Recent Stories
Lotte De Beer‘s astonishing reading of Aïda at the Paris Opera was a victim both of Covid and the culture wars.
Death is the prima donna in this opera, and Herheim doesn’t let you forget it.
A new production of Parsifal at San Francisco Opera stirred something deep inside Michael Anthonio about how music soothes the soul
For me, one of the greatest recordings is the Von Karajan Il trovatore. You have four incredible singers in their top form.
Shirin Neshat‘s Aïda in Paris is a typical instance of what happens when an artist is brought in to direct an opera.
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.
Grand Tier Grab Bag
Grand Tier Grab Bag
León in winter
León in winter
Ahead of his performance in Les pêcheurs de perles with Washington Concert Opera, Parterre Box features the unusually elegant Anthony León performing Mozart.
Ahead of his performance in Les pêcheurs de perles with Washington Concert Opera, Parterre Box features the unusually elegant Anthony León performing Mozart.
Grand Tier Grab Bag
Assai più vale il soglio
che un genitor perduto
Assai più vale il soglio
che un genitor perduto
Parterre Box highlights a busy few months of Verdi performances for Marina Rebeka and Ludovic Tézier with an exciting sample of their debuts in Nabucco.
Parterre Box highlights a busy few months of Verdi performances for Marina Rebeka and Ludovic Tézier with an exciting sample of their debuts in Nabucco.
Grand Tier Grab Bag
Women’s liberation
Women’s liberation
Parterre Box highlights two recent Verdi Requiems of interest with a pair of Libera mes from Asmik Grigorian and Anna Netrebko.
Parterre Box highlights two recent Verdi Requiems of interest with a pair of Libera mes from Asmik Grigorian and Anna Netrebko.
Grand Tier Grab Bag
Ash and you shall receive
Ash and you shall receive
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.
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.
Grand Tier Grab Bag
When her ship comes in
When her ship comes in
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.
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.
Grand Tier Grab Bag
Erste Brautnacht
Erste Brautnacht
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.
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.
In Jacopo Peri’s seminal Euridice, the Newberry Consort and Haymarket Opera made a compelling case for putting you in the room where it happened.
I take such comfort in the assumption that someone or something will save us from injustice and the lust for power.
Grand Tier Grab Bag offers a face off of two Polish divas from Aleksandra Kurzak‘s debut performances as Aïda in Verona this summer.
It’s such a joyous score, full of Italian warmth and humanity. Verdi’s late-stage, evergreen score is a constant source of joy.
A new recording of Boito‘s Nerone from Cagliari shows off an epic opera with fire and flamboyance
I have been utterly fascinated by the wildly intriguing choices of “comfort operas” these past few days. For me, Così fan tutte is my absolute first choice.
Talk of the Town
The Talk of the Town
The René Jacobs Giulio Cesare is so overrated
The René Jacobs Giulio Cesare is so overrated
George Frideric Handel (born 341 years ago on Monday) composed over 40 operas including many masterpieces, but his Giulio Cesare is the one that everyone knows best.
George Frideric Handel (born 341 years ago on Monday) composed over 40 operas including many masterpieces, but his Giulio Cesare is the one that everyone knows best.
The Talk of the Town
The 1946 La traviata is so overrated
The 1946 La traviata is so overrated
For all his undeniable precision and discipline, I still find Toscanini’s tempi rushed and unyielding and his lack of rubato a chilly turnoff.
For all his undeniable precision and discipline, I still find Toscanini’s tempi rushed and unyielding and his lack of rubato a chilly turnoff.
The Talk of the Town
The 1957 Anna Bolena is so overrated
The 1957 Anna Bolena is so overrated
While the three leads do sing the material well, there has been a glut of recordings since then which are more complete and at least as well sung.
While the three leads do sing the material well, there has been a glut of recordings since then which are more complete and at least as well sung.
The Talk of the Town
The Solti Ring Cycle is so overrated
The Solti Ring Cycle is so overrated
It was many decades ago that I first listened to the Solti Ring Cycle.
It was many decades ago that I first listened to the Solti Ring Cycle.
The Talk of the Town
The 1959 Aïda is so overrated
The 1959 Aïda is so overrated
Karajan’s 1959 Aïda was once treated like gospel, a wall of plush Vienna Philharmonic sound and star power that critics dutifully genuflected before.
Karajan’s 1959 Aïda was once treated like gospel, a wall of plush Vienna Philharmonic sound and star power that critics dutifully genuflected before.
The Talk of the Town
The 1973 La bohème is so overrated
The 1973 La bohème is so overrated
The Solti recording of Bohème is completely miscast.
The Solti recording of Bohème is completely miscast.
Dmitry Matvienko led a performance of Mussorgsky and Shostakovich at La Monnaie with meticulous rectitude.
This is not exactly a comfort “opera” as it is from Handel’s late oratorio Theodora which is sometimes staged as an opera.
Die ägyptische Helena isn’t even an opera I love so much as a whole.
I was first exposed to Hänsel und Gretel as a child, likely via The Metropolitan Opera’s 1982 PBS telecast.
What Opera Lafayette’s Dido and Aeneas lost in gravitas it gained in charm and specificity.