Singer

Genre-defying South African cellist Abel Selaocoe returns as soloist in the UK premiere of American composer Jessie Montgomery’s These Righteous Paths – inspired by her late mother, the poet and playwright Robbie McCauley. The concert opens with Bach’s mighty Fantasia and Fugue in G minor in Andrew Davis’s colourful orchestral arrangement. After the interval comes the monumental power of Beethoven’s ‘Choral’ Symphony: a musical cry for freedom and brotherhood that culminates in the radiant ‘Ode to Joy’. This concert marks Gianandrea Noseda’s return to the podium of the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra after his final appearance as its Chief Conductor 11 years ago.

EPSG:4326

Beethoven’s Ninth

Royal Albert Hall

It is the summer of 1789. A festivity is being prepared in the castle of Countess de Coigny. Charles Gérard, a servant of the Countess´ voices his hatred of the French aristrocracy´s decadence. His aged Father is forced to labour all day long and Gérard himself leads the undignified life of a lackey. Moreover, he is secretly and unhappily in love with Madeleine de Coigny, the daughter of the House with whom he was raised. The political situation is very tense. When the visitors attending the ball finally arrive, they try to distract themselves from the disquieting news from Paris with the help of arcadian idylls and games. The young poet André Chénier is among the guests. Madeleine requests him to recite a poem. He sings of love and laments the injustice of the powers that be in such a convincing manner that Madeleine is deeply moved and forced to quit the room. The doors are suddely opened and a mob of irate people led by Gérard shocks the ball guests. However, the Countess manages to pacify and disperse the mob. The dancing continues.

Andrea Chenier

Deutsche Oper Berlin

The general Otello has achieved everything an ambitious upstart like him could dream of: Respected as the successful commander of the Venetian fleet and loved by his beautiful wife Desdemona, fate seems to have favored him. But one man senses the self-destructive jealousy smouldering behind the façade of the successful man: Jago. Ever since Otello's ensign was passed over for a promotion, he has been driving his superior's downfall with a coolly calculated destructive fury, cleverly feeding Otello's doubts about Desdemona's fidelity...

Otello

German Oper am Rhein

As in all operas by Puccini, TOSCA is an illustration of how human attentiveness and pleasures of the palate can be mutually dependent if the composer’s artistic intentions become a benchmark for directorial interpretation. Puccini’s humane attentiveness is essentially dependent on an outcry and/or a sense of resignation. The pity inherent in his music does not content itself with abstract gestures; it wants to unsettle, to bring about change. Out of the “small things” named by Puccini as the source of his inspiration and the focus of his music “big things” grow – as long as we want them. Puccini’s choice of material owes something, directly or indirectly, to the spirit of Zola, Gorki and Hauptmann, and the link between that material and his compositional style places him likewise as a direct descendant of Verdi and an exponent of verismo. He was also known as an admirer of Wagner, although a Wagner imitator he assuredly was not.

Tosca

Opera Classica Europa welcomes the new year with a top-class concert on Wednesday, January 15, 2025, in the Alte Oper Frankfurt and will play the most beautiful melodies from opera and operetta, including "Dein ist mein ganzes Herz", "Lippen schweigen", "Das Wolgalied", "Casta Diva" and "Nessun Dorma".

Big names in the opera world, such as star soprano Elena Moșuc or world-class tenor Martin Muehle, who will be appearing at this New Year's concert, are not usually seen together on one evening. The overall winner of the 1st Opera Singing Competition in Honor of Romana Vaccaro, baritone Hongyu Chen and several other opera soloists will also be heard.

New Year's Concert

Alte Oper Frankfurt

Ruggero Leoncavallo claimed that the story of Pagliacci was true: a murder he himself, as a child, allegedly witnessed being committed by a killer dressed as a clown. At the beginning of the opera, a character—the Prologue—feels compelled to warn us that everything we are about to see is not fiction, as in a traditional disclaimer, but a genuine “slice of life.” But is it really so? Where does the boundary between reality and representation lie? And is that fragile boundary enough to save a life in danger?

Pagliacci

Teatro Regio di Torino

A gold rush camp in California: here, only the strongest prevail. Minnie's Bar becomes a refuge for a society without firm social norms. When Minnie falls in love with the bandit Johnson, the fragile order finally crumbles. In her production of Giacomo Puccini's Western opera, director Lydia Steier paints a picture of a community marked by isolation and violence, where the spiral of brutality turns relentlessly. Marco Armiliato conducts the richly textured score. Anja Kampe, Jonas Kaufmann, and Tomasz Konieczny star in the leading roles.

La fanciulla del west

Opernhaus Zürich

Men and women of flesh and blood take centre stage in Cavalleria rusticana as in Pagliacci. Reality becomes theatre and, when the masks come off, theatre becomes reality. In both of these short works, obsessive love and jealousy give rise to violent emotions and passionate musical outbursts. When they brought rural Italy to the opera stage, Pietro Mascagni and Ruggero Leoncavallo inaugurated verismo in music. Director Damiano Michieletto is reprising his 2018 production, which made a lasting impression with its powerful neo-realist transposition to an Italian village in the mid-twentieth century. For her debut at La Monnaie, conductor Alevtina Ioffe promises to bring out the emotional depth of these scores with their unparalleled dramatic force.

Tenor

Martin Muehle

Events

Upcoming events

Oct 15 - Nov 21, 2026

Pagliacci · Teatro Regio Torino

Feb 25 - Apr 16, 2027

La fanciulla del west · Opernhaus Zürich

14 - 31 Mar, 2027

Cavalleria rusticana & Pagliacci · La Monnaie / De Munt

Past events

Jul 20, 2026

Beethoven’s Ninth · BBC Philharmonic

8 - 18 Dec, 2025

Andrea Chenier · Deutsche Oper Berlin

Future and recently performed repertoire

Mario Cavaradossi in Tosca by Puccini

Deutsche Oper Berlin

Otello in Otello by Verdi

Deutsche Oper am Rhein

Canio in Pagliacci by Leoncavallo

La Monnaie / De Munt

Andrea Chenier in Andrea Chénier by Giordano

Deutsche Oper Berlin

Dick Johnson in La Fanciulla del West by Puccini

Opernhaus Zürich

Singer in Symphony No. 9 by Beethoven

BBC Philharmonic

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