Cecilia Bartoli's new Norma Recording

Decca has just announced the highly antcipated Norma recording by Cecilia Bartoli. Cecilia Bartoli “It was my wish to bring Bellini’s opera closer to the sound world of the bel canto period. Alongside the vocal casting in keeping with the voices at the first performance, a critical edition compiled from the autograph score, adherence to the original tempi, dynamics and phrasing, lowering the pitch to 430 hz and using authentic instruments as of the period all play their part in allowing the manifold nuances of this work to come to the fore, and for the composer’s vision hopefully to be fulfilled.”

Who is looking forward to this recording and her upcoming Salzburg performances which are expected to be recorded for a future DVD release.

Bryan Hymel wins the Beverly Sills Award

We congratulate tenor Bryan Hymel on winning the Beverly Sills Award. 

The Met Press Release:
Tenor Bryan Hymel has been named the recipient of the eighth annual Beverly Sills Artist Award for young singers at the Metropolitan Opera. The $50,000 award, the largest of its kind in the United States, is designated for “extraordinarily gifted singers between the ages of 25 and 40″ who have already appeared in featured solo roles at the Met. The award, given in honor of Beverly Sills, was established in 2006 by an endowment gift from Agnes Varis, a managing director on the Met board, and her husband, Karl Leichtman.

Jose Cura Interview

David has had the opportunity as of late to interview opera stars with his job Latinos Post. Here is his latest with Jose Cura in which they discussed Otello, the changing opera world and his thoughts on directing. Here is the link to the interview.  

Rise Stevens 1913-2013

We lament the death of the great mezzo Soprano. She died yesterday at age 99. She was truly one of the most fascinating artist of her time and one of the greatest Carmen's the Opera world could ever have. We will miss you dearly Rise Stevens.

Faust Opens Tonight

Des McAnuff's Faust opens tonight with Piotr Beczala John Relyea and Marina Poplavskaya. The prodution will conducted by Alain Altinoglu.

For more on the production click on our preview linked here.

For our review of the production click here 

Vienna State Opera 2013-2014 Season

The 2013-2014 Vienna State Season was announced with 350 performances being presented. The season will include six new productions and major stars including Jonas Kaufmann, Anna Netrebko, Angela Gheorghiu, Placido Domingo, Ramon Vargas, Rolando Villazon, Juan Diego Florez and Edita Gruberova.

The New Productions: "Excuse the spanish"

La fanciulla del West
05. 08. 11. 14. 17. Oct. 2013

Franz Welser-Möst: Director musical

Marco Arturo Marelli: Director de escena

Reparto:

Nina Stemme | Minnie

Tomasz Konieczny | Jack Rance

Jonas Kaufmann | Dick Johnson

Die Zauberflöte

17. 20. 24.27.30. Nov., 02. Dic.2013,

 07. 09.13.17. Jun. 2014

Christoph Eschenbach: Director musical

Moshe Leiser: Director de escena

Reparto:

Brindley Sherratt | Sarastro

Benjamin Bruns | Tamino

Olga Pudova | Königin der Nacht

Anita Hartig | Pamina

Markus Werba | Papageno

Rusalka

26. 30. En., 03. 06. 09. Feb. 2014

Jirí Belohlávek: Director musical

Sven-Eric Bechtolf: Director de escena

Reparto:

Michael Schade | Der Prinz

Monika Bohinec | Die fremde Fürstin

Krassimira Stoyanova | Rusalka

Günther Groissböck | Der Wassermann

Janina Baechle | Die Hexe Jezibaba

Adriana Lecouvreur

16. 19. 22. Feb., 04. 08.12. Mar. 2014

Evelino Pidò: Director musical

David McVicar: Director de escena

Reparto:

Elena Zhidkova | La Principessa di Bouillon

Massimo Giordano | Maurizio Graf von Sachsen

Angela Gheorghiu | Adriana Lecouvreur

Roberto Frontali | Michonnet

Lohengrin

12. 16. 20.25. 28. Abr. 2014

Bertrand de Billy: Director musical

Andreas Homoki: Director de escena

Reparto:

Klaus Florian Vogt | Lohengrin

Günther Groissböck | Heinrich der Vogler

Camilla Nylund | Elsa von Brabant

Wolfgang Koch | Friedrich von Telramund

Michaela Martens | Ortrud

Detlef Roth | Der Heerrufer des Königs

.

