A favorite bass performance from Christopher Corwin
As we reach the end of “Bass Month” I’d like to call attention to the superb American Gregory Reinhart who particularly shone in music by Jean-Philippe Rameau.
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Broadcast
Lohengrin / Baden-Baden
Joana Mallwitz conducts Piotr Beczała, Rachel Willis-Sørensen, Tanja Ariane Baumgartner, and Wolfgang Koch in a slightly delayed performance from Baden-Baden
Streamed March 28, 2026 at 2:00 PM
25 comments
Streamed March 28, 2026 at 1:00 PM
466 comments
Follow the signs
Opera directors could learn a thing or two from Deaf Broadway’s vivacious performance of Jeanine Tesori‘s Violet.
A favorite bass performance from TildyDiva
The greatest bass performance I ever experienced was actually four – four performances in four roles.
By TildyDiva
68 comments
Road shows
Brendan Latimer hitches a ride with members of the “site-responsive opera” movement who are taking their shows out of the opera house — and out of the box.
Gild the Lily
Lisette Oropesa, Piotr Buszewski, and Luca Salsi feature in a rote revival of Michael Mayer‘s cloying production of La traviata.
A favorite bass performance from William Guanbo Su
This performance was introduced to me by Norman Treigle’s granddaughter —very fine mezzo-soprano Emily Treigle; while I was preparing the role of Olin Blitch, and it completely changed my understanding of the character.
By William Guanbo Su
76 comments
Life imitates art
With Gustavo Dudamel in the spotlight at Parterre Box this week, Grand Tier Grab Bag foreshadows one of the New York Philharmonic’s upcoming operatic engagements.
Death becomes her and him
El último sueño de Frida y Diego at the Lyric Opera of Chicago is a visual and sonic wonder, but a weak libretto dampens its effect.
By the (little red) book
Kent Nagano gives a boost to the Opéra national de Paris‘s revival of Nixon in China.
A favorite bass performance from H_Badger
The Met in HD proved to be a major gateway drug for me, showing me my first Don Carlo in 2010.
Rags to riches
In its first production since departing the Kennedy Center, the Washington National Opera presents a new adaptation of “King of Ragtime” Scott Joplin’s opera Treemonisha.
A favorite bass performance from Eli Jacobson
This bass aria “Sous les pieds d’une femme” from Gounod’s La Reine du Saba used to be a concert favorite
The art of the possible
Ahead of his first season as the Music & Artistic Director of the New York Philharmonic, how much longer can — and should — Gustavo Dudamel stay quiet about the situation in his native Venezuela?
The company of wolves
Matthias Pintscher’s Nuit sans aube at the Opéra Comique conjures up plenty of atmosphere — but not much else.
A favorite bass performance from La Grunowa
Tancredi Pasero is so noble in mien and rich-voiced here, a perfect complement to Caniglia’s earthy Leonora who honestly charts the movement from despair to fervent, transcendent faith in this duet.
By La Grunowa
39 comments
Broadcast
Laffont Grand Finals Concert / Metropolitan Opera
Young singers vie for $20,000 apiece and a shot at operatic fame in a live broadcast from New York
Streamed March 22, 2026 at 2:55 PM
75 comments
By spirit alone
A sublime Reginald Mobley and the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra are a balm for troubled times in a program of baroque selections and spirituals.
Broadcast
Tristan und Isolde / Metropolitan Opera
A momentous live broadcast from New York starring Lise Davidsen and Michael Spyres
Streamed March 21, 2026 at 12:00 PM
586 comments
Pearl Jam
Washington Concert Opera returned to its roots with a delightful performance of Georges Bizet’s Les Pêcheurs de perles.
An embarrassment of riches
A David Lang premiere at the New York Philharmonic brings a wealth of musical delights — and bodes well for Gustavo Dudamel‘s leadership.
A favorite bass performance from Cornelia
I don’t know if I’ll ever hear as great a performance as René Pape‘s Gurnemanz.
By Cornelia
42 comments
Lady in the dark
Golda Schultz and Jonathan Ware present Dark Matter(s), an intriguing program of songs, at the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society.