Opera stars unite for Christmas Night Gala at Carnegie Hall

NEW YORK — Opera luminaries Asmik Grigorian, Thomas Hampson, Brian Jagde, Anita Monserrat, Sondra Radvanovsky and Nadine Sierra will headline the Christmas Night Opera Gala at Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage at Carnegie Hall on Dec. 27, 2025 at 8 p.m. 

The one-night-only holiday program features the American Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Francesco Lanzillotta, in overtures by Gioachino Rossini and Ambroise Thomas, and arias by Giacomo Puccini, Giuseppe Verdi, Antonin Dvořák, Pyotr Tchaikovsky, Ruggero Leoncavallo and Leonard Bernstein.

The evening celebrates both the operatic canon and the spirit of the season while marking the U.S. debut of producer Eugene Wintour-Irverstag of Wintour Group International. 

For tickets and additional information, please visit: https://www.carnegiehall.org/Calendar/2025/12/27/Christmas-Night-Opera-Gala-0800PM 

Program (subject to change):

Overtures

American Symphony Orchestra
Francesco Lanzillotta, conductor

• Gioachino Rossini — I vespri siciliani Overture
• Ambroise Thomas — Mignon Overture

Solo arias and duets

Asmik Grigorian

• Puccini — Turandot: “In questa reggia”
• Dvořák — Rusalka: “Song to the Moon”

Asmik Grigorian and Thomas Hampson

• Tchaikovsky — Eugene Onegin: Tatiana and Onegin duet (Act III)

Sondra Radvanovsky

• Verdi — I vespri siciliani: “Bolero” (“Mercé, dilette amiche”)

Thomas Hampson

• Verdi — Macbeth: “Pietà, rispetto, amore”
• Mozart — Le nozze di Figaro: “Hai già vinta la causa! … Vedrò mentr’io sospiro” (Act III)

Sondra Radvanovsky and Nadine Sierra

• Delibes — Lakmé: “Viens, Mallika… Sous le dôme épais” (Flower Duet)

Nadine Sierra

• Verdi — Rigoletto: “Caro nome”
  Bernstein — Candide: “Glitter and Be Gay”

Sondra Radvanovsky and Brian Jagde

• Puccini — Manon Lescaut: Final duet (Act IV)

Brian Jagde

• Leoncavallo — Pagliacci: “Vesti la giubba” (Act I)
• Verdi — Otello: “Dio! mi potevi scagliar” (Act III)

Asmik Grigorian and Anita Monserrat

• Tchaikovsky — The Queen of Spades: Lisa and Polina duet (“At the river”) (Act I)

Anita Monserrat

• Rossini — La Cenerentola: “Nacqui all’affanno… Non più mesta”

About Eugene Wintour-Irverstag

Eugene Wintour-Irverstag is a theater and music producer known for bridging classical artistry with contemporary performance. Born in Russia, he initially trained as a professional cook and studied economics before discovering his true passion for the performing arts. At 22, he became the youngest general producer of the Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Music Theater in Moscow, overseeing major international productions, including works by John Neumeier, Nacho Duato, and Jiří Kylián, as well as tours with the Alvin Ailey Dance Company and the Teatro di San Carlo Orchestra.

As an independent producer, Wintour-Irverstag has collaborated with world-renowned musicians such as Jessye Norman, Joyce DiDonato, Kristine Opolais, Asmik Grigorian, Martha Argerich, and Jakub Józef Orliński. He has also worked with leading ballet companies and choreographers, including the Akram Khan Company, Martha Graham Dance Company, and Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo, as well as visionary theater directors like Robert Wilson and Thomas Ostermeier of Berlin’s Schaubühne.

Following his public opposition to the Ukraine war in 2022, Wintour-Irverstag was arrested and later emigrated to the West. He now lives in Europe, producing large-scale international projects that unite music, theater, and dance, while actively developing cultural initiatives across the Baltic States and Central Europe.

About Asmik Grigorian 

Asmik Grigorian has made a name for herself on both the concert and operatic platforms since her triumphant international debut in Madama Butterfly at the Royal Swedish Opera. She then went on to conquer role after role, including: Salome at the Salzburg Festival (described as “a Salome to end all Salomes” (Financial Times), now available on DVD), Rusalka at the Royal Ballet and Opera and Teatro Real, Jenufa at the Royal Ballet and Opera and Wiener Staatsoper, and Tatiana (Eugene Onegine) at the Bayerische Staatsoper and Teatro alla Scala. 

