I saw this production in HD, and it really shocked me because I was used to the cackling mezzo witch, guardian angels, and gingerbread figures.
Rachel Willis-Sørensen and Stephen Costello make their returns to the Met later this month and Grand Tier Grab Bag anticipates their performances by sharing them in the Act II duet from Don Carlo recorded in Munich this spring as well as a taste of Willis-Sørensen’s Liebestod
My first reaction in 1974 wasn’t good. The production was full of stairs, and I was afraid Montserrat Caballé would fall at any moment.
J’Nai Bridges makes a sophisticated companion to the Morgan Library & Museum’s Renoir Drawings exhibit.
My experiences with live performances of Handel’s operas/oratorios has been hit or miss, mostly miss.
San Diego Opera’s Pagliacci puts a play within a play within a play.
Daniele Rustioni, who starts his tenure as Met Principal Guest Conductor with Don Giovanni this week, might just be the opera conductor we’ve all been waiting for — and he’s betting on a long haul.
I came to The Rake’s Progress with a huge “Show Me” chip on my shoulder.
Lotte De Beer‘s astonishing reading of Aïda at the Paris Opera was a victim both of Covid and the culture wars.
Death is the prima donna in this opera, and Herheim doesn’t let you forget it.
A new production of Parsifal at San Francisco Opera stirred something deep inside Michael Anthonio about how music soothes the soul
For me, one of the greatest recordings is the Von Karajan Il trovatore. You have four incredible singers in their top form.
Shirin Neshat‘s Aïda in Paris is a typical instance of what happens when an artist is brought in to direct an opera.
In Jacopo Peri’s seminal Euridice, the Newberry Consort and Haymarket Opera made a compelling case for putting you in the room where it happened.
I take such comfort in the assumption that someone or something will save us from injustice and the lust for power.
Grand Tier Grab Bag offers a face off of two Polish divas from Aleksandra Kurzak‘s debut performances as Aïda in Verona this summer.
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