiener Philharmoniker. But today, I’m not going to review {…}
The news that the Metropolitan Opera would be starting to present operas on Sunday afternoons came as a massive surprise for a number of reasons. On the one hand, the Met has never done this and has retained a rather conservative approach to its scheduling throughout its history. This, of course, is the result of the company working with a {…}