Latest news with #PlácidoDomingo
Associated Press
31-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Associated Press
Domingo Hindoyan to become music director of LA Opera for 2026-27 season
NEW YORK (AP) — Domingo Hindoyan will succeed James Conlon as music director of the LA Opera and start a five-year contract on July 1, 2026. The appointment of the 45-year-old Venezuelan-Armenian, the husband of soprano Sonya Yoncheva, was announced Friday night. Conlon has been music director since 2006-07 and said in March 2024 that he will retire after after the 2025-26 season. 'LA is a city that is known by innovation, taking risks in productions and musically,' Hindoyan said in New York, where his wife is currently singing at the Metropolitan Opera. 'The idea is to do new pieces, commissions and modern pieces, something to really have a balance between what is classic and go further as much as we can.' Hindoyan will conduct two productions in 2026-27 and three in each of the following four seasons, LA Opera President Christopher Koelsch said. Koelsch hopes Hindoyan can lead works with Yoncheva, who has not sung a staged production at the LA Opera. Like other companies, the LA Opera has struggled with increased costs following the pandemic and scrapped a planned pair of world premieres over finances. Tenor and conductor Plácido Domingo was a key figure in fundraising for the company as general director from 2003-19. 'Part of my job as a music director and the job of any musician is to really take care of the art form as much as we can,' Hindoyan said, 'not only on stage, not only studying at home (but also) the connection with the community and the connection to the donors.' Hindoyan was born in Caracas, played violin and is a product of El Sistema, the Venezuelan music education system that was instrumental in the careers of Gustavo Dudamel and Rafael Payare. He was an assistant to Daniel Barenboim at Berlin's Staatsoper unter den Linden. 'Given Barenboim's extremely exacting standards, I was impressed that he had that job and held onto that job,' Koelsch said. 'And then I saw a performance of 'Tosca' and was kind of immediately struck by the elegance of the baton technique and just the sort of the absolute clarity of what he was conveying.' Hindoyan has been chief conductor of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic since the 2021-22 season. He first conducted the LA Opera last November in Gounod's 'Roméo et Juliette.' 'There's a kind of a natural warmth and charisma to him. In my experience, he almost always coaxes the best out of people,' Koelsch said. 'The 'Roméo' run for me was kind of a test run of how those qualities resonated inside our building, how it worked with the orchestra and the chorus and the administration and the audiences.'
New York Times
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
A Soprano With Many Roles On and Off the Stage
The soprano Sonya Yoncheva has established herself as one of today's most versatile opera stars. Just over a decade ago, in 2014, she caused a splash after jumping in on short notice as Mimi in her first staged performance of Puccini's 'La Bohème' at the Metropolitan Opera. When the Bulgarian native appears as Lisa in Tchaikovsky's tragic love story 'The Queen of Spades,' from Friday through June 7, it will be her sixth role debut at the house. Yoncheva, 43, maintains a busy schedule that includes a recent gala at the Opéra Garnier in Paris and her third production as the title character in 'Iolanta,' also by Tchaikovsky, at the Vienna State Opera. In Europe this summer, she will perform Handel, Bellini and more. Under the auspices of her production company, SY11 Events, she will also appear in August in Sofia, Bulgaria, for outdoor concerts alongside the tenors Vittorio Grigolo, José Carreras and Plácido Domingo. Started in 2020, the enterprise joined forces with the label Naïve for her most recent album, 'George,' inspired by the life and work of the French writer George Sand (born Aurore Dupin, she is known in the music world for her tumultuous relationship with Frédéric Chopin). An even less conventional project is the 2023 book 'Fifteen Mirrors,' combining personal confessions about select characters and portraits in which Yoncheva poses in different guises. 'I understand my work as a process,' she said by phone from outside Geneva, where she lives with her husband, the conductor Domingo Hindoyan, and their two children. 'The interpretation takes up maybe an even bigger part than the singing.' The following interview has been edited and condensed. Why was it the right time to take on Lisa in 'The Queen of Spades,' and what interests you about the character? I was touched by the fact that she is in love with a bad guy. Young women often fall in love with this type and want to make him good. And we never succeed. It is also a natural step forward after singing Tatyana [of 'Eugene Onegin,' by Tchaikovsky] in my early years, and Iolanta. 'Queen of Spades' is very similar to the two operas but slightly more dramatic. We hear that especially in the final pages. I like to create a kind of road map for myself. With Lisa, her first words are about fear. And she repeats this over the course of the opera. But in the moment that she is driven by love, she has this exceptional courage to stand up for it. The character is of course brand-new for me. I'm sure that after three or four productions, I will continue to find new shades in her. It's exciting. How has your relationship with the Met evolved? It's a huge love story. In 2013 I sang Gilda from Verdi's 'Rigoletto' without any rehearsal with the orchestra or the possibility to go onstage beforehand. I just saw this huge temple full of people. This is the magic of the Met. In the years after that, I just flew on those wings. I consider Peter Gelb and the Met, as well as all the other theaters where I sing, as my partners. This summer, in Gstaad, Switzerland, and Baden-Baden, Germany, you return to Bellini's 'Norma.' What do you continue to discover about the role? The story is very much about her children and her relationship to her father, to her duty. She was most of all educated to be a leader and guide her people. When I had my daughter, who is now 5, I started to see the world slightly differently. I think that Norma discovers colors of her youth that she never could resolve. Why was she not allowed to love, to be a normal woman? These questions grow in me. And every time I encounter Norma, I see her with more mature eyes. You started out your career performing early music with William Christie and his ensemble Les Arts Florissants. Is this still an important basis? Absolutely. When I was chosen to sing in his academy with him, I didn't have any experience in Baroque music, which was great because I was in the hands of a master. But he never tried to cancel my personality, and as a result I approach this music with my natural voice. Baroque music is like going back to the source. It's very healthy for the voice and mind. When I was around 18, I left Bulgaria to study in Geneva. [The soprano] Danielle Borst became my mentor, even a kind of mother, because I was far from my family. I arrived singing Liù [of Puccini's 'Turandot'] and very heavy repertoire for a young voice. She opened my eyes to the music of Mozart and Handel and Bach. She also presented me to Christie. Bulgaria has an extraordinary opera tradition. But at that time, the country was at a critical moment economically and in terms of education. It was quite natural to leave but also very difficult. I had to build my life from minus zero. I am grateful because I learned so much through this process. What was the impetus to create your production company? It was during the summer of Covid. I decided to return to my hometown, Plovdiv, to give a concert. But there were no open institutions. They gave me an outdoor Roman theater that seats 4,000 people, but I had to create my own structure for selling tickets. Luckily, a cousin of mine runs a theater for contemporary dance and helped me. And I loved how the whole machine works. Building an event and just participating in it are completely different things. Now I understand how painful it is to have a cancellation! We are living in a time when the arts are sometimes forgotten. We somehow want to concentrate on the superficial. Maybe it's difficult for people to enter their inner world. I believe that art and culture are the key to a better society.
