Knowing when to leave will never let you reach the point of no return
With San Francisco Opera’s orchestra on strike and bass Andrew Potter retiring at 43, Miles Greenberg sees opera’s ethics and economics of impracticality at a breaking point
Bang to whimper
Opera San José opened its season with a new production of Don Giovanni that embraced the opera’s challenges with youthful abandon, even as it was sometimes felled by them.
In mind and not in morals
The Royal Opera House‘s Don Giovanni comes without an instruction manual — but features a fine lothario in Gordon Bintner.
Next season I’m excited for Hérodiade
Finally, finally, a change to see Massenet‘s Hérodiade, albeit in concert from, though I long for a day when the Met or the Lyric Opera of Chicago would give us a staged performance.
Broadcasts / Live Chat
Das Paradies und die Peri
Schumann's opera in a performance recorded last week in Leipzig conducted by Dennis Russell Davies
Streamed September 20, 2026 at 1:30 PM
1 comment
Dialogues des Carmélites
Joyce El-Khoury, Stéphanie d’Oustrac, Leah Hawkins, Deanna Breiwick, and Patricia Racette star in a performance recorded in Dallas last fall.
Streaming and discussion start Sep 21 at 7:00 PM
Comment
Mitridate, re di Ponto
Giovanni Sala, Sara Blanch, Mariangela Sicilia, and Franco Fagioli star in a live broadcast from Naples conducted by Riccardo Frizza
Streaming and discussion start Sep 24 at 1:00 PM
Comment
L’incoronazione di Poppea
Francesco Corti conducts Giulia Semenzato, Arianna Vendittelli, Roberta Mameli, Paul-Antoine Bénos-Djian, Trevor Eliot Bowes, and Lucile Richardot in a performance recorded in at the Drottningholm Court Theater in Stockholm
Streaming and discussion start Sep 26 at 12:00 PM
Comment
Pagliacci & Cavalleria rusticana
Corinne Winters, Riccardo Massi, SeokJong Baek, Raehann Bryce-Davis, and Roman Burdenko lead a performance recorded earlier this month in Amsterdam.
Streaming and discussion start Sep 26 at 1:00 PM
Comment
Simon Boccanegra
George Petean, Eleonora Buratto, Freddie De Tommaso, and Alexander Vinogradov star in a performance recorded last April in Munich
Streaming and discussion start Sep 26 at 1:30 PM
Comment
Sasha Cooke
Sasha Cooke performs an eclectic mix of songs by American, German, and Russian composers in a recital with Myra Huang recorded last fall at the Park Avenue Armory
Streaming and discussion start Sep 26 at 8:00 PM
Comment
The Little Prince
Rachel Portman new opera inspired by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s book in a performance recorded last fall in Dallas.
Streaming and discussion start Sep 28 at 7:00 PM
Comment
Così fan tutte
Federica Lombardi, Samantha Hankey, Ana María Martínez, Duke Kim, Andrey Zhilikhovsky, and Gerald Finley star in a live broadcast from New York
Streaming and discussion start Sep 30 at 7:25 PM
Comment
Recent Stories
Broadcast
La traviata / Teatro alla Scala
Nadine Sierra, Piero Pretti, and Boris Pinkhasovich star in a live broadcast from Milan
Streamed September 19, 2026 at 2:00 PM
15 comments
Broadcast
Jean de Nivelle / Palazzetto Bru Zane
The forces of Palazzetto Bru Zane present Cyrille Dubois and Mélissa Petit in a performance of Delibes's opera recorded in Budapest in January
Streamed September 19, 2026 at 1:30 PM
13 comments
I’ll take the fall
The days are getting shorter, but you can keep the prattle going this fall’s Talk of the Town! You will, you can, you must join in the discussion about: Great mezzo soprano performances (October),
Gained in translation (November), Teleport me back to… (December).
Broadcast
Elektra / BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra
Karina Canellakis conducts Ingela Brimberg in the title role with Vida Miknevičiūtė and Karen Cargill in a performance recorded last month at the Edinburgh Festival
Streamed September 19, 2026 at 1:00 PM
3 comments
Broadcast
Pagliacci / Teatro la Fenice
Gregory Kunde is Canio opposite Selene Zanetti and Dimitri Platanias in a live broadcast from Venice
Streamed September 18, 2026 at 1:00 PM
1 comment
Next season I’m excited for Silent Night
I guess it’s no secret here that I LOVE contemporary operas.
Broadcast
L’elisir d’amore / Teatro alla Scala
Members of the Accademia Teatro alla Scala star in a live video broadcast from Milan
Streamed September 16, 2026 at 2:00 PM
Comment
A melody that begins a symphony
There may be frozen giant erections and psychedelic projections galore — but there’s also a surprising degree of emotion in Kirill Serebrennikov‘s latest theatrical experiment in Berlin.
Triple crown
Parterre Box draws your attention to another Macbeth taking the stage this month, the triple-threat baritone Luca Micheletti.
Broadcast
Floridante / Bayreuth Baroque
Markellos Chryssicos conducts Max Emanuel Cencic, Sonja Runje, and Bruno de Sá in a performance recorded earlier this month at the Bayreuth Baroque Festival
Streamed September 15, 2026 at 2:03 PM
1 comment
Broadcast
Le nozze di Figaro / Teatro dell'Opera di Roma
Germán Olvera, Roberta Mantegna, Martina Russomano, Erwin Schrott, and Elmina Hasan lead a live broadcast from Rome.
Streamed September 15, 2026 at 1:00 PM
Comment
A real trill
Countertenor Carlo Vistoli shows he’s got the goods across the repertoire at the Park Avenue Armory.
Next season I’m excited for Lear and Mittwoch aus Licht
Berlin’s 26-27 season opens with a bang.
Broadcast
Carmen / Dallas Opera
Marina Viotti sings the title role opposite Saimir Pirgu, Teresa Perrotta, and Gihoon Kim in a performance recorded last fall in Dallas.
Streamed September 14, 2026 at 7:00 PM
Comment
Come sail away with me
On the heels of Christopher Nolan’s blockbuster film adaptation, John Danaher muses on operatic iterations of Homer’s Odyssey.
The awkward stage
Opera Philadelphia’s production of Mitridate, re di Ponto proves more puerile than perhaps its 14 year-old composer intended.
Next season I’m looking forward to Otello
I am very much interested in La Scala’s upcoming opening night with Verdi’s Otello.
By Moe Rear
147 comments
Broadcast
Pene Pati / Park Avenue Armory
Pene Pati performs French, English, and German songs with Ronny Michael Greenberg in a performance recorded last fall in New York
Streamed September 12, 2026 at 8:00 PM
Comment
Broadcast
Last Night of the Proms / BBC Proms
Sakari Oramo conducts Nicky Spence and Yuja Wang in a live performance from Royal Albert Hall
Streamed September 12, 2026 at 2:00 PM
5 comments
Next season I’m excited for Il pirata
I’m overdue for some bel canto and WCO has historically done it well.
Five characters in search of an interpreter
In Lise Davidsen‘s new album Lise Davidsen: Verdi, the singing is thrilling but the interpretations are limp.
Broadcast
Four Last Songs / BBC Proms
Paweł Kapuła conducts Natalya Romaniw in a live performance from the Royal Albert Hall
Streamed September 9, 2026 at 1:00 PM
Comment
Mi pare sentire odor di femmina
Parterre Box offers an (almost) comprehensive introduction to the sopranos headlining Mozart productions in New York, Chicago, and San Francisco this fall.
Next season I’m excited for Alessandro
This season marks the third annual visit of The English Concert to American shores, this time with a production of Handel’s Alessandro.