Parterre Box
Bellini and Donizetti may be top of mind these days, so Parterre Box offers two budding belcantisti, Beth Taylor and Dave Monaco, in a duet from Rossini’s La cenerentola.
Yuja Wang slayed in this performance of Prokofiev‘s 2nd piano concerto with the Boston Symphony.
“Let me look around once more. Who knows when I shall see this house again?”
Many productions have emphasized Salome’s youth, but few have gone as far as this spectacular and visceral production at the Komische Oper by Evgeny Titov.
Christina Nilsson‘s successful Met debut as Aïda was for me one of the shining highlights of the 2025 season.
I had the pleasure of attending Manon starring Lisette Oropesa and Benjamin Bernheim at Opernhaus Zürich this past October.
Anticipating the titanic arrival of Lise Davidsen‘s Isolde in New York in March, Parterre Box is thrilled to share a bit of her debut opposite Clay Hilley recorded in Barcelona last week.
I can’t say 2025 was my best operagoing year; apart from a superb Fille du régiment, most of my good nights at the opera were decidedly mixed affairs.
What do you get when you blend innovative 17th century composition, 1970s family drama, and one of the most sordid tales of the New Testament?
Looking back, this Stiffelio in Piacenza is the one I cherish the most.
Nearly three years after the premiere of François Girard’s Lohengrin at the Met, Parterre Box looks back at the production with a duet from Piotr Beczala and Elena Stikhina.
I wasn’t alive during the golden age of Verdi baritones like MacNeil, Warren, or Gobbi, but hearing Amartuvshin Enkhbat live in an opera house must be the next best thing.
I’m going with four outstanding, deeply personal NYC recitals
Washington National Opera is leaving the Kennedy Center, according to The New York Times
Ahead of the return of Louise to the Opéra National de Lyon, Parterre Box features Elsa Dreisig in a much more famous French opera.
Elina Garanča scaled the vocal and dramatic summits of the Judgement Duet and Scene in the May series of Aïda.
A staged Freischütz is rare enough in itself to be the highlight of any opera season, but it was in Christoph Marthaler‘s Antwerp production that I connected with the characters and felt the story for the first time.
This week, Parterre Box shares Quinn Kelsey and Jennifer Rowley in a duet from a Verdi opera rumored to be returning to New York this time next season.
Two weeks remain for you to submit your thoughts for this spring’s The Talk of the Town.
What better sentiment can we embrace as the year ends then to hope, often against against hope, for peace and love in a world of chaos?
The ten most-“read” stories of this truly f*cked-up year
I am sure many of us will post the Fledermaus gala, but it doesn’t get better than this, even in a Fledermaus gala
If you’ve ever been to Juan Diego Flórez‘s recitals, you’ll know the part most of the audience is waiting for is when he takes out his guitar.
Eileen Farrell could sing in all genres. I call her the queen of crossover, especially in her bluesy albums. Eileen Farrell, like Miami, you’ve got style!
Tell us: What’s your favorite Verdi performance?
Hasten thee to feed another quarter of conversation for The Talk of the Town!
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