Plácido Domingo Surrounded By Yoncheva, Peretyatko, Yende At MET

Tenor Plácido Domingo backstage at the Metropolitan Opera following a performance of Verdi's Otello, a role he has sung over 225 times, with sopranos (left to right) Sonya Yoncheva, Olga Peretyatko and Pretty Yende.

Baritone Jarrett Ott Profiled For Opera Philadelphia "La Traviata"

Baritone Jarrett Ott (bottom) in Philadelphia, with current boyfriend Adam Franklin (top) who is the Artistic Administrator at The Santa Fe Opera, for performances of Verdi's La Traviata. (Photo: Facebook)

"No sooner than Opera Philadelphia scored a huge success last month with its queer-centric Andy: A Popera, in collaboration with FringeArts and the Bearded Ladies, comes the beginning of its season, its sparkling annual gala and the Oct. 2 start of La Traviata, the Verdi opera in three acts about fallen women and the men who love them. The antiquated notion of salvaging reputations (remember when celebrities, politicians and royalty could be shamed — ah, the past) is where we find the heart of La Traviata. Set at the mouth of 18th-century Paris and based on La Dame aux Camélias (1852), a play adapted from the novel by Alexandre Dumas, grand opera doesn’t come any grander or more traditional than this. 'The opera world is a gay man’s world,' Ott said, talking about the welcoming environment of the classical vocal stage. 'It’s never been frustrating, but rather comforting, to meet some of the warmest people.'.....'Getting to share the stage with this cast is pretty incredible,' Ott said. 'During this rehearsal process, I have had the wind knocked out of me several times listening to my colleagues. Philadelphia is in for an operatic treat with this gorgeous production all around.' When asked what is most testing about his role of Marchese, Ott was quick to joke, 'Going to the gym every day in order to be stripped down to shirtless in act two.'" [Source] Watch a video of rehearsal footage for La Traviata at Opera Philadelphia featuring Jarrett Ott, and a teaser clip for the production, after the jump.

Dmitri Hvorostovsky Shown Love From Metropolitan Opera Orchestra

"Three months after announcing he had a brain tumor, and still in the midst of treatment, the cherished Russian baritone Dmitri Hvorostovsky returned to the Metropolitan Opera on Friday evening as the Count di Luna in Verdi’s Il Trovatore. An ovation greeted his first entrance, loud and long enough that he broke character to smile and pat his heart in appreciation. Three hours later, the curtain calls ended with the orchestra pelting Mr. Hvorostovsky with white roses, as his co-star, the Russian soprano Anna Netrebko, appeared visibly moved." [Source] Watch a video of the curtain call, after the jump.

A Change Of Color For The Venetian Moor In MET Opera "Otello"

The Moorish Chief by Eduard Charlemont (1878)

"At a recent dress rehearsal at the Metropolitan Opera, there was something missing when the Latvian tenor Aleksandrs Antonenko sang the title role of Verdi’s Otello: the stage makeup with names like Indian Red and Otello Brown that opera companies have used for more than a century to darken pale singers playing the part. 'The Met breaks tradition, and I will be white,' Mr. Antonenko shrugged as he was powdered in his dressing room. It was an offhand way of phrasing a seismic shift. That leading opera houses have continued to use blackface into the early 21st century, long after minstrel shows and similar performances have been rejected as racist, may be more surprising to many people than that the practice is now being ended by the Met, after 124 years, for the new production of Otello that will open its 2015-16 season on Monday, Sept. 21. The change comes in a year when the massacre of nine black parishioners at a church in Charleston, S.C., spurred a national discussion about racism and the power of symbols, and prompted South Carolina officials to remove the Confederate battle flag from the State House grounds after years of resistance. And it comes more than a generation after leading theater companies stopped 'blacking up' white actors to play Othello in Shakespeare’s play....Plácido Domingo, the pre-eminent Otello of the 1980s and ’90s, said in an interview that

Watch Anja Harteros Record "O Patria Mia" For Warner Classics

"This magnificent recording of Aida, made in Rome, rises to all the musical and dramatic challenges presented by Verdi’s richly-coloured Egyptian epic. Antonio Pappano, once again proving his mastery of Italian opera, moves between sumptuous grandeur and touching intimacy. The responses of the Orchestra e Coro dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia are both immediate and vibrant, while the singers – Anja Harteros, Jonas Kaufmann, Ekaterina Semenchuk, Ludovic Tézier and Erwin Schrott – do justice to every facet of their roles." [Source] Watch Anja Harteros sing "O Patria Mia" from Aida, as well as more excerpts from the recording session along with interviews with the artists, after the jump.

