David Leigh News

On October 13, 2018, the Canadian Opera Company presented the highly anticipated world premiere of Hadrian by composer Rufus Wainwright and librettist Daniel MacIvor. The opera recounts the epic love story of Roman Emperor Hadrian and his young lover, Antinous. Erased by history, their story is reclaimed for the 21st century by its creators in a star-studded production from renowned Canadian director Peter Hinton. Hadrian runs for seven performances through October 27, 2018.

On October 13, 2018, the Canadian Opera Company presents the highly anticipated world premiere of Hadrian by composer Rufus Wainwright and librettist Daniel MacIvor.

On October 13, 2018, the Canadian Opera Company presents the highly anticipated world premiere of Hadrian by composer Rufus Wainwright and librettist Daniel MacIvor.

The Richard Tucker Music Foundation announced today that Christian Van Horn – “one of those treasurable singers in whose presence one can entirely relax, assured that everything he does will be delivered with solid interpretive insight and unfailingly attractive tone” (Opera News) – has been named as the winner of the 2018 Richard Tucker Award.

The Dallas Opera is both pleased and proud to announce that, after an international search supported by Arts Consulting Group, TDO has hired Kentucky Opera General Director Ian Derrer to become the eighth general director in its history, effective this July.

When I first heard soprano Hyesang Park and tenor Kang Wang--two of the bright young singers featured in last weekend's Juilliard and the Met's Lindemann Young Artist Program concert--they were leads in a charming production of Bellini's LA SONNAMBULA at the school. On Friday evening, they were two of the stellar performers in “An Evening of Verdi”--extended excerpts from four operas with the Juilliard Orchestra doing a fluid job under Maestro Evan Rogister, who was also particularly attentive to the needs of the singers.

The Canadian Opera Company's 2018/2019 season presents the world premiere of Hadrian, a new opera from composer Rufus Wainwright and librettist Daniel MacIvor, which features the highly anticipated COC debuts of international opera stars Thomas Hampson and Karita Mattila.

The Metropolitan Opera and The Juilliard School present an 'Evening of Verdi' in their seventh collaboration on Friday, February 23, 2018, at 8pm in Juilliard's Peter Jay Sharp Theater. Evan Rogister, an alumnus of Juilliard and guest conductor at the Met this season, conducts scenes from Verdi's operas with singers from the Met Opera's Lindemann Young Artist Development Program and the Juilliard Orchestra. Stephen Wadsworth provides concert stage direction for excerpts from I Lombardi alla prima crociata, Stiffelio, Falstaff, and Rigoletto.

Don Giovanni, ce Dom Juan que Moli re qualifiait de grand seigneur m chant homme . Toujours, quand se l ve le rideau sur une nouvelle production de l'extraordinaire op ra de Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, se pose la m me question: quel Don Giovanni allons-nous d couvrir? Quel sera le Don Giovanni de Jean-Fran ois Sivadier, dont beaucoup se souviendront des irr sistibles Dame de chez Maxim et Madama Butterfly?

Beginning in the 2017-18 season, the Metropolitan Opera's Lindemann Young Artists Development Program welcomes five new young artists into the acclaimed program established by Met Music Director Emeritus James Levine in 1980. Along with the returning nine participants, the program will train a new generation of artists, including opera singers, coaches, and pianists.

More than 400 opera aficionados and performers - including opera stars Harolyn Blackwell, Lauren Flanigan, Ailyn Perez, Diana Soviero, Teresa Stratas and surprise presenter Renee Fleming, were among those who attended the 12th Annual OPERA NEWS Awards at The Plaza Hotel last night.

Under the leadership of General Manager Bernard Foccroulle, the 69th season of the Festival d'Aix-en-Provence will present an exceptional collection of artists from around the globe in five major opera productions and 16 recital, chamber music and orchestral concerts from July 3 through 22, plus more than 60 events from the Academie du Festival d'Aix.

Park Ave Chamber Symphony with Pianist Jeffrey Biegel perform massive new work.

The Park Avenue Chamber Symphony Orchestra (PACS) will honor veterans of the United States Armed Forces with a large-scale gala concert at Carnegie Hall on November 19. The performance will feature the New York premiere of Dreams of the Fallen - the much-admired new work by award-winning composer Jake Runestad and the poet and United States Army veteran Brian Turner. The work probes the way veterans are forever psychologically changed by their experiences of war. The program concludes with a performance of Beethoven's uplifting Symphony No. 9.

The Florentine Opera Company General Director William Florescu announced the nation's sixth oldest opera company's 83Rd season with a 'grand reveal party' in the Marcus Centers newly renovated Wilson Theater at Vogel Hall:

The voice of the people sang and spoke out last night in Jazz at Lincoln Center's Rose Theater, Appel Room and Ertegun Atrium. Many of the world's finest musicians, and many of the finest citizens of NYC assembled to celebrate an effort to return 'The People's Opera' to New York. They did so in a Gala Concert and Dinner to honor the life of the late Maestro Julius Rudel, who was the Opera's General Director and Principal Conductor from 1957 to 1979.

New York City Opera Renaissance will host a Gala Concert and Dinner to celebrate the life of the late Maestro Julius Rudel and his invaluable contribution to the New York City Opera as General Director and Principal Conductor from 1957 to 1979. Maestro Rudel passed away on June 26, 2014 at age 93. The Gala Concert will take place at the Rose Theater in the Time Warner Center, Broadway & 60th Street, New York, NY, this evening, March 9, 2015, at 7 pm.

New York City Opera Renaissance will host a Gala Concert and Dinner to celebrate the life of the late Maestro Julius Rudel and his invaluable contribution to the New York City Opera as General Director and Principal Conductor from 1957 to 1979. Maestro Rudel passed away on June 26, 2014 at age 93. The Gala Concert will take place at the Rose Theater in the Time Warner Center, Broadway & 60th Street, New York, NY, on Monday evening, March 9, 2015, at 7 pm.

Journalist Luke Harding encountered strange activity while writing his book on Edward Snowden. He writes in the Guardian that when writing the “The Snowden Files: The Inside Story of the World's Most Wanted Man,” some paragraphs seemed to 'self-delete' themselves, as if there was someone watching and participating in his writing.

Following Julian Assange's heated letter to Benedict Cumberbatch, the actor, who plays the famed WikiLeaks founder in the film THE FIFTH ESTATE, has released his own response.