Press OPERA MAGAZINE – October 2021 – Mozart’s Così fan… 6th October 20216th October 2021 “The ensemble Ataïr always played with energy and theatrical spirit thanks to the precise and inspiring conducting of David Stern who, at every moment, indicated the perfect tempi.” Thierry Guyenne, Opéra Magazine , October 2021
Press OPERA MAGAZINE – June 2021 – Mayr’s L’amor conjugale 22nd September 20216th October 2021 « On April 24, at the Massy Opera house, David Stern leaves nothing to chance – he will not stop until he gets what he wants, but does so without stress and without disturbing the good mood. He is indeed passionate about this score and about his extremely capable troupe made up of with remarkable soloists…. Mayr was regrettably eclipsed by Donizetti, and Rossini owes him much, but he had an exceptional talent for unique orchestration. One hears both Mozart in the vocal ensembles and a Beethovinian vigor in the dramatic gesture. Chantal Santon Jeffrey interprets Zeliska with perfect ease and intensity in her vocal passage-work. She seems completely at home in the pre-romantic period. The young Columbian tenor Andres Agudelo should be talked about as should the two remarkable bass-baritones: Adrien Fournaison, equally impressive in height as by the nobility of his voice, and Olivier Gourdy by his brighter timbre. The recording session which ended with the overture, both fun and full of surprises. » Jacques Bonnaure, Opera Magazine N°173, June 2021
News Mayr – L’amor conjugale new recording 20th September 20215th October 2021 David Stern and Opera Fuoco have recorded Giovanni Simone Mayr’s L’amor conjugale in April 2021. This is the first recording of the full critical version of Mayr’s one act opera. The CD will be available on November 19th 2021 and the release concert is on December 12th 2021 at Levallois, near Paris.
News OPERA EUROPA AUTUMN CONFERENCE 14th September 20215th October 2021 David Stern will participate as a panelist in the round table discussion “The life of the artist” at the Opera Europa’s Autumn conference in Bergamo, Italy. He will present his views on his experience as a conductor, artistic director of Opera Fuoco, one of Europe’s most recognized young artist programs, and as a mentor for young singers. Find out more: https://opera-europa.org/event/conference-elixir-life
News Mozart – Così fan tutte – Opera Fuoco 21st June 202120th September 2021 Cosi fan Tutte is the most psychologically enigmatic opera of the Mozart/Da Ponte trilogy. The interweaving relationships of the 6 characters has been subject to many interpretations, precisely because the story is remarkably contemporary. It is also a work consisting of many brilliantly composed musical ensembles. We chose Cosi, therefore, to inaugurate the arrival of the 5th generation of the Opera Fuoco Young Artist Program – a story of love and betrayal in which a playful wager turns into an intensely emotional quandary. It is a piece that musically unites the singers while the story divides the characters. Mariame Clément joined us for a workshop in preparation for our summer performances at the Grange aux Pianos Festival.
Press Agence France Presse – Puccini’s Bohème 26th April 202128th April 2021 Last summer Agence France Presse covered Palm Beach Opera Festival. Find the full report and David Stern’s inteview:
Press Palm Beach Opera summer festival on France 24 23rd April 202123rd April 2021 “Ozzy Osbourne stood in the place where I’m conducting,” David Stern, the opera’s chief conductor who will lead both “La Boheme” and “The Magic Flute,” told AFP with a laugh. Despite its size the space “actually is very friendly,” the Paris-based conductor said, and the star voices large enough to fill the venue whose three-production run — with two performances of each show — will also include “Pagliacci.” (…) The festival is crafted to fit pandemic times, but Stern said there are lessons to take from what’s intended as a temporary solution. “Right now we’re catering so much to the audience experience,” he said, which is an exercise in finding ways to “keep opera friendly without mitigating what opera is.” Find the full article here
News CD recording of Mayr’s Amor conjugale 14th April 202130th August 2021 David Stern is thrilled to come back to Simone Mayr. After having performed his Medea in Corinto, he will be recording his one act opera, Amor Conjugale, which delights and inspires through Bel Canto vocal lines and an imaginative and rich orchestral palette. Look forward to its release on the Aparté label in the next months.