Georgia Jarman Returns Triumphant In Santa Fe Opera "Rigoletto"

Gilda In The Desert: Jarman sings the Verdi role
at The Santa Fe Opera (Photo: Ken Howard)

Former Santa Fe Opera Apprentice Georgia Jarman currently sings the lead role of Gilda in Verdi's Rigoletto at the Santa Fe Opera: "The plot, derived from a Victor Hugo play, revolves around the curse to which Rigoletto is referring just then. It focuses specifically on how he loses his daughter, Gilda, to the decadent Duke of Mantua, whom Rigoletto serves as court jester. Soprano Georgia Jarman proves to be a splendid Gilda, acting the part with forthright simplicity and displaying the vocal heft, timbre and agility needed to meet its demands. One of the evening’s high points was her aria 'Caro nome,' which started in loveliness and ended five minutes later in otherworldly beauty — her coloratura encompassing some clearly articulated, sustained trills, to boot. Conductor Jader Bignamini had led a sturdy interpretation up to that point, but in the aria he and the orchestra supported Gilda’s musings by allowing breathing room of their own. Jarman’s aria 'Tutte le feste al tempio' was similarly affecting, and the duet with her father into which it escalates was one of the evening’s most touching highpoints." [Source] Watch a video interview with the soprano discussing her role, after the jump.

Joseph Colaneri And Francesca Zambello Talk 40th Anniversary

Opera Titan: Francesco Zambello leads the
Glimmerglass Festival into its 40th Season.
(Photo: Claire McAdams)

"The Glimmerglass Festival this year seems grander than ever before. The opera company, with its Alice Busch Theater and campus on the western shore of Otsego Lake north of Cooperstown, is celebrating its 40th anniversary. Artistic and general director Francesca Zambello has put together a remarkable season of events and activities, running from July 10 through August 23. Scheduled for the opening and closing performances is the familiar and beloved Mozart masterpiece, The Magic Flute. Other mainstage productions are Verdi’s dark tragedy Macbeth and an amazing unknown opera by Antonio Vivaldi, Cato in Utica. The traditional American musical theater offering is Leonard Bernstein’s witty and clever take on Voltaire’s classic short novel, Candide. Voltaire ends his philosophical reflection on the meaning of life with Candide’s words, 'we must cultivate our garden.' This year the Glimmerglass 'campus' will have a three-part modern landscape installation for sharing stories and quiet person reflection. 'A beautiful garden has both unity and variety,' Zambello says, and the golden thread running through this season is the importance and beauty of our natural surroundings....The festival will also present a lecture by Supreme Court Justice Ruth

Rolando Villazón "Traviata" Is Circus Clowns And A Willy Decker Clock

Time Stands Still For No One: La Traviata in Baden-Baden 
 (Photo: Andrea Kremper)

The new production of Verdi's La Traviata directed by Roland Villazón had its premiere on May 21, 2015, and the critics are giving their opinions on the opera that features soprano Olga Peretyatko and tenor Atalla Ayan. The first production Mr. Villazón directed for the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden was Donizetti's L'Elisir d'Amore in 2012. Watch a video featuring interviews and backstage rehearsals for La Traviata, after the jump.

Bryan Hymel On Family, Santa Fe Opera, High Notes, "Les Troyens"

Shaken, Not Stirred: Bryan Hymel brings cool to opera with his heroic high notes. (Photo: Dario Acosta)

"French grand opera makes great demands on singers, with performances clocking in at times that rival Wagner and orchestras crowding the pit. New Orleans native, Bryan Hymel (pronounced ee-mel) will continue to embrace that repertoire in performances of epic works like Les Troyens in San Francisco next month and Les[sic] Damnation de Faust in Paris this coming December. In between, he’ll sing the roles of the Duke in Rigoletto and Don Jose in Carmen at Santa Fe and Washington National Opera respectively. His bow as Rodolfo at the Met last year earned him continued praise from the New York press, which had welcomed his triumph on short notice in 2012, stepping in for a save-the-day kind of performance in Les Troyens appropriate for someone whose voice type is most often described as heroic. His list of awards is long, and illustrious, and includes the Metropolitan Opera’s Beverly Sills Artist Award and first

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)

