John Irvin takes on the challenging role of Rodrigo in Rossini’s La Donna del Lago

Performances on April 2, 3, and 5th

John returns to the Kentucky Opera as The Duke of Mantua

John makes his Chicago Opera Theatre debut as Vaudemont in Tchaikovsky’s Iolanta

In a surprise debut, John Irvin takes on the title role of Hector Berlioz’ masterpiece, La Damnation de Faust at the Deutsche Oper Berlin

March 25 - Caen (Théâtre de Caen)

March 27, 28 - Lille (Opéra de Lille)

March 30 - Aix-en-Provence (Grand Théâtre de Provence)

March 31 - Paris (Philharmonie, Salle Pierre Boulez)

March 10, 11 - Versailles (Chapelle royale)

March 12 - Bordeaux (Auditorium)

March 14 - Toulouse (La Halle aux Grains)

Following the rapturous response to his last opera, The Tempest, the Met presents the American premiere of Thomas Adès’s The Exterminating Angel, inspired by the classic Luis Buñuel film of the same name. Hailed by the New York Times at its 2016 Salzburg Festival premiere as “inventive and audacious … a major event,” The Exterminating Angel is a surreal fantasy about a dinner party from which the guests can’t escape. Tom Cairns, who wrote the libretto, directs the new production, and Adès conducts his own adventurous new opera.

This will be Mr. Irvin's Metropolitan Opera debut.

Le siège de Corinthe, by Gioachino Rossini, is a tragédie lyrique in three acts to a libretto by Luigi Balocchi and Alexandre Soumet. It was first performed at Théâtre de l’Académie Royale de Musique, Paris, on 9th October 1826 and is a remaking of Maometto II, by the same composer.

Opera in two acts by Thomas Adès (*1971)
Text by Tom Cairns (*1952) in collaboration with Thomas Adès
based on Luis Buñuel’s and Luis Alcoriza’s screenplay for the film El ángel exterminador by Luis Buñuel (1900–1983)

Work commissioned by the Salzburg Festival in coproduction with the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London, the Metropolitan Opera, New York, and Den Kongelige Opera, Copenhagen

The tragedy’s story is the familiar one of the two “star-cross’d lovers” who could end the bitter feud between their families by their own deaths together. Second in popularity only to Faust among Gounod’s operas, this one is filled with beautiful arias and duets. The two leading roles will be sung by Madison’s own diva, soprano Emily Birsan and tenor John Irvin. John DeMain will conduct.

This is Charles Gounod’s romantic drama, Romeo & Juliet, based on the Shakespeare play. The Madison Opera production is scheduled to coincide with the arrival in Madison of the touring display of Shakespeare’s First Folio, at Chazen Museum of Art.

Furthering its motto “Salzburg meets China”, today the Salzburg Festival presented its cooperation with Hantang Culture. The two partners announced the first concert tour of members of the Salzburg Festival’s Young Singers Project in China.

Opera in two acts by Thomas Adès (*1971)
Text by Tom Cairns (*1952) in collaboration with Thomas Adès
based on Luis Buñuel’s and Luis Alcoriza’s screenplay for the film El ángel exterminador by Luis Buñuel (1900–1983)

Work commissioned by the Salzburg Festival in coproduction with the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London, the Metropolitan Opera, New York, and Den Kongelige Opera, Copenhagen


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Jeder Tag ein neues Spiel, eine lustvolle Überlebenskampfkunst am Rande der Existenz: Der Pariser Schriftsteller Rodolfo und seine Künstlerfreunde bauen sich ihr Leben täglich neu aus Fantasie und Tollerei, leichtfertig, immer ohne Geld – und immer in Sehnsucht nach Liebe. Der Maler Marcello ficht Beziehungskämpfe mit der kapriziösen Musetta aus, Rodolfo und die schwindsuchtkranke Näherin Mimì, getroffen vom »coup de foudre«, träumen vom gemeinsamen Leben. Doch gelingen will es nicht; ob aus Angst, aus Armut, oder wegen der Schwindsucht Mimìs – sie trennen sich und finden erst in der Todesstunde Mimìs wieder zusammen.

Was nach traurigem Schicksal aussieht, ist hier jedoch nur noch dünner Vorwand. Die Liebe Rodolfos und Mimìs scheitert nicht an äußeren Umständen, sondern an ihnen selbst: an ihrer Unfähigkeit zu lieben, ihre Liebessehnsucht in einer realen Beziehung zu stillen. Die Armut und selbst die Krankheit werden hier, im Gegensatz zu den Schicksalsdramen des 19. Jahrhunderts, als Abbild und Konsequenz innerer Dispositionen formuliert, als ebenso selbst erschaffen wie die Kunst. In so präziser wie leidenschaftlich-empathischer musikalischer Psychologie wendet Puccini den Blick auf Mensch und Liebe in die Moderne.

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Each day a new game, on the edge of existence: The Parisian writer Rodolfo and his artist friends build their lives daily of fantasy and romp, frivolous, always without money - and always longing for love. The painter Marcello struggles with Musetta, Rodolfo and the dwindling seamstress Mimì dreaming of the future. Whether out of fear of poverty, or because of the consumption - Rodolfo and Mimi separate and find themselves reunited only in the hour of Mimi's death.

Though a sad fate, Rodolfo and Mimi do not fail to external circumstances, but in themselves: to love to their inability to satisfy their longing for love in a real relationship. The poverty and disease here, in contrast to the fate dramas of the 19th century, are formulated as a reflection and consequence of inner dispositions, as well as self-created art.

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The Georg Solti Accademia di Bel Canto offers a unique training opportunity for young opera singers at the start of their careers. Created in 2004 in memory of the great Hungarian conductor Sir Georg Solti, the annual three-week summer course takes place in the Tuscan seaside town of Castiglione della Pescaia where the Solti family still have their summer home. Places are offered to twelve outstanding international students, who are invited to immerse themselves in the language and culture of Italy while devoting focused time to mastering the art of bel canto, and benefiting from master classes given by leading opera singers and vocal coaches. The Italian vocal tradition, if properly learnt, gives singers an invaluable and sustainable technique and full access to the great repertoire works. Not all students have specialist and idiomatic training in this tradition at colleges and conservatoires.

A key part of our work is the Solti Peretti Repetiteur’s Masterclasses held each Easter, offering a bespoke course for outstanding young pianists to develop the many skills required of a repetiteur, in collaboration with a world-class faculty and talented young singers.

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