Press Blogcritics exclusive interview 9th March 20219th March 2021 David Stern‘s musical life spans three continents, and the pandemic hasn’t slowed him down. As founder and director of Opera Fuoco, a Paris-based international opera company and young artist program, he helms Figaro in the City, a modern-day video retelling of Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro. It’s available in easily digestible segments of 15 minutes or so at Marquee TV. Stern is also chief conductor of the Palm Beach Opera in Florida, which last month presented its Outdoor Opera Festival, the first large-scale, multi-opera performances (with an audience) in America since the start of the pandemic. Maestro Stern was kind enough to talk to us about reimagining opera for a young video-obsessed generation while managing the restrictions of physical distancing during the pandemic, and about the challenges and rewards of getting back to live staged opera with an audience while COVID-19 is still assailing the U.S. Find the full interview here: https://blogcritics.org/exclusive-interview-maestro-david-stern-opera-fuoco-figaro-city-palm-beach-operas-live-audience-return/
Press David Stern’s blog post on Gramophone magazine 9th March 20219th March 2021 “A young cast, imaginative filming – how the project came about. Watch the first episode for free” When I had the initial idea to salvage a concert version of the Marriage of Figaro, Paris was just coming out of its first confinement period. Springtime was bursting out, we no longer needed to fill out forms to leave our homes and while all performing venues were closed, the prevalent feeling in the streets was that the time had come to find imaginative ways to keep music alive. To read all the post: https://www.gramophone.co.uk/blogs/article/figaro-in-the-city-mozart-as-a-television-series
Press PBO Bohème’s first review 21st February 202121st February 2021 “Stern drew out Puccini’s singing phrases adroitly, providing strong, coherent support for the singers. Without a curtain coming down to produce premature applause, it was great, for once, to hear the final soft harp lines following the Mimi-Rodolfo duet in Act I and the final quiet brass chords at the conclusion. Standing to the rear of the orchestra, the small chorus sang vigorously as holiday revelers at the Café Momus and workers awaiting to enter the city’s gates on a fridged morning.” Lawrence Budmen – South Florida Classical Review. Read the full review here
News Figaro in the City on MarqueeTV 15th February 202130th August 2021 Figaro in the City is a modern-day retelling of Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro: “la folle journée” is full of playful and hurtful intrigues that lead up to one of the most moving final scenes in opera history. Opera Fuoco’s young singers step into a staging that takes them away from the confines of a stage and into the city of Paris’ quirky ateliers, streets and gardens. Filmed in playback to allow for theatrical intimacy and the safety of the cast during the Covid-19 pandemic, the camera itself becomes a character, reacting to each turn of the plot. As the instrumentalists and conductor disappear, the characters move fluidly from the opening opera rehearsal atmosphere to a real-life scenario. Read more “Figaro in the City on MarqueeTV” →
Press Barbiere di Siviglia review – OPERA NEWS 9th December 20209th December 2020 “(…) The tone was set by conductor David Stern’s nicely shaped overture, taken at a moderate pace, with solo instruments given the freedom to ornament their lines. This musical approach immediately engaged fans of bel canto opera and signaled that this would not be a routine reading of a familiar score. Throughout the evening, the prospect of interesting variations never let the listener’s attention lag and each singer was able to personalize his or her character musically. Stern kept a firm had throughout the evening with a brief exception during the Act I finale, from which the ensemble quickly recovered. (…)” Karl Hesser
Press Gassmann opera Arias CD review on Grammophone magazine ! 13th October 202017th November 2020 Grammophone magazine’s review of David Stern’s recording with NDR Radiophilharmonie and Ania Vegry of Gassmann’s rare opera arias and scenes: “Conductor David Stern draws alert playing from the NDR Radiophilharmonie. “
News Mozart – Die Zauberflöte – Palm Beach Opera Festival 28th September 202030th August 2021 ITHINK Financial Amphitheatre February 21st – 2:00 PM/ February 26th – 7:30 PM Known for its enduring story and infectious score, Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte captures the imaginations of young and old.
News Puccini – La Bohème – Palm Beach Opera Festival 28th September 202030th August 2021 ITHINK Financial Amphitheatre February 19th 7:30 PM / February 24th 7:30 PM In February of 2021, Stern will lead performances of La Bohème and the Magic Flute in a 5000 seat open air arena, as part of the first Palm Beach Opera Festival. This innovative project will be key to bringing back live performance in the 20-21 season.
News Marly-le-Roi – Bernstein – Candide 23rd September 202030th August 2021 Centre Culturel Jean Vilar (Marly-le-Roi) – November 6th 2020 – 6:30 PM and November 7th 2020 – 6:00 PM Cancelled due to covid19 crisis The infamous philosophical tale of Candide is an epic legend, a voyage across the world – a world where humans are propelled from place to place by their thoughts and intentions. More info : https://operafuoco.fr/en/2020/09/01/candide-2/
News Michael Spyres & Lawrence Brownlee – Amici e rivali 20th September 202030th August 2021 Théâtre des Champs-Elysées (Paris) – January 21st 2021 – 8:00 PM Cancelled due to Covid-19 crisis Lawrence Brownlee and Michael Sypres, two exceptional tenors and Rossini specialists, share the stage at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées with Opéra Fuoco for an exceptional evening in the series of ‘Les Grands Voix’. The program presents arias and duets, masterpieces from 19th century Italian bel canto repertoire.
