Living at the Opera

Opera research tells us that, at first, Giuseppe Verdi was considering “Azucena” as the name for his 1853 opera, Il Trovatore. If the composer were still alive and had attended the opera’s December 22nd performance at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, he very well might have. There was no doubt while watching [...]

While watching the Turandot HD Telecast on November, 7th, it became apparent that the performance in the house was definitely superior to the one shown in selected movie theaters around the world, or to be specific at the El Con in Tucson, AZ. Just a few minutes into Act One, the audience realized the [...]

For the second opera in the Cinema in Opera series the Loft Cinema chose La Traviata staring Angela Gheorghiu in her La Scala debut as Violetta in 2007. Considering all the publicity, pro and con reviews and personal comments on YouTube surrounding the Romanian soprano’s performance, its safe to assume that the Opera World [...]

General Manager Peter Gelb and Theater Director Luc Bondy certainly have garnered a lot of attention for their new production of G. Puccini’s Tosca. More than 25 reviews appeared in newspapers and online of the work’s opening night premiere in September. For proof, Google Met’s Tosca reviews as a starter. Added to that were [...]

Photo to the left: Gregory Kunde as Antenore and Juan Diego Flórez as Ilo Act One Scene V11 © Amati Bacciardi. Official ROF photos.

Zelmira* was the last of nine operas Rossini composed for the San Carlo Opera House in Naples in 1822. It turned out to be his most adventurous musical drama of all of [...]

From SEEN AND HEARD INTERNATIONAL OPERA REVIEW
By: José M Irurzun
Production: Bayerische Staatsoper.
Stage Direction: Yannis Kokkos.
Sets and costumes: Yannis Kokkos.
Lighting: Michael Bauer.
This production had its premiere in January of last year directed by Yannis Kokkos, who as usual for him, designed the sets and costumes. The production is very traditional and dedicated to relating the [...]

1967 was a very good year for Renata Scotto both in the quality of her singing and in her approach to opera as drama. The soprano had three standout performances that year. The May 18th Lucia di Lammermoor in Naples noted on this site. She sang a vocally impressive Gilda in Rigoletto on August 11th [...]

Here is another Renata Scotto Lucia which has come available, and it is one of her best. This performance is one of three which the soprano sang in May 1967, at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples. Again it is the cast and the conductor that make this outing memorable. Along with Riccardo Muti, Gianandrea [...]

This delightful performance on CD of Rossini’s Cenerentola was recorded live on 13 November 2004 at the ROSSINI IN WILDBAD festival. The cast gathered for this production exhibits the highest singing standards possible among today’s Rossini revivals. Joyce Di Donato’s Cenerentola is the total package. She not only sings in an effortless way, but her [...]

“Miss Scotto lives her roles and the standing ovation she received was her just due.”
So said Max de Schauensee, Bulletin Music Critic Emeritus about Renata Scotto’s Bolena on December 16, 1975, at the Philadelphia Academy of Music. Scotto sang only five performances of the opera, three in Dallas with mezzo-soprano Tatiana Troyanos as Giovanna [...]