Recent Stories
My recollections of Hurricane Katrina, which made landfall in Louisiana twenty years ago today, come with a pair of odd bookends: it starts with Verdi’s Don Carlo and ends with Puccini’s Il trittico.
The 1966 Bayreuth Festival production of Tristan and Isolde, conducted by Karl Böhm provides Nilsson with the cast she truly deserved, including Wolfgang Windgassen, Christa Ludwig, Martti Talvela, and Eberhard Waechter.
Wagner month at Parterre Box concludes in grand and explosive style: octogenarian Hanna Schwarz and sexagenarian Karita Mattila in crucial moments from Das Rheingold and Lohengrin.
Chris’s Cache offers Nadine Sierra and Xabier Anduaga, the stars of the upcoming production of La sonnambula, in a performance of another favorite bel canto opera
Die Walküre Met 12/6/1941- Helen Traubel, Astrid Varnay (debut), Kerstin Thorborg, Lauritz Melchior, Friedrich Schorr, Alexander Kipnis, cond. Erich Leinsdorf
Eva Maria Westbroek in her prime, in a role in which I find her unsurpassed among current singers.
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
Tabled for now
Tabled for now
Ahead of the return of Louise to the Opéra National de Lyon, Parterre Box features Elsa Dreisig in a much more famous French opera.
Ahead of the return of Louise to the Opéra National de Lyon, Parterre Box features Elsa Dreisig in a much more famous French opera.
Grand Tier Grab Bag
My heart belongs to daddy
My heart belongs to daddy
This week, Parterre Box shares Quinn Kelsey and Jennifer Rowley in a duet from a Verdi opera rumored to be returning to New York this time next season.
This week, Parterre Box shares Quinn Kelsey and Jennifer Rowley in a duet from a Verdi opera rumored to be returning to New York this time next season.
Grand Tier Grab Bag
Mediterranean crossings
Mediterranean crossings
Grand Tier Grab Bag anticipates Elina Garanca‘s upcoming Zwischenfach pivot by sharing her in some other not-quite-mezzo repertoire opposite Brian Jagde.
Grand Tier Grab Bag anticipates Elina Garanca‘s upcoming Zwischenfach pivot by sharing her in some other not-quite-mezzo repertoire opposite Brian Jagde.
Grand Tier Grab Bag
Ritorna un’altra volta
Ritorna un’altra volta
Parterre Box anticipates Ailyn Peréz‘s upcoming New York performances of Madama Butterfly with the Puccini role most closely associated with her
Parterre Box anticipates Ailyn Peréz‘s upcoming New York performances of Madama Butterfly with the Puccini role most closely associated with her
Grand Tier Grab Bag
My sister’s keeper
My sister’s keeper
Grand Tier Grab Bag highlights La Scala’s opening night prima donna Sara Jakubiak with an excerpt of her Chrysothemis recorded last year.
Grand Tier Grab Bag highlights La Scala’s opening night prima donna Sara Jakubiak with an excerpt of her Chrysothemis recorded last year.
Grand Tier Grab Bag
Lightning strikes twice
Lightning strikes twice
New York audiences got a taste of Ben Bliss in Mozart this fall, but this week Grand Tier Grab Bag offers snippets of the tenor trying his hand at Handel earlier this year.
New York audiences got a taste of Ben Bliss in Mozart this fall, but this week Grand Tier Grab Bag offers snippets of the tenor trying his hand at Handel earlier this year.
Le nozze di Figaro in Santa Fe is a light and kindly revival while The Turn of the Screw is crisp and atmospheric
As a frequent visitor of Parterre’s Jones Home (ah, the early internet!), I’d be remiss not to share this favorite clip of two queens maximizing their joint slay.
For me, Hans Hotter‘s interpretation of Wotan is a convincingly successful interpretation of this role.
Surprised that none of our favorite Wagner performances happen to come from Tannhaüser, Parterre Box turns to Russell Thomas to fill the gap
I’d long ago given up on my Goldilocks search for a “just right” complete Tristan und Isolde recording starring Jon Vickers, my hands-down tenor of choice.
Talk of the Town
The Talk of the Town
The best things I saw in 2025 were vocal recitals
The best things I saw in 2025 were vocal recitals
I’m going with four outstanding, deeply personal NYC recitals
I’m going with four outstanding, deeply personal NYC recitals
The Talk of the Town
The best thing I saw in 2025 was In a Grove
The best thing I saw in 2025 was In a Grove
I had the pleasure of going with some members of the Pittsburgh Opera to the PROTOTYPE Festival in New York at the start of the year- almost unfortunate it was so early on in 2025 because it set my expectations for the year so high!
I had the pleasure of going with some members of the Pittsburgh Opera to the PROTOTYPE Festival in New York at the start of the year- almost unfortunate it was so early on in 2025 because it set my expectations for the year so high!
The Talk of the Town
The best thing I saw in 2025 was Festen
The best thing I saw in 2025 was Festen
It’s a dazzling, shocking, and entertaining 100 minutes – one of the best new operas I’ve seen.
It’s a dazzling, shocking, and entertaining 100 minutes – one of the best new operas I’ve seen.
The Talk of the Town
The best thing I saw in 2025 was Sunset Boulevard
The best thing I saw in 2025 was Sunset Boulevard
I still don’t think Sunset Boulevard is a top-tier musical but it was by far the most memorable vocal performance I saw in 2025.
I still don’t think Sunset Boulevard is a top-tier musical but it was by far the most memorable vocal performance I saw in 2025.
The Talk of the Town
The best thing I saw in 2025 was Elina Garanča in Aïda
The best thing I saw in 2025 was Elina Garanča in Aïda
Elina Garanča scaled the vocal and dramatic summits of the Judgement Duet and Scene in the May series of Aïda.
Elina Garanča scaled the vocal and dramatic summits of the Judgement Duet and Scene in the May series of Aïda.
The Talk of the Town
The best thing I saw in 2025 was Der Freischütz
The best thing I saw in 2025 was Der Freischütz
A staged Freischütz is rare enough in itself to be the highlight of any opera season, but it was in Christoph Marthaler‘s Antwerp production that I connected with the characters and felt the story for the first time.
A staged Freischütz is rare enough in itself to be the highlight of any opera season, but it was in Christoph Marthaler‘s Antwerp production that I connected with the characters and felt the story for the first time.
Richard Lynn bravely asks what we’re hoping to get out of the continued Peter Gelb-bashing — and whether our expectations of him have ever been fair
There was that Tristan.
The Santa Fe Opera’s fine first Die Walküre finds Wagner in America at a crossroads.
Chris’s Cache presents a performance with New York prodigal son Jakub Józef Orliński in a signature role
The complete RCA Furtwängler Tristan is actually my top favorite, but the Ponnelle staging in Bayreuth featuring René Kollo and Johanna Meier is my top sentimental favorite, because it was my first full Wagner performance.
Antonio Pappano conducts a performance live from the BBC Proms
Rigoletto at The Santa Fe Opera is a near miss.
I’d never heard Götterdämmerung in a live performance until 1985 at The Dallas Opera. OMG, so long ago!