Performance Reviews
Reviews of operatic, vocal, and classical performances at the Metropolitan Opera, Carnegie Hall, all across America, and around the world.
Reviews of operatic, vocal, and classical performances at the Metropolitan Opera, Carnegie Hall, all across America, and around the world.
Julia Bullock seems to fission herself multiple times over during the course of her newest, widely ranging recital program.
The beginning of Mary Kouyoumdjian’s Adoration is marked by silence. The young Simon, played by Sammy Ivany, lies on his stomach, scribbling in a notebook.
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.
“The mystery of her voice gripped my soul,” Sharpless tells Pinkerton at the beginning of Puccini’s Madama Butterfly. One could say the same thing of Aleksandra Kurzak’s remarkable portrayal of the title role, the main reason to catch the Met’s latest revival.
Angel Island seemed a piece with two simultaneous goals: to musically interpret the poetry of Angel Island detainees and to educate its audience on the history of Asian and particularly Chinese immigration to America.
Nothing says “diva” like an insane recital program.
This Carmen, in other words, was somewhat less radical than its initial image suggested.
New York shall never be in need of another Messiah to assist to during the holiday season, but a new tradition is beginning to crystallize at the cavernous St. John the Divine to rival it.
The whole performance was reminiscent of long-forgotten ways of doing opera (ways which still find the full approval of an Italian public tired of proposals that are all too “experimental”)
There is a strong case to be made that George Fridrich Handel is the composer most suited to the present moment.
A frigid air swept through the crypt of the Church of the Intercession on Friday, December 8, nearly blowing out the candles that cast a golden light on the bundled-up audience.
When the Staatskapelle Berlin announced a two-night engagement at Carnegie Hall performing all four Brahms symphonies, I immediately made a note in my calendar to attend. I also wondered who would be the conductor when the announced Daniel Barenboim inevitably withdrew.
A perfect escape for a city laden with recent layoffs and job cuts coming into Holiday season
Washington Concert Opera’s season opened with a triumphant performance of Gioachino Rossini’s rarely heard Ermione Saturday night at George Washington University in D.C., led by Antony Walker and a stellar quartet of principals in Angela Meade, Lawrence Brownlee, David Portillo, and Ginger Costa-Jackson.
In any case, we probably got as good a Tannhäuser cast as could be assembled these days.
As far as I know, Juan Diego Flórez last appeared in New York City (not totally to his advantage) as Alfredo in the Met’s garish new production of La Traviata back in December 2018, nearly five years ago.
A revival of Peter Konwitschny’s rightly legendary Don Carlos and Dmitri Tcherniakov’s confounding new Salome: both turned out to be unforgettable!
I can still vividly remember the first time the music of George Frideric Handel made an impression on me.
Anna Bolena might be the earliest of Donizetti’s operas that might have name recognition to a non-specialist audience.
Although primarily known as a vanguard of the Downtown music scene, John Zorn’s artistic and intellectual ethos is at home at the decidedly Uptown institution of Columbia University.
Despite this being the first full-length opera for Gabriela Lena Frank, there’s no lack of experience across the creative team which, along with favorable reviews for the production, contributed to high levels of anticipation.
It took more than 25 years for Harmony, the passion project of singer-songwriter Barry Manilow, to reach Broadway, where it opened recently at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre.
Edward Hopper’s paintings from the 1930s and 1940s are simply lousy with windows.
I’ve never had a better time in an opera house.
In its Met premier, neither a talented cast nor some beautiful musical moments were enough to make Florencia feel new or vital.
