‘Travel’ is the theme chosen by Artistic Director Cecilia Bartoli for the Salzburg Whitsun Festival 2026, which runs from 22 to 25 May.
Graham Spicer sees Cecilia Bartoli in concert with ‘Si dolce è ‘l tormento – Canzoni d’amore’, still weaving the Bartoli magic.
I talked with Annalisa Stroppa, one of the world’s most sought-after mezzosopranos, on conductors and directors, her family, religion and a singer’s life.
Amici della Scala has published an annual collection of books on La Scala’s designers for more than 20 years. The new collection features Luciano Damiani and others.
Juan Diego Flórez releases the first album on his new label. ‘Zarzuela’ sees the Peruvian tenor returning to the music through which he approached opera.
Rolando Villazón talks about how stress and a lack of confidence took a toll on his voice, and about returning as a baritone and director.
On Saturday 23 January, a new performance of Mozart’s Così fan tutte will be streamed from Teatro alla Scala, Milan.
As the 2020 edition of the International New York Film Festival comes to a close, an Italian entry stands out called Tides of Memory, inspired by an encounter with William Kentridge and his extraordinary work Triumphs and Laments on the embankment of the River Tiber, a powerful, poetic and bemused reflection on man, time and…
When did you start singing? I always loved to sing since I was a child. I sang on every occasion, also during public events at school, where my maths teacher heard me and advised me to take singing lesson with her neighbour who was a voice teacher. He listened me, and he told me that…
The closing gala concert at Salzburg’s Whitsun Festival was to have featured the Festival’s director, Cecilia Bartoli, together with tenors Jonas Kaufmann and Rolando Villazón, and the Staatskapelle Berlin under the baton of Daniel Barenboim. A line up that almost justifies the more than €300 ticket price. Villazón cancelled at the last moment “for health…
Tonight, a new productions of Engelbert Humperdinck’s Hänsel and Gretel opens in Milan at Teatro alla Scala. The cast features opera students from La Scala‘s prestigious Academy. This, however, is no student production. German director, Sven-Eric Bechtolf, has worked extensively in opera, mainly in Germany and Austria. The strong connection with La Scala’s current Intendant,…
A pleasing new season at La Scala seems to tick all the right boxes, with half the programming dedicated to the Italian repertoire, some rarities, important international operas and a world premiere. The season will also mark the 40th Anniversary of Riccardo Chailly’s collaboration with the theatre, and the 95th birthday of Franco Zeffirelli. The…
Anna Netrebko has returned to La Scala to sing Violetta as she sings ‘addio’ to the role. She will sing in a Traviata once more in Paris next February, and then that’s it for the curvy Russian and the consumptive courtesan. The idea of tackling this role at La Scala was my idea, so I…
On 7 December 2015, La Scala’s 2015-2016 Season opens with Giuseppe Verdi‘s Giovanna d’Arco, which had its premiere at La Scala on 15 February 1845, but hasn’t been staged at the Milanese theatre since 1865. Bringing back this opera after 150 years is part of the artistic and cultural line that will link the following…
Italian director Luca Ronconi died yesterday evening in the Policlinico in Milan after a short illness. His health had been poor over the last years, he was on dialysis, and was complicated by pneumonia. He was 81. His collaboration with La Scala lasted for over thirty years and today the flag outside the theatre is…
Q&A When did you start singing? I don’t remember exactly when… Why did you start singing? Because it felt good. Which singers inspired you most when you were young? ABBA. Which singer do you most admire? The great mezzosopranos. What’s your favourite role? There is not a favourite, I love them when I am doing…
On 21 August, Italian director Damiano Michieletto will become the first Italian to stage operas on three consecutive years at the Salzburg Festival. After the success of his La Cenerentola at the Whitsun Festival on 5 June this year, the production returns with Cecilia Bartoli in the title role for the summer festival. Michieletto previously directed La bohème in…
World Music Day is a connected set of free public events which takes place each year on the 21st June, midsummer’s day; it’s also my birthday, but I don’t think that’s why it was chosen. Last year there were events in 108 countries and 726 cities around the world. For Music Day 2014, medici.tv are…
Milan Mayor, Giuliano Pisapia, who is head of the Board of Directors at La Scala, announced today that they were offering Alexander Pereira only a year’s contract as sovrintendente of Milan’s Opera House. It is not known what Pereira himself thinks of the offer or, indeed, if he’ll accept. The decision comes after the storm over him selling…
After a meeting this morning of La Scala‘s board of directors, the future of Alexander Pereira at Milan‘s Opera House remains uncertain. Within a week we will make our decision, said Giuliano Pisapia, Milan’s Mayor and also head of the board. Pereira should take over from Stéphane Lissner as sovrintendente of La Scala in October, but his appointment was questioned…
Italian opera buffs, Milan‘s Mayor and La Repubblica newspaper were angry and amazed when news from Austria revealed that the Salzburg Festival‘s current director, Alexander Pereira, was selling seven of its productions to La Scala, where Pereira will take over in October of this year. That is, he was selling his productions to himself. A…
The new sovrintendente at La Scala, Alexander Pereira, has bought for his first season with the Milanese theatre, seven productions from the Salzburg Festival, where he is currently playing out his last season as its director. The affair, first reported in the Austrian press, came as a surprise to Milan‘s Mayor, Giuliano Pisapia, who is Chairman on the…
The next season at La Scala will see not only new faces in the offices and in the pit – Sovrintendente Alexander Pereira and Musical Director Riccardo Chailly – but also a new direction in the programming with the world première of C02 by Giorgio Battistelli, an Italian composer but with an international reputation, based…
A new record for visitors and revenue has been set at Salzburg’s Whitsun Festival. The Festival, which ran from 17-20 May, boasted 13,450 visitors from 43 countries, who spent 1.3 million Euros in tickets. After the artistic and economic success of last year’s and this year’s Festival, the contract with the artistic director Cecilia Bartoli has been extended…
The conductor Wolfgang Sawallisch died yesterday, 23 February 2013, at the age of 89. He was born in Munich on 26 August 1923. Success came immediately, and he become the youngest conductor to perform at the Bayreuth Festspielhaus with Tristan und Isolde in 1957. For a decade he was the Principal Conductor of the Vienna Symphony until 1970. Then from 1971 to 1992…
Sena Jurinac has died in southern Germany at age 90. The Vienna State Opera confirmed the death today, saying it is mourning the loss of a “legendary artist who shaped not only the Vienna State Opera but also the entire opera world.” Austrian news agency APA reported that Jurinac died yesterday, November 22, at her…
Nino Machaidze, the 28-year-old soprano from Georgia, graduate of Milan‘s Teatro alla Scala Academia, is in Los Angeles with Romeo and Juliet which is boomeranging her around the world’s opera houses for the last few years. The first four years of her professional career have been highly successful, and the LA Times recounts how she was…
Riccardo Muti has decided to stop conducting opera at the Salzburg Festival, he told an Austrian magazine ahead of his 70th birthday on Thursday. Muti has regularly appeared at the prestigious festival for four decades. His 1971 Salzburg debut, when he conducted Donizettis Don Pasquale, was the start of a distinguished career. I will only…
British conductor Robin Ticciati is to become Glyndebourne Festival music director from January 2014. The 28-year-old will take over from Vladimir Jurowski, who in 2001, aged 29, became the festival’s youngest musical director. Ticciati, who makes his debut at New York’s Metropolitan Opera this year, will be the the seventh director in the festival’s 77-year history. He said…
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