Anna Netrebko And Yusif Eyvazov Perform Igor Krutoy In Sochi

Hip Opera Stars: Yusif Eyvazov and Anna Netrebko during rehearsals in Sochi, Russia, for "New Wave."

Soprano Anna Netrebko, currently singing Leonora in Verdi's Il Trovatore at the Metropolitan Opera, was joined by her fiancé Yusif Eyvazov in singing music of Igor Krutoy a the opening of the popular singing competition known as "New Wave" in Sochi, Russia. The October 5 event drew spectators like the Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedeva and wife Svetlana, singer Philipp Kirkorov, singer Joseph Kobzon, actor Vladimir Vinokur, singer Lev Leshchenko, and more. This new musical project is based on poems of Lilia Vinogradova set to music of Igor Krutoy. The conductor for the evening was Nikita Mikhalkov. Ms. Netrebko has previously discussed the duets album she is recording with her fiancé of the Krutoy music. She has stated in an interview she is not interested in doing crossover music, but the lyrical songs of Igor Krutoy are just too beautiful not to sing. [Source] More photos, and a couple videos from the concert, after the jump.

Music Lovers: The happy couple backstage after singing Igor Krustoy in Sochi, Russia.

Win Tickets To See Angela Gheorghiu Live In Australian Concert

Enter here for your chance to win tickets to Angela Gheorghiu's upcoming appearance in Australia (dinner included!). The press release and concert program can be seen after the jump.

Tenor Plácido Domingo Thrills Chinese Audiences In Macau

A Tenor For All Time: Plácido Domingo performing in Macau, China, at age 74.

"Music keeps a man’s soul passionate and ageless, as evinced by tenor-baritone Placido Domingo, now well into his seventies. At an age where others are retiring, the opera Renaissance man continues to take to the stage around the globe, showing no signs of slowing down. Coming to Macau for the first time, the opera master was in admiration of the city’s 'phenomenal” growth and its early tradition of Western opera. In turn, he surprised a fully packed auditorium at the Macau Cultural Centre with a Chinese poem-song paying tribute to the city’s colonial history at the end of the concert staged Saturday evening. 'Certainly opera is our life, wherever I go, I enjoy very much to do [perform] concerts,' he told media before a rehearsal for Saturday’s concert. 'After singing for so, so, so many years, I think probably nobody in this hall was born before I started singing. You can imagine how many years I have been singing, but for me, it’s very important and exciting, really, to sing in a place for the first time.' 'I think the public has the

Anna Netrebko And Yusif Eyvasov In Lebanon: The Full Concert

Diva Adorned: Kaftan and turban-clad (also covered in
Chopard jewels),  Anna Netrebko makes first appearance
in Lebanon. (Photo: Facebook)

On August 27, 2015, Anna Netrebko and Yusif Eyvasov took to the stage at the Beiteddine Art Festival in Lebanon to perform a concert full of arias and duets including works from Adriana Lecouvreur, Aida, Mefistofele, Otello, Madama Butterfly, La Traviata, Rusalka, La Bohème and more. Hear the full concert and see photos from the evening, after the jump. "The Beiteddine Festival is one of the leading festivals in the Middle East. It takes place in a large and magnificent 200-year old Palace in the Chouf Mountains, in Lebanon. The Palace is a jewel of Lebanese architecture with its many courtyards, monumental gates, elegant arcades and leveled galleries. Each year, in the months of July and August, the Festival presents outstanding performances by world famous stars and Lebanese artists. Concurrent with the performances, the Palace houses one or more international art exhibits. The Festival's first edition was launched in the summer of 1985 amidst the war. It came as an act of faith in Lebanon's cultural role and power of creativity, a call for normality amidst the chaos and madness of war. It was born and has grown in very difficult times and made it against all odds. As of 1987, when Nora Joumblat and an Executive Committee took over the organization of the Festival, it gradually gained regional and international recognition. Since 1997, a new step forward is recorded: the external courtyard of the Palace is fitted to host 5,000 persons. On the creative level, the Festival started producing its own performances, particularly Lebanese plays. The variety and the quality of the Festival's activities attract an ever-increasing audience (51,000 persons in 2003) in which the young generation is worthily represented The Festival is a non-profit organization." [Source]

Watch Full Munich Concert With Netrebko, Kaufmann, Hampson

Netrebko, Kaufmann, Hampson: Meeting of the stars on medici.tv.