Das schlaue Füchslein

18. 21.24.26.30. Jun. 2014

Franz Welser-Möst: Director musical

Otto Schenk: Director de escena

Reparto:

Gerald Finley | Der Förster

Wolfgang Bankl | Háraschta, ein Landstreicher

Chen Reiss | Füchslein Schlaukopf

For more on the season click here\ or visit the vienna state website.

Who Will Win Best Female Singer?

 

Six great Divas are nominated for the Opera Awards. My predictions are in the link below and tell me who you think should win. Also let us know who you think should have been nominated. Click Here.

La Forza del Destino coming to the Met very soon

The Bayerisce will announce their season on Tuesday but it was leaked that their new production of La Forza del Destino will be a co-production with the Met. Jonas Kaufmann is most likely to star in the production as he is at the Bayerisce.

Pirgu gets Interviewed

For those who have yet to see La Traviata at the Met, I advise you to do so and if your not convinced, please read David Salazar's interview with Saimir Pirgu, the rising tenor who is currently singing the run. 

Please Click here. 

La Traviata Open Tonight

Diana Damrau makes her role debut as Violetta in Willy Decker's acclaimed production. Placido Domingo and Saimir Pirgu also star with Yannick Nezet-Seguin in the pit.

For more on Diana Damrau Click here for our exclusive interview.

For more on Saimir Pirgu click on our exclusive interview with the tenor.

Royal Opera House 2013-2014 Season

The Royal Opera House announced their 2013-2014 season with Jonas Kaufmann, Anna Netrebko, Bryn Terfel, Simon Keenlyside, Rene Pape,  Karita Mattila, Erwin Schrott, Luca Pisaroni, Kristine Opolais, Bryan Hymel, Angela Gheorghiu, Diana Damrau, Juan Diego Florez, and Joyce Didonato. 

Who will win Best Male singer of the year?

The Opera Awards are coming april and I have started to predict the awards via Latinopost. Check out my predictions for Male Singer of the Year and then tell us who you think should win? Click here for More

Diana Damrau Interviewed by the Salazar's

In a recent interview with my brother David Salazar for Latinos Post, Diana Damrau revealed that she would be singing La Sonnanbula, Daphne, and The Pearl Fishers. Here is an excerpt: 

"In the busy café of the Elinur Bunin Munroe Film Center a mother and her two children share an intimate moment. The woman, internationally renowned soprano Diana Damrau, has brought along her children: two-year old Alexander and four-month old Colyn. The baby lies in his carriage begging for his mother while Alexander bustles about the space, exploring his environment. Damrau looks after Alexander as she picks up Colyn from the carriage and for the next hour, the superstar soprano speaks while keeping her two greatest treasures near.

"It's wonderful. It keeps you in the world and makes your life complete," says Damrau as she admires little Colyn resting in her arms. To Continue Click Here."

Met Opera Review: Westbroek delivers on her Promise in Zadonai's eratic score

Its been over 25 years since the Metropolitan Opera presented Zadonai's opera Francesca da Rimini. The opera based on Dante's Inferno was first brought to the Met in 1916 and only returned in 1984 and 1986 with Placido Domingo and Renata Scotto in the title role.

The amount of time it took to revive is no surprise as the work as a whole is difficult vocally  and the music is  demanding for the audience as it is spare on melodies. However there are some great moments such as the conclusion to the first act where the cello plays the lushes love theme which is then repeated at the end of the third act when Francesca and Paolo read the Lancelot and Guinevere story. Another great moment in the score is Malatestino and Giovanni's duet. While the music lacks any clear melodies, the way Zadonai contrasts Malestino's comic sardonic character and Giovanni's anger is brillant. Malatestinos music is represented by light winds while Giovanni's music uses the orchestra's brass and full string section. The final duet is also a highlight as the music brings out Francesca and Paolo's desires. It is no longer restrained and subtle, it is explosive with swelling violins and ends in a climatic verismo style with the two singers going to the top of their ranges. It is one of the most passionate moments in the entire opera.

