25 Jul 2025
Another exciting role debut awaits Michael Spyres at the 2025 Bayreuth Festival, where he steps into the role of Walther von Stolzing in a new production of Richard Wagner’s “Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg”, directed by Matthias Davids and serving as the festival’s season opener. Under the baton of Daniele Gatti, the cast features Georg Zeppenfeld as Hans Sachs, Michael Nagy as Sixtus Beckmesser, Christina Nilsson as Eva, Jongmin Park as Pogner, Christa Mayer as Magdalene, and Matthias Stier as David. The premiere is set for July 25, with additional performances on August 2, 11, 14, 19, and 22. Just two days later, Spyres returns to the Bayreuth stage in his acclaimed interpretation of Siegmund in “Die Walküre”, in the Valentin Schwarz production conducted by Simone Young. He is joined by Catherine Foster as Brünnhilde, Tomasz Konieczny as Wotan, Jennifer Holloway as Sieglinde, Christa Mayer as Fricka/Schwertleite, Vitalij Kowaljow as Hunding, and Margaret Plummer as Waltraute. An additional performance is scheduled for August 16. Spyres made his Bayreuth debut last summer as Siegmund—now a signature role, while Walther von Stolzing marks the third Wagnerian hero to enter his ever-expanding repertoire. [Photo: Marco Borrelli]
19 Jul 2025
On July 19, 2025, Beth Taylor will perform Gustav Mahler’s “Das Lied von der Erde” at the Cuvilliés-Theater in Munich, as part of the closing event of the Festspiel-Kammerkonzert of the Hermann Levi Academy, within the Münchner Opernfestspiele. She will be joined by tenor Christopher Sokolowski, with Finnegan Downie conducting. The Glaswegian mezzo-soprano, hailed as one of the most compelling Mahler interpreters of her generation, last performed Mahler’s meditative, melancholic, and monumental song cycle in February at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris. [Photo: John Cooper]
12 Jul 2025
Nicolas Legoux sings the role of Baron Douphol in La traviata at the Oper Burg Gars, an open-air opera festival held every summer at the historic Burg Gars, a medieval castle ruin located in Gars am Kamp, Austria. The new production of Verdi’s masterpiece is by Carolin Pienkos and Cornelius Obonya, and led by Levente Török. The French-Cambodian bass will sing alongside Hila Fahima in the title role, Filip Filipović as Alfredo, Morten Frank Larsen / Clemens Unterreiner as Germont, Flaka Goranci as Flora, Andjela Spain as Annina, George Kounoupias as Gastone, Philip Schöllhorn as Marquis d’Obigny, and Evgeny Solodovnikov as Doctor Grenvil. The premiere is scheduled for July 12, with additional performances on July 15, 17, 19, 22, 24, 26, 29, 31, and August 3. Nicolas Legoux’s commanding bass repertoire spans German Romantic roles (Wagner and Verdi), French repertoire, and core Classical works. Highly active in German-speaking houses, French festivals, and European concert halls, he’s recognized for his rich tone, dramatic presence, and stylistic versatility
05 Jul 2025
On July 5, 2025, Beth Taylor will appear in recital at the prestigious Schubertíada Festival in Valdegovía, in Spain’s Basque Country. Joined by the renowned pianist Julius Drake, she will present a richly varied program of lieder that showcases her exceptional versatility across four languages. The evening’s repertoire spans from Franz Schubert (Im Haine, Abendstern, Die Sterne, and Die junge Nonne) to selections from Enric Granados’s “Doce tonadillas en estilo antiguo”, Germaine Tailleferre’s “La Rue Chagrin”, Augusta Holmès’s “Les Sept Ivresses (selection)”, and songs from Gustav Mahler’s “Des Knaben Wunderhorn”. The recital concludes with a selection from Johannes Brahms’s 49 Deutsche Volkslieder.
27 Jun 2025
On June 27 and 29, 2025, Juan Sancho returns to the Teatro La Fenice to perform the witty, lyrical, and delightfully humorous tenor solo in Stravinsky’s neoclassical gem “Pulcinella”, conducted by Ivor Bolton. He is joined by Francesca Aspromonte (soprano) and Luca Titto (bass). The evening’s program also features Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 3 in A minor, Op. 56, known as the Scottish. The Sevillan tenor, who is singing Pulcinella for the first time, made his La Fenice debut in 2008 as Pallante in Francesco Cavalli’s “La virtù de’ strali d’amore” (at the Teatro Malibran).
Kangmin Justin Kim returns to the Haymarket Opera Company in Chicago to star in the title role of Leonardo Vinci’s “Artaserse”, in a production directed by legendary countertenor Drew Minter and conducted by Craig Trompeter. He leads a distinguished cast featuring Key’mon Murrah as Arbace, Emily Fons as Mandane, Elijah McCormack as Semira, Eric Ferring as Artabano, and Ryan Belongie as Megabise. The Korean-born, Chicago-raised countertenor was last seen with Haymarket Opera in June 2023, earning acclaim for his portrayal of Cleopatra in Johann Adolph Hasse’s “Marc’Antonio e Cleopatra”.