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]

Christine Goerke Gives Top Wagnerian Performance In New Zealand

Brünnhilde Ascending: Christine Goerke is quickly climbing to the summit of Valhalla. (Photo: Arielle Doneson)

Concert review for Wagner Gala featuring Christine Goerke (soprano), Simon O'Neill (tenor) with New Zealand Symphony Orchestra conducted by Pietari Inkinen at Michael Fowler Centre on June 12, 2015, in Wellington: "In 2012 we had that thrilling concert performance of the second of Wagner's Ring operas Die Walkure, and two of the outstanding cast were Christine Goerke and Simon O'Neill. Now as a kind of addenda to that extraordinary experience we heard large slices of the last two Ring operas, Siegfried and Gotterdammering [sic]. I suppose there was a hint of frustration in the hour or so of each opera we heard, in that we moved from act to act, missing huge chunks that tie the operas together, and were treated to surtitles that were quaintly absurd in the manner of English translations of Wagner's words. Having said all this, though, the evening was a marvellous experience of Wagner 'writ large'; a huge orchestra with

Andris Nelsons Innaugural Concert With Kaufmann & Opolais To Air

"Andris Nelsons’s first season as music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra has come and gone — but in case you missed it entirely, you wanted more, or you just wondered what all the buzz was about, you can now catch a glimpse of the new partnership from the comfort of your living room. On Friday at 9 p.m., PBS will broadcast the young Latvian conductor’s inaugural concert with the orchestra, recorded live in Symphony Hall last September....Among the highlights on the night itself were the contributions of the two star vocal soloists, especially tenor Jonas Kaufmann’s outstanding performance of 'In Fernem Land' from Act III of Lohengrin, an account whose intensity and poetry is conveyed here. The Latvian soprano Kristine Opolais, Nelsons’s wife, sings a vivid 'Un Bel Di' from Madama Butterfly as well as a smoldering duet with Kaufmann: 'Tu, Tu, amore? Tu?' from Puccini’s Manon Lescaut, a work this pair is slated to perform together next season in a new Met production directed by Richard Eyre. For an additional opening night souvenir, the two singers also offered as an encore a melting, sweet-toned account of 'O Soave Fanciulla' from the Act I finale of La Bohème." [Source]

(Photo: Chris Lee)

Juan Diego Flórez Raises Over $100K For Peru At Vienna Concert

Vittorio Grigolo and Aida Garifullina join Juan Diego Flórez for a worthy cause in Vienna.

"The audience filled the Vienna State Opera and applauded tenor Juan Diego Florez enthusiastically and often during a benefit concert he gave on behalf of 'Sinfonia por el Peru,' the foundation he created in 2011 to help poor children in his homeland. Sources at the Viennese theater told Efe that the box office would easily surpass 100,000 euros ($106,000), from which only technical costs would have to be deducted, since all the artists donated their services. 'It's a dream come true that we can now say Sinfonia por el Peru is going so well it's changing the lives of many, many children in Peru,' Florez told Efe during one of the rehearsals before the gala performance. The tenor noted that big international opera stars would share the stage with young musicians from different social programs around the world, all motivated by the concept of transforming society through music. The gala served to present the Friends of Juan Diego Florez, an association created to support Sinfonia por el Peru and similar projects. Among those friends were Cecilia Bartoli, Russian soprano Aida Garifullina, tenor Celso Albelo and baritone Michele Pertusi, among others. Unfortunately absent was soprano Anna Netrebko, who announced Saturday that she would be unable to take part in the gala. Sinfonia por el Peru's 15 branches in different parts of the country are teaching some 2,500 children and young people living in unfavorable conditions to use music as a way to escape poverty, violence and child labor." [Source]

