Recent Stories
The Monkey King at San Francisco Opera combines spectacle and sentiment.
Grand Tier Grab Bag features a complete performance of Ernest Chausson‘s Poème de l’amour et de la mer ahead of a particular year for both its soloist and conductor.
The production is based on the Elisabeth Fritzl story, and it really made me reconsider this opera’s fairy tale storyline.
Vincent Lombardo pays poetic tribute to the 60-year-long career of Robert Wilson.
As Messiah season begins, Christopher Corwin reports on two of Handel’s forays into the Old Testament.
Tell us: What’s your favorite Verdi performance?
Hasten thee to feed another quarter of conversation for The Talk of the Town!
Grand Tier Grab Bag
Grand Tier Grab Bag
Drink me
Drink me
Parterre Box answers the question, “how can a singer do both Tristan and Nemorino within a few month of each other?” with a clip of a recent role debut from Michael Spyres.
Parterre Box answers the question, “how can a singer do both Tristan and Nemorino within a few month of each other?” with a clip of a recent role debut from Michael Spyres.
Grand Tier Grab Bag
Otherwise occupied
Otherwise occupied
Parterre Box features a performance from two belcantisti who would rather you not think about their political affiliations.
Parterre Box features a performance from two belcantisti who would rather you not think about their political affiliations.
Grand Tier Grab Bag
Northern star
Northern star
Parterre Box previews an upcoming performance of Hercules with Ann Hallenberg in some very unique Baroque repertoire.
Parterre Box previews an upcoming performance of Hercules with Ann Hallenberg in some very unique Baroque repertoire.
Grand Tier Grab Bag
Tra voi belle
Tra voi belle
Following the announcement that she’ll make her Met debut next season, Grand Tier Grab Bag brings Italian soprano Erika Grimaldi to your attention with a duet from Manon Lescaut.
Following the announcement that she’ll make her Met debut next season, Grand Tier Grab Bag brings Italian soprano Erika Grimaldi to your attention with a duet from Manon Lescaut.
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.
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.
I never thought an opera production could be this well done.
Les Camilles both agree on this one. And WHY? You ask??!
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.
Talk of the Town
The Talk of the Town
A favorite bass performance from Cornelia
A favorite bass performance from Cornelia
I don’t know if I’ll ever hear as great a performance as René Pape‘s Gurnemanz.
I don’t know if I’ll ever hear as great a performance as René Pape‘s Gurnemanz.
The Talk of the Town
A favorite bass performance from Bere Wendriner
A favorite bass performance from Bere Wendriner
Cesare Siepi and Giulio Neri give a reference rendition of the Grand Inquisitor scene.
Cesare Siepi and Giulio Neri give a reference rendition of the Grand Inquisitor scene.
The Talk of the Town
A favorite bass performance from Ivy Lin
A favorite bass performance from Ivy Lin
Not much to say here. Legendary bass Mark Reizen was born in the USSR and thus never got to tour much to the west.
Not much to say here. Legendary bass Mark Reizen was born in the USSR and thus never got to tour much to the west.
The Talk of the Town
A favorite bass performance from Krunoslav
A favorite bass performance from Krunoslav
Boris Christoff’s Procida (along with Cerquetti’s Elena) lifts Mario Rossi’s RAI Torino Vespri to distinction.
Boris Christoff’s Procida (along with Cerquetti’s Elena) lifts Mario Rossi’s RAI Torino Vespri to distinction.
The Talk of the Town
A favorite bass performance from Michael Landman-Karny
A favorite bass performance from Michael Landman-Karny
If I must choose a single bass performance, it is still Boris Christoff’s Boris Godunov.
If I must choose a single bass performance, it is still Boris Christoff’s Boris Godunov.
The Talk of the Town
A favorite bass performance from Kevin Ng
A favorite bass performance from Kevin Ng
Boris Christoff‘s sound is justly famous, and his vocal splendor is on full display here.
Boris Christoff‘s sound is justly famous, and his vocal splendor is on full display here.
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.
Barbara Hannigan‘s Lulu is the greatest live performance I’ve seen.
“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.
Grand Tier Grab Bag looks forward to a big week for Umberto Giordano by sharing Sondra Radvanovsky and Gregory Kunde performing the final duet from Andrea Chénier.
Michael Thalmeier‘s Tristan und Isolde in Berlin asks, how much minimalism is too much minimalism?
Who are the rats? Why are their tails getting longer? Is Lohengrin a rat trying to free himself from a maze?