The Los Angeles Opera opens its 2024–2025 season Sept. 21 with Puccini’s “Madama Butterfly” reimagined in a film studio and said Saturday it will present the company premiere of Osvaldo Golijov’s “Ainadamar” while reducing its offerings from six main-stage productions to five. Mario Gras’s “Butterfly” staging, first seen at Madrid’s Teatro Real in 2017, stars […]
NEW YORK—The final curtain came down Sunday on New York’s production of “The Phantom of the Opera,” ending Broadway’s longest-running show with thunderous standing ovations, champagne toasts, and gold and silver confetti bursting from its famous chandelier. It was show No. 13,981 at the Majestic Theatre and it ended with a reprise of “The Music […]
MILAN—Climate-change activists in Italy on Wednesday threw paint at the entrance of Milan’s famed La Scala opera house ahead of the opening performance of the season, local police said. Activists have staged high-profile protests across Europe in recent months, sometimes targeting museums and art works. The Ultima Generazione (Last Generation) movement said in a statement […]
The English National Opera found out last month it faces drastic funding cuts. It comes after the government instructed Arts Council England to re-distribute some of its London budget elsewhere as part of its levelling up agenda, which is meant to reduce inequalities across England. Critics say it has the opposite effect.
China has a long and continuous history of 5,000 years. Like the rise and fall of the tide, its dynasties came and went. The thrilling story of one such dynasty—the late Eastern Han dynasty—is now a is a four-act opera “The Stratagem” and is available for viewing on Shen Yun Creations. This world-class production is […]
Cuban writer Delia Fiallo passed away early on Tuesday, a source close to the writer told CNN. The Televisa network reported the death earlier in the day, saying it had spoken with Fiallo’s daughter. The legendary writer was 96. The cause of her death was not immediately available. Considered the “mother of the Latin American […]
VERONA, Italy—The Verona Arena amphitheater in northern Italy has returned to staging full operas for the first time since the pandemic—but with one big difference. The monumental sets that normally fill the vast amphitheater stage have been replaced by dynamic, 3D images broadcast on huge LED screens, recreating a Sicilian village or a Fellini-esque film […]
Opera has a longstanding legacy in Europe, dating back to 1597 in Italy. Klaus Billand, an opera critic, has been watching opera since he was 16. But he is now worried that this tradition will be lost as it is losing interest among some in the younger generation. Music can stimulate and train various parts of […]
Amid the poinsettias and the Christmas cactuses, shoppers at Russo’s supermarket in Watertown, Massachusetts, were treated to another kind of beauty on Saturday, Dec. 16—the enchanting voice of Russo’s worker Guilherme Assunção. Assunção, called “Gilly” by his employer, stopped both shoppers and employees in their tracks when he opened his mouth to soundcheck the audio […]
Do YouTube videos really work for learning an art, or are they just a way to kill time? Amira Willighagen is a prodigy opera singer from the Netherlands. Born on March 27, 2004, she managed to win the finals of the ‘Holland’s Got Talent (2013)’ at the tender age of nine. The little girl is a perfect example […]