Mary Garden Rocked The Amphitheatre Before The Beatles

One With Nature: Mary Garden singing at Red Rock

"This week marks the 100th anniversary of touring acts playing live concerts at Red Rocks Amphitheater, Denver's iconic venue of the West. Shortly after internationally acclaimed opera singer Mary Garden crooned 'Ave Maria' on Stage Rock this week in 1911, she gushed: 'Never in any opera house the world over have I found more perfect acoustic properties.' 'I predict that someday, 20,000 people will assemble there to listen to the world's greatest masterpieces,' she wrote. Garden's sentiment proved prophetic. The dramatic twin fins of monolithic sandstone that harbor a historical record dating back 250 million years have hosted a much shorter but equally inspiring record of musical performances in the past century. 'It makes your hair just stand up when you think about the artists who've been here,' says Erik Dyce, who has shepherded Red Rocks marketing for Denver's Theatres and Arenas Division for the past 23 years. 'This place is a temple. It's overwhelming when the venue overpowers the artist.' Red Rocks has well served Denver, which acquired the venue in 1941 for $50,000 and quickly elevated the 868-acre park and venue to its crown jewel in an already impressive trove of mountain parks. Culturally and financially, Red Rocks plays an important role for the city, contributing $1.85 million in tax revenue last year. This week, Denver leaders merged the Theatres and Arenas Division, of which Red Rocks is a part, with the city's Office of Cultural Affairs, saving Denver's strapped general fund $1.2 million a year." [Source] For more information about The Beatles, Aretha Franklin, Jethro Tull, The Carpenters, Jimi Hendrix, and many more that have performed throughout the history of Red Rocks, click here. Scottish-American soprano Mary Garden's setlist for May 10, 1911, included "Ave Maria" and "Annie Laurie." Learn more about the soprano and her singing, after the jump.

The Red Rocks Amphitheater as it appears today for Rock and Jazz concerts in Colorado.

Venera Gimadieva To Perform At Royal Festival Hall On April 1

"Leading Tartar soprano Venera Gimadieva introduces the music of Tatarstan. Following on from a performance that won her critical acclaim at Glyndebourne this summer ('a sensation' in the words of The Guardian), Gimadieva joins conductor Guerassim Voronkov and the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra for a celebration of recent works by composers from Tatarstan, alongside vocal masterpieces by Sergey Rachmaninoff, himself of Tatar descent. Highlights include songs such as 'Vocalise' and 'Ne poy krasavitsa pri mne' and arias from Francesca da Rimini as well as Rimsky-Korsakov’s The Snow Maiden."[Source] Click here to purchase tickets. See the concert program, and learn more about Ms. Gimadieva, after the jump. Watch the soprano sing "Salammbô's Aria," by Bernard Herrmann from the movie score of Citizen Kane, in the video below.

French Bass-Baritone Sévag Tachdjian Presents Recital In Pakistan

Sévag Tachdjian performed works of Dvořák,
Ravel, Mahler, and Tosti, during the concert
in Islamabad. (Photo: Frédéric Broyer)

"An opera concert titled A musical journey through Europe was held at the German embassy auditorium on Monday evening. The concert, hosted by German Ambassador Dr Cyrill Nunn, featured performances by Sévag Tachdjian and Yukiko Tidten-Yoshikawa. The ambassador complimented the audience for braving the inclement weather, saying he had an advantage of living only a few metres away from the auditorium. Introducing the musicians, he said both are internationally active and had played in many operas. 'I hope you enjoy the music from different parts of Europe,' he added. 'The musical journey through Europe is a wonderful opportunity to show the range of poetical inspiration from where this music comes,' said Tachdjian, who is a French bass-baritone and vocalist of Armenian descent. He was accompanied Yukiko Tidten-Yoshikawa, who has been internationally-active as a concert pianist in Japan and Europe....'It is absolutely fabulous that we had the opportunity to listen to any form of opera in Pakistan and generally, I don’t like Mahler, but even that was an experience,' said Saira Khan, an audience member at the event. [Source] Watch a video of Sévag Tachdjian, singing Massenet's "Le Jongleur de Notre Dame," after the jump. Click here to learn more about Sévag Tachdjian.