Following her performance as Salome at the Salzburger Festspiele, she regularly returns, performing roles such as Chrysothemis (Elektra), the three leading soprano roles in Puccini’s Il Trittico, Lady Macbeth in Macbeth, Marie in Wozzeck (all recorded on DVD) and Polina in The Gambler. As a regularly engaged performer at the Wiener Staatsoper, she has performed the title role in Manon Lescaut, the title role in Turandot, Elisabetta (Don Carlo), Nedda (Pagliacci), Jenufa and Tatiana (Eugene Onegin). 

On the concert stage, she has performed Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 14 with the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen and Rotterdam Philharmonic, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 under Riccardo Muti at the Salzburg Festival, Verdi’s Requiem at the Cēsis Vidzeme Concert Hall in Latvia and with the Gewandhausorchester in Leipzig conducted by Welser-Möst and R. Strauss’ Vier Letzte Lieder with the Orchestra di Santa Cecilia in Rome, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Teatro Massimo in Palermo and the Vienna Philharmonic under the baton of Maestro Gustavo Dudamel. Grigorian also tours internationally with pianist Lukas Geniušas, performing a program of Rachmaninoff and Tchaikovsky songs from their album, Dissonance. 

About Thomas Hampson 

Long celebrated for his innovation and cultural leadership, American baritone Thomas Hampson has earned numerous international honors and built a career spanning more than 80 operatic roles and 170 recordings, including multiple GRAMMY, Edison and Grand Prix du Disque awards.

In the 2025 season, Hampson appears in the title role of Nixon in China at the Paris Opera and later performs excerpts from the opera with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Andris Nelsons at Boston Symphony Hall, Carnegie Hall and Tanglewood. He reunites with the BSO as the Old Doctor in Barber’s Vanessa and closes the year at Carnegie Hall’s Christmas Night Opera Gala with conductor Francesco Lanzillotta.

His concert engagements include Mahler’s Des Knaben Wunderhorn with the NHK Symphony Orchestra, Schoenberg’s Ode to Napoleon with the Danish National Symphony Orchestra and performances with the Zurich Chamber Orchestra and Essen Philharmonic. He also returns to Europe for a second tour of Winterreise with accordionist Ksenija Sidorova and reunites with pianist Wolfram Rieger for Mahler recitals in China, with an additional Winterreise at Baden-Baden. Later in the season, he performs an all-American program at the Aspen Music Festival.

Recent highlights include directing and singing Don Alfonso in Così fan tutte with the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, starring in Barber’s Vanessa with the National Symphony Orchestra, appearing in a concert celebrating American works with Renée Fleming and Denyce Graves and performing in Mikael Karlsson’s new opera Fanny and Alexander at La Monnaie. He also held a residency as Distinguished Visiting Artist at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna.

About Brian Jagde 

American tenor Brian Jagde, praised for his powerful voice and commanding stage presence, continues to rise as one of opera’s most compelling artists. His recent seasons have featured major role debuts, including Samson at Teatro di San Carlo and the Staatsoper Berlin, Canio at Teatro dell’Opera di Roma and Don Carlo at the Royal Opera House — all met with strong critical acclaim. He also delivered standout performances as Cavaradossi in Tosca at Opéra national de Paris and as Radamés in Aida at both The Metropolitan Opera and the Bayerische Staatsoper.

Jagde’s concert work includes Verdi’s Requiem at the Het Concertgebouw, his New York Philharmonic debut as Froh in Das Rheingold and a widely praised solo recital debut at the Mondavi Center. His discography spans Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde on Deutsche Grammophon, Puccini and Mascagni recordings on Pentatone and DVD/Blu-ray releases from productions at Deutsche Oper Berlin and Dutch National Opera.

About Anita Monserrat 

British mezzo-soprano Anita Monserrat, a Hildegard Zadek Scholarship holder, is currently a member of the Wiener Staatsoper Opernstudio for the 2024/25 and 2025/26 seasons. She has earned major distinctions in recent years, including First Prize and the Orchesterpreis at the 2024 SWR Junge Opernstars competition, Second Prize at Neue Stimmen and a semifinalist placement at Operalia. Her training includes the Salzburg Festival’s Young Singers Project, the International Meistersinger Akademie and studies at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna and the Royal Academy of Music.

Recent performances range from “Christmas in Vienna” at the Wiener Konzerthaus with Joyce DiDonato and Lawrence Brownlee to covering Ino in Semele at the Opéra de Lille. On the concert stage, Monserrat has appeared as a soloist with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra in Beethoven’s Ninth, Britten Sinfonia in Bach’s St. John Passion, and at the London Handel Festival, BBC Two’s “Easter at King’s” and with ensembles such as the Academy of Ancient Music and Philippe Herreweghe.

Monserrat began her musical path as a chorister at Salisbury Cathedral and later held a choral scholarship at Trinity College, Cambridge. She is represented by Fabiana Dalpiaz at Askonas Holt.

