Behind The Scenes Of The Metropolitan Opera Costume Department

Stars Arrive For Metropolitan Opera Season Opening Night

See more photos of celebrities arriving at last night's opening of The Metropolitan Opera season, after the jump.

Ildar Abdrazakov Named Artistic Director Of Obraztsova Music School

"Dima, You Will Win!": Ildar Abdrazakov, Anna Netrebko, Ekaterina Gubanova, and Aleksandrs Antonenko
wear t-shirts that support colleague Dmitri Hvorostovsky at the Tchaikovsky Hall in Moscow for a
concert in memory of the late Elena Obraztsova.

"An international music school dedicated to legendary Russian opera star Yelena Obraztsova is to open its doors to pupils this summer in St. Petersburg. The inauguration of the Academy of Music will take place at the city’s Bolshoi Gostiny Dvor on August 8. The evening will see a gala concert featuring opera stars and some of the closest friends of the legendary opera singer, who died in January. The Mariinsky Theater's leading soloist Ildar Abdrazakov is to serve as the Academy's artistic director. 'Students from abroad will also be coming to the Academy. I am very often asked, both in Russia and abroad, about where I teach, where you can take a master class. Naturally, I will invite everybody to the Yelena Obraztsova Academy, where classes will be taught by professionals with a capital P,' Abdrazakov said at a press conference in St. Petersburg. 'Thomas Hampson and Deborah Voigt have already agreed to my proposal. And Anna Netrebko will also come,' said Abdrazakov. In addition, the creators of the academy have promised that the country’s best teachers will teach there on a regular basis, and the school itself will become international – talented young singers from different countries will come to the institute to exchange their experiences. Yelena Makarova, Obraztsova’s daughter and the

Abdrazakov and Netrebko in France last week. The two sang
on a July 4th gala concert at Château de Versailles.

director of the academy, said that to open such an educational institution had been her mother’s dream. 'It's a dream that my mother nurtured for many years. A dream that helped her fight her illness,' she said. According to her, the Obraztsova Academy will provide training for both adults and children. The purpose of opening the academy is to create a unique educational institution, taking into account the peculiarities and individuality of each student. Ildar Abdrazakov will give the first master class between November 1 and 12. Training at the academy will be provided on a fee-paying basis, but there will be 10 free places in the adult department and another 10 available for children. In addition, individual grants from Makarova and Abdrazakov are being planned. The gala concert to celebrate the opening of the Obraztsova Academy will feature Abdrazakov, Olga Makarina, Vasily Ladyuk, Yusif Eyvazov and Yelena Makarova, as well as an orchestra led by the Mikhailovsky Theater's principal conductor Mikhail Tatarnikov." [Source] More photos after the jump.

Thomas Hampson To Replace Hvorostovsky At "Summit of the Stars"

In light of yesterday's tragic news of Dmitri Hvorostovsky falling ill, Thomas Hampson will replace him on the June 27 "Gipfeltreffen der Stars" concert in Munich with Jonas Kaufmann and Anna Netrebko. "Es nennt sich 'Gipfeltreffen der Stars,' und die Veranstalter haben wohl auch recht: Mit Anna Netrebko (43) und Jonas Kaufmann (45) treten am 27. Juni zwei der größten Stars der Klassik-Szene bei einem Open-Air-Konzert auf dem Münchner Königsplatz auf. Ohne Probe funktioniert das aber auch bei den beiden Mega-Stars nicht. 'Kein Konzert ohne Probe! Selbst wenn man auf einer Tournee an zehn Abenden hintereinander dasselbe Programm singt, muss man vor jedem Konzert proben, schon weil jeder Raum eine andere Akustik hat,' sagte Kaufmann im Interview der Deutschen Presse-Agentur. 'Und bei einem technisch aufwendigen Freiluft-Konzert vor rund 15 000 Zuschauern wäre es schierer Wahnsinn, ohne Probe auf die Bühne zu gehen.' Mit Netrebko und Kaufmann zusammen tritt der Bariton Thomas Hampson auf, der den erkrankten Dmitri Chworostowski kurzfristig ersetzt." The concert will include opera highlights by Verdi, Puccini, and Rossini. Special guests include Elena Zhidkova and Ildar Abdrazakov. Click here for more information on how to watch the concert. [Source, Source]

Ildar Abdrazakov Gets His Close-Up In Vanity Fair Magazine

Abdrazakov in St. Petersburg (Photo: Jason Bell)

"It could almost be the plot of an opera: a dark, dashing descendant of both Genghis Khan and Tamerlane appears and sweeps all before him. But in the case of Russian-born bass Ildar Abdrazakov— 'I’m one-fourth Tatar and three-fourths Bashkirian,' he says with a smile—it happens to be true. A native of Ufa, the capital of the Russian republic of Bashkortostan (also known as Bashkiria), Abdrazakov, 37, has emerged in the past few years as one of the most sought-after young basses in the operatic world. He was pitch-perfect as the brooding prince in the Metropolitan Opera’s production last season of Borodin’s Prince Igor. But what Abdrazakov actually likes best is Italian opera: 'I only started singing the Russian roles when I came west,' he says. His supple, burnished bass shines in the lyrical Rossini-to-Verdi canon, along with his comedic flair." [Source] Read the full feature by clicking here.

