Questo e Quello
Odyssey Opera in Boston, which loves to open its season with a concert performance of some forgotten work, gave La Reine de Saba in Jordan Hall Saturday night.
Imagine you are at Disneyland, and there’s an Anthony Roth Costanzo ride.
For opening night of the new LA Opera season Placido Domingo decided to return to one of his best Verdi showcases, Don Carlo, only this time as the baritone, Rodrigo the Marquis di Posa, instead of the title character.
Those who want a rethought Lucia to allow the heroine more sense of agency will be especially confounded at Laurent Pelly’s reading.
Born on this day Cornell MacNeil and Ettore Bastianini (both in 1922) and Pablo Elvira (in 1938).
This Sony Classical set of live performances covers a golden quarter century in the singing and staging of Wagner. Birgit Nilsson shared it with many other legends, and many of them appear on these discs.
Soprano Patricia Racette is superb in La Voix Humaine, a work that she makes absolutely her own.
Born on this day in 1907 soprano Jarmila Novotná.
Legendary diva Joan Sutherland in her “breakthrough” year of 1961: a live performance of I puritani from Palermo in 1961.
Soprano Ashley Marie Robillard and mezzo Siena Licht Miller evoke a journey to Paris, Venice, Berlin, and London.
“To be fair I think it was only on one screen. . . . And more importantly I’ve seen it and it’s terrible.”
A “spy” unaffiliated with parterre box whispers to La Cieca that yesterday’s dress rehearsal of Samson et Dalila at the Met was sung by Nancy Fabiola Herrera.
It would be hard to imagine a more apt and poignant metaphor for the ambitious O18 Festival than the world premiere of Lembit Beecher and Hannah Moscovitch’s Sky on Swings.
On this day in 1968 mezzo-soprano Shirley Verrett made her Metropolitan Opera debut as Carmen.
Celebrating its third anniversary and next week’s Met opening, “Trove Thursday” offers a sumptuous banquet of the third and final chapter of divas in the “wrong language.”
On this day in 1971 Sir Rudolf Bing opened his final season at the Met with a revival of Don Carlo.
Happy 91st birthday actress Rosemary Harris!
“Due to illness, Bryan Hymel will be replaced by Yosep Kang in the role of Raoul de Nangis.”
In Hatuey, composer Frank London and librettist Elise Thoron have created something that crosses boundaries from cabaret romance to flashback historical pageant to revolutionary thriller.
Happy 47th birthday soprano Anna Netrebko!
A gaggle of our parterre critics (not pictured) had what the kids call a “kiki” recently and “spilled the tea” (as the middle-aged folks say) about their greatest expectations for the New York fall season.
The career of our beloved Renée Fleming deserves to continue… by whatever means necessary.
On this day in 1971 the Met revived Norma with its surefire team of Joan Sutherland and Marilyn Horne.
On this day 52 years ago the new Metropolitan Opera House opened in Lincoln Center.
Tell us: What was the best of 2025?
Parterre Box concludes the thrilling first year of Talk of the Town by inviting your lightning rod opinions on several more categories of operatic argumentation.