About Sondra Radvanovsky 

Sondra Radvanovsky is renowned for her portrayals of Verdi’s great heroines, including Aida, Leonora in La forza del destino, Lady Macbeth, Amelia in Un ballo in maschera, Elvira in Ernani, Leonora in Il trovatore, Elisabetta in Don Carlo and Hélène in Les vêpres siciliennes. She has also earned wide acclaim for her interpretations of Puccini’s most powerful women. Hailed by Operawire as “one of the best Toscas today,” she has triumphed as Turandot, Suor Angelica and Manon Lescaut. Her repertoire further includes Donizetti’s Three Queens—Anna Bolena, Maria Stuarda and Elisabetta in Roberto Devereux—as well as Bellini’s Norma, Roxane in Alfano’s Cyrano de Bergerac, the title role in Dvořák’s Rusalka and Lisa in Tchaikovsky’s Pique Dame.

Radvanovsky’s debut album, Verdi Arias (Delos, 2010), was a critical success and appeared on several season-best lists, including NPR and The New Yorker. Delos followed in 2011 with a recording of Verdi opera scenes featuring Radvanovsky and her frequent collaborator, the late Dmitri Hvorostovsky, with the Philharmonia of Russia conducted by Constantine Orbelian. Recent discography highlights include Warner Classics’ new recording of Turandot, with the Orchestra and Chorus of the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia under Antonio Pappano, and The Three Queens, recorded live at Lyric Opera of Chicago.

Her performances are widely represented on screen, including a Naxos DVD of Cyrano de Bergerac and multiple titles in The Met: Live in HD, among them Il trovatore, Un ballo in maschera, Roberto Devereux and Medea. She has also served as a host for Live in HD broadcasts of La fanciulla del West, Otello and Francesca da Rimini.

Radvanovsky trained at the Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program in the late 1990s. After early performances in smaller roles, she garnered attention as Antonia in Les Contes d’Hoffmann and quickly emerged as a soprano to watch. She has since appeared in every major opera house in the world—including the Royal Opera House, Teatro alla Scala, The Met and Opernhaus Zürich—and has performed with leading orchestras and artistic partners. Her recital appearances include Carnegie Hall, the Centro de Congressos in Andorra, Barcelona’s Liceu, the Aix-en-Provence Festival, Cankarjev Dom in Ljubljana and Spivey Hall in Georgia.

About Nadine Sierra 

Praised for her vocal beauty, seamless technique and musicality, Nadine Sierra is recognized as one of opera’s most promising young talents. She won the Richard Tucker Award in 2017 and the Metropolitan Opera’s Beverly Sills Artist Award in 2018. Sierra has made acclaimed debuts at the Met, Teatro alla Scala, Paris Opera and Staatsoper Berlin, establishing herself at major opera houses worldwide.

Her debut album, There’s a Place for Us (Deutsche Grammophon/Universal Music, 2018), was followed by Made for Opera in 2022. She has performed with the Berliner Philharmoniker under Gustavo Dudamel, the Philadelphia Orchestra with Yannick Nézet-Séguin, and the Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia with Antonio Pappano. Sierra’s recital appearances include Palm Beach Opera, Teatro Real, Carnegie Hall, Teatro di San Carlo, Festival Dortmund, Grand Théâtre de Genève, and the Harriman-Jewell Series in Kansas City. She has also joined Andrea Bocelli on his 30th anniversary tour across Europe and North America, including performances at Madison Square Garden and Kaseya Center in Miami in December 2024.

About conductor Francesco Lanzillotta

Francesco Lanzillotta, born in Rome, studied conducting at the Santa Cecilia Conservatory under Bruno Aprea and composition with Luciano Pelosi, also training in piano and cello. He was principal guest conductor of the Varna Opera Theater (2010–2014), principal conductor of the Toscanini Symphonic Orchestra (2014–2017), and musical director of the Macerata Opera Festival (2017–2021).

Lanzillotta has conducted at major Italian opera houses, including Teatro Regio Torino, Teatro La Fenice, Teatro San Carlo, Teatro Massimo Palermo, Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Rossini Opera Festival, and Teatro dell’Opera di Roma. Internationally, he has appeared at Deutsche Oper Berlin, Vienna State Opera, Bayerische Staatsoper, Semperoper Dresden, Opernhaus Zürich, La Monnaie Brussels, Opéra national de Lyon, and Tiroler Festspiele Erl, among others.

Recent highlights include debuts at the Wiener Staatsoper (Puritani), Frankfurt (Ulisse), Teatro Regio Torino (Norma), and Rome’s Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia (Antigone), as well as symphonic concerts at Carnegie Hall. His repertoire spans from classic operas to contemporary works.