Royal Opera House 2014-15 season

The Royal Opera House has announced its 2014-15 season with many of the great stars attached to sing at the theater. Jonas Kaufmann, Annetrebko, Placido Domingo, Nina Stemme, Vittorio Girgolo, Bryn Terfel, Anne Sophe Von Otter, Kristine Opolais, Mariusz Kwiecien. Dimitri Hvorostovsky, and Rolando Villazon. 

Compete List of Operas

Autumn Season

Anna Nicole
Mark-Anthony Turnage
Dir: Richard Jones
Cond: Antonio Pappano

A tale of sex, celebrity and scandal: Mark-Anthony Turnage’s opera explores the dramatic life and death of Anna Nicole Smith.

Cast:

• Anna Nicole – Eva-Maria Westbroek
• Virgie – Susan Bickley
• The Lawyer Stern – Rodney Gilfry
• Old Man Marshall – Alan Oke
• Blossom – Allison Cook
• Doctor – Andrew Rees
• Larry King – Peter Hoare
• Aunt Kay – Rebecca de Pont Davies
• Billy – Grant Doyle
• Mayor – Wynne Evans
• Donald – Jeremy White
• Royal Opera Chorus, Orchestra of the Royal Opera House

11 | 16 | 18 | 20 | 24 September at 7.30pm; 13 September at 7pm

Rigoletto
Giuseppe Verdi
Dir: David McVicar
Cond: Maurizio Benini (except 6 Oct) / Paul Griffiths (6 Oct)

Corruption and innocence collide in Verdi’s remarkable opera. David McVicar’s staging emphasizes the depravity at the heart of the court of Mantua.

Cast:

• Duke of Mantua – Saimir Pirgu (12, 15, 20 mat, 23, 27, 30 Sept; 3, 6 Oct) / Piero Pretti (17, 21 mat Sept)
• Rigoletto – Simon Keenlyside (12, 15, 20 mat, 23, 27, 30 Sept; 3, 6 Oct) / Dimitri Platanias (17, 21 mat Sept)
• Gilda – Aleksandra Kurzak (12, 15, 20 mat, 23, 27, 30 Sept; 3, 6 Oct) / Eri Nakamura (17, 21 mat Sept)
• Sparafucile – Brindley Sherratt (12, 15, 20 mat, 23, 27, 30 Sept; 3, 6 Oct) / Alexander Tsymbalyuk (17, 21 mat Sept)
• Maddalena – Justina Gringyte (12, 15, 20 mat, 23, 27, 30 Sept; 3, 6 Oct) / Nadezhda Karyazina §
• Royal Opera Chorus, Orchestra of the Royal Opera House

12 | 15 | 17† | 23 | 30 September at 7.30pm; 20 September at 12.30pm; 21 September at 2pm; 27 September at 7pm
3** | 6 October at 7.30pm

§ Jette Parker Young Artist
† BP Big Screen Live Relay
**Sign-language interpreted

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

Andrea Chenier Review

Umberto Giordano's "Andrea Chenier" is a major part of the operatic canon, but has rarely been performed regularly at the Metropolitan Opera. The last time Met audiences got a chance to see the verismo masterpiece was in 2007 when American tenor Ben Heppner took on the title role. For the revival on Monday, March 24, Argentinean tenor Marcelo Alvarez took on the work's eponymous character with Patricia Racette and Zeljko Lucic filling out the cast.

The production Nicolas Joel debuted back in 1996 and despite being inherently traditional in its trappings, remains modern in its intelligent use of space. "Chenier" does not really lend itself to a modern update or transposition of the action to a different locale of time period. The French Revolution is not simply mentioned in a few passing statements, but dominates the action of the work from the start to the finish. Continue Reading 

Vienna State Opera 2014-15 season Features Anna Netrebko, Juan Diego Florez and Angela Gheorghiu

After a number hours in which the Vienna State Opera's website crashed, I finally have a list of works which will be performed this year. The reason for slow connection was because the company announced the season and puts all tickets on sale immediately. 

The upcoming season will see 223 staged opera performance and will include six new productions listed below: 

The Tempest (Austrian premiere) 14 June 2015 c: Thomas Ades, d: Robert Lepage, with Adrian Eröd, Audrey Luna, Stephanie Houtzeel, David Daniels

• Idomeneo 5 October 2014 c: Christoph Eschenbach, d: Kasper Holten, with Michael Schade, Margarita Gritskova, Maria Bengtsson, Chen Reiss 
• Khovanshchina 15 November 2014 c: Semyon Bychkov, d: Lev Dodin, with Ferruccio Furlanetto, Christopher Ventris, Herbert Lippert, Andrzej Dobber, Ain Anger, Elisabeth Kulman, Norbert Ernst
• Rigoletto 20 December 2014 c: Franz Welser-Möst, d: Pierre Audi, with Piotr Beczala, Simon Keenlyside, Valentina Nafornită, Elena Maximova 
• Elektra 29 March 2015 c: Franz Welser-Möst, d: Uwe Eric Laufenberg, with Anna Larsson, Nina Stemme, Anne Schwanewilms, Falk Struckman 
• Don Pasquale 26April 2015 c: Jesús López-Cobos, d: Irina Brook, 
 with Michele Pertusi, Juan Diego Flórez, Alessio Arduini, Valentina Nafornită

The company will see the return of a number of stars including Juan Diego Florez in L'Elisir d'Amore and La Cenerentola, Placido Domingo and Maria Guleghina in Nabucco, Anna Netrebko in Anna Bolena and Angela Gheorghiu in Werther. Kristine Opolais and Piotr Beczala will perform Rusalka while Olga Peretyatko will bring her acclaimed Elvira in I Puritani. Another highlight will be Aleksandrs Antonenko in Tosca and Pique Dame. Elina Garanca will bring her acclaimed Octavian to Der Rosenkavalier while Ramon Vargas will sing Don Carlos, Werther, and Simon Boccanegra. Nina Stemme will also return as Minnie in La Fanciulla del West. For more Click Here 

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.

Andrea Chenier Opens Tonight

Giordano's masterpiece opens at the Metropolitan Opera with Marcelo Alvarez in the title role, Patricia Racette as Maddalena and Zeljko Lucic as Gerard. The production by Nicolas Joel will be conducted by Gianandrea Noseda. The opera will be livestreamed on the Met website and on Sirius. Tell us what you think of the performance!  

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.