The purely musical performance preserved here is thrilling, ratcheted to a higher intensity than the Deutsche Grammophon studio recording
To celebrate the 100th anniversary performances of Turandot at the Met starting next week, Patrick Dillon gives a listen to seven versions of “Signore, ascolta!” for Perspectives on an Aria.
Vivacious performances outweigh a host of odd directorial choices in the Washington National Opera‘s
West Side Story
Victoria de los Ángeles has always been my Violetta of choice, a portrayal that never ceases to move me.
I feel that the best years of Maria Callas’s vocalità, when we hear such a unique freedom and generosity in her singing, were captured in her early recordings.
Before the screams of horror begin, it says ‘favorite’, not best.
Madama Butterfly at Opera Colorado plays it safe — and never fully takes flight.
Christopher Corwin and Andrew Lokay provide dual perspectives on the National Symphony Orchestra‘s performances of Puccini’s triple-bill.
Elisabeth Grümmer was, of course, very good at Wagnerian prayers, but she also shines in this Verdi prayer.
Boston Lyric Opera’s Revolutionary War-set Daughter of the Regiment prioritizes accessibility without losing its charm.
The dictionary definition of Kuntenserven.
A joint Beethoven–Adams program conducted by Dima Slobodeniouk suggests a way forward for the embattled Boston Symphony Orchestra.
Parterre Box features the Met’s current Eugene Onegin, Iurii Samoilov, in a performance of Rossini ahead of a return to Pesaro this summer.
When I was a fledgling opera enthusiast, professors at a small-town Wisconsin college routinely travelled to Chicago for Lyric Opera performances.
Curtis Opera and a charming cast of young singers cast a spell with their beguiling production of Britten‘s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
Anna Tomowa-Sintow, “Ernani Involami,” from the MET Centenial Gala, 1983.
The countertenors conquer the day in Handel‘s Giulio Cesare in Egitto at the Deutsche Oper Berlin.
Like probably all of us, there are so many different things I could have submitted for a favorite Verdi performance.
Michael Spyres talks to Kevin Ng about his winding path as a baritenor, which composer he wants to conquer next, and how he makes Wagner work in his voice — and in his native Ozarks.
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