When Jane Marsh made her Italian and European début at the Festival of Two Worlds in Spoleto, Italy singing the demanding part of Desdemona in Giuseppe Verdi’s “Otello,” she was just past her teens. She had been recommended to Thomas Schippers by the Metropolitan Opera as he was looking for a soprano to sing the role for the opening of {…}
(Photo: Dahyun Baek) SeokJong Baek’s rise to prominence in the opera world can only be described as meteoric, if not almost difficult to believe. Almost 15 years singing as a baritone, a chance encounter with fellow South Korean tenor Yonghoon Lee suggested to him that he might make a better tenor than a baritone. Despite joining the San Francisco Young {…}
(Credit: Victor Santiago) This past week, Francesco Meli made his role debut as “Otello” in Verdi’s masterpiece. It marked his 18th Verdi role and a return to the Venice house where has sung many of those Verdi works. But in the run-up to the premiere of the opera, Meli’s comments in an interview with Il Giornale became the center of {…}
(Credit: Yan-Bleney) Born in Montreal, Étienne Dupuis has established himself as one of the most distinguished baritones of his generation. Amongst his wide-ranging repertoire, he is especially in demand for Verdi roles. In the 2023-24 season, Étienne made a series of role debuts: as Don Carlo di Vargas in “La forza del destino” at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, {…}
(Credit: © Clara Evens) On Oct. 11, Rachel Fenlon made history with her debut album on Orchid Classics, becoming the first ever to sing and accompany herself in Schubert’s masterpiece “Winterreise” on recording. Fenlon has self-accompanied herself at prestigious festivals and venues such as Fundación Juan March, the Oxford Lieder Festival, Festival de Lanaudière, Martha Argerich Festival Hamburg, Ottawa Chamberfest, National {…}
(Photo credit: Enrico De Luigi) Soprano Ekaterina Bakanova is a Russian born opera and oratorio singer. Italian by adoption, she famously made her Royal Opera House debut in “La Traviata,” with just a few hours notice, after Sonya Yoncheva became ill in 2015. She has since performed in many of the renowned opera houses in the world. She is the {…}
(Photo: Lukáš Kimlička) Having recently reviewed a marvelous production of “The Cunning Little Vixen” by the Slovak National Theatre Opera in Bratislava, OperaWire decided to take the opportunity to interview the vixen, played by soprano Adriana Kučerová. One of the stars of the Slovak National Theatre Opera, Kučerová has an established international reputation and has performed widely in leading opera {…}
(Credit: © Gregor Hohenberg) September 20 marked a special day for tenor Juan Diego Flórez. For decades, the famed bel canto specialist has been almost exclusively releasing albums on Decca Classics, becoming one of the major operatic faces for the label throughout his career. He also worked with Sony Classical for a short period. But the tenor, who in recent {…}
(Credit: Rosie Hardy) Lise Lindstrom recently took time to converse with Benjamin Torbert for OperaWire. Lindstrom sings all three Brünnhildes in “Die Walküre,” “Siegfried,” and “Götterdämmerung” in the Dallas Symphony Orchestra’s very lightly staged concert presentation of Wagner’s “Der Ring Des Nibelungen,” on 13-20 October 2024. She already appeared with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra for two performances of “Walküre” in {…}
(Photo credit: Alessio Chao) The 25-year-old Italian mezzo-soprano Emma Alessi Innocenti is still at the stage in her career in which she is attempting to establish herself as a known singer within the industry. Of course, at such a young age, she has had relatively few opportunities to perform in fully staged operas. But by sheer chance, OperaWire has reviewed {…}
(Photo: Ilenia Brunelli) This summer’s Ravenna Festival saw the premiere of Danilo Comitini and Francesca Masi’s opera “Dilexi”, based on the life of the Roman Empress Galla Placidia. A success in its own right, the opera also showcased the talents of the young soprano Laura Zecchini, who is still completing her master’s degree at the Cesena Conservatory. Notwithstanding her limited {…}