News Grenoble MC2 National Theatre – Cimarosa – Il pittor… 20th September 202030th August 2021 MC2 National Theatre – Grenoble (France) – March 17th 2021 – 7:30 PM Pursuing his mission of rediscovering little-known works and his commitment to the training of singers from his Young Artists Program, David Stern offers a production tailor-made for the MC2 in Grenoble, whose musical season explores the relationship between painting and music. Domenico Cimarosa’s opera, with its twisting and turning plot and disarming cynicism fits the bill perfectly. Read more “Grenoble MC2 National Theatre – Cimarosa – Il pittor parigino” →
News Mayr – Amor Conjugale – Bergamo 2nd April 202019th November 2020 Donizetti Festival – Teatro Sociale, Bergamo (Italy) – December 4th 2020 – 8:30 PM Cancelled due to covid19 crisis To end the European tour of Mayr’s Amor Conjugale, David Stern will conduct a concert performance in Bergamo’s Teatro Sociale. This re-premiere in Italy will be an important tribute to Mayr, who was Bergamo’s local musician and Donizetti’s teacher.
News Mayr – Amor Conjugale – Levallois 2nd April 20203rd November 2020 Levallois – Salle Ravel – November 29th 2020 – 8:30 PM Cancelled due to covid19 crisis Premiered in Padua and Venice in 1805, Amor Conjugale presents a lighter version of the same story plot as Beethoven’s Fidelio – “a farsa sentimentale” by the master who is also known as the father of bel canto.
News Beethoven 2020 – Amor conjugale – Bonn 2nd April 202028th May 2020 Bonn Beethovenfest – World conference center – September 23rd – 8 PM Cancelled due to covid19 crisis The Bavarian composer Johann Simon Mayr, aka Giovanni Simone Mayr after achieving fame and glory in Italy, set Jean-Nicolas Bouilly’s Leonore text as a ‘farse sentimentale’ entitled ‘L’amor coniugale’. It was premièred in Padua on 26 July 1805, nine months after Paër’s ‘Leonora’ and four months before Beethoven’s ‘Fidelio’. The librettist, Gaetano Rossi, shifted the French revolutionary material to 17th-century Poland, gave the characters different names and replaced the spoken dialogue with secco recitatives. He also watered down the revolutionary liberation of the plot in favour of a private love intrigue: an unscrupulous prison warden imprisons Florestan solely to get his hands on the latter’s wife. David Stern will conduct Opera Fuoco in this new edition of this comic opera to celebrate the Beethoven’s year.
News TRIBUTE TO ISAAC STERN – Philharmonie de Paris 2nd April 20202nd April 2020 Cité de la Musique – Philharmonie de Paris – October 1st 2020 – 8:30 PM To celebrate Isaac Stern’s centenary, David Stern will conduct a tribute concert in Paris Philharmonie with pieces from Bach to Mendelssohn.
News SHANGHAI ISAAC STERN INTERNATIONAL VIOLIN COMPETITION 2nd April 20202nd November 2020 Cancelled due to covid19 crisis Shanghai Isaac Stern International Violin Competition, the first world-class violin competition in Shanghai, was launched in 2015 and thereafter, a grand success for two consecutive editions in 2016 and 2018. Taking its name from the distinguished violinist Isaac Stern, the Competition aims to continue the legacy of Maestro’s musical spirit and carry forward the forty-year-long friendship between him and China bonded by music. Shanghai Isaac Stern International Violin Competition will usher in the 3rd edition in Shanghai on August 4 – 25, 2020, the year that also marks the centennial birthday of Maestro Isaac Stern.
News TANGLEWOOD MUSIC FESTIVAL GALA – Boston Symphony Orchestra 2nd April 202028th May 2020 Tanglewood Music Festival – July 26th 2020 at 2:30 PM Cancelled due to covid19 – crisis. In order to celebrate Isaac Stern’s centenary, his sons David and Michael will be conducting the Boston Symphony Orchestra in a special gala concert at the Tanglewood Festival
News DUTILLEUX / BRAHMS – Marseille Philharmonic Orchestra 2nd April 202024th April 2020 Marseille Opera – June 21st 2020, 4 PM Cancelled due to covid19 crisis David Stern offers a program to Marseille’s audience that promises to be brilliant! From Dutilleux to Brahms, two essential symphonies, extraordinary and exciting, that explore different shades of the symphonic language.
