Embodying a range of iconic female characters from history, literature and song — both the ‘good’ and the ‘not-so-good’ — Susan Graham delivered a wonderfully suave and entertaining performance before a delighted Wigmore Hall audience.
The Los Angeles opera company ended its 2011-2012 season with Giacomo
Puccini’ long-loved La Bohème, in a long-lived production. What is
it about this opera that keeps old loves alive? http://www.operatoday.com/Deutsche%20Oper%20am%20Rhein%2013.06.12.pdfEffective July 30, Cassidy E. Fitzpatrick will be the new artistic administrator of Florida Grand Opera. a position open since the dismissal of Kelly Anderson last year.In his second season, intendant Dominique Meyer has chalked up increases both in tickets sold and earnings at the Vienna State Opera. 
There are many different ways to analyze the health of New York City. My personal measurements judge the town thus: How many aspiring artsy kids are forced to share a single apartment in an outer borough while they “find themselves” and how many small but immensely able opera companies are functional at any given time. 
Not about tattoo art, not an evocation of the Holocast, and let us not even try to put our finger on what it is about.http://www.operatoday.com/content/2012/07/continued_progr.phpIan Bostridge’s thought-provoking ‘Ancient and Modern’ project at the
Wigmore Hall is drawing to a close and this penultimate instalment brought
together Renaissance sensuality and Neo-classical restraint in a meticulously
executed performance. 
A feast for the eyes, a feast for the ears, a Flute from America’s heartland that goes directly to your heart.
A sensational Les Troyens at the Royal Opera House, London. Berlioz, who understood theatrical gestures so well, builds his opera around the most audacious dramatic device in ancient history: the Trojan Horse. http://www.operatoday.com/content/2012/07/changes_in_brat.phphttp://www.operatoday.com/content/2012/07/changes_at_flor.php
Fanfares that celebrate soldiers with plumed helmets by a composer who donned a helmet (metaphorically) — Verdi the operatic father of the Risorgimento!Nicolas Bachler, intendant of the Bavarian State Opera, has had his contract extended through August 2018. http://www.operatoday.com/content/2012/07/honors_for_bayr.php21st-century opera played on period instruments; a ‘drama-less’ opera; a Dali-esque crimson chaise longue, stranded on the platform of the Royal Albert Hall. The Polish alto Jadwiga Rappé is a familiar voice in various stage and concert works, and the recent release of a selection of songs by Stanisław Moniuszko (1819-1872) is an opportunity to hear her performing artsongs. http://www.operatoday.com/content/2012/07/lots_of_loose_e.phpBayreuth’s opera house has been awarded the honor of UNESCO World Heritage status. If you think that means Wagner’s festival house in the same city, with its excellent acoustics and uncomfortable seats, you will be mistaken.Seriousness, elegance and insight characterised this recital of nineteenth-century German song in which Christoph Prégardien and his accompanist, Julius Drake, conducted a moving musical dialogue, perfectly matching each other in the depiction of unbending obsession and unfulfilled aspiration.Based on performances given in Summer 2010 at the Lucerne Festival, this recording of Beethoven’s Fidelio is an admirable recording that captures the vitality of the work as conducted by Claudio Abbado. The Royal Opera House’s Jette Parker Young Artists programme is celebrating the 10th anniversary of their annual Summer Performance. 
Elijah Moshinsky’s Otello, first seen at Covent Garden in 1987,
and revived numerous times with a range of stellar casts, may be traditional
and conservative, even — excepting the thunderous opening storm scene —
somewhat uninventive; 
Perfection. A seldom used term in critiques of opera performances. There it was, almost (and will be, maybe).Over 60 composers (including Beethoven) wrote music inspired by Metastasio’ L’limpiade. http://www.operatoday.com/Salzburg%20Budget%20for%202013.pdf
Are my expectations too high when it comes to Mozart’s operas in general,
and to Così fan tutte in general? Probably. Should they be?
Certainly. 
Trish, a frequent volunteer with Opera Idaho, passed away on Tuesday, July 3. Her family knew how much she loved opera and have suggested Opera Idaho as one of the organizations for those who wish to make a gift in remembrance of [...]