More Opera Singers Take The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge

In case you missed the first round of opera folks taking the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, click here. Enjoy the new editions of Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Ildar Abdrazakov, Deborah Sasson, and Katherine Jenkins, below by clicking on each photo to watch the video:

Red Ribbon Celebration Concert Performances At Life Ball 2014

Jennifer O'Loughlin

"Schon früh am Morgen herrschte auf dem Wiener Flughafen hellste Aufregung, denn das Flugzeug mit den hochkarätigen Stargästen wurde erwartet - die Ankunft wurde natürlich, wie könnte es anders sein, spannend gemacht, denn bis zum Schluss war nicht klar, wann der Flieger wirklich landen würde. 'Ich freue mich schon,' zeigte sich Life Ball-Organisator Gerry Keszler aufgeregt, seine Gäste bald begrüßen zu dürfen. Um 9.40 Uhr war es dann endlich so weit: der Life Ball-Jet landete in Wien." [Source] More photos after the jump.

Ildar Abdrazakov

Luca Pisaroni and Thomas Hampson

Austria's "Life Ball" To Host A Galaxy Of (Opera) Stars Tonight

Anna Netrebko and Piotr Beczała perform at last year's gala concert for Life Ball.

"Tickets for the Red Ribbon Celebration Concert 2014 presented by Novomatic available on www.burgtheater.at or www.culturall.com! Stars of the opera like Anna Netrebko, Vesselina Kasarova, Jennifer O'Loughlin, Juan Diego Flórez, Piotr Beczała, Yusif Eyvazov, Luca Pisaroni, Ambrogio Maestri and Ildar Abdrazakov lend their voices to the good cause. The soloists are accompanied by the ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Cornelius Meister. Fashion icon Vivienne Westwood will create the stage design of the concert. Red Ribbon Celebration Concert 2014 - May 30, 2014, concert beginning: 8 p.m. at Burgtheater, Universitätsring 2, 1010 Vienna." More information about the star power attending the event, as well as photos from this year's theme Garten der Lüste [including the NSFW David LaChapelle posters....], after the jump.

Let's Hear It For The Boys: New Kaufmann, Abdrazakov, Cencic

Ildar Abdrazakov Introduces Barbara Frittoli To Wine Journalist

Is that Mendoza Malbec in your globus cruciger?: Ildar Abdrazakov and Barbara Frittoli in
Don Carlo at Regio di Torino (Photo: Ramella & Giannese)

"On off days he and his Italian girlfriend love to drive the Tuscan countryside searching for wineries and wines to buy...He introduced the woman with him as Barbara, visiting him for about 10 days while he was singing here and on to Chicago for a Verdi Requiem with Muti conducting. Pretty and lively, dressed casually in jeans and a flowing blouse, she spoke English with a bit of an Italian accent but with more confidence and a better vocabulary than Ildar's. She became a vital part of our conversation. She seemed highly knowledgeable about opera. She looked vaguely familiar, too. I asked, innocently, 'Do you sing?' She said yes, and Ildar added, 'She's Barbara Frittoli.'" [Source]

Saint Petersburg, Russia, Tries To Take "Gay" Out of the City

Will Russian opera singers like Anna Netrebko, Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Ildar Abdrazakov, Olga Borodina, Valery Gergiev, Olga Peretyatko, Julia Lezhneva and others, take a stand against this horrendous measure?

Winning Couple: Olga Borodina & Ildar Abdrazakov

(Photo: Alexander Vasiljev)

Mezzo-soprano Olga Borodina and bass Ildar Abdrazakov, a married couple who both started out at the Mariinsky Theater and rapidly rose to worldwide fame performing at Milan’s La Scala and New York’s Metropolitan Opera, shared their first Grammy award this week. 'I am very happy that my first Grammy and Ildar’s is a family one,' Borodina told reporters at the Mariinsky Theater on Monday. The couple won the prestigious prize in the Best Classical Album and Best Choral Performance categories for the recording of Giuseppe Verdi’s Requiem by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Chorus under the baton of Riccardo Muti. In order to see

more of each other, the couple try to work together as much as possible. 'We have already gotten to the stage where the managers of the world’s most acclaimed venues ask us what we would like to perform, on what date, and with which conductor,' Borodina said." [Source]