opera news stories on Newser

World's 'Finest' Interpreter of Art Songs Dead at 86

Neal Colgrass — Sat, 19 May 2012 13:32:05 CDT

Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, perhaps the greatest singer of art songs in the 20 th century, died yesterday at home in Bavaria, the New York Times reports. He was 86. The German son of a classical scholar and a schoolteacher, Fischer-Dieskau (pronounced FEE-sher DEES-cow) studied voice in Berlin and got two years...

Opera Stars Ditch Japan Tour Over Radiation Fears

Matt Cantor — Tue, 31 May 2011 12:15:05 CDT

A pair of New York’s top opera stars due to sing in Japan have canceled their performances following the earthquake, the AP reports. Now, the Metropolitan Opera has to “scour the world” to find replacement singers for soprano Anna Netrebko and tenor Joseph Calleja, even though experts said the trip...

Opera Legend Joan Sutherland Dead at 83

Rob Quinn — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 01:30:19 CDT

Joan Sutherland, the soprano Luciano Pavarotti once called "the voice of the century," has died at her home in Switzerland at age 83. The Australian-born singer—known as "La Stupenda" or "The Stupendous One" to opera audiences—became one of the most celebrated opera singers of all time thanks to...

Drug War: The Opera, Premieres in Mexico

Rob Quinn — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 05:29:00 CST

Mexico's drug war has reached its fingers all the way into the country's premier opera house: The first opera based on the conflict, Only the Truth , has premiered in Mexico City. The opera, based on a popular Mexican song, tells the story of a woman who smuggles marijuana north into...

Anna Nicole Opera Will Premiere in 2011

Nick McMaster — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 15:35:00 CST

Britain's Royal Opera House will stage the premiere of an opera about Anna Nicole Smith in 2011. The libretto of Anna Nicole is by Richard Thomas, a creator of the controversial Jerry Springer: The Opera . Covent Garden commissioned the opera about the former Playmate in 2008. It will focus on...

Harlem Aria Hits Sour Note

Harry Kimball — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 12:35:00 CST

Harlem Aria hit the festival circuit in 1999, and contemporary critics are baffled by the timing of the release of the uneven story of a developmentally disabled young black man with a heart and voice of gold: The performances and William Jennings' direction are "no more than adequate," V.A....

Opera Diva Faces Jail in NY Cell Phone Tiff

Jason Farago — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 05:34:59 CDT

An Argentine opera singer could face jail after a fight broke out in a New York restaurant over her cell phone screeching. Soprano Gabriela Pochinki, 41, and her daughter were shouting into a cell phone on speaker and refused to stop after fellow diners complained. Security camera footage shows the...

2 New Theaters Make Dallas a Hotspot

Jason Farago — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 09:13:15 CDT

Dallas has several museums and concert halls that would be the envy of any city, but until now they've seemed more like standalone monuments than elements of a city center. Two new venues opening this Sunday have transformed downtown, "giving the area the cultural stature Dallas has long been craving,...

Met Audience Boos Drab Tosca

Jason Farago — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 08:48:08 CDT

New York's Metropolitan Opera opened its season last night with a gala production of Puccini's Tosca , a crowd-pleasing war horse given an aggressive new staging by the Swiss director Luc Bondy. The black-tie crowd was not pleased with the stark, modern production, erupting in boos during the curtain call. Critics...