Netrebko To Sing La Boheme At ROH?

It looks like Anna Netrebko will bring her acclaimed Mimi to the Royal Opera House. Intermezzo reveals that Jennifer Rowley will join the Russian Diva as Musetta. How true this information is yet to be confirmed. The season is supposed to be announced at the end of the month.

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. 

Erwin Schrott Posts Clips Ferom Les Vespres

The run for the new production of Les Vêpres Siciliennes in London has ended and Erwin Schrott has kindly put up some videos from the HD. The videos include the aria "O tuo Palermo" in French and the trio in act 5. The opera is one of Verdi's least popular but it is always a pleasure to hear it sung in major theaters.

Here are the videos  

Placido Domingo vs. Leo Nucci

I always hate comparing but I wanted to know what you guys think of these Nabucco performances from these two veteran artists with the great Liudmyla Monastyrska?

Jonas Kaufmann and Nina Stemme win the International Opera Awards

On Monday April 22, the Opera Awards were held with Jonas Kaufmann winning two awards as well as Antonio Pappano. Nina Stemme won best Female singer while Dimitri Tcherniakov won best director. The Metropolitan opera took home the best Accessibility award and Best Orchestra. 

Two new DVDs for Jonas Kaufman and One for Renee Fleming

Decca has just announced the release of the Met's Rodelinda sung by Renee Fleming and Andreas Scholl. The DVD conducted by Harry Bicket also stars Stephanie Blythe and the production was directed by Stephen Wadsworth.

Jonas Kaufmann will have two new DVD releases this fall. The first being the long delayed Konigkinder with Isabel Rey from the Zurich Opera released by DECCA and finally the Royal Opera House will release Jonathon Kent's Tosca on EMI. The production stars Angela Gheorghiu, Bryn Terfel and Jonas Kaufmann and is conducted by Antonio Pappano. It will be released first in Europe and then later released in the USA.

Notable DVD and CD releases for the Month of July

This month a slew of DVDs are released from the greatest theaters in the world. 

The featured DVD of the month is from the Royal Opera House. Il Trittico conducted by Antonio Pappano stars Eva Maria Westbroek, Lucio Gallo, Aleksandrs Antonenko, and Ermonela Jaho. The production is by Richard Jones. The performance was hailed as glorious and rewarding.

Kaufmann's illness continues

After canceling the Met's Walkure and Zurich's Kaufmann Gala, news has arrived that Jonas Kaufmann has withdrawn from the anticipated Les Troyens production at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden and from the Royal Albert Hall and Wigmore recitals.

Speculations are now arising of whether he will sing in Ariadne Auf Naxos and Carmen in Salzburg this summer. As for the Les Troyens, Bryan Hymel will takeover the role of Enee and the Royal Albert Hall concert will take place with Anna Netrebko and Erwin Schrott. The Wigmore recital has been cancelled. 

BREAKING NEWS: Natalie Dessay cancels June Manon and Netrebko comes to the rescue

Natalie Dessay who has been suffering from health issues since her Met Traviata has canceled the new production premiere of Manon at La Scala. Anna Netrebko who is currently singing Giuletta in I Capuleti e Montecchi will step in for the premiere on June 19 and 22. The Diva premiered Laurent Pelly's production in the Royal Opera House in 2010 and in the Metropolitan Opera this past April 2012.  Ermonela Jaho will step in on the 25, 29 of June and 2, 5, 7 of July. 


Update: Anna Netrebko has cancelled the final two performances of I Capuleti e Montecchi