Parterre Box
Harry Rose says you must watch Gilligan’s Island
I’m cheating by choosing TV over a movie, but I can’t not pick the Hamlet episode of Gilligan’s Island.
By Harry Rose
35 comments
Belle Raggio says you must watch Maytime
It’s a total fraud, but I have always loved Maytime‘s “Csaritza” a fake “MGM” opera based on themes from Tchaikovsky‘s 5th symphony.
By Belle Raggio
86 comments
Ortrud Jones says you must watch Excalibur
A brutal, chilling, gory final scene leading to a triumphant and goose bumps inducing final moments.
By Ortrud Jones
46 comments
Turandot
And a more recent live recording, this time from London featuring Sondra Radvanovsky and SeokJong Baek
Turandot
Zubin Mehta conducts a classic broadcast from 1966 featuring Birgit Nilsson, Franco Corelli, Mirella Freni, and Bonaldo Giaiotti
DC K says you must watch Diva
“Ebben, ne andro lontana” sung by Wihelmenia Wiggins Fernandez in Diva is a gorgeous woman in a beautiful dress singing a wonderful area in a legitimate concert venue. Great singing in my favorite French film.
By DC K
122 comments
Girls interrupted
parterre box presents for your comparing pleasure excerpts of three Italian sopranos trying their (poker) hands at Puccini’s Minnie: Carmen Giannatasio, Chiara Isotton, and Anna Pirozzi
David Phillips says you must watch Fitzcarraldo
Watching Fitzcarraldo at a very young age obviously turned me into a baby opera queen.
By David Phillips
58 comments
Nick of time
Bass-baritone Nicholas Brownlee is the winner of the $50,000 2025 Richard Tucker Award
Christopher Corwin says you must watch anything by Max Ophuls
Max Ophuls, one of the greatest film directors, made masterpieces in French, German, English and Italian, as well as an amusing comedy in Dutch; he also clearly loved opera.
By Christopher Corwin
143 comments
Dealt a bad hand
Brian Jadge will be replaced by Brandon Jovanovich in the upcoming revival of The Queen of Spades, announces the Met press office
Astyanax says you must watch Sunday Bloody Sunday
The terzettino from Così fan tutte makes an unexpected and unforgettable appearance in John Schlesinger‘s 1971 Sunday Bloody Sunday.
By Astyanax
67 comments
Peter Russell says you must watch Goin’ to Town
As opera and operetta “had a moment” in major Hollywood motion pictures starring the likes of Lawrence Tibbett, Jeannette MacDonald, and Nelson Eddy during the Great Depression, it made perfect sense that a canny showman like Mae West would want a piece of the action.
By Peter Russell
89 comments
Camille says you must watch Senso
Visconti’s masterpiece and one of the great filmed sequences of opera.
By Camille
123 comments
Madama Butterfly
Eleonora Burrato and Jonathan Tetelman lead a performance from Berlin recorded last week with Kirill Petrenko conducting
Remko Jas says you must watch The Fifth Element
After seeing The Fifth Element I wanted to see Inva Mula live, which I did (Nanetta, two years after the movie) and she certainly did not disappoint!
By Remko Jas
91 comments
The other Mr. Brownlee
While the thoroughly established Lawrence Brownlee reprises his familiar Count Almaviva in the Met’s Barbiere di Siviglia, parterre box calls your attention to another Mr. Brownlee making waves: Nicholas Brownlee.
Darby Fegan says you must watch Philadelphia
One of the most moving scenes in film, accompanied by Callas‘s iconic singing.
By Darby Fegan
125 comments
Kevin Ng says you must watch Marie Antoinette
Sofia Coppola‘s cult classic Marie Antoinette is best known for blending a whimsically baroque visuals with a post-punk score.
By Kevin Ng
28 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).