Johan Engels News

Once more, with feeling! This year's SDO Valentine offering, Donizetti's 1832 comic masterpiece, 'Elixir of Love,' echoed last season's midwinter love fest, the composer's 'Daughter of the Regiment.'

Houston Grand Opera is kicking off 2014 with the most harrowing and exhausting evening of opera I have ever experienced, and as an audience member I couldn't be more thrilled. If you're simply looking for entertainment, you'll be better off seeing RIGOLETTO (the other opera being performed in repertory with THE PASSENGER this January at Houston Grand Opera). However, if you're searching for a cerebral, gripping, and altogether emotional experience, then Houston Grand Opera's (HGO) US Premiere of Mieczyslaw Weinberg and Alexander Medvedev's THE PASSENGER delivers everything you're wanting and so much more.

Anthony Freud, general director of Lyric Opera of Chicago, announced today that the company will present a new production of Richard Wagner's monumental four-opera masterpiece, Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelung) starting in 2016-17.

Nigel Redden, director of the Lincoln Center Festival, and Rebecca Robertson, President and Executive Producer, Park Avenue Armory, today announced that the two organizations will co-present The Passenger, Mieczyslaw Weinberg's uncompromising 1968 opera about the Holocaust, performed by Houston Grand Opera and directed by David Pountney, in its New York premiere performances July 10, 12 and 13 at Lincoln Center Festival 2014. Pountney's production will have its U.S. premiere on January 18, 2014 at Houston Grand Opera.

Only the greatest opera companies in the world have the resources and orchestral forces to mount the massive and complex masterpieces of Richard Wagner. This month Lyric Opera of Chicago is doing just that with a new production of the German composer's final masterpiece, Parsifal.

Only the greatest opera companies in the world have the resources and orchestral forces to mount the massive and complex masterpieces of Richard Wagner. In November Lyric Opera of Chicago will do just that with a new production of the German composer's final masterpiece, Parsifal.

November sees Thomas Hampson - a recent inductee into the Gramophone Hall of Fame - return to Lyric Opera of Chicago to help celebrate the Wagner bicentennial, singing Amfortas in the company's new production of Parsifal (Nov 9-29). Wagner's conflicted ruler is one of the baritone's signature roles, and earlier this month he joined Christoph Eschenbach and the National Symphony for a concert rendition of the opera's final act. The results, according to the Washington Times, were a 'revelation.' Awarding the concert full marks, the review singled out Hampson's performance as 'genuinely electrifying, yet moving at the same time.' Similarly, while impressed by the concert as a whole, the Washington Post nonetheless felt that 'it was Thomas Hampson's Amfortas who showed everyone how it is done. ... He effectively carried the end of the evening.' The Washington Times spoke for many in concluding: 'We can confidently assure Lyric Opera patrons that their Amfortas will not disappoint.'

OPERATHON 2013, Lyric Opera of Chicago's annual live-radio marathon fundraiser on 98.7WFMT, celebrated its 34th anniversary by raising $501,036 during its 16-hour broadcast on Saturday, October 19, exceeding the $500,000 goal.

Only the greatest opera companies in the world have the resources and orchestral forces to mount the massive and complex masterpieces of Richard Wagner. In November Lyric Opera of Chicago will do just that with a new production of the German composer's final masterpiece, Parsifal.

On January 18, 2014, Houston Grand Opera (HGO) presents the American premiere of The Passenger (1968), a powerful Holocaust opera by exiled Polish-Jewish composer Mieczyslaw Weinberg.

On January 18, 2014, Houston Grand Opera (HGO) presents the American premiere of The Passenger (1968), a powerful Holocaust opera by exiled Polish-Jewish composer Mieczyslaw Weinberg. Based on a novel by Auschwitz survivor Zofia Posmysz, The Passenger was recognized as "a perfect masterpiece" by Shostakovich but was censored by the Soviet establishment and never performed in Weinberg's lifetime. It premiered at the 2010 Bregenz Festival, and its subsequent UK premiere at the English National Opera took place only thanks to award-winning British director David Pountney, whose staging inspired the Telegraph to write: "Risky though it may be to label a first production 'definitive,' it is hard to imagine it ever being done better." Now HGO brings the same production across the Atlantic, complete with mezzo-soprano Michelle Breedt, who "excelled" (New York Times) in the leading role at two European premieres. All five of The Passenger's first American performances (Jan 18-Feb 2) will be led byPatrick Summers, HGO's artistic and music director.

