18 Apr 2025
Beth Taylor grandly continues her electrifying current season with her participation as the alto soloist in Ludwig van Beethoven’s timeless, revolutionary, majestic, and ultimately uplifting Symphony No. 9 at the Baden-Baden Festival with Kirill Petrenko leading the Berliner Philharmoniker, the other soloists being soprano Katharina Konradi, tenor Sebastian Kohlhepp and bass Tareq Nazmi. The two performances will take place on April 18 and 21. This season, the Glasgow-born mezzo-soprano sang Beethoven’s seminal masterpiece in other high-profile engagements, such as a performance with Orchestre du Conservatoire de Paris at the Philharmonie de Paris and shortly, she will reprise it at Carnegie Hall New York with the Orchestra of St Luke’s. Raphaêl Pichon will conduct both concerts.
12 Apr 2025
On April 12, 2025, Kangmin Justin Kim, accompanied by Alfonse Cemin on the piano, participates in the Weiwuying International Music Festival Taiwan with a recital entitled “From Baroque to Cabaret”, which - as the title says - displays his wide versatility featuring music ranging from Baroque composers to Poulenc’s mélodies, to some of Steven Sondheim’s best-known songs, to Jason Robert Brown. More specifically, the Korean-American countertenor will perform Monteverdi’s Scherzi Musicali ("Maledetto sia l’aspetto”, "Quel sguardo sdegnosetto”, "Eri già tutta mia”, "Ecco di dolci raggi il sol armato”, "Ed è pur dunque vero”); Porpora’s “Alto Giove” from “Polifemo”, Handel’s "Se bramate d'amar chi vi sdegna" from “Serse”, and “Lascia la spina” from “Il trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno”, Poulenc’s Fiançailles pour Rire (“La Dame d’André”, “Dans l’herbe”, “Il vole”, “Mon cadavre est doux comme un gant”, “Violon”, “Fleurs”); Sondheim’s "Losing My Mind" from “Follies”, "Giants in the Sky" from “Into the Woods”, "Send in the Clowns" from “A Little Night Music”; Jason Robert Brown’s "I'm Not Afraid of Anything" and "Stars and the Moon" from “Songs for a New World”.
11 Apr 2025
On Palm Sunday weekend, Michael Spyres participates in “Frühling aus Wien,” two concerts with the Wiener Symphoniker led by Petr Popelka at the Politeama Rossetti in Trieste. On April 11, the superstar baritenor will sing the role of Siegmund in the first act of Die Walküre, joining Sarah Wegener as Sieglinde and George Zeppenfeld as Hunding. The April 13 concert - also featuring cellist Christoph Stradner - is, on the contrary, devoted to the Viennese operetta and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Michael Spyres’ contributions will be “Als flotter Geist” from Johan Strauss II’s Der Zigeunerbaron, and "Freunde, das Leben ist lebenswert!” from Franz Lehár’s Giuditta. [Photo: Marco Borrelli]
On April 11, 2025, Beth Taylor takes the stage at the Howard Assembly Room in Leeds for a recital presented as part of Opera North’s 2024/2025 season. Joined by the acclaimed pianist Julius Drake, the Scottish mezzo-soprano will offer a wide-ranging program that spans from Handel and Schubert to Schumann, Mahler, Fauré, Novello, and Edith Piaf. The second half of the evening will be dedicated entirely to Elgar’s "Sea Pictures"—a work of which Taylor has become one of today’s most distinguished interpreters. [Photo: John Cooper]
10 Apr 2025
On April 10, 2025, Beth Taylor sings the role of Elmira in George Frideric Handel’s rarely-heard “Floridante”, the closing event of the 2025 London Handel Festival. Christian Curnyn leads The Early Opera Company and a prestigious cast that includes Hilary Summers in the title role, Rowan Pierce as Rossane, Mhairi Lawson as Timante, Jonathan Lemalu as Oronte, and Matthew Durkan as Coralbo. The Scottish mezzo-soprano - among other things - has been making a name for herself as a Handel specialist. Her next engagement will be as Cornelia in "Giulio Cesare in Egitto" with the English Concert conducted by Harry Bicket as part of the UK and USA tour.
09 Apr 2025
Fischer Artists hit a trifecta in the new Laurence Dala production of the seldom-heard “Die Liebe Der Danae” at the Opera Carlo Felice, in which tenor Eamonn Mulhall, bass Nicolas Legoux, and soprano Agnieszka Adamczak participate as Zweite König, Dritte König, and Europa, respectively. Under the musical direction of Michael Zlabinger, the cast of Strauss’s penultimate opera also includes Angela Meade as Danae, Scott Hendricks as Jupiter, Timothy Oliver as Merkur, Tuomas Katajala as Pollux, Valentina Farcas as Xanthe, John Matthew Myers as Midas, Albert Memeti as the First King, John Paul Huckle as the Fourth King, Anna Graf as Semele, Hagar Sharvit as Alkmene, Valentina Stadler as Leda, Domenico Apollonio, Bernardo Pellegrini / Davide Canepa, Luca Romano, Andrea Scannerini (Four Guards) and Valeria Saladino (A voice). The premiere is April 9, with additional performances on April 13 and 16.