Praised as “a sheer delight” (NEW YORK TIMES), Apollo’s Fire’s acclaimed Christmas program returns! Artistic Director Jeannette Sorrell weaves the extraordinary works of 17th-century composer Michael Praetorius into a Vespers service. The cathedral resounds in a splendor often reminiscent of Monteverdi – with antiphonal choirs, trumpets, sackbuts, cornettos, lutes, harp, strings and recorders. Familiar highlights include “Lo, How a Rose E’re Blooming” and “In Dulci Jubilo.” Children’s voices shine in this haunting and joyous celebration of the Christ child.

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Praetorius CHRISTMAS VESPERS

St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Akron

St. Raphael Catholic Church, Bay Village

Trinity Cathedral, Cleveland

First Baptist Church of Shaker Heights

“Blame it on the champagne, tra la la la la !” That’s the half-truth that the protagonists in Johann Strauss’s THE BAT sign up to at the end of a drink-fuelled night of mistaken identities and erotic escapades. But alcohol is only partly to blame; the confusion is largely due to the wiles of the humiliated Dr Falke, who was once exposed to small-town ridicule dressed in the costume of a bat and is now seizing his chance to avenge himself on his ‘good pal’, bon vivant Gabriel von Eisenstein. And so it is that the maid disguises herself as an actress, the wife as a Hungarian countess and Eisenstein himself as a French marquess and off they trot to Prince Orlofsky’s masked ball. That they end up bewailing their fate in jail early the next morning is less down to champagne than to the natural course of events. In THE BAT Johann Strauss pulled off a work that proved to be the prototypical Viennese operetta, bursting with waltzes and polkas and oozing wicked irony. Inspired by Offenbach’s opéras buffes from Paris, Strauss’s work was merciless in the way it held up a mirror to the bourgeois salon-going public - and many audience members recognised themselves in the absurd antics onstage.

Die Fledermaus

Deutsche Oper Berlin

Christmas Eve 1914, a lone soldier stepped out of the trenches singing Stille Nacht. This a cappella opera, sung in English, shares the stories of soldiers along the Western Front in the spontaneous Christmas Truce of World War I.

All is Calm

Kentucky Opera Center for Cultural Health

Bring the whole family to this timeless holiday favorite! Amahl and the Night Visitors tells the heartwarming story of a young boy, his mother, and their miraculous encounter with the Three Kings on their journey to deliver gifts to a newborn child. Filled with beautiful music and a message of generosity and faith, this one-act opera is a perfect way to celebrate the season.

Amahl & the Night Visitors

Manship Theatre

Podcast link: https://youtu.be/4hagYvrYbuM

The Artelize Podcast and Kasper Holten - Pedefining Opera for the modern world

Podcast link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d36M5Hi6O80

The Artelize Podcast - A legacy of innovation in Opera: Celebrating Marc A. Scorca

Podcast link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59E40S_EQSY

The Artelize Podcast: A love letter that was never sent

Podcast link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THv6htilWtI

The Artelize Podcast and Adolfo Corrado: Mediterranean flavors, opera and social media

Immersive, breathtaking, and technologically extraordinary, this production marks Portland Opera’s debut in the World Trade Center Theatre. The tale of an ill-fated 1996 expedition is brought to life without live singers through a blend of animated storytelling and interactive experience, reminding us of humankind’s potential in relation to the awesome power of nature.

Everest

World Trade Center Theatre

You could say Vivaldi had a kind of synesthesia when writing The Four Seasons. What does being cold feel and sound like? MacArthur Award-winning playwright and librettist Sarah Ruhl joins Anthony Roth Costanzo to co-conceive a tapestry of Vivaldi’s music, telling an original story about a world in which the seasons are completely out of order. 

The Seasons

Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts

War, flight, hatred and revenge characterize the grand portrait that Giuseppe Verdi created in «La forza del destino». Amid this unpredictable interplay of forces, Leonora and Alvaro search for each other, fight for their love, experience persecution, find refuge in faith, and are crushed by inexorable fate. Director Valentina Carrascothe Catalan, who was a member of the Catalan theater collective La Fura dels Baus, uses Verdi’s monumental scenes as an opportunity to question the values of war and peace in the 21st century, creating a dystopian fantasy. Anna Netrebko returns to Zurich as Leonora. General Music Director Gianandrea Noseda is on the podium.

The strength of destiny

Zurich Opera House

The composer Engelbert Humperdinck based his work on the most famous of all fairy tales. The operatic version of the story of the siblings Hänsel and Gretel, who lose their way in the forest and nearly fall victim to the Knusperhexe, or witch, has always inspired audiences. The music takes well-known folk melodies and combines them with large, shimmering soundscapes that move between dream and reality, and between fears and fantasies. Zurich-born director Thom Luz has received numerous awards for his theater work. With «Hansel and Gretel», he makes his long-awaited opera debut, and unleashes the poetic power of theatrical magic. Lithuanian conductor Giedrė Šlekytė musically directs.

