Salzburg Whitsun 2022

Cecilia Bartoli has announced her Whitsun Festival for 2022.  It's called Siviglia and features a variety of references to Seville.  There is even a flamenco night.  I am hoping for a stream, because it would be wonderful to see Cecilia in Barber of Seville once more.  It looks like a lot of fun.

June	3		Il barbiere di Siviglia		Haus für Mozart
June	4		Piano Matinee · Iberia		Haus für Mozart
June	4		Concert · La Torre del Oro		Haus für Mozart
June	5		Il barbiere di Siviglia		Haus für Mozart
June	5		Flamenco Night · Oda a la flor del naranjo		Felsenreitschule
June	6		Sacred Concert · El siglo de oro		Kollegienkirche
June	6		Gala Concert · Carmencita & Friends		Grosses Festspielhaus

• Gianluca Capuano Conductor
• Maria Agresta Soprano
• Rebeca Olvera Soprano
• Cecilia Bartoli Mezzo-soprano
• Piotr Beczala Tenor
• Plácido Domingo Tenor
• John Osborn Tenor
• Rolando Villazón Tenor
• Ildar Abdrazakov Bass
• María Pagés Dance
• Les Musiciens du Prince-Monaco

Santa Fe Opera 2022 Season

 

The Santa Fe Opera has announced their season for the summer of 2022.  This looks like a full season to me.  With works by Rossini, Verdi and Wagner it looks like a very ambitious season to me.  The casts include some wonderful American singers.

Carmen by Bizet  July 1 - August 27

Isabel Leonard, Mezzo-soprano, Carmen; Bryan Hymel, Tenor, Don José (July); Michael Fabiano, Tenor, Don José (August); Michael Sumuel, Bass-baritone, Escamillo; Sylvia D'Eramo, Soprano, Micaëla; Santa Fe Opera Music Director Harry Bicket conducts.

The Barber of Seville by Rossini July 2 - August 26  

Emily Fons, Mezzo-soprano, Rosina; Jack Swanson, Tenor, Count Almaviva; Joshua Hopkins, Baritone, Figaro; Kevin Burdette, Bass, Dr. Bartolo; Ryan Speedo Green, Bass-baritone, Don Basilio (August); Iván López-Reynoso conducts.

Falstaff by Verdi   July 16 - August 25 

Quinn Kelsey, Baritone, Falstaff; Alexandra LoBianco, Soprano, Alice Ford;  Roland Wood, Baritone, Ford;  Elena Villalón, Soprano, Nannetta; Eric Ferring, Tenor, Fenton; Ann McMahon Quintero, Mezzo-Soprano, Dame Quickly; Paul Daniel conducts. 

Tristan und Isolde by Wagner  July 23 -  August 22

Simon O'Neill, Tenor, Tristan; Tamara Wilson, Soprano, Isolde; Jamie Barton, Mezzo-soprano, Brangäne; Nicholas Brownlee, Bass-baritone, Kurwenal; Eric Owens, Bass-baritone, King Marke; David Leigh, Bass, King Marke (August 11); James Gaffigan conducts.

M. Butterfly by Huang Ruo  July 30 -  August 24  

Kangmin Justin Kim, Countertenor, Song Liling; Mark Stone, Baritone, René Gallimard; Hongni Wu, Mezzo-soprano, Comrade Chin | Shu Fung; Kevin Burdette, Bass, Manuel Toulon | Judge; Joshua Dennis, Tenor, Marc; Carolyn Kuan conducts.

San Francisco Opera 2021-2022

The season has been announced for 2021-2022 at the San Francisco.  To reduce the number of people in the house at any given time, they are switching to the kind of season where only one opera plays at a time.  This change will result in only 5 operas.  We can only hope for a return to normal in the following season.

 

August 21, 27, 29; September 3, 5  Puccini's Tosca with the new music director Eun Sun Kim and starring Ailyn Pérez, Michael Fabiano, and Alfred Walker.  This is an excellent group.  

 

October 14, 17, 20, 22, 26, 30  Beethoven's Fidelio in a new production by Matthew Ozawa, starring Elza van den Heever and Russell Thomas. Music Director Eun Sun Kim conducts.  These are also excellent singers.  Fidelio is one of my favorites.

November 21, 23, 27; December 1, 3  Mozart's Cosi fan tutte.  Henrik Nánási conducts an  ensemble featuring Nicole Cabell, Irene Roberts, Benjamin Bliss, John Brancy, Ferruccio Furlanetto, and Nicole Heaston.  This is part 2 of the Mozart/Da Ponte trilogy production by director Michael Cavanagh.  I saw part 1 in 2019 here.  It seemed to work well.

 

June 4, 10, 12, 15, 18, 21, 26; July 2, 2022  Mozart's Don Giovanni conducted by Bertrand de Billy and starring Étienne Dupuis, Luca Pisaroni, Adela Zaharia, and Carmen Giannattasio.  This is part 3 of the Mozart/Da Ponte trilogy production by director Michael Cavanagh. 

June 14, 17, 19, 23, 25; July 1, 3, 2022   Sheng's Dream of the Red Chamber.  I saw this opera in 2016 at the world premier.  They have not provided much additional information.

