Royal Opera House Cinema 2014-15 Schedule Leaked

Yesterday the cinema schedule for the Royal Opera was leaked. The link was immediately taken down but the schedule is as follows: 

The official program of the Live Cinema Season 2014/15

Thursday 16 October 2014 [7:15pm]

The Royal Ballet

MacMillan: MANON (live)

Cast tbc

Monday 27 October 2014 [7:15pm]

The Royal Opera

Verdi : I DUE FOSCARI (live)

New Production

Plácido Domingo / Francesco Meli / Conductor: Antonio Pappano

Wednesday 26 November 2014 [7:15pm]

The Royal Opera

Donizetti: L’ELISIR D’AMORE (live)

Vittorio Grigolo / Lucy Crowe / Bryn Terfel / Conductor: Daniele Rustioni

Tuesday 16 December 2014 [7:15pm]

The Royal Ballet

Wheeldon:  ALICE’S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND (live)

Cast tbc

Thursday 29 January 2015 [7:15pm]

The Royal Opera

Giordano: ANDREA CHÉNIER (live)

New Production

Jonas Kaufmann / Eva-Maria Westbroek / Conductor: Antonio Pappano

Tuesday 24 February 2015 [7:15pm]

The Royal Opera

Wagner:  DER FLIEGENDE HOLLÄNDER (live)

Bryn Terfel / Conductor: Andris Nelsons

Tuesday 17 March 2015 [7:15pm]

The Royal Ballet

Petipa: SWAN LAKE (live)

Cast tbc

Wednesday 1 April 2015 [7:15pm]

The Royal Opera

Weill: RISE AND FALL OF THE CITY OF MAHAGONNY (live)

Anne Sofie von Otter / Willard White / Christine Rice

Conductor: Mark Wigglesworth

Tuesday 5 May 2015 [7:15pm]

The Royal Ballet

Ashton: LA FILLE MAL GARDÉE (live)

Cast tbc

Wednesday 10 June 2015 [7:15pm]

The Royal Opera

Puccini: LA BOHÈME (live)

Anna Netrebko / Joseph Calleja / Conductor: Dan Ettinger

Sunday 5 July 2015 [2:45pm]

The Royal Opera

Rossini: GUILLAUME TELL (live)

Gerald Finley / John Osborn / Conductor: Antonio Pappano

Kaufmann tries out Otello

As everyone already knows Jonas Kaufmann and Renee Fleming performed a concert together to great success. Here is a clip of the Otello duet which saw Kaufmann perform it for the first time.

Notable DVD and CD Releases for the Month of March and April

The next two  months will see the releases of many great artists including a number of Jonas Kaufmann releases.

The final part of the ring cycle "Gotterdammerung" from La Scala will be released. Lance Ryan, Irene Theorin, Mikail Peterenko and Waltraud Meirer star in this production which was conducted by Daniel Barenboim. The DVD comes out a few months after the release of the first three operas. It is unknown if Arthaus will release a box set.

Royal Opera House Rumors

The Royal Opera House is taking a while to announce their season but there are some things that are rumored for next season. 

Mariusz Kwiecien  has already announced on his website that he will be joined by Saimir Pirgu in Steffen Aarfing's production of Szymanowski's King Roger in June of 2015.

Meanwhile Dmitri Platanias will sing the title role of Nabucco, which will be revived for the first time since the new production premiered. The Royal Opera will also stage Andrea Chenier  with Jonas Kaufmann, Eva-Maria Westbroek and Željko Lucic. The production will most likely be featured in the Live in Cinemas series. 

Another big opera will be Verdi's I Due Foscari. The production will star Maria Agresta as Lucrezia and Placido Domingo who will also perform Simon Boccanegra. Once again these are all rumors and things can change by the time the company announces the season. 

Werther Final Scene

The Met has posted the final scene for Massenet's Werther. After a glitch that occurred in movie theaters the company decided to release the material to compensate audiences. 

Jonas Kaufmann signing

  Today at the Met Opera shop Jonas Kaufmann signed CDs and DVDs for his fans. The tenor however requested that he did not want pictures taken. The signing was one of the busiest in years with more than 200 people in attendance. The lineup went all the way to the subway but fans waited patiently to meet the tenor. However here are some pictures of the event. 

