Latest Opera News

La Scala's gala season premiere vanquished bad-luck vibes around long-absent Verdi opera

Dec. 07, 2024 17:46 PM EST

MILAN (AP) — Milan’s storied Teatro alla Scala presented Giuseppe Verdi’s “La Forza del Destino” for its gala season premiere Saturday for the first time in 59 years, determined to shake the opera's reputation for bringing bad luck. The production conducted by Riccardo...

American tenor Brian Jagde gets last-minute call to sing in La Scala's gala season premiere

Dec. 06, 2024 02:37 AM EST

MILAN (AP) — American tenor Brian Jagde was just wrapping up Verdi’s “La Forza del Destino” in Barcelona last month when he got a last-minute offer to sing the same role in La Scala’s gala season premiere this Saturday, arguably the opera world’s most prestigious gig. ...

Mason Bates' Met-bound opera 'Kavalier & Clay' based on Michael Chabon novel premieres in Indiana

Nov. 14, 2024 12:21 PM EST

BLOOMINGTON, Indiana (AP) — When composer Mason Bates approached Michael Chabon about turning his novel “The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay” into an opera, he said the writer told him frankly that “opera was not his thing.” “He was very supportive of the...

Bass David Leigh finding that a successful opera career is no 'impossible dream'

Oct. 22, 2024 11:41 AM EDT

NEW YORK (AP) — When David Leigh sang “The Impossible Dream” at his father’s funeral, the moment was both a testament to his past and a harbinger of his future. Leigh, an operatic bass, is the son of Mitch Leigh, who wrote the score for the musical “Man of La Mancha,” one...

Golijov's Flamenco-tinged opera about slain Spanish playwright Lorca comes to the Met

Oct. 08, 2024 09:40 AM EDT

NEW YORK (AP) — Osvaldo Golijov was running out of time. The Argentine-born composer had been commissioned by the Tanglewood Music Center for a chamber opera to be performed in the summer of 2003. And with the deadline just months away, his original idea wasn’t panning out. ...

Missy Mazzoli's 'The Listeners' portraying life in a cult gets U.S. premiere at Opera Philadelphia

Sep. 26, 2024 14:09 PM EDT

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Missy Mazzoli received an Opera Philadelphia composing commission around the time Donald Trump first was running for president, inspiring her to settle on a sect with faithful followers as a starting point with her librettist, Royce Vavrek. “The role of a...

Constantine Orbelian to attempt revival of New York City Opera after drop in money and performances

Sep. 10, 2024 16:33 PM EDT

NEW YORK (AP) — Constantine Orbelian was promoted Tuesday to executive director of the largely dormant New York City Opera, which hasn’t given a staged performance since 2022 and says it will return with William Grant Still’s “Troubled Island” at City Center in 2025-26. ...