Houston Grand Opera's (HGO) 2013-14 season includes the launch of the company's first Ring cycle, in a visionary and captivating production by the Catalan company La Fura dels Baus; the hotly anticipated American premiere of Mieczyslaw Weinberg's Holocaust opera The Passenger; the world premiere of Ricky Ian Gordon's A Coffin in Egypt, based on the play of the same name by renowned Texas writer Horton Foote and starring iconic mezzo-soprano Frederica von Stade; a new HGO production of Carmenfrom Broadway sensation Rob Ashford; revivals of Aida, Rigoletto, and Die Fledermaus; and, in tribute to the nation's homegrown musical theater tradition, Stephen Sondheim's A Little Night Music designed by fashion star Isaac Mizrahi. Through its HGOco Song of Houston project-winner of the National MultiCultural Institute's Leading Lights Diversity Award-the company continues to celebrate Houston's cultural diversity with the world premieres of two new commissions exploring the city's Vietnamese and Indian communities as part of the East + West series.

Lyric's fabulous 2013-14 season is about to begin! To help audiences make the most of their opera experience, Lyric Opera of Chicago offers an array of lectures, tours, galas, and other special events during its 59th season, September through May. Please take note of these highlights for your season-preview coverage and calendar listings.

Single tickets go on sale to the general public today, Aug. 1, for Lyric Opera of Chicago's 59th season.

Lyric Opera of Chicago and its general director, Anthony Freud, announced the lineup for Lyric's 2013-14 season today. Joseph Calleja, Joyce DiDonato, Nathan Gunn, Thomas Hampson, Ana Maria Martinez, Matthew Polenzani, and Patricia Racette are among those headlining the new season's offerings. These comprise 67 performances of eight different operas, beginning October 5, 2013 and concluding March 23, 2014: new productions of Parsifal, La traviata, The Barber of Seville, and Rusalka (Lyric premiere); a revival of Otello; and new-to-Chicago stagings of Madama Butterfly, Die Fledermaus, and La clemenza di Tito. Lyric's music director, Sir Andrew Davis, will lead three operas, and guest conductors Marco Armiliato, Bertrand de Billy and Michele Mariotti will make their house debuts. Additionally, Lyric will present a new production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's The Sound of Music in the spring of 2014, continuing the company's American Musical Theater Initiative, and Davis will conduct a special Subscriber Appreciation Concert in March featuring Lyric's creative consultant - the star soprano Renee Fleming - with tenor Jonas Kaufmann.

Lyric Opera of Chicago and its general director, Anthony Freud, announced the lineup for Lyric's 2013-14 season today. Joseph Calleja, Joyce DiDonato, Nathan Gunn, Thomas Hampson, Ana Maria Martinez, Matthew Polenzani, and Patricia Racette are among those headlining the new season's offerings. These comprise 67 performances of eight different operas, beginning October 5, 2013 and concluding March 23, 2014: new productions of Parsifal, La traviata, The Barber of Seville, and Rusalka (Lyric premiere); a revival of Otello; and new-to-Chicago stagings of Madama Butterfly, Die Fledermaus, and La clemenza di Tito. Lyric's music director, Sir Andrew Davis, will lead three operas, and guest conductors Marco Armiliato, Bertrand de Billy and Michele Mariotti will make their house debuts. Additionally, Lyric will present a new production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's The Sound of Music in the spring of 2014, continuing the company's American Musical Theater Initiative, and Davis will conduct a special Subscriber Appreciation Concert in March featuring Lyric's creative consultant - the star soprano Renee Fleming - with tenor Jonas Kaufmann.

Houston Grand Opera (HGO)-the only opera company with two Grammys, two Emmys, and a Tony - continues to raise the bar for American opera with next season's gripping new line-up.

HOTEL CALIFORNIA - THE EAGLES EXPERIENCE, The Mandela, January 20th to January 31st

Operatic comedy at its most appealing opens the 2009/10 L.A. Opera season. A magic love potion and destiny decide the fate of a love triangle involving a small-town bumpkin, a dashing sergeant and the bewitching town flirt in one of opera's most popular comedies. Filled with light-hearted charm and bursting with feel-good laughs, Gaetano Donizetti's The Elixir of Love features effervescent Italian melodies and plenty of bel canto vocal fireworks.

Operatic comedy at its most appealing opens the 2009/10 L.A. Opera season. A magic love potion and destiny decide the fate of a love triangle involving a small-town bumpkin, a dashing sergeant and the bewitching town flirt in one of opera's most popular comedies. Filled with light-hearted charm and bursting with feel-good laughs, Gaetano Donizetti's The Elixir of Love features effervescent Italian melodies and plenty of bel canto vocal fireworks.