On February 20, the curtain of the Salle Garnier at the Opéra de Monte-Carlo rose to inaugurate Jean-Louis Grinda’s new staging of Massenet’s “Werther,” co-produced by the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía in Valencia, where it received its initial performances in 2017. Just as any Wagnerian pilgrimage naturally leads to the Festspielhaus in Bayreuth, every fervent admirer of Massenet {…}
Baritone Lucas Meachem is set to make his Teatro alla Scala debut in a production of Massenet’s “Thaïs.” Meachem will take over for Ludovic Tézier, who recently recovered from COVID-19, and was unable to participate in the production. “I’ll be singing Athanaël in Thaïs, one of the most challenging (and rewarding) roles in the baritone repertoire,” the baritone noted via {…}
“Page to Opera Stage” looks at stories – real-life or fiction, old and new – that have inspired operas, and the ways these narratives have been edited and dramatized to fit a new medium. This month, we return to Goethe, this time with Jules Massenet’s poignant adaptation of his name-making novel “The Sorrows of Young Werther” The following contains discussion {…}
(Credit: Mikel Ponce / Miguel Lorenzo) OperaVision has announced its streams for the month of December. Clément Hervieu-Léger’s production of Philippe Hersant and Jean Echenoz’s “Les Éclairs” from Opéra Comique kicks off the streaming slate. The opera features Jean-Christophe Lanièce, Marie-Andrée Bouchard-Lesieur, François Rougier, Elsa Benoit, André Heyboer, Jérôme Boutillier, Alban Dufourt, and Mathieu Dubroca. Ariane Matiakh conducts. Streaming dates: {…}
(Credit: Marty Sohl / Metropolitan Opera) “Page to Opera Stage” looks at stories–real-life or fiction, old and new–that have inspired operas, and the ways these narratives have been edited and dramatized to fit a new medium. In this instalment, we look at one novel–Abbé Prevost’s ‘Manon Lescaut’–and the two (very different) audience favourite operas it inspired: Jules Massenet’s “Manon” and {…}
(Credit: https://www.visitlisboa.com/) Portugal’s Teatro Nacional de São Carlos has announced the schedule until January 2022. Here is a look at operatic and vocal performances. Operas The season opens with concert performances of Tchaikovsky‘s “Iolanta.” The opera spotlights Misha Didyk, Evgeny Stavinsky, Guriy Guryev, and Zarina Abaeva in the title role. Graeme Jenkins conducts. Performance Dates: Sep. 29 – Oct. 3, 2021 {…}
(Credit: Lim Kiihwan) The Festival Radio France Occitanie Montpellier 2021 has announced the cancellation of the concert version of Massenet’s opera “Bacchus” that was scheduled for July 26. The opera was set to star Catherine Hunold, John Osborn, Virginie Verrez, Nicolas Testé, Jérôme Boutillier, Sébastien Droy, Florie Valiquette, and Philippe Nicolas-Martin alongside conductor Michael Schønwandt. As a replacement, the festival {…}
Radio France has announced its 2021-22 season. For the purpose of this article we will focus only on the vocal works. Here is a look. Operas Ravel’s “L’Enfant et les sortilèges” spotlights Jodie Devos, Clara Guillon, Adèle Charvet, Marie Lenormand, Élodie Méchain, Antoine Normand, Régis Mengus, and Paul Gay. Mikko Franck conducts. Performance date: Oct. 1, 2021, Philharmonie de Paris {…}
(Credit: © Jag Gundu) The Toronto Symphony Orchestra has won the JUNO Award for Best Classical Album: Vocal or Choral for its recording of Massenet’s “Thaïs.” The recording stars Joshua Hopkins, Andrew Staples, Nathan Berg, Liv Redpath, Andrea Ludwig, Emilia Boteva, and Neil Aronoff. Sir Andrew Davis led the Toronto Symphony Orchestra with Jonathan Crow leading the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir. {…}
(Credits: © Dario Acosta / © Gregor Hohenberg / Sony Classical / © Gregor Hohenberg / Sony Music Entertainment / © Tatiana Vlasova / © Dario Acosta) The Wiener Konzerthaus has announced its 2021-22 season featuring a variety of concerts from some of the world’s greatest performers. For the purpose of this article, we will only focus on the vocal {…}
(Credits: Bernard Martinez / Cory Weaver / Kirsten Nijhof / In Art Management official website) Opéra de Lyon has announced its 2021-22 season. Here is the full slate. Operas A concert version of Massenet‘s “Manon” will showcase Saimir Pirgu as Le Chevalier des Grieux, Artur Ruciński as Lescaut, and Patricia Petibon in the title role. The cast will be rounded {…}