Curioser and curioser
Three more months of The Talk of the Town means that we need your most sizzling takes!
Recent Stories
A favorite bass performance from Kevin Ng
Boris Christoff‘s sound is justly famous, and his vocal splendor is on full display here.
I’ll take the fall
The days are getting shorter, but you can keep the prattle going this fall’s Talk of the Town! You will, you can, you must join in the discussion about: Great mezzo soprano performances (October),
Gained in translation (November), Teleport me back to… (December).
Broadcast
Elektra / Elbphilharmonie
Ingela Brimberg, Christina Nilsson, Karita Mattila, and Andreas Bauer Kanabas lead a performance recorded last month in Hamburg
Streamed March 14, 2026 at 2:00 PM
7 comments
Streamed March 14, 2026 at 1:00 PM
258 comments
O Say, Can You Kelsey
Baritone Quinn Kelsey’s recital of English-language art songs in partnership with pianist Craig Ketter was a worthy celebration of Vocal Arts DC’s 35th-anniversary season.
A favorite bass performance from Carmen Paddock
Christopher Purves in Saul – the clarity, the range, the expression, the drama!
Broadcast
La clemenza di Tito / Wiener Staatsoper
Katleho Mokhoabane sings the title role in a live video broadcast from Vienna
Streamed March 12, 2026 at 2:00 PM
34 comments
Tunnel vision
Lise Davidsen, Michael Spyres, and Yannick Nézet-Séguin are astonishing in Tristan und Isolde at the Met, while Yuval Sharon‘s new production is anything but.
Otherwise occupied
Parterre Box features a performance from two belcantisti who would rather you not think about their political affiliations.
Back to school
Time to Act at Pittsburgh Opera effectively employs Greek tragedy to explore the all-too-common tragedies haunting schools across the United States.
A favorite bass performance from Bel Raggio
No one in my experience both live and on records could swagger, spin out roulades, and ripple through Rossini and Handel like Samuel Ramey.
By Bel Raggio
110 comments
A favorite bass performance from Mr. Fabulous
Before hearing Samuel Ramey as Zaccaria in Nabucco, I had always been more interested in higher voices.
By Mr. Fabulous
1 comment
Broadcast
Tristan und Isolde / Metropolitan Opera
Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Michael Spyres, and Lise Davidsen open a new production live from New York
Streamed March 9, 2026 at 6:25 PM
1,304 comments
Is this head kosher?
A captivating Asmik Grigorian leads the Bayerishce Staatsoper‘s revival of its Holocaust-set Salome.
Of Floyd and Houston
Ilana Walder-Biesanz discovers how Houston Grand Opera is celebrating 250 years of America and 100 years of Carlisle Floyd with a new production of Of Mice and Men.
A favorite bass performance from William Guanbo Su
This performance features Samuel Ramey in what I consider one of the most powerful deliveries of this aria on record.
By William Guanbo Su
22 comments
Look to the rainbow
“Even Peter Gelb’s critics concede that he has had a long run of finding pots of gold,” says The New York Times of the Metropolitan Opera‘s dire money troubles. “But is he running out of rainbows?”
A favorite bass performance from Peter Russell
Nobody in my experience has come close to rivaling Samuel Ramey as the shy, lovelorn Englishman Lord Sidney from that first cast.
Broadcast
Rigoletto / Bayerische Staatsoper
Igor Golovatenko, Serena Sáenz, and Bekhzod Davronov lead a live broadcast from Munich
Streamed March 7, 2026 at 2:03 PM
2 comments
Broadcast
Rigoletto / Bayerische Staatsoper
A live broadcast from Munich starring Ariunbaatar Ganbaatar, Bekhzod Davronov, and Serena Sáenz
Streamed March 7, 2026 at 2:00 PM
1 comment
This wine tastes funny
Confused dramaturgy dampens an otherwise sparkling night of singing in Opera Baltimore’s Lucrezia Borgia.
The Italian connection
American Bach brings out the operatic side of Bach in a program featuring sparkling vocal talents.
A passing mood
Mascagni‘s Zanetto, a slight, Renaissance scene, gets a new recording from the Berlin Opera Group.