After years of tackling the Mozartean repertoire, Christopher Maltman ascends to the challenge to tackle the tragic hunchback court jester while being joined by a cast of vibrant, young singers with loads of potential. Enjoy the review and let me know your opinions as well.
Giuseppe Verdi
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Fresh from his role debut as the Venetian Moor in Toronto, Canada, Russell Thomas brought this iconic tragic hero to Berlin where he was joined by a cavalcade of superstars, including the pristine Guanqun Yu and the dynamic George Gagnidze. Enjoy the review and let me know your opinions as well.
A brilliant full lyric tenor with a growing repertoire rises to the challenge to take on the delightfully despicable Duke of Mantua. Enjoy the review and let me know your opinions as well.
Two years ago in the marvelous city of Budapest, Hungary, I caught this production of Giuseppe Verdi’s Il Trovatore set in the 20th century with the melodrama amped up to eleven. Enjoy the review and let me know your opinions as well.
Sonya Yoncheva, Piotr Beczala, and Placido Domingo make their role debuts in one of Verdi’s rarely performed operas as the tragic characters of Luisa Miller, Rodolfo Walter, and Old Man Miller. Enjoy the review and let me know your opinions as well.
Three years ago in Prague, I was extremely excited to review the very opera, which put Giuseppe Verdi on the map as one of the greatest Italian composers of all time! With a diverse and formidable cast of singers who poured their beings into their selected roles, this was absolute bliss. Enjoy the review and let me know your opinions as well.
It is a royal throwdown between the young spinto soprano Miss Christina Nilsson as the captured Ethiopian princess Aida and the veteran Wagnerian soprano who has nowadays turned her attention to dramatic mezzo roles Madame Katarina Dalayman as the proud Egyptian princess Amneris. Which of these two phenomenal ladies of the stage will come out on top? Sit back, relax, enjoy, and find out in this review.
This has been in the making for weeks after I caught the live stream of the Bayerische Staatsoper’s production of Les Vepres Siciliennes. The question remains. How well does the star-studded cast consisting of the young American spinto soprano Rachel Willis-Sorenson, the Italian lirico-spinto Leonardo Caimi, the Romanian dramatic baritone George Petean, and the Uruguayan bass-baritone Erwin Schrott? Find out in this review, enjoy, and have a blessed Easter week.
What happens when you combine a strapping Korean spinto tenor, a versatile and mighty American dramatic coloratura soprano with a spinto edge, a mighty and virile American dramatic baritone, a gorgeous and sinuous Georgian dramatic mezzo-soprano, and a voluminous Slovakian dramatic bass? Find out in this review and let me know your opinions as well.
Ah, Kabale und Liebe, known in English as Intrigue and Love, by Friedrich von Schiller. When this piece of German theater is put into opera by one of Italy’s most influential composers of the mid-19th century, then high-caliber singing is to be expected to serve the drama well, especially when there is a solid cast consisting of Marina Rebeka, Ivan Magrì, George Petean, Marko Mimica, Ante Jerkunica, and Judit Kutasi. Enjoy the review and let me know your opinions as well.