Opera News

Opera News[note 1] was founded in 1936 by the Metropolitan Opera Guild with Mrs. John DeWitt Peltz (Mary Ellis Peltz) serving as the publication's first editor.[3] It was initially intended to be a "useful, instructive, and factual weekly newspaper of Opera in New York". Its first issue was published on 7 December 1936 and consisted of only one folded broadsheet. Its second year of publication saw its transformation into a 17-page magazine with advertising, with its first magazine issue appearing on 15 November 1937. Beginning with the December 1940 issue, the magazine began to concentrate much of its content on the weekly Metropolitan Opera radio broadcasts. The magazine at this point offered bi-weekly issues of an expanded size during the Fall, Winter, and Spring, but was on hiatus during the summers. As time went on, the magazine began to take on a more international scope of coverage; but it still maintained a strong interest in the New York opera scene and the Met in particular.

Frank Merkling succeeded Peltz as the second chief editor of Opera News, with his first issue appearing on 14 October 1957.[4] In 1972, the magazine became a year-round publication, adding monthly issues in the summer months while maintaining its bi-weekly schedule during the opera season. In 1974, Robert Jacobson became the magazine's third chief editor.[5] Jacobson was succeeded by Patrick O'Connor (1988), who was succeeded in 1989 by Patrick J. Smith. In 1998, Smith was succeeded by Rudolph S. Rauch. Under the leadership of Rauch and executive editor Brian Kellow, the magazine switched to a monthly publication format in September 1998. F. Paul Driscoll, the current editor in chief, was appointed in July 2003.

Beginning with the June 2012 issue, the Metropolitan Opera said that Opera News would cease reviewing Met performances, following dissatisfaction among the Met leadership with the magazine's recent critiques of Robert Lepage's production of the Ring Cycle and of the company's direction under Peter Gelb.[6] However, reactions from the public led to the decision being reversed.[7][8]

On August 15, 2023, the Metropolitan Opera announced that the magazine would be discontinued in November and incorporated into the British magazine Opera.[9]

Since 2006 the magazine has annually bestowed five Opera News Awards for Distinguished Achievement.

Past recipients of the awards have included:

• 1st — 2006: James Conlon, Régine Crespin, Plácido Domingo, Susan Graham, Dolora Zajick[10]
• 2nd — 2007: Ben Heppner, James Levine, René Pape, Renata Scotto, Deborah Voigt[10]
• 3rd — 2008: Stephanie Blythe, Olga Borodina, Thomas Hampson, Leontyne Price, Julius Rudel[11][12]
• 4th — 2009: John Adams (composer), Natalie Dessay, Renée Fleming, Marilyn Horne, Sherrill Milnes[13]
• 5th — 2010: Martina Arroyo, Joyce DiDonato, Shirley Verrett, Gerald Finley, Philip Glass[14]
• 6th — 2011: Jonas Kaufmann, Riccardo Muti, Patricia Racette, Kiri Te Kanawa, Bryn Terfel[15][16]
• 7th — 2012: Karita Mattila, Anja Silja, Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Peter Mattei, Peter Sellars[17][18]
• 8th — 2013: David Daniels, Simon Keenlyside, Eric Owens, Mirella Freni, Dawn Upshaw[19][20]
• 9th — 2014: Patrice Chéreau, Juan Diego Flórez, Christa Ludwig, James Morris, Nina Stemme[21][22]
• 10th — 2015: Piotr Beczała, Ferruccio Furlanetto, Sondra Radvanovsky, Samuel Ramey, Teresa Stratas[23]
• 11th — 2016: Joseph Calleja, Elīna Garanča, Waltraud Meier, Anna Netrebko, José van Dam[24][25]
• 12th — 2017: Robert Carsen, Christine Goerke, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Matthew Polenzani, Frederica von Stade[26]
• 13th — 2018: William Christie, Fiorenza Cossotto, Vittorio Grigolo, Hei-Kyung Hong, Sonya Yoncheva[27]
• 14th — 2019: Ramón Vargas, Ailyn Pérez, Luca Pisaroni, Laurent Pelly, Rosalind Elias[28]
• 15th — 2020: Thomas Allen, Javier Camarena, Anthony Roth Costanzo, Diana Damrau, Ana María Martínez[29]
• 16th — 2021: Lawrence Brownlee, Janet Baker, Cecilia Bartoli[30]
• 17th — 2022: Denyce Graves, Quinn Kelsey, Elza van den Heever[31]
• 18th — 2023: Lise Davidsen, Erin Morley, George Shirley[32]

Notes

References

• Official website
• Metropolitan Opera Guild