"Aida" With Kaufmann And Harteros Gets 8-Month Lead Time Hype

Australian magazine Limelight discusses the most recent recording of Verdi's Aida for Warner Classics, featuring Jonas Kaufmann, Anja Harteros, Ekaterina Semenchuk, and Erwin Schrott under the baton of Antonio Pappano, due in October 2015. Those lucky enough to be in Rome can attend a concert on February 27 of the opera with the cast. Tickets available here. "Over the past two decades the number of studio recordings produced by the world’s biggest record labels of grand operas has dwindled. However a new studio recording of Verdi’s epic masterpiece Aida being produced by Warner Classics and featuring an all star cast proves that the tradition of recording large scale operatic works in the studio is still alive. What’s more, the new recording, due for release in October this year, will boast an authentically Italian provenance with conductor Sir Antonio Pappano at the helm. Pappano, who since 2005 has been Music Director of the Orchestra and Chorus of the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, featured on this new recording, is a seasoned hand with Verdi repertoire. This will be the conductor’s second studio recording of a Verdi opera, after his 2002 release of Il Trovatore. His Warner Classics catalogue also contains an award-winning Santa Cecilia version of Verdi’s monumental Requiem. Pappano has assembled an extraordinary cast of similarly experienced Verdi performers, although two notable leads will be making their Aida debuts. In the title role, German soprano and former Cardiff Singer of the World champion

Anja Harteros has firmly established her Verdi credentials having appeared in productions of La traviata, Il trovatore, Simon Boccanegra, La forza del destino, Don Carlo and Otello. This will however be her first time performing the role of the Ethopian princess. Starring opposite Harteros will be superstar tenor Jonas Kaufmann, who is no stranger to Verdi’s heroic leads himself, although this too will be the tenor’s Aida debut in the role of the Egyptian warrior Radamès." [Source] Read the full article here. See an interview with Maestro Pappano, and a video of the recording session, after the jump.

Sonya Yoncheva Makes Vogue Magazine Spread For Debut

A Star is Born: Soprano Sonya Yoncheva Arrives

"As Yoncheva made her debut in major operas in Europe, word of her singular range and tone made its way to Gelb. 'We have a very sophisticated scouting system,' he later explained by phone. 'Sometimes I hear reports about young singers that make it clear we should bring them in. European opera houses are typically smaller than the Met. Singers who can make an impression in a smaller European house sometimes do not have the same success on stage at the Met. The singer has to be even more intensely charismatic on stage.' Following her turn as Gilda, Gelb said, Yoncheva has been on a 'meteoric rise to operatic stardom.' Tonight, Yoncheva will begin the first of four performances in La Traviata, one day after releasing her first album, the result of an exclusive, long-term deal with Sony Classical. She is now booked five years out, including in the opening of the Met’s next season, when she will sing the part of Desdemona in a new production of Verdi’s Otello that is slated for a live-broadcast in movie theaters around the world." [Source] Read the full article "Meet Sonya Yoncheva: Opera's Brightest New Star" by clicking here and see more photos by Vogue's Ruven Afanador after the jump. Sonya Yoncheva will be appearing at the Metropolitan Gift Shop on January 22 to sign copies of her new CD, see details here. Sample tracks off the soprano's new album are also after the jump. 

Bolshoi Theatre Revives Robert Carsen Circus "Rigoletto"

Kristina Mkhitaryan as Gilda

"Giuseppe Verdi's immensely popular opera Rigoletto returned to the Bolshoi Theater earlier this month, after an absence of 25 years, in a staging by Canadian director Robert Carsen co-produced by the Bolshoi, the Festival d'Aix-en-Provence, in France, where it originated in the summer of 2013, and the opera houses of Brussels, Strasbourg and Geneva. The Bolshoi played host to the Russian premiere of Rigoletto in 1859 and over the next 130 years the opera went on to become one of the theater's most-performed works, appearing nearly 1,600 times in 11 different stagings. To say that Carsen's production is unlike any seen before at the Bolshoi would amount to a gross understatement. Moving the action from its

Justina Gringyte as Maddalena and Sergey 
Romanovsky as the Duke of Mantua

original locale, the 16th-century ducal court of Mantua, in northern Italy, to a modern-day circus arena, Carsen has turned the libidinous Duke into an equally libidinous circus director and the court jester, Rigoletto, into a clown. To conduct Rigoletto, the Bolshoi engaged prominent Italian conductor Evelino Pido, who encountered certain difficulties in coordinating his forces and for whom the orchestra played rather insensitively at times. The principal treat vocally on opening night was the Duke of Sergei Romanovsky, who, after a brief stint with Novaya Opera, left Russia in 2009 to pursue a career abroad. His bright, technically secure lyric tenor proved a near-perfect fit to the music, marred only by a few cracked high notes. And he played the philandering Duke with enormous gusto and conviction. Kristina Mkhitaryan, a

