Month: July 2020

The 2020 summer programme of the Festival dei Teatri di Pietra (Opera Festival of Stone Theatres) opens in Sicily this week with a production of Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana at the Ancient Theatre of Taormina. Promoted by Coro Lirico Siciliano (the Sicilian Opera Choir), the Festival presents a series of classical performances at the three architectural…

Continuing the Royal Opera House’s #OurHouseToYourHouse series, The Royal Ballet this week presents the online premiere of its beautiful production of The Sleeping Beauty – Marius Petipa’s classic ballet of the triumph of good over evil – set to Tchaikovsky’s gorgeous score. The Sleeping Beauty is of particular historical importance to The Royal Ballet, since…

The intriguing case of a woman who has lived for over 300 years, and her search for a missing formula to extend her lifespan even further, provide the backdrop to Leoš Janáček’s dramatic opera Věc Makropulos (The Makropulos Case) to be streamed by San Francisco Opera this weekend. This 2010 co-production between San Francisco Opera…

This week’s Fridays at Five session from SFJAZZ features jazz vocalist Cécile McLorin Salvant and virtuoso pianist Sullivan Fortner performing music from their award-winning album The Window – a performance recorded live at the JAZZ Center in San Francisco in September 2018. This was the release which won the GRAMMY for Best Jazz Vocal Album…

To ensure that opera-loving audiences aren’t missing out during the current enforced shut-down, San Francisco Opera continues its Opera is ON initiative – the latest online presentation being the Company’s acclaimed production of Gioachino Rossini’s witty and lighthearted interpretation of one of the world’s best loved fairy tales – La Cenerentola. Filmed live in HD…

The Metropolitan Opera presents yet another superb performance from its amazing repertoire of around 700 productions – Tchaikovsky’s interpretation of Pushkin’s romantic tragedy, Eugene Onegin. The illustrious line-up of stars includes soprano Anna Netrebko as the heroine Tatiana, with baritone Mariusz Kwiecień in the title role. Tenor Piotr Beczała is the poet Lenski, Tatiana’s sister…

Known for its magnificent productions at the Royal Albert Hall, English National Ballet streams the final performance in its Wednesday Watch Party series this week – Christopher Wheeldon’s spectacular production of Cinderella in-the-round, set to Sergei Prokofiev’s glorious score. Wheeldon – regarded as the most successful choreographer of his generation – has created a number…

Giacomo Puccini’s gorgeous La Bohème opens this week’s Metropolitan Opera selection of online transmissions. This passionate and heartbreaking portrayal of love, friendship and loss in the bohemian quarter of 19th century Paris, has been performed more than any other work at the Met, and brings to its stage some of the most beautiful music ever…

The Fridays at Five sessions from SFJAZZ continue to delight enthusiasts. This series of weekly pre-recorded concerts aims to keep jazz alive during the current pandemic, and connect jazz lovers to the music and musicians who continue to draw them to SFJAZZ. This Friday’s concert is an exclusive, world premiere broadcast of a concert filmed…