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"Perpetual Music": three concerts supported by Juan Diego Flórez, Sonya Yoncheva, Rolando Villazón and Renaud Capuçon to bring the music to life

The fragility of the world of culture was highlighted in but a few months of a health crisis. A few months during which the theatres were condemned to remain closed and now still struggle to receive the public. A few months during which the artists certainly "worked" on their voices and practised for their next roles, but were unable to perform on stage and therefore lost any income. Today, a few festivals lead the way in the return to life and once again voices and instruments...


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Verona Arena 2021: Sonya Yoncheva will sing Aida for the first time

Although there are still doubts about the exact course of the 2020 edition of the Verona Arena Festival (which could be based on small-scale productions for a reduced audience), the 2021 edition of the lyrical event is already the subject of special attention. In 2021, the 150th anniversary of the creation of Aida (first performed in 1871) will be commemorated, and the work obviously occupies a very special place in the Veronese programme -- the first edition of the festival in 1913 opened...


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A Rigoletto in the open air from July onwards to relaunch the Rome Opera House

Italy was particularly hard hit by the Covid-19 pandemic, but after several weeks of lockdown, local authorities are now considering a resumption of business, including cultural activities, and the Rome Opera House could be the first opera house to raise the curtain again. While there is no question of hosting the public in the auditorium (gatherings of more than 200 people in enclosed spaces are still forbidden in Italy and could remain so until the autumn), according to Corriere della...


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A "rejuvenated" 2020-2021 season at the Vienna State Opera

After ten years at the head of the Wiener Staatsoper, Dominique Meyer has this year taken over the direction of La Scala in Milan. He leaves his position to Bogdan Roscic, 52, whose name we recognise for having been the president of the Sony Classical label, specifically recruited by the Austrian government to "breathe new life into the Viennese institution". The new musical director will be Philippe Jordan, who arrives after years in the service of the Paris Opera, and who will...


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Simon Stone, ruthless explorer of works

In a few days, the premiere of Erich Wolfgang Korngold’s opera, The Dead City, will play in Munich’s Bavarian State Opera. Jonas Kaufmann will be appearing alongside soprano Marlis Petersen in a production by Simon Stone, created in 2015 at the Theater Basel. Let us take a look back at the career of the thirty-year-old director who has been fought over by musical and dramatic institutions alike for some years now. *** Les Trois Soeurs à l'Odéon, par...


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A conversation with Golda Schultz

After singing at the Opernhaus Zürich (La Contessa in Le nozze di Figaro) and Bayerische Staatsoper (Liù in Turandot and a special concert with Thomas Hampson and Kirill Petrenko) in July, soprano Golda Schultz performed in Mahler's Second Symphony for the closing concert of the Verbier Festival, alongside with mezzo-soprano Ekaterina Gubanova, conductor Fabio Luisi and the Verbier Festival Orchestra. We met her between two rehearsals in Verbier to talk about her repertoire...


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A conversation with Karita Mattila

For her first venue at the Verbier Festival, Karita Mattila sings a selection of melodies by Duparc, as well as chosen lieder by Brahms and Strauss, accompanied by Evgeny Kissin. The acclaimed pianist took the initiative to get in touch with the star soprano for their first collaboration. We met Karita Mattila in Verbier to talk about this highly anticipated concert, her latest and next opera debuts, Wagner, and social media. *** Opera Online: Why did you choose to perform Duparc,...


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An interview with Helmut Deutsch, pianist and accompanist

For a long time, accompanists, the artists who provide musical accompaniment to singers during recitals, have remained in the shadows (and in anonymity). For several years (or decades), the main role of these musicians has been more recognised, and recitals are increasingly true duets with the singer. Helmut Deutsch, pianist and musicologist, is one of these internationally respected accompanists. He plays on the most prestigious stages, having notably accompanied the baritone Hermann...


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The Paris Opera presents its 2018-2019 anniversary season, at the meeting point between tradition and modernity

As a national opera, the Paris Opera has historically taken on the role of preserving France's operatic heritage and bringing French opera to life. For all that, opera is obviously a distinctly living art form and since the beginning of his mandate at the head of the Parisian establishment, Stéphane Lissner has also been committed to contributing to updating the repertoire and has been working to diversify the cultural range of France's famous Opera. This is the reason for...


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Preview: Royal Opera 2017/18 Season

Although Kasper Holten left the post of Artistic Director of the Royal Opera in March 2017, he played the leading role in programming its 2017/18 season and, with a good blend of new productions and strong revivals, it looks to be a particularly fine one. Some composers whose operas have been neglected in recent seasons get a look-in, while several contemporary composers also have the opportunity to present new works. Add in the fact that many evenings feature some of the world’s...


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Piotr Beczała, a luminous elegance

The time is long gone when popular tenors had a career in films and had their own composed-to-order repertoire, between the expressive intensity of the lyric tenor and the intimate sentimentality of the crooner. It is no accident, or mere opportunity, that Piotr Beczała devoted a recital (Deutsche Grammophon) to Richard Tauber, the irresistible protagonist of Lehár’s last operettas: such a genealogy shows that Beczala has the intelligence not to seek gallantry, the...