Anna Netrebko Triumphs More Verdi In Guadalajara Concert

As Anna Netrebko continues her tour of Mexico, she sang a concert with the Orquesta Filarmónica de Jalisco under conductor Marco Parisotto at the Teatro Diana on February 28, 2015. During the performance, the soprano offered Verdi arias from Macbeth and Luisa Miller. She also performed Puccini with tenor (and fiancé) Yusif Eyvazov. Adding arias like "Tu puniscimi, o Signore...A brani, a brani" continue to solidify her as the leading lyric-dramatic soprano of this generation. With a new recording of Verismo Arias for Deutsche Grammophon and talk of adding heavier roles into her repertoire (Aida, Adriana Lecouvreur, Norma, etc.), it is clear that Ms. Netrebko is serious about sharing her growing voice with the world. See more photos from the concert and press conference after the jump. [Source]

( Photos by Jorge Gómez/Jaime Martín/Enrique Vázquez)

Grace Bumbry Will Perform To Honor Martin Luther King Jr.

La Bumbry: The legend will make a rare
appearance for this celebratory concert
in New York City this January.

The concert, titled Celebrating a King, will mark a rare performance by the legendary opera star Grace Bumbry. "Fill your Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday with thrilling music. On January 17 and January 19, 2015 Courtney's Stars of Tomorrow honors the life and singular achievement of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in music. Legendary mezzo-soprano and 2009 Kennedy Center honoree Grace Bumbry makes an all too rare US appearance to sing Brahms' masterwork, Alto Rhapsody (Op.53), conducted by Ted Taylor. Adding to the celebration are three magnificent singers who command the stage in these special concerts, which showcase their tremendously expressive powers. This tour de force will be co-conducted by rising star conductor Ramon B. Braxton. Please call 1-800-838-3006 for special seating arrangements or wheelchair access." [Source] Purchase tickets by clicking here. The concert poster with details of the additional singers on the program can be found after the jump.

Julianne Baird Gives Musical Retrospective About Benjamin Franklin

Soprano Julianne Baird has one of the most
extensive discographies. Click here to see
some of her recordings. (Photo: John Emerson)

"An appreciation of music was common among the founding fathers. Thomas Jefferson was an avid violinist and practiced up to three hours a day. A young Col. George Washington once paid the equivalent of $300 for a ticket to a concert in Philadelphia. But arguably, Franklin was the most enthusiastic music lover of them all, and his appreciation will be the focus of Benjamin Franklin's Musical Life, a free public concert Wednesday, June 11, 4 p.m. at Rutgers. Internationally renowned soprano Julianne Baird, distinguished professor of music in the Department of Fine Arts, Rutgers University-Camden, will perform a program that encompasses the full range of Franklin's 18th century world. His eclectic tastes ranged from simple Scottish folk songs, tavern tunes and political satires to Handel's Messiah and French opera. Baird, one of the world's 10 most recorded women and an admired musical scholar, will be accompanied by Rebecca Cypess, assistant professor at Rutgers' Mason Gross School of the Arts. Edward A. Mauger, founder of Philadelphia on Foot and author of several books and articles on Philadelphia and colonial life, will serve as narrator, and the narration is taken from Franklin's own words. The concert has been performed in such venues as Fraunces Tavern in Manhattan and in London for the Benjamin Franklin House Museum. The 90-minute concert will take place in the Schare Recital Hall (second floor), Marryott Music Building, 81 George St. in New Brunswick. It is presented by the New Brunswick Summer Session. 'What can you learn about the founding fathers from their musical tastes?' Mauger asks. 'Scholars and writers have explored virtually every facet of their lives - politics, philosophy, family living, their childhoods, their rivals and relationships. The multifaceted, brilliant Franklin was perhaps the most enthusiastic music lover of them all. Of his many inventions, the one that brought him the greatest personal satisfaction was his glass armonica.' The armonica is an instrument played by rubbing glass or crystal goblets or bowls, and Franklin invented a radically new arrangement after seeing water-filled wine glasses played in England in 1761. With his design, it became possible to play up to 10 glasses simultaneously." [Source]