Press Barber of Seville – PBO 2020 – South Florida… 2nd March 20202nd April 2020 Palm Beach Opera’s “Il barbiere di Siviglia” dress rehearsal Wednesday, February 26, 2020. “After the conclusion of the famous Overture to Rossini’s Barber of Seville, Palm Beach Opera chief conductor David Stern invited the orchestra to stand to receive the applause. (…) The Overture, fortunately, was not marred by any madcap antics on stage, full of crisp string playing, such as in the mock-sinister minor-key theme that sounds like snipping barber scissors. (…) Stern led a spirited performance, with thumps of drums and cymbals, through crescendos and accelerandos, that gave the opera a propulsive start.” David Fleshler
News Mozart – Les Noces de Figaro (Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt libretto) 2nd March 202013th April 2020 May 13th 2020 – Salle Ravel , Levallois Cancelled due to covid19 crisis The Marriage of Figaro by Beaumarchais was transformed by Mozart and his Italian librettist Da Ponte. Nevertheless, the original political intentions of the work were undermined by the imperial censure of Mozart’s Vienna. In Eric Emmanuel Schmitt’s revisited French text, he looks to revive the biting character of the original libretto without losing the beauty of the musical score. Excerpts of this new re-tanslation were performed in Paris’s Rive Gauche Theater in 2015 by Opera Fuoco and David Stern, who was intrigued by the subtle differences between Da Ponte and Schmitt. This performance will be a premiere of the integral Marriage de Figaro by Mozart and Eric Emmanuel Schmitt, reuniting the spirits of the 18th and 21st centuries.
Press New review – Turandot – PBO 2020 26th February 20202nd April 2020 ” (…) Chief Conductor David Stern brings out the score’s varied moods, contrasting the chaotic populace with the contemplative reminiscences of the trio of officials, Ping, Pang and Pong, and the pathos of the plight of Timur and Liù.” David M.Rice – Classical Source
Press Puccini – Turandot – Palm Beach opera – 25/01/2020 25th January 20202nd April 2020 “Under chief conductor David Stern, the Palm Beach Opera orchestra did its usual excellent work. The outstanding string section played with transparent delicacy in Puccini’s shimmering harmonies. Soft-edged winds, stark brass and clanging percussion all contributed to bringing out the power and variety of Puccini’s richly colored score.” South Florida Classical Review David Fleshler
Discs Gassmann – Opera arias 20th January 20202nd April 2020 Florian Leopold Gassmann – Ah, ingrato Amor (Opera arias & sinfonias) – CPO, 2020 Ania Vegry / David Stern & NDR Radiophilharmonie
News Gassmann opera arias 20th January 20202nd April 2020 NEW RECORDING: Discover Florian Leopold Gassmann’s beautiful opera arias with Ania Vegry. David Stern conducts the NDR Radiophilharmonie for this CD full of surprising world premieres. More info : https://www.jpc.de/jpcng/cpo/detail/-/art/florian-leopold-gassmann-opernarien/hnum/6096005?lang=en
Press David Stern’s interview for PRO OPERA Mexico & Latin-America 30th August 201917th November 2020 “A society without music loses its oxygen”
News HANDEL/TELEMANN – WATER MUSIC – SYDNEY SYMPHONY 27th August 20192nd April 2020 CANCELLED due to Covid19 April 1st & 2nd 2019 David Stern will make his debut in Australia with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. In a festive program with Händel’s Water and Royal Fireworks music and Telemann rarely performed Wassermusik. The concert will sparkle in Sydney’s City Recital Hall
News HANDEL – GIULIO CESARE – NDR RADIOPHILHARMONIKER 27th August 20192nd April 2020 CANCELLED due to Covid19 May 1st 2020 – Großer Sendesaal des NDR Hannover David Stern will conduct this concert version of Händel’s Giulio Cesare. Alongside a lavish cast of talented young singers from Opera Fuoco’s former and present generations, Maestro Stern will give a fresh new vision of this baroque masterpiece.
News ZHOU-TIAN & BRAHMS – GUANGZHOU SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA 27th August 20192nd April 2020 Cancelled due to Covid19 crisis March 28th 2020 – Guangzhou Symphony Hall For this new collaboration, David Stern will conduct a program with an original dialogue between Brahms 4th symphony and compositions of the Chinese composer Zhou-Tian.
News CESTI & CAVALLI – SHANGHAI CAMERATA 27th August 20192nd April 2020 December 12th 2019 – Shanghai Symphony Hall – Recital Hall David Stern will collaborate with China’s first baroque ensemble, the Shanghai Camerata, founded by Menglin Gao, and a trio of excellent chinese singers, Lei Xu, Yajie Zhang and Meili Li. The program will consist of two of the main composers who followed Monteverdi, Antonio Cesti and Francesco Cavalli. Their compositions take the traditions of the early 17th century and transform them into a more lively form of opera. The subjects are often sensual and comic and were considered more contemporary to their public.
News WEBERN/SCHMITT/ZHOU-TIAN – SHANGHAI SYMPHONY 27th August 20192nd April 2020 Cancelled due to Covid19 crisis March 21st 2020 – Shanghai Symphony Hall David Stern will conduct the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra with the fabulous Webern’s Im Sommerwind and the very rarely performed Tragédie de Salomé of the french composer Florent Schmitt. Alongside these post-romantic masterpieces, he will conduct the Zhou-Tian violon concerto.
