Latest Opera News
San Francisco Opera will debut Adams' 'Antony and Cleopatra'
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — John Adams’ version of “Antony and Cleopatra” will have its world premiere on Sept. 10 on the opening weekend of the San Francisco Opera’s 100th season. Soprano Julia Bullock sings Cleopatra, baritone Gerald Finley will be Antony, tenor Paul Appleby...
Pope slips out of Vatican to visit record shop, gets CD
ROME (AP) — Pope Francis grew up listening to the opera on the radio, is a fan of Argentine tango and thinks Mozart “lifts you to God.” But it still came as a something of a shock to see the 85-year-old pontiff coming out of a downtown Rome record shop late Tuesday with a CD in...
Mälkki could be 1st woman music director of NY Philharmonic
NEW YORK (AP) — Her arms at her side against her glimmering, long black jacket and her blond hair pulled into a ponytail, Susanna Mälkki soaked in several minutes of applause after a thrilling Carnegie Hall debut. She had conducted the New York Philharmonic in a challenging program, perceived as...
Opera singer Maria Ewing, wife of Peter Hall, dead at 71
DETROIT (AP) — Maria Ewing, a soprano and mezzo-soprano noted for intense performances who became the wife of director Peter Hall and the mother of actor-director Rebecca Hall, has died at age 71. Ewing died Sunday at her home in Detroit, spokeswoman Bryna Rifkin said Monday. ...
Mississippi museum receives portrait of opera singer Newman
NATCHEZ, Miss. (AP) — A Mississippi museum has acquired a portrait of opera singer and music educator Daisy Cecelia Newman, who was born in the state and had an international performing career that included a nomination for a Tony Award. Newman's portrait will be included in “The...
Final goodbye: Recalling influential people who died in 2021
They both carved out sterling reputations as military and political leaders over years of public service. But both also saw their legacies tarnished by their actions in the long, bloody war in Iraq. Former Secretary of State Colin Powell and former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld...
Vivaldi opera gets premiere in Ferrara nearly 300 years late
ROME (AP) — The Catholic Church and the northern Italian city of Ferrara made their peace Thursday with Antonio Vivaldi nearly 300 years after the city’s archbishop effectively canceled the staging of one of his operas, sending the famed Baroque composer into debt for his final years in exile. ...
Masked Milanese fill La Scala for gala premiere of 'Macbeth'
MILAN (AP) — Milanese turned out in all their finery for La Scala's gala season opener of Verdi's “Macbeth” in a fully seated theater, a welcome return after the pandemic made last year's premiere a televised-only affair and as many European theaters remain closed. Masked...
Met Opera to present Blanchard's 'Champion' in April 2023
The Metropolitan Opera will present its premiere of Terence Blanchard’s first opera, “Champion,” about closeted gay boxer Emile Griffith, in April 2023 following the success of the composer’s “Fire Shut Up in My Bones” on the opening night of this season. “Champion”...
Despite pandemic, famed Italian theater opens season
MILAN (AP) — While many European theaters remain closed due to the pandemic, the famed Teatro alla Scala on Tuesday opened its new season with the gala premiere of Verdi’s “Macbeth” to a fully seated house. Despite the glittery evening wear and a guest list that included...
