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.
An incoherent production of Ruslan and Lyudmila at the Hamburg State Opera may dispense with the fantastical, but Glinka‘s magic remains.
Les Arts Florissants present two ravishing programs in Brooklyn and Manhattan.
Big voices overwhelm Claus Guth‘s toothless staging of Khovanshchina at the Berlin Staatsoper.
Across three evenings at the 92nd Street Y, Konstantin Krimmel and Ammiel Bushakevitz traversed all of Schubert‘s major song cycles with stark intensity.
In recital for the Los Angeles Opera, tenor Ben Bliss makes the case for the next stage of his career.
Gulfshore Opera’s vigorous production of Carmen answers a familiar question.
Offenbach‘s Robinson Crusoé is salvaged from obscurity.
It is a physical pleasure to hear Kate Lindsey at close quarters.
“This isn’t an opera that touches on queer themes; it’s a bundle of queer themes tied up in an opera.”
A consideration of Anika Kildegaard’s extraordinary recital in Philadelphia—and the oddity of recitals themselves.
Though perhaps showing its age, a storied production of La bohème nonetheless makes a welcome return to the Los Angeles Opera
Tamara Wilson and Stanislas de Barbeyrac are the standouts in Calixto Bieito’s underwhelming Die Walküre in Paris
MasterVoices presents a strongly-cast Sweet Smell of Success—but the merits of this noir musical are hardly black or white.
Barbara Strozzi links two sensuous programs by L’Arpeggiata and Catapult Opera.
Are today’s stars enough to sustain Andrea Chénier?
The Monkey King at San Francisco Opera combines spectacle and sentiment.
As Messiah season begins, Christopher Corwin reports on two of Handel’s forays into the Old Testament.
Washington National Opera presented a well-sung and humorous Marriage of Figaro, buoyed by clever direction and a strong cast, particularly Rosa Feola’s Countess and Joélle Harvey’s Susanna.
Carl Orff’s cantata tries its fortunes at the Lyric Opera of Chicago.
A new recording of La fiamma from Deutsche Oper Berlin sets Respighi’s score ablaze.
Austin Opera’s 40th anniversary gala celebrated the present while gesturing boldly towards the future.
Pittsburgh Opera’s Fellow Travelers delivers a timely story with detail and care.
Jeanine Tesori’s Blue is an ambitious and worthy opera that deserves a better presentation than it got at Lincoln Center on Saturday.
“Protect the dolls, they say, but who really cares for them?” This question, posed by performer Mara Snip during the postlude of Neuköllner Oper’s 1000 Airplanes on the Roof, had a clear answer: Aliens.
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.
