Deutsche Oper Berlin 2014-15 Season with Rolando Villazon headlining

The Deutsche Oper Berlin has announced its 2014-15 season. The season will feature a number of great stars including Rolando Villazon in Don Carlo, Elina Garanca in Der Rosenkavalier, and Lyudmila Monastyrka takes on Abigaille. There will be a Lohengrin with Klaus Florian Vogt, Anja Harteros, and Waltraud Meier. Harteros will also be in  Tosca and a single concert Ariadne auf Naxos. 

 The premieres are:

• Oresteia by Xenakis - in the Deutsche Oper car park
• The Rape of Lucretia - c.Nicholas Carter d. Fiona Shaw - the Glyndebourne production will be shown in the Haus der Berliner Festspiele
• Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk  c.Donald Runnicles d.Ole Anders Tandberg, with Evelyn Herlitzius and Sir John Tomlinson
• La rondine c. Roberto Rizzi Brignoli d. Rolando Villazon 
• Roméo et Juliette c. Donald Runnicles d.Sasha Waltz
• Faust c. Marco Armiliato d.Philipp Stölzl, with Teodor Ilincai, Ildebrando D'Arcangelo and Krassimira Stoyanova

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!

Notable DVD and CD Releases for the Month January and February

The January slate of DVDs looks dry at the moment. As a result I have decided to preview some of February's releases. 

The first release is the Met's latest "Eugene Onegin" starring Anna Netrebko and Mariusz Kwiecien. The release the marks the Met's first DVD release since Verdi's Rigoletto. It also marks the second Onegin the company releases. The production which opened the 2013-14 season also stars Piotr Beczala and was conducted by Valery Gergiev. 

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.

Rolando Villazon Announces Mozart

Rolando Villazon has Announced that he will be releasing a new CD in 2014 entitled Mozart. The album will include Antonio Pappano and London Symphony Orchestra. However no news of the tracks has been announced. 

Villazon Wants To Sing With Netrebko Again!

Rolando Villazon was recently profiled in Opera News. In the interview Villazon spoke about his vocal crisis and also about his partnership with Anna Netrebko. He stated, ""It was great! But I don't think either of us wanted to be primarily a singing duo. I would love to sing with her again, and I recently sang for her Verdi CD, but our voices have gone in very different directions now." The singer also revealed that he continue singing Mozart and potentially adding some Verdi roles. For the Full interview click here.

Eugene Onegin Preview 2013-2014

The Metropolitan Opera will open the 2013-2014 season with Anna Netrebko and Mariusz Kwiecien in Deborah Warner's acclaimed production of Eugene Onegin.

 

Deborah Warner's production premiered at the English National Opera to great reviews and universal praise. Critic's stated, "Warner proved conscientious in delineating character and relationships in the action and interaction of the principals." They also stated "Deborah Warner's superb production of Tchaikovsky’s masterpiece scores both visually and emotionally."The production is updated to the 19th century and according to Warner the opera is "rich and emotional."

Merry Christmas

I wish everyone a Happy Christmas filled with joy and love.

Attached I have put a video of Rolando Villazon's new L'Elisir d'Amore. Enjoy!

Salzburg 2013 schedule

Today the official 2013 Salzburg summer season was announced. As previously rumored Don Carlos, Der Meistersingers, Nabucco, Rienzi and Cosi Fan Tutte will for part of the line up. The new season will also include Lucio Silla, Falstaff, Norma, Gawain and Giovanna d'Arco. Among the rosters include Jonas Kaufmann (Don Carlo), Anna Netrebko (Giovanna d'Arco), Placido Domingo  (Giovanna d'Arco), Rolando Villazon (Lucio Silla),  Cecilia Bartoli (Norma), Thomas Hampson (Don Carlo), Anja Harteros (Don Carlo), Edita Gruberova (Recital) and many more.

Rolando celebrates Verdi

The cover art to Rolando Villazon's new albun "Villazon Verdi" has just been revealed. The album is intended to celebrate the 200th anniversary of Verdi and will feature works from I Due Foscari, Oberto, Don Carlo, Luisa Miller and Rigoletto. The album is conducted by Ginandrea Noseda and set to be released Novermber 2nd, 2012. Continue reading 

Don Giovanni to be released

Today news comes that Don Giovanni starring Ildebrando D'Arcangelo, Luca Pisaroni, Diana Damrau, Joyce Didonato, Rolando Villazon, and Mojca Erdmann will be released. The recording, done last year at Baden Baden, is slated to be released on September 7, 2012. Stay tuned.