Observer
06-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Observer
season of excellence at ROHM
MUSCAT: As the Royal Opera House Muscat (ROHM) draws the curtain on its extraordinary 2024–2025 season, the month of May promises an unmissable celebration of musical diversity, artistic mastery and unforgettable experiences. World-renowned conductor Plácido Domingo returns to ROHM to lead Verdi's iconic opera La Traviata on May 1 and 3, a stunning production by director Marta Domingo with Juliana Grigoryan singing Violetta and Yusif Eyvasov singing Alfredo. Pre-performance talks will be offered to ticket holders only, providing a deeper look into the music, themes and vision behind this operatic masterpiece. Over the same weekend, the excitement continues with a Gala Symphony Concert in two parts on May 2, reflecting the depth of ROHM's musical reach. Hamdan al Shuaili, conductor of the Royal Oman Symphony Orchestra, leads the first half, followed by a grand second act conducted by Plácido Domingo — a true meeting of regional and international excellence on one stage. Cultural fusion takes centre stage on May 8 and 9, with Memories of Alhambra, a new ROHM production blending Arabic musical heritage with the passion and rhythm of flamenco, performed by the acclaimed Compañía Flamenca Antonio Andrade. The season closes on a high note with a spectacular concert by Lebanese superstar Ragheb Alama, offering fans two nights, May 23 and 24, of beloved hits and timeless charisma. This exceptional month captures the spirit of a season filled with innovation, tradition and world-class artistry. Audiences are encouraged to seize this final opportunity before ROHM opens a new chapter in October.
Observer
05-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Observer
May performances at ROHM celebrate season of excellence
MUSCAT: As the Royal Opera House Muscat (ROHM) draws the curtain on its extraordinary 2024–2025 season, the month of May promises an unmissable celebration of musical diversity, artistic mastery and unforgettable experiences. World-renowned conductor Plácido Domingo returns to ROHM to lead Verdi's iconic opera La Traviata on May 1 and 3, a stunning production by director Marta Domingo with Juliana Grigoryan singing Violetta and Yusif Eyvasov singing Alfredo. Pre-performance talks will be offered to ticket holders only, providing a deeper look into the music, themes and vision behind this operatic masterpiece. Over the same weekend, the excitement continues with a Gala Symphony Concert in two parts on May 2, reflecting the depth of ROHM's musical reach. Hamdan al Shuaili, conductor of the Royal Oman Symphony Orchestra, leads the first half, followed by a grand second act conducted by Plácido Domingo — a true meeting of regional and international excellence on one stage. Cultural fusion takes centre stage on May 8 and 9, with Memories of Alhambra, a new ROHM production blending Arabic musical heritage with the passion and rhythm of flamenco, performed by the acclaimed Compañía Flamenca Antonio Andrade. The season closes on a high note with a spectacular concert by Lebanese superstar Ragheb Alama, offering fans two nights, May 23 and 24, of beloved hits and timeless charisma. This exceptional month captures the spirit of a season filled with innovation, tradition and world-class artistry. Audiences are encouraged to seize this final opportunity before ROHM opens a new chapter in October.
Times of Oman
05-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Times of Oman
May performances at Opera House celebrate season of excellence
Muscat: As the Royal Opera House Muscat (ROHM) draws the curtain on its extraordinary 2024–2025 season, the month of May promises an unmissable celebration of musical diversity, artistic mastery, and unforgettable experiences. World-renowned conductor Plácido Domingo returns to ROHM to lead Verdi's iconic opera La Traviata on May 1 and 3, a stunning production by director Marta Domingo with Juliana Grigoryan singing Violetta and Yusif Eyvasov singing Alfredo. Pre-performance talks will be offered to ticket holders only, providing a deeper look into the music, themes, and vision behind this operatic masterpiece. Over the same weekend, the excitement continues with a Gala Symphony Concert in two parts on May 2, reflecting the depth of ROHM's musical reach. Hamdan Al Shuaili, conductor of the Royal Oman Symphony Orchestra, leads the first half, followed by a grand second act conducted by Plácido Domingo—a true meeting of regional and international excellence on one stage. Cultural fusion takes centre stage on May 8 and 9, with Memories of Alhambra, a new ROHM production blending Arabic musical heritage with the passion and rhythm of flamenco, performed by the acclaimed Compañía Flamenca Antonio Andrade. The season closes on a high note with a spectacular concert by Lebanese superstar Ragheb Alama, offering fans two nights, 23 and 24 May, of beloved hits and timeless charisma.
