November 01, 2024

SONYA YONCHEVA | CONCERT | PARIS

On November 1, 2024, Sonya Yoncheva, an alumna of William Christie’s Le Jardin des Voix, joins forces with the esteemed conductor, her mentor of yore, and his Les Arts Florissant ensemble for a concert at the Paris Philharmonie entitled “Marie-Antoinette”, almost entirely devoted to 18th-century French opera, featuring soprano arias from works by Christoph Willibald Gluck, Antonio Sacchini, Luigi Cherubini, Niccolò Piccinni, Johann Paul Aegidius Martini. The lone non-French aria will be Vitellia’s rondò “Non più di fiori” from Mozart’s La clemenza di Tito. In addition, Maestro Christie will conduct instrumental music from some Mozart’s operas, such as La finta giardiniera, Idomeneo, and La clemenza di Tito. Sonya Yoncheva and William Christie will bring this program to the Halle aux Grains, Toulouse, on November 5. Even after becoming one of the most sought-after sopranos of our time in the Romantic and Verismo repertoire, the Bulgarian soprano has continued her collaboration with William Christie, one of the most internationally distinguished conductors (and a scholar) specializing in the Baroque repertoire. They lastly teamed up in Munich in 2022 for an enthusiastically greeted all-Handel concert.

October 17, 2024

PIETARI INKINEN | CONCERT | SALZBURG

Pietari Inkinen and the Deutsche Radio Philharmonie will travel to Salzburg, where, on October 17, 2024, in Großes Festspielhaus, they will perform Anton Bruckner’s Symphony No. 5 in B flat Major. In May 2023, Pietari Inkinen and the DPR received rave reviews for their three Salzburg concerts that included Bedřich Smetana’s “Má vlast,” Jean Sibelius’s Finlandia, Antonín Dvořák’s Symphony No.8 in G Major op.88 and Franz Liszt’s Piano Concert in A Major, S 125. “Finlandia” frequently appears in Pietari Inkinen’s programs. Not only does he perform Sibelius’s works regularly in his concert activity, but he also recorded all the Finnish composer’s symphonies for the Naxos label during his time as Music Director of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. [Photo: Kaupo Kikkas]

October 09, 2024

GABRIELA SCHERER | DIE LEGENDE VON DER HEILIGEN ELISABETH | BUDAPEST, AMSTERDAM. BRUSSELS

Inaugurating her 2024/2025 season thrilling season, Gabriela Scherer will make her debut in the title role of Franz Liszt’s Die Legende von der Heilige Elisabeth, arguably the Hungarian composer’s most ambitious oratorio, with the Hungarian Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus led by György Vashegyi in a tour of three European leading musical venues: October 9 at the Béla Bartók Hall, Müpa Budapest, October 12 at the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, and October 13 at the Flagay Brussels. The Swiss soprano will sing alongside Dorottya Láng, Bogdan Talos, Johannes Kammler, and Zoltán Nagy. This seldom performed masterpiece recounts the life of Elizabeth, daughter of Andrew King of Hungary, who was born in 1207 and lived her early years in the fortress of Eisenach. Married at 14 to the Thuringian Landgrave Ludwig IV, she manifested her intention to devote herself to the poor rather than the splendors of court life. Widowed at only 20, driven from her land by her stepmother, the Landgrave Sophia, she retired to Marbourg where, having entered the Franciscan Third Order, she founded a hospital and devoted herself to caring for the sick. After this Lizst oratorio, Gabriela Scherer will make her debut as Pamina in Die Zauberflöte at the Staatsoper Berlin, before returning to her signature role of Senta in Der fliegende Holländer - for whom she has received so many accolades- in Dūsseldorf, Berlin (Deutsche Oper), Luxembourg and Brussels.

October 07, 2024

SONYA YONCHEVA | DIDO AND ÆNEAS | TOULOUSE & VERSAILLES

Sonya Yoncheva will sing the role of Dido in Dido and Æneas in four performances in France. The October 7 performance at the Opéra National Capitol Toulouse will be in concert form, while the shows on October 18, 19, and 20 at the Opéra Royal, Chateau de Versailles (a new production) will be staged by Cécile Roussat et Julien Lubek. Stefan Plewniak will lead the Orchestre de l’Opéra Royal. The other soloists, primarily members of the Académie de l’Opéra Royal de Versailles, include Sarah Charles as Belinda and Halidou Nombre as Æneas, Attila Varga-Tóth in the other leading roles. Though internationally revered for her Bel-canto, Verdi, Puccini, and Verismo heroines, which she has been portraying on all the most prestigious stages, the Bulgarian soprano is an alumna of William Christie’s Le Jardin des Voix and has maintained a particular focus on the Early and Baroque repertory. She has interpreted Purcell’s gem several times, including a tour with William Christie in Europe, Russia, and the US.

October 01, 2024

SONYA YONCHEVA | RECITAL | VIENNA

October 01, 2024

ERIKA GRIMALDI | MANON LESCAUT | TURIN

Erika Grimaldi inaugurates the 2024/2025 season of the  Teatro Regio Torino on October 1 as Puccini’s Manon Lescaut in a new production by Arnaud Bernard and under the musical direction of Renato Palumbo. She will sing alongside Roberto Aronica as Des Grieux, Alessandro Luongo as Lescaut, Carlo Lepore as Geronte, and Giuseppe Infantino as Edmondo. The Asti-born soprano first sang the role of Puccini’s self-destructive heroine in January 2025 to rave reviews, such as the one that famed Italian critic Alberto Mattioli wrote on La Stampa (“with a rich timbre and full-bodied not only at the top but also in the low register. She also sings very well, with a fraseggio reminiscent of Mirella Freni, so without giving in to the temptation of verismo vulgarities.”) Erika Grimaldi has performed numerous roles at the Teatro Regio, including Donna Anna in Don Giovanni, Amelia in Simon Boccanegra, Amilla in La donna serpente, Mathilde in Guillaume Tell, Desdemona in Otello, la Contessa in Le nozze di Figaro, and just this past season, Aida, not to mention Mimì in three different productions of La bohème