Dimitris Tiliakos as Rigoletto

member of the Bolshoi's Young Opera Artists Program, showed considerable potential in her sympathetic account of the doomed Gilda, though she lacked, on opening night at least, the pure, bell-like high notes heard from the part's finest interpreters. The vocal disappointment of the evening was the Rigoletto of Greek baritone Dimitris Tiliakos, who seemed to possess several different voices, principal among them an only intermittently full-bodied sound in the mid-range of a sort that marks the true 'Verdi baritone' and rather weak and fluttering notes in music's upper reaches." [Source] Click here for information about Rigoletto performances at the Bolshoi. Watch a video after the jump.

Verdi's "Il Trovatore" Acts As An Alibi In The Dark Movie "Stoker"

Opera Lovers: Not since Salome and Herod has there been such familial heat. Pictured above is Uncle Charlie
watching out for his dear niece India in the deeply disturbing psycho-drama Stoker.

After a boy has gone missing, the local sheriff stops by the Stoker residence to question India who was the last one out with him. As she becomes more flustered trying to keep to her concocted alibi, her uncle steps in to clarify what time she arrived home. "It was 8:30 when you came home. Il Trovatore was playing on PBS," interjects her uncle. India takes it from there, "Yeah, when I came home my uncle was watching TV, so I watched it with him." The sheriff then stumbles with the title, "Il Tr..o..va..tore.....what is it, a horror movie?" And the uncle smugly replies, "No. It's an opera by Verdi. Would you like me to write it down?" Seeming

Under Investigation: PBS to the rescue

satisfied, the sheriff takes his exit. Watch the clip after the jump. [Note: At the point where the clip ends, the uncle ascends the staircase whistling "Stride la vampa" the aria of Azucena from Il Trovatore.] Also see a video of Dolora Zajick singing "Stride la vampa," and a bonus clip from the film of the incestuously erotic version of Piano Duet #1 by Philip Glass as seen in the movie, after the jump.


"India Stoker (Mia Wasikowska) was not prepared to lose her father and best friend Richard

Meet the Stokers: Kidman, Wasikowska, Goode

(Dermot Mulroney) in a tragic auto accident. The solitude of her woodsy family estate, the peace of her tranquil town, and the unspoken somberness of her home life are suddenly upended by not only this mysterious accident, but by the sudden arrival of her Uncle Charlie (Matthew Goode), whom she never knew existed. When Charlie moves in with her and her emotionally unstable mother Evie (Nicole Kidman), India thinks the void left by her father's death is finally being filled by his closest bloodline. Soon after his arrival, India comes to suspect that this mysterious, charming man has ulterior motives. Yet instead of feeling outrage or horror, this friendless young woman becomes increasingly infatuated with him." [Source] Learn more about the movie here. Purchase the soundtrack by clicking here. 

Duke of Mantua Becomes Adman For Visa & Chelsea Ristorante

A new commercial for Municipal Credit Union Visa features New York City's Chelsea Ristorante in order to sell its low-interest card. The music playing under the commercial is the Duke of Mantua's canzone "La donna è mobile" from the beginning of Act 3 of Giuseppe Verdi's opera Rigoletto from 1851. Judging from the gallery on the restaurants website, it is a favorite for "Sopranos." For more information about the MCU, click here.

Verdi Tease: Anna Netrebko Singing Lady Macbeth At The MET

Catch your first glimpse of Anna Netrebko singing the demanding role of Lady Macbeth, in Verdi's version of the Shakespearean drama Macbeth at the Metropolitan Opera this month, by watching a teaser of "Vieni, t'affretta" after the jump.

Catching Up With Anna Netrebko At The Salzburg Festival 2014

Anna Netrebko with fiancé Yusif Eyvazov at the Salzburg Festival.

More photos of the production can be found by clicking here. See more images of Anna Netrebko with Plácido Domingo after the jump.

Soprano Claire Rutter Does House Chores And Likes Country Music

Western Girl: Rutter will sing the role of Minnie in
La Fanciulla del West with the Minnesota Opera
next month. Details here.