Margaret Lattimore Joins Stephanie Blythe For "America Sings" Concert

Margaret Lattimore

"SUNY Potsdam alumnae Stephanie Blythe and Margaret Lattimore will join forces for a gala concert to benefit the Fall Island Vocal Arts Seminar on May 20 at 7:30 p.m. The two celebrated mezzo-sopranos will team up with pianist and composer Alan Louis Smith for the opening gala concert entitled America Sings in the Proscenium Theater at SUNY Potsdam's brand-new Performing Arts Center. The America Sings! concert will encourage audience participation and will feature Americana favorites from across the ages. Blythe and Lattimore will also perform a song cycle composed by Smith. This concert is the opening public event for the 2014 Fall Island Vocal Arts Seminar. Now in its third season, the seminar was founded by Blythe along with Executive Director Dr. Carleen Graham, a professor of opera at SUNY Potsdam's Crane School of Music. This year, the Fall Island Vocal Arts Seminar

Stephanie Blythe

will return to Crane from May 19 to May 24. Six singers and three pianists (ages 23-35) from across the country were selected through a competitive, national audition to work with Blythe and Smith for the 2014 festival....Tickets for America Sings! are $25 for the general public and $20 for SUNY Potsdam faculty, staff and students. All proceeds will benefit the Fall Island Vocal Arts Seminar. Contact the Community Performance Series Box Office at 267-2277 or www.cpspotsdam.org to purchase tickets. Tickets may also be purchased at the CPS Box Office in SUNY Potsdam's Performing Arts Center, or at Northern Music & Video in downtown Potsdam."[Source] For more information about SUNY Potsdam, and The Crane School of Music, click here.

Diana Damrau Live At Le Poisson Rouge March 27 In NYC

Following on the heels of a night of Russian exoticism featuring Anna Netrebko, soprano Diana Damrau will perform at Le Poisson Rouge on March 24, 2014 at 7:30 PM. No word on whether the theme will be Bavarian. Purchase tickets by clicking here. During March, the coloratura is in town singing La Sonnambula at the Metropolitan Opera and a concert at Carnegie Hall with Zubin Mehta. The little New York City village hot spot Le Poisson Rouge is becoming a regular hangout for stars of the MET. In addition to the most recent concert that also featured Ildar Abdrazakov and Anita Rachvelishvili, past performers have included Iestyn Davies, Joseph Kaiser, Kathleen Kim, and Patricia Racette. To learn more about Diana Damrau, visit her website by clicking here.

Renée Fleming Visits Joshua Bell At Home For Holiday Concert

The two classical music superstars appeared together for a live concert on Medici.tv in Mr. Bell's New York apartment to promote his most recent holiday recording, Musical Gifts. Watch last night's concert by clicking here.

Vintage Concert Footage: Jessye Norman and Kathleen Battle

QE2 to Be Celebrated with Britten's "Gloriana" for Jubilee

Her Majesty (Photo: Annie Leibovitz)

"The Royal Opera House will mark the 60th anniversary of the Queen's coronation with a new staging of Benjamin Britten's opera Gloriana, which explores the relationship between the aging Queen Elizabeth I and the Earl of Essex. The work, poorly received when it first appeared in 1953, will be directed by Richard Jones, the man behind Anna Nicole, the Royal Opera House's controversial opera about the life of celebrity Playboy model Anna Nicole Smith. The 2013 production will also mark the centenary of Britten's birth in 1913. Susan Bullock will sing the role of the 'Virgin Queen' while Toby Spence will portray the "hot-headed" Essex, the opera house said Wednesday. The opera includes a 'haunting' scene in which the queen meditates on her reign and on death." [Source]