SANTA FE, N.M. – French conductor, composer, pianist and author Frederic Chaslin has been hired as the new chief conductor of the Santa Fe Opera in New Mexico.
The opera’s general director, Charles MacKay, introduced Chaslin during a new conference Tuesday. He says the conductor’s three-year appointment will end a nearly two-year search that included extensive conversations with orchestra members, artists and other leaders in
NEW YORK – Attila the Hun invaded the stage of the Metropolitan Opera on Tuesday night, and he brought with him a welcome accomplice: Riccardo Muti, making his long-overdue conducting debut.
Welcome as well were the terrific cast of singers the company assembled for its first staging of Giuseppe Verdi’s 10th opera, “Attila.” Led by Russian bass Ildar Abdrazakov in the title role and Lithuanian soprano Violeta Urmana as his nemesis,
NEW YORK – There were plenty of high notes but not quite enough heart as Donizetti’s comic romp “La Fille du Regiment” (”The Daughter of the Regiment”) returned to the Metropolitan Opera.
The revival of the endearing production by Laurent Pelly, first seen at the Met two seasons ago, opened Saturday night. Peruvian tenor Juan Diego Florez was back to portray the lovesick peasant Tonio, while German soprano Diana Damrau appeared
ALAMEDA, California – Police are investigating the theft of a Grammy-nominated opera singer’s family heirlooms that they say were stolen and sold at a Northern California auction house.
Alameda police Detective Craig Vreeland says singer Frederica von Stade is trying to recover more than $50,000 worth of antique china, wall sconces and other items sold at Michaan’s Auctions.
Vreeland says von Stade’s family discovered
NEW YORK (AP) — An Argentine diva is accused of creating a drama of operatic proportions at a Manhattan cafe.
Gabriela Pochinki is due in court Friday on a misdemeanor summons.
She’s accused of shoving the manager of Nice Matin, shouting and refusing to pay her bill last weekend. Witnesses tell the Daily News the ordeal was sparked when the soprano was making a loud cell phone call and the manager asked her to
NEW YORK – When was there last an opening night quite like this at the staid old Metropolitan Opera?
It had just about everything: a new production of a beloved work, Puccini’s “Tosca”; a starry cast; music director James Levine in the pit — and from the audience, the loudest and most sustained booing in memory.
The justified anger of so many of the 3,800 fans at Monday night’s gala was directed not at the singers
It was written by an iconic American movie composer and performed by a quartet direct from central casting — in front of a worldwide audience of millions.
It was a simple gift from composer John Williams.
The Oscar-winning composer of “Star Wars,” “Jaws” and “Schindler’s List” pulled together this five-minute piece to commemorate the inauguration of Barack Obama as the nation’s 44th president.
The quartet
If the title suggests Ferry Corsten doesn’t do things by halves, this is also true of the company he keeps. Operating on the same arena-swelling stratum as Dutch trance titan Tiesto – who last year DJ’d to over 250,000 revellers in Brazil - in these post-super club days, Corsten is one of a handful still wearing the global DJ megastar tag with aplomb.
Trance has always been the unfashionable cousin of house and techno. Neither
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Country star Merle Haggard has sued an environmental awareness group, claiming it illegally used his name and likeness to raise money.
The lawsuit was filed Thursday in Chancery Court against the Green Train, a Nashville-based organization, and its founder, Robert K. Wolf. It seeks unspecified compensatory damages. Haggard claims in the lawsuit that the group forged his signature and exaggerated his involvement with the organization to solicit money.
DENVER (Billboard) – In early December, a bombshell hit the consumer electronics world: Barack Obama was spotted using a Zune.
A seemingly innocuous Philadelphia City Paper blog post reporting the news sparked a firestorm throughout the online tech community that came to be dubbed “Zunegate.” Message boards lit up with indignation over the fact that the tech-savvy president-elect — who has used an iPhone, iPod and various
