Innocence, an opera by the late Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho, will receive its U.S. premiere June 1-21 at the San Francisco Opera. The story, told in eight languages through Sofi Oksanen’s libretto, deals with the long-term emotional consequences of a school shooting in Helsinki. The production will be conducted by Saariaho specialist Clément Mao-Takacs. https://www.sfopera.com/
Mussorgsky wrote both the music and the libretto for his opera Chowanschtschina (Kovanshchina) but died before he could complete it. The Staatsoper Berlin’s new production June 2-24 will use the version by Shostakovich with an ending by Stravinsky, and the whole score has been re-orchestrated. The staging is by Claus Guth with music direction by […]
Richard Strauss’ Salomé is an unusual choice to present as an opera-in-concert, but the Houston Symphony Orchestra is taking on that challenge to end their season on June 7-9. With music director Juraj Valčuha at the podium, the concert will feature Jennifer Holloway in the title role, John Daszak as Herodes, and Mark S. Doss […]
Join Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Ellen Reid on June 13 at National Sawdust for an evening of excerpts from her provocative new opera, The Shell Trial, fresh on the heels of its world premiere in Amsterdam. Based on the play De zaak Shell by Rebekka de Wit and Anoek Nuyens, the opera explores climate devastation as a crisis […]
With music by Philip Glass and a libretto by Mary Zimmerman, Galileo Galilei celebrates the power of intellectual curiosity. Opera Theatre of St. Louis will offer the work June 15-29 with Paul Groves in the title role in a production directed by James Robinson and conducted by Kwamé Ryan. https://opera-stl.org/whats-on/galileo-galilei/
On June 15-17, Atlanta Opera will give the world premiere of Forsyth County is Flooding (with the Joy of Lake Lanier) as part of its 96-Hour Opera Project. The one-act dark comedy by Marcus Norris explores some of Georgia’s terrifying, uncomfortable, and uncanny happenings at Lake Lanier in Forsyth County, Georgia. Chaowen Ting conducts. https://www.atlantaopera.org/forsyth-county-is-flooding/
Directing team Hauen und Stechen have created a new production of John Adams’ Nixon in China for Deutsche Oper Berlin. With performances June 22-July 12, the production will be directed by Daniel Carter. The cast includes Kyle Miller as Chou En-lai, Thomas Lehman as Nixon, and Heidi Stober as Pat Nixon. https://deutscheoperberlin.de/en_EN/calendar/nixon-in-china.17580481
Created by composer Kevin Puts and librettist Mark Campbell, Elizabeth Cree is a highly suspenseful and theatrical opera taking place in 1880s London. The new production at Glimmerglass is directed by Alison Moritz and stars Irish mezzo-soprano Tara Erraught. (July 28-Aug. 16) https://glimmerglass.org/events/elizabeth-cree/
