Recent Stories
We live in a time of open-season for jokes on ancient myths, mixing and matching, sometimes with great success, as The Book of Mormon and Hadestown demonstrate.
Ultimately, the unrelenting grimness of the subject matter allied to the sameness of the vocal writing made for a wearying evening.
Cion: Requiem of Ravel’s Bolero is a dance-music-theater piece that Prototype Festival presented at the Joyce Theater through Saturday night.
Trove Thursday offers a rare third retelling of the saga of the ill-fated courtesan: Auber’s Manon Lescaut starring Mariella Devia.
Happy 86th birthday mezzo-soprano Marilyn Horne.
I watched Greta Gerwig’s heartbreaking, gorgeous, joy-filled explosion of an adaptation of Little Women in about the best way one can, sniffling in the dark with my best friend, the closest person I have to a sister.
The opera’s radical vision lay in its enormous scale, which encompassed a hundred-strong community chorus taken from the ranks of the Brooklyn Youth Chorus and Master Voices.
Rosa Feola immediately established with her first group that she’s a serious artist who brought to the concert format both a warmly appealing coppery soprano as well as detailed and savvy dramatic instincts.
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
Le galant tireur
Le galant tireur
American tenor Charles Castronovo performs a bit of Weber’s Der Freischütz ahead of the opportunity to hear Berlioz‘s take on the score at Carnegie Hall next week.
American tenor Charles Castronovo performs a bit of Weber’s Der Freischütz ahead of the opportunity to hear Berlioz‘s take on the score at Carnegie Hall next week.
Grand Tier Grab Bag
My 600 performance life
My 600 performance life
Parterre Box acknowledges Riccardo Muti‘s 600th performance with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra by highlighting two of his favorite singers — under a different conductor.
Parterre Box acknowledges Riccardo Muti‘s 600th performance with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra by highlighting two of his favorite singers — under a different conductor.
Grand Tier Grab Bag
Life imitates art
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.
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.
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.
I’m only now coming up for air after a night spent wading in the deep, cool, refractory waters of Magdalene, a work of immense, mythic joy and pain wrapped in the details of the ordinary.
Upon its commercial release three weeks ago, Tom Hooper’s film adaptation of Cats garnered instant, near-universal scorn from audiences and critics alike.
At the Metropolitan Opera on Friday night, an otherwise undistinguished Traviata was salvaged by an astonishing performance from Aleksandra Kurzak, whose Violetta was an incontrovertible triumph.
Composer Garrett Fisher and librettist Ellen McLaughlin’s Blood Moon wears its themes on its sleeve to great success in this spellbinding new opera.
On this day in 1912 Pietro Mascagni‘s Lodoletta had its United States premiere at the Metropolitan with Geraldine Farrar and Enrico Caruso in the leads.
Verdi’s masterpiece returns to the Met tonight.
Anticipating the work’s return to the Met after more than a decade, Trove Thursday presents La Damnation de Faust in a 1959 broadcast featuring Régine Crespin, Nicolai Gedda and Ernest Blanc under the fine Berlioz conductor Igor Markevitch.
Talk of the Town
The Talk of the Town
A favorite art song performance from Mr. Portafiori
A favorite art song performance from Mr. Portafiori
I have always loved this recording of Canteloube‘s Chants d’Auvergne sung by Dawn Upshaw and conducted by Kent Nagano.
I have always loved this recording of Canteloube‘s Chants d’Auvergne sung by Dawn Upshaw and conducted by Kent Nagano.
The Talk of the Town
A favorite art song performance from Mister Snow
A favorite art song performance from Mister Snow
Jessye Norman really embraces elements of the song falling somewhere between classical art song and popular ballad.
Jessye Norman really embraces elements of the song falling somewhere between classical art song and popular ballad.
The Talk of the Town
A favorite art song performance from La Grunowa
A favorite art song performance from La Grunowa
Janet Baker sings Elgar‘s Sea Pictures with such honesty and clarity and fervor.
Janet Baker sings Elgar‘s Sea Pictures with such honesty and clarity and fervor.
The Talk of the Town
A favorite art song performance from Ben Miller
A favorite art song performance from Ben Miller
It’s not where you start but where you Finnish
It’s not where you start but where you Finnish
The Talk of the Town
A favorite art song performance from Timothy Gray
A favorite art song performance from Timothy Gray
Wolfgang Holzmair‘s performance was amazing in its personal and intimate approach.
Wolfgang Holzmair‘s performance was amazing in its personal and intimate approach.
The Talk of the Town
A favorite art song performance from Peter Russell
A favorite art song performance from Peter Russell
William Parker‘s career launch coincided with the closet door fully opening for American male classical vocalists; the cruel irony is that Will was also an early AIDS casualty, gone in 1993 at 49.
William Parker‘s career launch coincided with the closet door fully opening for American male classical vocalists; the cruel irony is that Will was also an early AIDS casualty, gone in 1993 at 49.
Happy 64th birthday soprano/mezzo-soprano Waltraud Meier.
Born on this day in 1911 or thereabouts actress, author and burlesque performer Gypsy Rose Lee.
Born on this day in 1899 composer Francis Poulenc.
Born on this day in 1412 martyr and saint Jeanne d’Arc.
Born on this day in 1917 director and impresario Wieland Wagner.
Musical comedy on a gloomy Saturday afternoon.
Happy 83rd birthday to diva Grace Bumbry.
On this day in 1956 the Metropolitan Opera celebrated the 25th anniversary of the debut of soprano Lily Pons.