Interview with Yasmine Naghdi as she dances in the world premiere of Alastair Marriott’s The Unknown Soldier - with photos by Dasa Wharton I last interviewed Yasmine Naghdi in September of 2015 when she and Matthew Ball were preparing to dance Romeo and Juliet together. They were dancing the roles for the first time — she was a Soloist and he a First Artist. Time passes … [Read more...]
Interview: Carmen Giannattasio on her first Tosca, Lady Gaga, and homicide
Soprano Carmen Giannattasio has been in demand since she was thrust before the public eye when she won both the First Prize and the Audience Award at Placido Domingo’s Operalia in Paris in 2002. She took on one of the most challenging soprano roles soon after, singing Violetta La Traviata. Reviewing a 2007 performance at Scottish Opera, Rupert Christiansen wrote in the Daily … [Read more...]
In conversation with Jakub Józef Orliński – the new countertenor on the block
Jakub Józef Orliński is the new countertenor name to add to an ever-growing roster of artists who are selling discs and selling out concert halls in this once rarefied area of the vocal arts. Polish singer Orliński is 27 and Anima Sacra, his debut album, will be released by Erato on 26 October 2018. It contains eleven Neapolitan arias of which eight are world premiere … [Read more...]
Meet Francesco Gabriele Frola — National Ballet of Canada and English National Ballet’s new Principal Dancer
Italian ballet dancer Francesco Gabriele Frola has been promoted to Principal Dancer of the National Ballet of Canada and at the same time becomes a Principal at English National Ballet. Dance is in his DNA. His parents, both former dancers, run a dancing school, Professione Danza, in Parma, the city where Gabriele spent the first 16 years of his life. He is the eldest of four … [Read more...]
Interview with Juan Diego Flórez who debuts in Ricciardo e Zoraide at Pesaro tonight
Twenty-two years ago, Juan Diego Flórez arrived like a meteorite across the opera firmament. A couple of weeks before his career launching performance, I’d met the young tenor in Milan. He’d flown over from Peru with a work visa just for a handful of days, and was heading to Pesaro to make his Italian debut. A fellow tenor said, “This one… he’s got all those high notes!” … [Read more...]