Canadian soprano Andriana Chuchman takes us to Houston, Texas where she is making her role debut as Donna Anna in Houston Grand Opera‘s production of Don Giovanni, running April 19 – May 3 (info and tickets here). This soprano has made a name for herself throughout North America; her 2023-24 season has been filled with exciting performances including the world premiere of Joby Talbot and Gene Sheer‘s Diving Bell and the Butterfly in the role of Sandrine with Dallas Opera, her role debuts of Violetta in Verdi’s La Traviata with Opera Omaha and Juliette in Gounod‘s Roméo et Juliette ..read more

The Artist of the Week is Canadian tenor Antoine Bélanger who is currently in Montreal reprising his role as Znorko in Enigma. Originally premiered by l’Opera de Metz, it is now being produced by Opéra de Montréal, running April 7-14 (info and tickets here). Antoine has performed numerous roles throughout his career with highlights including Faust, Werther, Don José in Carmen, Alfredo in La Traviata, Rodolfo in La Bohème, Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly, and Roméo in Roméo et Juliette. He has performed with opera companies throughout North America and Europe including Opéra de Montréal ..read more

Canadian mezzo soprano Rose Naggar-Tremblay takes us to Erfurt, Germany where she is performing the role of Erda in Theater Erfurt‘s current production of Wagner‘s Das Rheingold, running March 23 to May 9 (info and tickets here). After being named one of Radio-Canada Revelation in classical music in 2022-2023, Rose has been busy with debuts at the Metz and Reims Opera in the role of the Second Spirit in Rusalka, the role of the Innkeeper in Boris Godounov with Bayerische Staatsoper, and the titular role in Carmen with Edmonton Opera. She also produced and released her first mini-album of or ..read more

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL AND/OR PRINT MAGAZINE *this text originally appeared in our 2023 winter print issue ALPHA CLASSICS ALPHA1000 Released September 8, 2023 After 47 years of award-winning music-making, the Emerson String Quartet disbanded in October 2023; Infinite Voyage was their final release. The origins go back some eight years to when Eugene Drucker heard Hannigan in George Benjamin’s Written on Skin and opened up a conversation about working together. The result was a concert in Berlin featuring the Schoenberg Second String Quartet; a work which is central to the new CD. That ..read more

Canadian soprano, Suzanne Rigden is our Artist of the Week. She is in Victoria preparing for one of opera’s longest roles: Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro with Pacific Opera Victoria which opens tomorrow (April 3) and runs until April 9 (info and tickets here) Suzanne has performed numerous roles over her career, with highlights including Queen of the Night in Die Zauberflöte with Opera Company of Middlebury, Zerbinetta in Ariadne auf Naxos and Tytania in Midsummer Night’s Dream with Pacific Opera Victoria, Adele in Die Fledermaus with Vancouver Opera, Blondchen in Die Entführung aus dem Sera ..read more

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL AND/OR PRINT MAGAZINE *this text originally appeared in our 2023 winter print issue The Opera 5 – Opera McGill Internship Program, created by Rachel Krehm, Jaclyn Grossman, and Patrick Hansen is making big waves. While opera companies reduce both the number of productions and performances per season, here instead are leaders with a vision of collaboration, teaching tools with which to earn a living in the face of these realities…at music school! So-called bohemian values of high-minded, artistic wealth resigned to material poverty are replaced compassionately with m ..read more

The Artist of the Week is Canadian-Italian mezzo soprano Danielle MacMillan. She is currently in Toronto in rehearsals for Opera Atelier‘s upcoming production All is Love, running at Koerner Hall from April 11-14 (info and tickets here) Comfortable in repertoire from Baroque to contemporary, Danielle has performed Wellgunde in Das Rheingold with Opera Nashville,  Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro and Zerlina in Don Giovanni with Palm Beach Opera, Second Niece in Britten’s Peter Grimes with the Canadian Opera Company, and Agni in Against the Grain Theatre’s production of Kopernikus b ..read more

  The New York Times critic W. J. Henderson, back in 1897, punningly dubbed The Metropolitan Opera the “Faustspielhaus,” so dominant was Charles Gounod’s chef d’oeuvre in the company’s repertory. But another opera of Gounod’s, Roméo et Juliette, didn’t lag far behind; and after a two-decade absence in the mid-twentieth century, it seems to be back in full swing in the twenty-first, amassing more performances in the new millennium than the once-unbeatable Faust. Faust was the third opera Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducted at The Met, in November 2011, his Music Directorship still a few years ..read more

Renowned director, choreographer, and set/costume designer duo Renaud Doucet and André Barbe take us to Toulouse, France where they are busy preparing their production of La Cenerentola, a co-production with the Latvian National Opera in Riga and l’Opéra National du Capitole de Toulouse, running March 29 to April 7 (info and tickets here). This talented team’s productions have garnered them international acclaim including Die Zauberflöte at the Glyndebourne Festival, Die Fledermaus at the Hamburg Staatsoper, Pelléas et Mélisande at the Teatro Regio di Parma, Cendrillon with New Yo ..read more

The Artist of the Week is Canadian soprano Laura Nielsen. Currently working overseas, Laura is performing the role of Freia in Theater Erfurt‘s upcoming production of Das Rheingold, running March 23 to May 29 (info and tickets here). Last season, Laura made her Theater Erfurt debut as Kassandra (Tochter von König Priamos) and Ihr Geist in Felix Weingartner’s Orestes. Laura was a 2022 finalist in the Canadian Opera Company’s CentreStage Competition, and semi-finalist in both the 28th Riccardo Zandonai Competition and the Concorso Internazionale Città de Alcamo.  Laura is ..read more