Gender? I hardly know her! Gender? I hardly know her!

Christof Loy’s production of Pablo Luna’s gender-bending Orientalist farce Benamor proves to be irresistible.

Beam me up, Selim Beam me up, Selim

Die Entführung aus dem Serail boldly goes where no opera has gone before at Pacific Opera Project. 

Uncovered gems Uncovered gems

Despite some complications, the Deutsche Oper exhumes buried treasure in Franz Schreker’s Der Schatzgräber. 

Asmik Grigorian in Recital
Streamed February 11, 2026 at 2:30 PM
Extravaganza of ideas Extravaganza of ideas

Iván Fischer‘s Mahler 3 with the Budapest Festival Orchestra at Carnegie Hall is memorable but crude, sometimes exhilarating and often tedious.

No shrinking Violanta No shrinking Violanta

A chic production of Violanta at the Deutshce Oper Berlin continues the Korngold craze on the other side of the Atlantic.

The crowd-pleaser comes around The crowd-pleaser comes around

Juan Diego Flórez‘s charm and artistic sensibility remain as vibrant as ever, as seen at a recent Carnegie Hall recital.

Assai più vale il soglio
 che un genitor perduto Assai più vale il soglio
 che un genitor perduto

Parterre Box highlights a busy few months of Verdi performances for Marina Rebeka and Ludovic Tézier with an exciting sample of their debuts in Nabucco.

One is silver, the other is Golda One is silver, the other is Golda
In an all-Mozart program with the San Francisco Symphony, Golda Schultz shows that her soubrette days are behind her.
The 2023 <em>Turandot</em> is so overrated The 2023 <em>Turandot</em> is so overrated

The recent highly hyped studio recording of Puccini’s Turandot left me greatly disappointed.

Faust

Faust / Bayerische Staatsoper

Nathalie Stutzmann conducts Jonathan Tetelman, Olga Kulchynska, and Kyle Ketelsen in a live broadcast from Munich.

Streamed February 8, 2026 at 12:00 PM
The arc of life The arc of life

The dazzling and deeply moving Complications in Sue bodes well for Anthony Roth Costanzo‘s stewardship of Opera Philadelphia.

Werther

Werther / Metropolitan Opera

A performance from 1979 starring Alfredo Kraus and Régine Crespin, chosen by Lawrence Brownlee

Streamed February 7, 2026 at 1:00 PM
Ariodante

Ariodante / Royal Ballet and Opera

Jacqueline Stucker, Emily D’Angelo, and Christophe Dumaux star in a performance recorded in December in London

Streamed February 7, 2026 at 1:00 PM
I want you to enter the holy of holies I want you to enter the holy of holies

Das Wunder der Heliane fuses sex with the sacred at a simmering performance at the Opéra National du Rhin.

The 1965 <em>Les contes d’Hoffmann</em> is so overrated The 1965 <em>Les contes d’Hoffmann</em> is so overrated

All in all, an ill-advised venture.

La traviata

La traviata / Wiener Staatsoper

Xabier Anduaga, Kristina Mkhitaryan, and Artur Rucinski lead a live video broadcast from Vienna

Streamed February 6, 2026 at 1:00 PM
Carnegie Hall 2026–27 season: the vocal highlights Carnegie Hall 2026–27 season: the vocal highlights

Heavy-hitters: the first complete Ring in its history, Tosca with Marina Rebeka, Jonas Kaufmann, and Ludovic Tézier; plus recitals from Aigul Akhmetshina, Nadine Sierra, Jeanine De Bique, Michael Spyres, and more

“I don’t play a wilting flower very well” “I don’t play a wilting flower very well”

Jennifer Holloway, star of Salome at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, talks with Christina Colanduoni about re-launching her career as a soprano and how her Salome is “just trying not to disappear under everybody else’s rule.”

More than a material girl More than a material girl

The vivacious MANON! at Heartbeat Opera makes a strong case for the return of opera in translation.

Any recording of <em>Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny</em> is so overrated Any recording of <em>Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny</em> is so overrated

It’s always surprised me how so many performances of the major Brecht/Weill collaborations seem to have zero clue of how to handle either Weill’s music.

Past is prologue Past is prologue

Simon Boccanegra has never felt as foreboding or prophetic as it did at a recent performance at La Fenice.