News ROSSINI – IL BARBIERE DI SIVIGLIA 26th August 20192nd April 2020 February 28th – March 1st 2020 – Palm Beach Opera David Stern and stage director Josh Major will join forces to create a hilarious and spirited evening of operatic comedy. the humor will be as sharp as the Barber’s scissors.
News HUMPERDINCK – HÄNSEL & GRETEL 16th July 20192nd April 2020 December 6th, 7th & 8th 2019 – Palm Beach Opera Ending 2019, David Stern will conduct Humperdinck’s masterpiece in the Delray Beach’s Crest Theatre starring Palm Beach Opera’s Benenson Young Artists and Apprentice Artists. This production sung in English will have three performances on December 6, 7 and 8th.
News Baroque opera arias at Drottningholm theatre 25th June 20192nd April 2020 September 27th & 28th 2019 – Drottningholm (Sweden) David Stern will conduct the young soloists of the Nordopera education network in extracts and arias from Händel’s operas. Nordopera aims to create a platform to exchange knwoledge and to integrate young artists from the Nordic region. David Stern will return to Drottningholm Theatre for the concert of this academy.
Press Strauss – Die Fledermaus 1st April 201917th September 2019 “But what keeps this work alive is the music. Led by chief conductor David Stern, the performance was full of energy and personality, with vigorous duets and trios on stage and another fine outing by the orchestra, with creamy string playing and lively winds and brass. To the company’s credit, they took a traditional approach to the famous overture, leaving the curtain down and doing nothing to distract from the orchestra’s buoyant performance of Strauss’s great concert piece.” David Fleshler – 23/03/2019 South Florida Classical Review
News Hong Kong Philharmonic 24th November 201823rd August 2019 Works by Mozart and Hans Rott Gustav Mahler posthumously called Hans Rott the “the founder of the New Symphony”. The E major symphony is a fascinating work that contains ideas that Mahler would later adapt in many of his early works. Show More A youthful piece (Rott died at age 24), it was criticized by Brahms, who disliked any student of Bruckner’s. The rejection hurt the young composer deeply and led to his eventual descent into madness. January 11th and 13th, 2019 https://bachtrack.com/concert-listing/tsuen-wan-town-hall-auditorium/discover-classical-romance/11-january-2019/20-00
News B-MINOR MASS TOUR 7th November 201817th September 2019 Shanghai – December 16/Paris – January 21/Leipzig – June 23 “Bach‘s final large-scale vocal composition presents itself to us as the composer‘s artistic legacy. Like no other of Bach‘s works, the B-minor Mass is a consummation of his writing for the voice……“ Christoph Wolff Show MoreBegun in 1715 as a 1-part mass for the Dresden court, Bach came back to the score throughout his life, ultimately completing it in 1749 shortly before his death. Its manuscript, preserved in the Berlin Staatsbibliothek joins Beethoven’s 9th symphony as the only musical works to be included in UNESCO’s Memory of the World register.. Joining Opera Fuoco’s orchestra and three young artists on this tour to the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra Hall ~ where the piece will be heard for the first time in 100 years, the Paris Philharmonie and Leipzig’s Thomaskirche, are soloists Andreas Scholl, Markus Werba, Laurent Naouri and the Tölzer Knabenchor.
News Don Giovanni 24th November 201823rd August 2019 In a production inspired by film noir and staged by Kristine McIntyre, Mozart’s opera is a brilliant combination of stark human tragedy and touching human comedy. For Mozart and da Ponte, the seducer is amoral and yet sincere until his doom. Unrepentant, he refuses his last chance to atone in his final moments, and we are all mesmerized by his descent into hell. Show More David Stern, chief conductor of Palm Beach Opera, conducts the masterpiece which quickly became the barometer for all musical drama to come. Palm Beach Opera February 22, 23, 24, 2019 https://pbopera.org/event/don-giovanni/
Press Idomeneo 8th December 20188th December 2018 David Stern’s inspires the singers with all the necessary impulses, through constant attention to breathing and balance. He keeps the tension of the drama, thanks to the vigor and honed palette he unleashes from his chamber-size orchestra…. With vocal revelations of such a high level, one has to say that Opera Fuoco has surpassed its expectations. Mehdi Mahdavi, Opera Magazine, December 2018
News Händel – Serse 20th May 201917th September 2019 October 17th 2019 – Beijing Music Festival / Forbidden City Concert hall David Stern returns to the Beijing Music Festival, this time bringing his opera company Opera Fuoco with its outstanding young soloists and period instrument orchestra. Händel is at his comic and melodramatic best in this work with its opening aria, “Ombra mai fu” which has delighted audiences for centuries.
