Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival, which came to a close on Sunday, has reported a 20% increase in attendances this year, with an audience of over 36,000. Ticket sales were also up, by 13%, and exceeded £600,000 for the first time. The event's organisers reported positive feedback from audiences for its programme and range of venues this year, both at concerts and on social media. Councillor Richard Lewis, Edinburgh's Festivals and Events Champion said: "The Festival has been a fixture on the Capital’s calendar for 37 years now and it’s fantastic to see it continue to grow and grow. This year’s programme showcased first-class musicianship."
edinburghjazzfestival.com
New York-born tenor Noah Stewart and Lithuanian mezzo-soprano Justina Gringyte, pictured, will both make their company debuts in Scottish Opera's revival of the 1999 production of Bizet's Carmen, restaged by Benjamin Davis in October and November with performances in Glasgow, Aberdeen, Inverness and Edinburgh. Their performances as Don Jose and in the title role will be joined by joined by company favourite Roland Wood as Escamillo and the well-known voices of Nadine Livingston, Marie Claire Breen and Andrew McTaggart are also among the cast. A much larger production that some recent Scottish Opera shows, Carmen has an adult chorus of 40 and children's chorus of 20. David Parry conducts when the revival, which is a co-production with Welsh National Opera, opens at Glasgow's Theatre Royal on Wednesday October 7.
scottishopera.org.uk
The 10th Anniversary season of The Met: Live in HD, which broadcasts New York Metropolitan Opera productions to cinemas around the world begins on Saturday October 3, with Anna Netrebko in Scottish director Sir David McVicar's production of Il Trovatore, which was his met debut in 2009. The Met cinema screenings began in 2006 with 98 cinemas in four countries. Ten years on, ten operas this season will be seen in 70 countries at some 2000 cinemas, adding hugely to the Met's box office receipts.
The season continues with Verdi's Otello, starring Aleksandrs Antonenko, on October 17 and a revival of the 1977 Otto Schenk production of Tannhauser, with veteran conductor James Levine, on October 31.
metopera.org
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