Parterre Box

Suor Angelica Suor Angelica

Antonio Pappano conducts a performance live from the BBC Proms

A favorite Wagner performance from Roger Pines A favorite Wagner performance from Roger Pines

I’d never heard Götterdämmerung in a live performance until 1985 at The Dallas Opera. OMG, so long ago!

The Turn of the Screw The Turn of the Screw

Jacquelyn Stucker leads a performance recorded last month in Santa Fe

A favorite Wagner performance from Mister Snow A favorite Wagner performance from Mister Snow

It took me a while to “warm up” to Wagner.

Rigoletto Rigoletto

Quinn Kelsey, René Barbera, and Lisette Oropesa star in a performance recorded in Los Angeles this spring.

Maria Stuarda Maria Stuarda

A performance recorded earlier this month in Salzburg with Lisette Oropesa and Kate Lindsey

A favorite Wagner performance from Dr. Hodel A favorite Wagner performance from Dr. Hodel

Régine Crespin singing the Wesendonck Lieder is the most beautiful Wagner singing I’ve ever heard.

A favorite Wagner performance from Remko Jas A favorite Wagner performance from Remko Jas

All of the Teatro Colón live opera recordings conducted by Fritz Busch are special, but his 1936 Parsifal is my favorite.

Harping on it Harping on it

The start of the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro provides a perfect opportunity to enjoy a bit of the breathtaking Vasilisa Berzhanskaya recorded there last summer

A favorite Wagner performance from CKurwenal A favorite Wagner performance from CKurwenal

Dame Gwyneth Jones as Brünnhilde pretty much started it all for me.

L’italiana in Algeri L’italiana in Algeri

Daniela Barcellona leads a live broadcast from the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro

A favorite Wagner performance from fletcher A favorite Wagner performance from fletcher

Júlia Várady‘s smoldering, almost feral Sieglinde from the Sawallisch/Lehnhoff Ring, remains my favorite.

Rigoletto Rigoletto

A performance recorded last month at The Santa Fe Opera starring Michael Chioldi

Soirées musicales & La cambiale di matrimonio Soirées musicales & La cambiale di matrimonio

A live broadcast from the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro

A favorite Wagner performance from Rowna Sutin A favorite Wagner performance from Rowna Sutin

This is one of my favorite operas, and visually and story telling-wise, you can’t beat this production.

Zelmira Zelmira

A live broadcast of the opening night of the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro with Anastasia Bartoli and Lawrence Brownlee

With so little to be sure of With so little to be sure of

One final appeal for you to share what most titillates you in the upcoming season for September’s The Talk of the Town

Agrippina Agrippina

A performance recorded last month at the Festival International d’Opéra Baroque & Romantique de Beaune featuring Les Épopées

A favorite Wagner performance from Yuval Sharon A favorite Wagner performance from Yuval Sharon

This performance represents a perfect alignment of piece, performer, director, and conductor – the epitome of Gesamtkunstwerk.

Back to the gypsy that I was Back to the gypsy that I was

In the midst of an eventful summer for the Arena di Verona, one important happening has flown under the radar: the return of Anita Rachvelishvili to her signature role of Carmen, of which Parterre Box features a sample of today

A favorite Wagner performance from Scott Grunow A favorite Wagner performance from Scott Grunow

Rita Gorr as Ortrud, Bayreuth, 1959, Cluytens.

Bluebeard’s Castle Bluebeard’s Castle

Iván Fischer leads an all-Hungarian team in a broadcast from the Proms

A favorite Wagner performance from Krunoslav A favorite Wagner performance from Krunoslav

The superb 1958 Bayreuth Lohengrin, under the wonderful Cluytens.

A favorite Wagner performance from Carmen Paddock A favorite Wagner performance from Carmen Paddock

Recency bias is in full swing here, but Glyndebourne’s first ever staging of Parsifal – and my first Parsifal – takes top prize for me.