Discs Berenice, che fai ? 2nd November 201828th September 2021 Scena di Berenice and arias by Haydn, Mariana Martinez, Mozart, Johann Christian Bach, Mazzoni, Hasse Chantal Santon, Natalie Pérez, Lea Desandre OPERA FUOCO – APARTÉ AVAILABLE ON iTunes Amazon Spotify Show More Opera Fuoco’s latest recording features three former members of the Opera Fuoco studio, Lea Desandre, Natalie Perez, Chantal Santon and the Opera Fuoco orchestra conducted by David Stern. Berenice, che fai? is a compilation of late Baroque and early Classical works based principally on Metastasio’s famous 18th-century opera scene « Ah Berenice » from his opera Antigono. Not only was the scene set to music by such composers as Haydn and Hasse, but also by Antonio Maria Mazzoni and Marianna Martinez, a composer of Spanish descent who was widely connected to the Viennese music scene and, for a time, lived in the same noble house as Metastasio and Haydn at Grosse Michelstrasse. The young Mozart’s concert aria « Berenice » and Johann Christian Bach’s aria « Confusa, smarrita» from the composer’s lost pasticcio opera, Berenice, as well as Hasse’s Antigono overture complement the program.
Discs Cantates Romantiques 2nd November 201828th September 2021 Arias and cantatas by Cherubini, Boisselot, Hérold Karine Deshayes / Opera Fuoco AVAILABLE ON iTunes Amazon Spotify Show MoreFRENCH ROMANTIC CANTATAS Recording produced by the Palazetto Bru Zane, Centre de Musique Romantique Française, and released by Zig-Zag Territoires / Outhere Karin Deshayes joins an impressive list of vocal artists with whom David Stern and Opera Fuoco have performed and recorded. The French Romantic Cantatas represents a sampling of Cherubini and his contemporaries with excerpts form Cherubini’s Medée and Circé and cantatas by Hérold, Catel and Boisselot. These cantatas are highly dramatic works in the styles of bel canto and magnificently orchestrated precursors to the lyric works of Berlioz. The romantic, mythological theme of the femme abandonnée unites all five works on this new disc. The French Romantic Cantatas is Opera Fuoco’s fourth disc, following Johann Christian Bach’s opera, Zanaida, released in 2012.
Discs ZANAIDA 2nd November 201830th November 2018 Johann Christian Bach Opera Fuoco / Zig-Zag Territoires / Outhere AVAILABLE ON iTunes Amazon Spotify
Discs MEDEA in CORINTO 5th November 201830th November 2018 Giovanni Simone Mayr St Gallen Opera AVAILABLE ON iTunes Amazon Spotify
Discs JEPHTHA 5th November 201830th November 2018 Händel Opera Fuoco AVAILABLE ON iTunes Amazon Spotify
News Shanghai Baroque Festival 7th November 201830th November 2018 On December 15 and 16, 2018 David Stern offers Shanghai music lovers the 4th annual baroque festival at the Shanghai Symphony Hall, with a performance of Bach’s B-minor Mass with Opera Fuoco and the Tölzer Knabenchor. The work has not been heard in Shanghai since 1918. Show MoreAndreas Scholl returns to the festival after a series of performances in 2016. He will be joined by Markus Werba, bass-baritone and three members of Opera Fuoco’s young artist program, Theodora Raftis, Adèle Charvet and Andrés Agudelo. David Stern has previously brought Handel’s Giulio Cesare and Alcina to the festival as well as Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas and vocal soloists such as Vivica Genaux, Rafaela Milanese, and Alice Coote. This year’s festival will also include a concert with Paris-based 18th century wind ensemble, Tibiades and a masterclass by French baroque cellist, Jérôme Huile.
