Recent Stories
Time to Act at Pittsburgh Opera effectively employs Greek tragedy to explore the all-too-common tragedies haunting schools across the United States.
No one in my experience both live and on records could swagger, spin out roulades, and ripple through Rossini and Handel like Samuel Ramey.
Before hearing Samuel Ramey as Zaccaria in Nabucco, I had always been more interested in higher voices.
A captivating Asmik Grigorian leads the Bayerishce Staatsoper‘s revival of its Holocaust-set Salome.
Ilana Walder-Biesanz discovers how Houston Grand Opera is celebrating 250 years of America and 100 years of Carlisle Floyd with a new production of Of Mice and Men.
This performance features Samuel Ramey in what I consider one of the most powerful deliveries of this aria on record.
“Even Peter Gelb’s critics concede that he has had a long run of finding pots of gold,” says The New York Times of the Metropolitan Opera‘s dire money troubles. “But is he running out of rainbows?”
Tell us: Filth or dementia?
Hasten thee to feed another quarter of conversation for The Talk of the Town!
Grand Tier Grab Bag
Grand Tier Grab Bag
Kathryn the great
Kathryn the great
Parterre Box previews Kathryn Lewek‘s upcoming Salome with clips of her as another unhinged lady of antiquity.
Parterre Box previews Kathryn Lewek‘s upcoming Salome with clips of her as another unhinged lady of antiquity.
Grand Tier Grab Bag
Count your blessings
Count your blessings
Fast-rising Verdi baritone Ariunbaatar Ganbataar is the subject of this week’s Grand Tier Grab Bag.
Fast-rising Verdi baritone Ariunbaatar Ganbataar is the subject of this week’s Grand Tier Grab Bag.
Grand Tier Grab Bag
One man’s Junker
One man’s Junker
Handel’s Deidamia — and one of its current champions, soprano Sophie Junker — are the subject of this week’s Grand Tier Grab Bag.
Handel’s Deidamia — and one of its current champions, soprano Sophie Junker — are the subject of this week’s Grand Tier Grab Bag.
Grand Tier Grab Bag
Don’t cry because it’s over
Don’t cry because it’s over
Grand Tier Grab Bag hearkens back to the days when Sondra Radvanovsky — who is singing no Verdi at all next season — seemed like the Verdi soprano of reference.
Grand Tier Grab Bag hearkens back to the days when Sondra Radvanovsky — who is singing no Verdi at all next season — seemed like the Verdi soprano of reference.
Grand Tier Grab Bag
Rizzin’ to the occasion
Rizzin’ to the occasion
Parterre Box features the Met’s current Eugene Onegin, Iurii Samoilov, in a performance of Rossini ahead of a return to Pesaro this summer.
Parterre Box features the Met’s current Eugene Onegin, Iurii Samoilov, in a performance of Rossini ahead of a return to Pesaro this summer.
Grand Tier Grab Bag
When they go low
When they go low
Nostalgic for bass month, Parterre Box offers excerpts from two young basses to watch: Giorgi Manoshvili and Patrick Guetti.
Nostalgic for bass month, Parterre Box offers excerpts from two young basses to watch: Giorgi Manoshvili and Patrick Guetti.
Nobody in my experience has come close to rivaling Samuel Ramey as the shy, lovelorn Englishman Lord Sidney from that first cast.
Confused dramaturgy dampens an otherwise sparkling night of singing in Opera Baltimore’s Lucrezia Borgia.
American Bach brings out the operatic side of Bach in a program featuring sparkling vocal talents.
Mascagni‘s Zanetto, a slight, Renaissance scene, gets a new recording from the Berlin Opera Group.
The great bass Len Dresslar became famous (if unknown) as the voice of the Jolly Green Giant on all those ads that those of us (of a certain age) grew up on
Talk of the Town
The Talk of the Town
Mado Robin should have made it to the Met
Mado Robin should have made it to the Met
I like to use this recording to annoy Mariah Carey fans by proving that whistle register doesn’t count.
I like to use this recording to annoy Mariah Carey fans by proving that whistle register doesn’t count.
The Talk of the Town
Maria Kanyova should make it to the Met
Maria Kanyova should make it to the Met
I’m surprised that American soprano Maria Kanyova has never performed at the Met, even though she has loads of high-profile U.S. opera credits.
I’m surprised that American soprano Maria Kanyova has never performed at the Met, even though she has loads of high-profile U.S. opera credits.
The Talk of the Town
Barbara Hannigan should make it to the Met
Barbara Hannigan should make it to the Met
The fact that Barbara Hannigan has never performed at The Metropolitan Opera is just plain dumb.
The fact that Barbara Hannigan has never performed at The Metropolitan Opera is just plain dumb.
The Talk of the Town
Robert Rounseville should have made it to the Met
Robert Rounseville should have made it to the Met
From one Mister Snow to another, I salute him.
From one Mister Snow to another, I salute him.
The Talk of the Town
Denise Duval should have made it to the Met
Denise Duval should have made it to the Met
I decided I’d take ‘never made it to the Met’ as an excuse to submit a post about why French soprano Denise Duval (1921-2015) is special to me.
I decided I’d take ‘never made it to the Met’ as an excuse to submit a post about why French soprano Denise Duval (1921-2015) is special to me.
The Talk of the Town
A favorite Verdi performance from Eli Jacobson
A favorite Verdi performance from Eli Jacobson
The immortal Renata Tebaldi, just about 29 years old as Saint Joan in a RAI broadcast of Giovanna d’Arco from 1951.
The immortal Renata Tebaldi, just about 29 years old as Saint Joan in a RAI broadcast of Giovanna d’Arco from 1951.
Despite some fine performances, Così fan tutte at the Livermore Valley Opera doesn’t quite click into place.
Akhnaten has lost none of its power or glitz at the Los Angeles Opera.
Fyodor Chaliapin, the very great Russian basso, to this day owns the role of Massenet’s Don Quichotte.
Parterre Box previews an upcoming performance of Hercules with Ann Hallenberg in some very unique Baroque repertoire.
Strong performances at Opera Naples can’t overcome the cringey nostalgia of Derrick Wang‘s Scalia/Ginsburg.
The one, the only Fyodor Chaliapin, singing Massenet’s “Elegie” (with, I believe, a young Piatigorsky on the cello part).
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