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Bayerische Staatsoper 2014-15 Season

The Bavarian State Opera have announced their 2014-15 season with six new productions and a numbr of a list singers. The following are the new productions:  

• Věc Makropulos - Conductor: Tomáš Hanus  Production: Árpád Schilling with Nadja Michael in the title role. 
• Manon Lescaut - Conductor: Alain Altinoglu Production: Hans Neuenfels - Anna Netrebko and Jonas Kaufmann
• Lucia di Lammermoor - Conductor: Kirill Petrenko  Production: Barbara Wysocka - Diana Damrau and Pavol Breslik head the  cast
• Lulu - Conductor: Kirill Petrenko  Production: Dmitri Tcherniakov - Marlis Peterson and Bo Skovhus 
• Pelléas et Mélisande (festival) - Conductor: Constantinos Carydis  Production:Christiane Pohle 
• Arabella (festival) - Conductor: Philippe Jordan  Production: Andreas Dresen - Anja Harteros and Thomas Mayer star.

Other highlights in the season include the Kriegenburg Ring cycles which will be conducted by  conducted by Kirill Petrenko and stars Evelyn Herlitzius, Stuart Skelton, Stephen Gould and Anja Kampe.

Harteros will sing revivals of Tosca, Il trovatore, Don Carlo and La forza del destino. The latter is with Jonas Kaufmann.

Rolando Villazon will also return to L' Contes d'Hoffman.

 Kristine Opolais tackles Eugene Onegin, with Mariusz Kwiecen in the title role. Opolais will also perform La Clemenza di Tito and Madama Butterfly. Irene Theorin and Evelyn Herlitzius share the title role in  Elektra.

The legendary Edita Gruberova will return for  Roberto Devereux and Don Carlo will also feature Rene Pape, Ramon Vargas and Simon Keenlyside. Tristan und Isolde will be conducted by Philippe Jordan, features Pape with Waltraud Meier and Peter Seiffert.

Tell us what your most excited about!

Kaufmann Cancels Werther

Jean-François Borras will make his Met debut in the title role of Massenet’s Werther at this evening’s performance, replacing Jonas Kaufmann, who is ill.

Werther Review Link

Transcendent Genius. Those are among the best words to describe what transpired on the Metropolitan Opera stage of Friday, Feb. 28. From the stage production to the cast members, to the orchestra, to even the audience members, the performance of Massenet's masterpiece "Werther" was a communal experience of visceral intensity and immediacy.

The work has not had an auspicious career at the noted opera house. Friday's performance was just the 78^th time the opera had been performed at the house; the last time the Met put up a performance of the work prior to this run was in 2003-04. The revival of the work required a new production and for this year's run, Met general manager Peter Gelb turned to director Richard Eyre to inject "Werther" with new life. Eyre previously directed the Met's current "Carmen" production; his take on the work is rather "conservative" by modern standards but is extremely focused on character development and includes some subtle metaphors and symbols to enrich the work. It is this approach that he takes for his "Werther" and the execution of the work is spot-on. Continue Reading 

Jonas Kaufmann's Faust To Be Released on DVD

It looks like Decca Classics wants to get a few more cents out of their former artist Jonas Kaufmann. The company announced the release the Met's Faust. The maligned Des McAnuff production will be on DVD on March 3 in Europe with a later US release. The news comes after Sony announced the release of three new Jonas Kaufmann DVDs. With Decca's news, there will be four Kaufmann performances available in less than two months.  

Anna Netrebko and Jonas Kaufmann To Reunite for Manon Lescaut

While the season has yet to be announced, a recent rumor is confirming that Anna Netrebko and Jonas Kaufmann are set to sing a new production of Manon Lescaut at the Bayerische Staatsoper. The rumor has been circulating for a number of months.

The rumors also stated that Diana Damrau will return to the Staatsoper for a new production of Lucia Di Lammermoor and will sing alongside Maltese tenor Joseph Calleja.

The Bayerische Staatsoper is scheduled to release their season in March. 

Don Carlo DVD

Just a few days ago I posted that Sony was planning on Releasing Two new Jonas Kaufmann DVDs and that they were getting there act together. Now it seems like they will be releasing Don Carlo as well. It seems like the company has obtained the rights to all the recent Salzburg performances including this extraordinary performance. The company has yet to announce a Fanciulla del West release but perhaps that could be their future plans. For now it is rumored that Sony also has plans on releasing the new Don Giovanni from Baden Baden so stay tuned for upcoming news.   