News Heifetz Baroque Vocal Workshop 7th November 201823rd August 2019 I am very excited to announce the Heifetz Baroque Vocal Workshop, a new and unique creative venture. As an added feature to the Heifetz International Music Institute, this program will offer a 10-day intensive course in baroque performance practice to singers and instrumentalists. Show MoreHaving worked with period instrument ensembles in Europe for the past thirty years, and as founder and director of Opera Fuoco, a Paris-based young artists program and period instrument ensemble, I am looking forward to sharing the passion and artistry of 18th-century music in the US. For the inaugural season I will be collaborating with renowned Canadian soprano Dominique Labelle and we will focus on arias from Handel’s operas and oratorios. The stunning replica of Shakespeare’s Blackfriars theater in Staunton, Virginia is a perfect acoustic for this repertoire. The singers will be accompanied by experts in baroque style and students from the Institue who are expanding their understanding of baroque string technique. https://www.heifetzinstitute.org/baroque/
News Die Fledermaus 24th November 201823rd August 2019 Johann Strauss’ Die Fledermaus is a comedic series of mischief, intrigue, and revenge set at a lavish Viennese bal. Palm Beach Opera’s Chief Conductor, David Stern, conducts this high-spirited comedy, directed by Artistic Director of Opera at Manhattan School of Music, Dona Vaughn. Show MoreReturning to Palm Beach Opera after a critically-acclaimed performance in The Pirates of Penzance, world-renowned mezzo-soprano Stephanie Blythe is Orlofsky. Palm Beach Opera March 22, 23, 24, 2019 https://pbopera.org/event/die-fledermaus/
News West Side Story 24th November 201823rd August 2019 This American masterpiece with an iconic musical score by Leonard Bernstein and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, West Side Story is a unique blend of musical theater, opera and dance. Show More David Stern and Opera Fuoco’s young artists present this semi-staged production after musical performances at the Mona Bismarck American Center and the Bal Blomet jazz club in Paris during the previous season. La Barbacane, Beynes March 30, 2019 http://operafuoco.fr/portfolios/west-side-story-2/
News Die Stumme Serenade 24th November 201823rd August 2019 Investigations, conspiracies, seduction and scandals make up the fabric of Die Stumme Serenade (The Silent Serenade). In this miniature masterpiece, composed in 1946, Erich Korngold combines elements of jazz, film music and the Viennese operetta tradition. Show MoreDie Stumme Serenade brings to the stage some of the classic plot twists so often portrayed in the Golden Age of American cinema. David Stern, Opera Fuoco Young Artists and an 10-piece Opera Fuoco Orchestra will perform the opera in Salle Ravel of Levallois with a full staging by Olivier Dhénin. May 11, 2019 http://operafuoco.fr/portfolios/die-stumme-serenade-e-w-korngold/
News Die Goldene Kale 24th November 201823rd August 2019 David Stern and Opera Fuoco’s young artists travel to Sweden with this quintessential 1923 Yiddish operetta, “Die Goldene Kale,” featuring music by Joseph Rumshinsky, lyrics by Louis Gilrod and a libretto by Frieda Freiman. Show MoreOriginally shown at the Second Avenue Theater, the heart of “Jewish Broadway” on the Lower East Side, this farcical, tuneful romance, part old-fashioned musical comedy, part operetta, is a fantasy that spoke directly to the hopes and dreams of the immigrant community. The story of the feisty Goldele enjoyed a revival at the National Yiddish Theater in New York in 2015 and a performance by Opera Fuoco at the Mona Bismarck American Center in 2016. Swedish Chamber Orchestra May 18, 2019 in the Orebro Concert Hall, Sweden http://operafuoco.fr/portfolios/the-golden-bride-2/
News Idomeneo 24th November 201817th September 2019 Inspired by the Odyssey, the return of Idomeneo, King of Crete, is a work of monumental dramaturgy. With Idomeneo, the young Mozart (only 25 years old at the time) proves his unparalleled musical maturity. His mastery of the opera seria genre, so highly developed in his later masterworks is already clearly evident. Show MoreAfter Finta Giardiniera, Der Schauspieldirektor, and Don Giovanni, Opera Fuoco comes back to Mozart’s operas with a staging by Elsa Rooke. October 13, 2018 at the Salle Ravel, Levallois http://operafuoco.fr/portfolios/idomeneo-mozart
News Enemies, A Love Story 24th November 201829th November 2018 David Stern conducts the Kentucky Opera revival of Ben Moore’s Enemies, A Love Story, originally premiered at the Palm Beach Opera in 2015. Mary Birnbaum stages the opera based on the riveting novel by Isaac Bashevis Singer. November 9 & 11, 2018 in the Brown’s Theater Louisville, Kentucky https://kyopera.org/enemies-a-love-story/
Discs PIANO CONCERTOS NOS. 2 & 3 30th November 2018 John Field Andreas Satire / Concerto Köln / David Stern AVAILABLE ON iTunes Amazon Spotify