Bartoli Makes Wiener Staatsoper Debut

After all these years of not singing at the Vienna State Opera, Cecilia Bartoli is finally making her debut in not one but two operas.  Next summer she will sing Rossini's La Cenerentola followed shortly by his Il Turco in Italia.

Metropolitan Opera in HD for 2021-2022

Disclaimer.  The contents of this list comes from Opera Wire.  I hope it is accurate.

Oct. 9, 2021 – Boris Godunov by Mussorgsky. The opera will be presented in its original 1869 version which appears to have no role for Marina.  This opera was presented at the Met in the longer version in 2010 in the same production which also starred René Pape in one of his greatest roles.

• Production - Stephen Wadsworth
• Conductor - Sebastian Weigle
• René Pape - Boris
• Alexey Markov
• Stanislav Trofimov
• David Butt Philip
• Ain Anger
• Maxim Paster 

 

 Oct. 23, 2021 – Fire Shut Up in My Bones by Terence Blanchard, libretto by Kasi Lemmons.  This opera had its premier in 2019 at Opera Theater of St. Louis.

• Production- James Robinson and Camille A. Brown
• Conductor- Yannick Nézet-Séguin
• Angel Blue, Destiny/Loneliness/Greta
• Latonia Moore - Billie
• Will Liverman- Charles

 

Dec. 4, 2021 – Eurydice by Matthew Aucoin.  This is a new Orpheus opera having its Met premier.  The world premier was at the LA Opera 2/1/2020 just before everything shut down.

• Production- Mary Zimmerman
• Conductor- Yannick Nézet-Séguin
• Erin Morley _ Eurydice
  
• Joshua Hopkins, baritone - Orpheus
  
• Jakub Józef Orliński, countertenor - Orpheus' alter ego. 

 

Jan. 1, 2022 – Cinderella by Massenet is usually called Cendrillon, but will here be presented in an English-language translation. We had this with the same production in French with Joyce DiDonato in 2018.  This is a shorter, more family oriented version.

• Production- Laurent Pelly
  
• Conductor-Emmanuel Villaume 
  
• Isabel Leonard - Cinderella
  
• Jessica Pratt - Fairy Godmother
  
• Emily D’Angelo - Prince Charming
  
• Stephanie Blythe - MMe
• Laurent Naouri - Pandolfe

 

Jan. 29, 2022 – Rigoletto by Verdi.  No more Rat Pack. This is a new production by Bartlett Sher.  I am so pleased we will all get to hear Quinn Kelsey's wonderful version of Rigoletto.

• Production - Bartlett Sher
• Conductor - Daniele Rustioni
• Rosa Feola - Gilda
  
• Piotr Beczala - Duke
• Quinn Kelsey - Rigoletto

 

March 12, 2022 – Ariadne auf Naxos by Richard Strauss. This is for Lise Davidsen, of course.  I am very happy with this choice.  When Brandon Jovanovich comes out at the end, we will know he is a god.

• Production - Elijah Moshinsky
• Conductor - Marek Janowski
• Lise Davidsen - Ariadne
  
• Brenda Rae - Zerbinetta
  
• Isabel Leonard -  The Composer
  
• Brandon Jovanovich -  Bacchus
  

 

March 26, 2022 – Don Carlos by Verdi.  Met Opera audiences will get a chance to see Verdi’s famed opera in its original French version for the first time in its history. Elina and Sonya were in a version from Paris in 2017.

• Production - David McVicar
  
• Conductor - Yannick Nézet-Séguin
  
• Elina Garanca - Eboli
  
• Matthew Polenzani - Don Carlos 
• Sonya Yoncheva - Elisabeth
  
• Étienne Dupuis - Rodrigue
  
• Günther Groissböck - Philippe II
  
• John Relyea - Grand Inquisitor

 

May 7, 2022 – Turandot by Puccini.  This is the traditional Zeffirelli production, and Anna Netrebko's Met role debut.

• Production - Franco Zeffirelli
• Conductor - Marco Armiliato
• Turandot - Anna Netrebko
• Calaf - Yonghoon Lee
• Liu - Michelle Bradley

 

May 21, 2022 – Lucia di Lammermoor by Donizetti.  This is a new production, but I loved the old one.  The ghost at the fountain was genius.

• Production - Simon Stone
• Conductor - Riccardo Frizza
• Nadine Sierra - Lucia
  
• Artur Rucinski - Enrico
  
• Javier Camarena -  Edgardo
  
• Matthew Rose -  Raimondo

 

June 4, 2022 – Hamlet by Brett Dean which had its world premier at Glyndebourne in 2017.

• Production - Neil Armfield
  
• Conductor - Nicholas Carter
• Brenda Rae - Ophelia
• Rod Gilfry - Claudius
• Allan Clayton -  Hamlet
• Dame Sarah Connolly -  Gertrude
• Sir John Tomlison - Ghost

Our list includes 3 new operas, and new productions of Rigoletto and Lucia di Lammermoor.  In addition we can count the Met premier of the original French version of Verdi's Don Carlos.  This is pretty interesting stuff.

Things we are missing:

Die Meistersinger with Lise Davidsen and Antonio Pappano.  This is something I would really like to see.  Otto Schenk is their current production.  And Tosca with Sondra Radvanovsky.