Hansel and Gretel

Reviving a classic holiday tradition, we invite you and your loved ones to witness a beautiful one-act opera from Giancarlo Menotti in celebration of the Christmas season. Amahl and the Night Visitors tells the story of a poor, crippled shepherd boy named Amahl, who is visited by three Magi seeking shelter for the night as they journey to Bethlehem to see the newborn baby Jesus. Join us for two special performances of this touching story of healing and joy. 

Amahl and the Night Visitors

Indianapolis Opera

Johann Strauss worked on a ballet based on the well-known fairy tale of Cinderella at the end of his life. Only a fragment of the piece survived. Axel Ranisch and Martina Eisenreich have created their own work inspired by this: In Vienna, 1899, Strauss is working on his ballet, but who is the mysterious librettist? And what does Ida Grünwald have to do with the project, when she is supposed to be merely typing the libretto? The story behind the creation of the Johann Strauss ballet, its storyline, and an unusual Cinderella narrative set in our present day – this fairy tale opera blends timelines and explores themes of self-discovery, emancipation, creativity, and the power of imagination.

Vienna, 1899: Johann Strauss is working on a new ballet. A competition is held to find a suitable libretto, but only one truly sparks the composer’s imagination...

The Cinderella Ballet: The talented seamstress Grete works in her stepmother’s fashion salon. Grete dreams of designing her own clothing, but her stepsisters, Yvette and Fanchon, mock her relentlessly. When the painter Leon enters the salon, everything changes.

Cinderella's Dream

Volksoper Wien

In On the Town, three sailors are on shore leave in search of the sights of the city and a charming city dweller to accompany them. Not exactly an easy goal to achieve under time pressure ... Leonard Bernstein’s first musical, staged by musical professional Felix Seiler, offers not only catchy hits, but also humorously drawn characters to fall in love with – and plenty of fun and verve!

On the Town

Oper Graz

The Queen of the Night asks Tamino to free Pamina from the clutches of the supposed villain Sarastro. And so, together with the bird catcher Papageno, he sets out to become a hero. But there are many surprises awaiting him on his adventurous rescue mission... Barrie Kosky's multimedia staging, which the director developed together with the British artists' collective “1927”, has long enjoyed cult status around the world. The imaginative interplay of scene, music and video animation elegantly transposes Mozart's opera into the present day.

The Magic Flute

German Oper am Rhein

She lives in the here and now, one of the best-known heroines in operatic history, she makes sergeant Don José lose his mind, throwing his life into confusion. His attempts to make her tow the line fail because she can’t be tied down. They gradually drive each other into corners. Bizet’s music brings the differences in their perceptions of love and relationships into contrast again and again: Their downfall starts with light-hearted operetta music, but ends in tragedy. Barrie Kosky’s production quickly achieved cult status after it blasted onto the stage in  2015, and has lost none of its impact, taking the most performed opera in the world back to its roots - Opéra comique. The story’s interspersed and told using concise texts, steering us towards its tragic end. En route, romantic, amusing moments and wonderful dance routines share the stage. Kosky’s vision is fascinating, toying masterfully with usual Carmen and Spanish clichés.

Carmen

Oper Frankfurt

The tragic drama of an oppressed person from society’s lower classes: Wozzeck, a hardworking but penniless soldier, is increasingly losing control of his life and his mind. He is seized by increasingly violent psychotic episodes, until in a delusion, he stabs and kills his girlfriend Marie.

Wozzeck

Bebelplatz

Engelbert Humperdinck's opera "Hansel and Gretel" is popular with young and old , especially during Advent and Christmas. This year, a special version for families will be presented, featuring Lindenbrass, the brass ensemble of the Staatskapelle Berlin. Ten musicians accompany and enrich the fairytale narrative with the sounds of Humperdinck's work, including all the familiar melodies and their inherent poetic magic.

Their relationship goes through ups and downs as they share the joys and challenges of an artist's life with their friends Marcello, Musetta, Schaunard and Colline. But tragic circumstances and the poverty of the times put their love to the test. A timeless story of love, loss and the pursuit of beauty.

Opera events in Lincoln Center Plaza tomorrow

Praetorius CHRISTMAS VESP...

Apollo's Fire

Die Fledermaus

Deutsche Oper Berlin

All is Calm

Kentucky Opera

Amahl & the Night Visitor...

Opera Louisiane

The Artelize Podcast and ...

Artelize

The Artelize Podcast - A ...

Artelize

The Artelize Podcast: A l...

Artelize

The Artelize Podcast and ...

Artelize

Everest

Portland Opera

The Seasons

Opera Philadelphia

The strength of destiny

Opernhaus Zürich

Hansel and Gretel

Opernhaus Zürich

Amahl and the Night Visit...

Indianapolis Opera

Cinderella's Dream

Volksoper Wien

On the Town

Oper Graz

The Magic Flute

Deutsche Oper am Rhein

Carmen

Oper Frankfurt

Wozzeck

Staatsoper Berlin

Hansel and Gretel

Staatskapelle Berlin

La Bohème

Wiener Staatsoper