Met Future season rumors

With the Met announcing the 2014-15 season in the next two weeks, Met Wiki has provided an updated list of what the season is looking like. A couple of changes from the previous list revealed a number of months ago include Jonas Kaufmann singing Don Jose in Carmen instead of Don Carlos, Anna Netrebko singing Lady Macbeth in Macbeth with Zeljko Lucic, Rene Pape and Joseph Calleja. Nathan Gunn has also been added to the cast of the Merry Widow while Eva Maria-Westbroek will perfom the role of Santuzza in Cavalleria Rusticana. Bryan Hymel has been added to the cast of La Boheme and Piotr Beczala will sing Un Ballo in Maschera instea do Yonghoon Lee. Meanwhile Bryn Terfel Emily Magee and Matthew Polenzani will not sing the revival to Die Meisteringer. A Number of Opera are still missing casts including Die Zauberflote, Hansel and Gretel, Lucia di Lammermoor, and Il Barbiere di Siviglia.

For the Complete List of Rumors Click Here. And Tell Us what Your xcited for and what you think will be the HDs of the year.

Sony To Release two Jonas Kaufmann DVDs

Sony Classical has decided to release three Jonas Kaufmann products this year. The first of year is his latest solo album entitled Wintrreise. It includes Schubert's famous song cycle.   

The second is the biggest surprise yet. The Ariadne auf Naxos which was acclaimed two years ago will finally get a release. The DVD stars Emily Magee who collaborated with Kaufmann on Tosca and Elena Mosuc. Daniel Harding the Vienna Philharmonic from the Salzburg festival.

The last release which I had already announced is The Met incredible Parisfal with Rene Pape, Peter Mattei, Katarina Dalayman and Evgeny Nikitin. 

With so much content on the way it is likely Sony will also release the Don Carlo from Salzburg and even the latest Fanciulla del West. In Any case lets not get a head of ourselves and enjoy the great news. 

La Forza del Destino Video

For those who missed the livestream if La Forza del Destino on December 28, here is a youtube link. The link will most likely to be taken off in a few days so if you are interested watch it as soon as possible.

 

'La Forza del Destino' Today at 12

The Bayerische will present the new production of La Forza del Destino on their live stream series. The production stars leading tenor Jonas Kaufmann and German soprano Anja Harteros. Ludovic Tezier and Nadia Krasteva will also perform with Asher Fisch conducting Martin Kusej's new production. The production will also mark the Third Verdi collaboration between the Harteros and Kaufmann after successful runs of Il Trovatore and Don Carlo. Here is the link to the Live Stream. 

Joans Kaufmann announces Wagner

Jonas Kaufmann has announced the release of Wagner. The new DVD will be released with C-Major. Surprise surprise that Sony is not releasing it. But then again when does it release any DVDs. Anyways this great news because this was an amazing concert. 

Antonenko Cancels Il Trovatore

Everyone has been anticipating the debut of Anna Netrebko Netrebko's Leonora at the Berlin State Opera. The cast was perfect with Placido Domingo and Aleksandrs Antonenko. Now it is being reported that Antonenko has cancelled the lead role of Manrico. The production is currently rehearsing with no Manrico and with a star studded cast and sold out shows Berlin is posed to find a star of the same measure as Antonenko.

Rumor mill says that Jonas Kaufmann is currently front-runner but with his busy schedule it is unlikely. Other blogs mention Francesco Meli while others say Ramon Vargas. The question is who will fill the spot and will it be a newcomer.

Update: Francesco Meli is unlikely to Sing as he will be premiering a new production of Ernani at the Teatro Roma with Riccardo Muti 

Ramon Vargas Never added that role to his repertoire and Marcelo Alvarez is in Tokyo singing Tosca 

Recent HD's That Need a DVD Release

Two years ago I posted an article on performances that never obtained a DVD release and that should. These performances were a number of historical telecasts starring some of the best from the past. Out of the list only one was released, the Andrea Chenier from the Met with Pavarotti and Maria Guleghina. However the rest are still on a shelf collecting dust. Some of them have been added to the Met opera on Demand but the rest are either on Youtube or not available. The following is a list of recent performances that have made history or that are exceptional but have been ignored by distributors.

CD and DVD release For the Month of September

The month of September see the release of many great CDs and DVDs from the top artist in the industry.

The first release of the month is a CD recording of Riccardo Muti's acclaimed Otello. I was able to see a performance of this opera in Carnegie Hall with Muti and the same cast on this CD and it was one of the highlights of that season. The cast includes Aleksandrs Antonenko, Krassimira Stoyanova and Carlo Guelfi. The CD will be released by CSO Resound and is a must buy.