Press TOSCA AT BOSTON LYRIC OPERA, OCTOBER 2017 5th November 201813th November 2018 « The 58-member orchestra sat on a sturdy platform ten feet above the action, behind a scrim, which, in the last act, becomes a vista of St. Peter’s and the Vatican. All one could see, at this level, was the conductor, David Stern, who was seriously splendid. The orchestra sounded absolutely wonderful.. Stern took the music a hair faster than I was accustomed to, and I liked the results. I was very impressed with his conducting. » Susan Miron The Musical Intelligencer Show More « The 58-member orchestra sat on a sturdy platform ten feet above the action, behind a scrim, which, in the last act, becomes a vista of St. Peter’s and the Vatican. All one could see, at this level, was the conductor, David Stern, who was seriously splendid. The orchestra sounded absolutely wonderful.. Stern took the music a hair faster than I was accustomed to, and I liked the results. I was veryimpressed with his conducting. » Susan Miron The Musical Intelligencer « This “Tosca” very much hit its mark. It was in fact one of the most robust BLO opening nights I can recall. » Jeremy Eichler Boston Globe « For this run, the orchestra is being led by the talented David Stern; and his conducting was quite impressive. Lyrical moments such as Cavaradossi’s first act aria were appropriately expansive, while the tense passages of the second act really bristled. The orchestra played wonderfully under his baton. Rarely has the prelude to Act Three sounded better. The choir of celli at the opening of “E luvevan …” was ethereal, and the clarinet solo that followed most evocative. Ed Tapper EDGE Media Network
Press CANDIDE 5th November 201812th November 2018 « This weekend’s exuberant Palm Beach Opera premiere in Kravis Center uses a version created for the New York Philharmonic in 2004…. It’s a provocative and entertaining experience. David Stern’s buoyant musical direction buttresses … an exhilarating, superbly cast and imaginatively directed spectacle. » Palm Beach Daily News, February 2018
Discs Concertos pour orchestre 30th November 2018 Albert Roussel Jean-Guihen Queyras / Alexandre Tharaud /David Stern AVAILABLE ON iTunes Amazon Spotify
Discs Orchestral Works, Vol. 1 30th November 2018 Otto Nicolai David Stern – Conductor / Claudius Tanski – Piano AVAILABLE ON iTunes Amazon
Discs Orchestral Works, Vol. 2 30th November 2018 Otto Nicolai David Stern – Conductor / Johannes Pieper – Clarinet AVAILABLE ON iTunes Amazon
Press RICHARD LÖWENHERZ 2nd November 201813th November 2018 « ….this was a splendid exposition of baroque opera. Praise in the first place for the conductor David Stern at the head of a combination of his own Opera Fuoco and members of the Magdeburg Philharmonic. As well as endowing the performance with an energetic momentum, he brought out all the details in Handel’s brilliant instrumentation, culminating in a remarkable, introduction to an aria in the second half of the work. The music hesitates, stops and uncertainly starts again, providing a striking dramatic realisation of the singer’s despair and indecision. … with a conductor and stage director expert in this repertory the experience at Magdeburg was a rewarding one. » Anthony Ogus, March 2018
Press Richard Löwenherz Telemann Festival 2nd November 20188th December 2018 « Happily the Magdeburg Theater’s in-house orchestra, to which were added several members of the French ensemble Opera Fuoco (from which a good part of the singer soloists also came) delivered its goods. David Stern, director of the ensemble, who has been frequent guest with his musicians at the Elbe, assured a warm and lyrical-cantabile sound with several beautiful instrumental solos. This was far from given, considering that a few hours earlier, the renowned ensemble Concerto Köln…. » Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, March 2018
News OPERA FUOCO/ APARTÉ CD RELEASE 1st November 201830th November 2018 Berenice, che fai ? Axelle Fanyo, soprano Chantal Santon, soprano Natalie Perez, mezzo-soprano November 24, 2018 Theatre de St Quentin This concert celebrates Opera Fuoco’s latest recoding and featuring three former members of Opera Fuoco’s Young Artists Studio and the Opera Fuoco orchestra conducted by David Stern. Berenice is a compilation of late baroque and early Classical works based principally on Metastasio’s famous 18th-century opera scene « Ah Berenice » from his opera Antigono. Show MoreNot only was the scene set to music by such composers as Haydn and Hasse, but also by Antonio Maria Mazzoni and Marianna Martinez, a composer of Spanish descent who was widely connected to the Viennese music scene and, for a time, lived in the same noble house as Metastasio and Haydn at Grosse Michelstrasse. The young Mozart’s concert aria « Berenice » and Johann Christian Bach’s aria « Confusa, smarrita» from the composer’s lost pasticcio opera, Berenice, as well as Hasse’s Antigono overture complement the program.
News TOSCA 1st November 201829th November 2018 TOSCA AT BOSTON LYRIC Emerson Majestic Theater, Boston September 13, 15, 18, 20, 22, 2017 David Stern continues his run of Puccini operas with Tosca at Boston’s Lyric Opera. TOSCA AT PALM BEACH OPERA Kravis Center, West Palm Beach January 26, 27, 28, 2018 David Stern renews his post as chief conductor this season with Puccini’s Tosca followed by Candide in honor of the Bernstein centennial.
News RICHARD LÖWENHERZ 1st November 201829th November 2018 Telemann’s version of Handel’s Riccardo Primo. Performances with Opera Fuoco Young Artists and instrumentalists, singers from the Magdeburg Theater troupe, and Magdeburg Theater orchestra. March 10, 11, 16, 17