"For one of the world’s most in-demand opera stars, the image conjured up for me was, well, less than glamorous. The truth is, admitted Winchester’s Claire Rutter, I really enjoy finding the time to do the ironing while listening to country rock music. I pointed out this was hardly the diva-ish image fans might expect of the star who is currently wowing audiences as Violetta in La Traviata being staged at Hampshire’s Park Grange Opera. 'Having children certainly helps to keep you grounded. If we start singing around the house they tell us to shut up quite quickly,' confessed Claire, as we spoke prior to her appearance in a special concert this weekend to help raise funds for St John the Baptist Church in Alresford. And how does she relax when not doing the ironing? What music does an international opera star listen to when off duty? 'Certainly not opera. It’s like any job really. When you sing opera all the time it’s the last thing you want to listen to. In fact, the only time I will listen to opera is when I’m learning a piece or someone has sent me something for an opinion. Otherwise I enjoy country rock and jazz.' At that our telephone interview came to an end. The builders had arrived and a delivery of gravel was threatening to block the family’s drive. A diva’s life indeed." [Source]

Mary Elizabeth Williams Discusses "Nabucco" And Marriage

Verdi Bad Girl: Mary Elizabeth Williams will play the role of Abigaille in Nabucco beginning in June.

"Mary Elizabeth Williams is soaking up the sights of Venice when I call. It’s little over a week until the soprano will be on stage in Cardiff for the opening night of Welsh National Opera’s new production of Nabucco and she’s got a few days off from rehearsals. But despite the short break from work, she’s still immersed in opera – for she’s in the Italian city to support her husband, Lorenzo Decaro, who’s appearing in Tosca at Teatro La Fenice. 'I’ve been to Venice before but it was so long ago that I hardly remember a thing,' says the 37-year-old who is originally from Philadelphia but now lives in Milan. 'I’m just here for a couple of days and we’ve been doing lots of walking around and enjoyed dinner with my husband’s colleagues. I like to eat local food and shop and just hang out. But I leave

The opera duo exchange wedding vows.
(Photo: Facebook)

tomorrow and head straight to Cardiff for rehearsals.' The couple have only been married for two months. They tied the knot during an intimate ceremony at Williams’ mother’s house in America little over a year after meeting when they played on-stage lovers in Aida in Palermo, Italy. 'I suppose it’s been a whirlwind by today’s standards – he asked me to marry him at Christmas and we figured if we didn’t get married now it could be difficult as we’re both working all the time.' She admits that she was 'hesitant' at first about starting a relationship with another opera singer. 'I don’t like to have romances on the road – I like to keep it professional and I avoid tenors at all costs as typically they’re very high maintenance,' she laughs. 'I was very reticent but he was very gentlemanly and patient and he always made it clear he was interested without stalking me. He won me over, I’m lucky.'" [Source] For more information about the Nabucco performances at Welsh National Opera, click here.

Tennis Player Ernests Gulbis Doesn't Like To Miss The Opera

Gulbis (above) displays a passion for opera that
we haven't seen since Novak Djokovic professed
his admiration for Natalie Dessay.

"When I [Sports Illustrated] caught up with Ernests Gulbis at the Italian Open last year, he was in the midst of a career resurgence after plunging to No. 136 and having his mom recommend that he retire. His renaissance has continued in 2014: The 25-year-old Latvian is 23-10 with one title (the Open 13 in Marseille, France) and two semifinal appearances, and last week he reached a career-high No. 17. He is ranked 19th entering the French Open, which begins on Sunday. The outspoken Gulbis — who has put his fans through the wringer with his erratic play and combustible temperament — sat down for another interview in Rome last week, before his third-round loss to David Ferrer. He talked about his newfound consistency on the court and his eclectic tastes off it."

SI.com: What’s a piece of culture that’s impressed you lately?
Gulbis: Lately it’s been more music. I was really pissed off because I got sick in Vienna right before Madrid and I had two great tickets for the opera. One was for Nabucco and Placido Domingo coming to Vienna, and I missed it because I was in a doctor’s appointment. But what I like lately is classical minimalist music. Like Philip Glass, Pierre Boulez, Irmin Schmidt. Schmidt wrote a lot of good music for movies. There’s one really good soundtrack, from Wim Wenders’ film Palermo Shooting. That kind of music culturally touched me. It’s not easy to listen to it.

SI.com: You’re very into music.
Gulbis: My collection of music is pretty big. It’s around 4-5 terabytes. I keep it at home in a hard drive. We put all the CDs that we had in our houses — the country house and the city house — on one hard drive. All the music I downloaded and all the music my father downloaded is in one place. [Source]

It's not the first time we've seen opera and tennis come together. Watch the video after the jump for proof.