Il nome della rosa
A live broadcast from Milan of the world premiere of Francesco Filidei’s opera based on Umberto Eco‘s novel
Parterre Box
A favorite Donizetti performance from Windy City Operaman
Sigh! I think most of you realized I would pick this one. Got that “Donizetti and Bellini Heroines” from the Record Club of America when I was in my teens and playing it to death.
By Windy City Operaman
40 comments
Khovanschina
A performance recorded earlier this month at the Salzburg Easter Festival.
A favorite Donizetti performance from Kevin Ng
This to me is everything that makes Donizetti the great dramatist of the bel canto era.
By Kevin Ng
18 comments
Knight and deh
When a revival of Handel‘s Ariodante in Boston coincides with the HD relay of the Met’s current revival of Le nozze di Figaro, parterre box can’t help but share a bit of Olga Kulchynska, the Met’s Susanna, singing the florid “Volate amori.”
A favorite Donizetti performance from Remko Jas
The brave and beautiful Maartje Offers – best known from the potted Ring – lends her charismatic voice to Donizetti here.
By Remko Jas
72 comments
A favorite Donizetti performance from Dawn Fatale
Maybe this is an obvious choice, but this is the sort of performance that every opera queen dreams of attending: an unknown work being performed by a cast of largely unknown singers.
By Dawn Fatale
132 comments
Strauss test
“Strauss makes me feel loved and like I am part of a world that is supernatural and extremely special,” says Elza van den Heever, the Met’s upcoming Salome, in a new feature at the Observer by parterre‘s very own Christopher Corwin.
Suor Angelica & Il prigioniero
Corinne Winters dons the habit in a live broadcast of a unique double bill from Rome
A favorite Donizetti performance from Cornelia
Donizetti’s never been a desert island composer of mine, but he comes close when I hear Edita Gruberova in her prime.
By Cornelia
75 comments
A favorite Donizetti performance from Ali Kashani
Assuming someone else will pick Leyla Gencer‘s legendary “Vil bastarda”, I’ll go with another clip featuring robust audience participation.
By Ali Kashani
80 comments
A favorite Donizetti performance from grimoaldo2
The Greatest Thing Ever (AKA Lisette Oropesa) in a stunning mad scene from Lucia di Lammermoor with the excellent Artur Rucinski and Roberto Tagliavini in an extremely effective production by David Alden at the Teatro Real in Madrid.
By grimoaldo2
105 comments
A favorite Donizetti performance from Angela Meade
For me, Donizetti’s operas are all about the mad scenes.
By Angela Meade
84 comments
L’assedio di Corinto
A broadcast from 1975 celebrates 50 years since the Met debut of Beverly Sills
Arabella
A live broadcast of a most Viennese opera from Vienna itself
A favorite Donizetti performance from Belle Raggio
Late Callas singing Maria from “Figlia del Reggimento” a role she wisely never attempted on stage.
By Belle Raggio
55 comments
Dies magna et amara valde
parterre box offers a Good Friday pick-me-up: elusive chanteuse Juliana Grigoryan in perhaps her most canceled role, the soprano soloist in Verdi’s Requiem
A favorite Donizetti performance from Peter Russell
Who knew that rehearing a performance you believed had become nothing more than a cherished memory would have such healing properties during a time of bereavement?
By Peter Russell
43 comments
Lucia di Lammermoor
Jessica Pratt sings the title role in a live broadcast from Trieste
A favorite Donizetti performance from rapt
The ham in this pandemic-era let’s-put-on-a-show Elisir duet (from the Met at Home broadcast) may make the performance more sooey than sui generis. But I find it irresistible.
By rapt
25 comments
A favorite Donizetti performance from Armerjacquino
Well, it’s a clip from Mary Zimmermann‘s production of Lucia di Lammermoor… wait, wait, come back!
By Armerjacquino
91 comments
Peter Seiffert 1954-2025
The German Heldentenor died yesterday at his home in Austria.