While there are these brilliant moments Zadonai takes too long with generic characters such as in the third act when he takes twenty minutes on spring songs that do not move the plot forward. He could have used a more extensive love duet in that act. The other issue is the work ends up being a bit to cold and its hard to actually connect with it. However it is still an opera that definitely deserves more performances and one that should be exposed to the public.

2014-2015 Met Opera Season Rumor

After the long awaited 2013-2014 was announced we now have some news on the next season. 2014-15 looks to be even more exciting with 6 new productions and even more exciting revivals.

Opening night will  be with a new production of Le nozze di Figaro, a production that is in a bit of flux at the moment since Anna Netrebko elected not to add Contessa Almaviva to her stage repertoire at the moment.  As it stands now, the new Mozart  will be conducted by James Levine in a production by Michael Grandage. The cast will be Maija Kovalevska, Marlis Petersen and Mikhail Petrenko but by the lack of stars the Met will most likely add a more marketable singer to the list.

Five further new productions dot the season:

The Death of Klinghoffer. Director: Tom Morris (ENO production]

Iolanta/Duke Bluebeard’s Castle. Conductor: Valery Gergiev. Director: Mariusz Trelinski. Cast includes Anna Netrebko and Alexei Tanovitski in theTchaikovksy, with  Nadja Michael and Mikhail Petrenko in the Bartók.

The New Year’s Eve extravaganza this season will be The Merry Widow, Conductor TBA. Susan Stroman directs Renée Fleming; later in the season the show returns with Susan Graham and Rodney Gilfry.

La Donna del Lago. Conductor: Michele Mariotti.  Director: John Fulljames.Joyce DiDonato, Daniela Barcellona, Juan Diego Florez.

Cavalleria Rusticana/Pagliacci. Conducto: Fabio Luisi. Director: TBA. Marcelo Alvarez, Barbara Frittoli.

The repertoire will further include revivals of:

Aida with Liudmyla Monastyrska, Dmitry Belosselskiy.

Un Ballo in Maschera  with Sondra Radvanovsky, Yonghoon Lee.

Il Barbiere di Siviglia.

La Boheme with Maria Agresta.

Carmen with Elina Garanca/Anita Rachvelishvili, Roberto Alagna, Anita Hartig/Ailyn Perez.

Les Contes d’Hoffmann with Susanna Phillips, Matthew Polenzani.

Don Carlos with Barbara Frittoli, Nadia Krasteva, Jonas Kaufmann/Yonghoon Lee, Simon Keenlyside, Ferruccio Furlanetto. Chef d’orchestre for the first-ever Met performances in the original French will be Yannick Nézet-Séguin.

Don Giovanni

Ernani  with Placido Domingo as Don Carlo.

Faust with Anna Netrebko, Joseph Calleja, Rene Pape. [This production was described to La Cieca as "hanging by a thread," with nobody involved feeling enthusiastic about the project.]

Hansel and Gretel

Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk with Eva-Maria Westbroek, Brandon Jovanovich,Raymond Very.

Lucia di Lammermoor with Olga Peretyatko, conducted by Maurizio Benini.

Manon with Diana Damrau, Vittorio Grigolo.

Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg with Emily Magee, Karen Cargill, Johan Botha, Matthew Polenzani, Bryn Terfel, conducted by James Levine.

The Rake’s Progress with Lisette Oropesa, Stephanie Blythe, Gerald Finley.

La Traviata with Marina Rebeka, Francesco Demuro.

Die Zauberflote.

What do you guys think of this season!

Jonas Kaufmann says no to Tristan

Jonas Kaufmann stated in an interview that he will not sing Tristan for the time being. The tenor said that he will not sing the iconic role because every theater will want him to sing it and he will not have the opportunity to do other repertoire. For more on the interview click here.

Francesca da Rimini Opens Tonight

Marcello Giordani and Eva Maria Westbroek return to the Met stage for Zadonai's Francesca da Rimini.

Marco Armiliato conducts the work after a long absence at the Met 

Jose Cura to sing Carmen

“José Cura will sing the role of Don José in the Friday, March 1 performance of Bizet’s Carmen, replacing Andrew Richards, who is ill. Cura, who begins rehearsals this week for his first Met performances of the title role in Verdi’s Otello, has graciously agreed at short notice to step in for what will be his company role debut as Don José.”