Recent Stories
Many of us of a certain age had the good luck to see Benita Valente frequently at the Met. My memory is that she was treated rather like a house singer at first, and only later was appreciated for her extraordinary gifts.
Following the successful launch of the new regular feature The Talk of the Town in January, the team at the box is inviting contributions for a new quarter of operatic potpourri.
Ahead of Natalie Dessay‘s adieu to classical music and upcoming American turn, parterre box offers a sample of her in Gounod‘s “Jewel Song” recorded just last year.
Mussorgsky‘s Khovanshchina is one of the most gripping operatic political dramas ever written, with lots of gorgeous melodies and superb choral writing.
Opera San José (OSJ) is continuing the second half of its 41st season with a company premiere of Béla Bartók’s Symbolist opera Bluebeard’s Castle (A kékszakállú herceg vára), with a libretto by his friend and poet Béla Balázs, and OSJ truly spared no effort to make the occasion a memorable one.
Sitting in Park Avenue Armory last week for the American debut of baritone Konstantin Krimmel, the rush of joy I felt was two-fold.
Great score; let anyone but Jeremy Sams concoct a new libretto!
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
Erste Brautnacht
Erste Brautnacht
Nearly three years after the premiere of François Girard’s Lohengrin at the Met, Parterre Box looks back at the production with a duet from Piotr Beczala and Elena Stikhina.
Nearly three years after the premiere of François Girard’s Lohengrin at the Met, Parterre Box looks back at the production with a duet from Piotr Beczala and Elena Stikhina.
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.
No Leos Janácek operas have turned up this month among the works we’d like to see at the Met, so Chris’s Cache corrects that omission with live recordings of two of the composer’s most compelling operas (performed in English).
It used to be proverbial on the Met Opera Quiz, usually quoted by quiz master Edward Downes: “If you can’t remember where a certain plot event occurs … it happens in La Gioconda.”
My first introduction to Béla Bartók’s one-act opera Bluebeard’s Castle was the musicologist Susan McClary’s infamous book Feminine Endings. Here, McClary likened her search of a feminist musicology to Judith’s journey through the seven doors; a journey that ends in Judith’s symbolic death.
I know that there is no chance that Met will ever do this since they have decided to focus on contemporary opera at the expense of reviving older works. Still it has some of Donizetti’s most moving and striking moments. The plot is so over the top gothic that it could still be quite effective.
Following the peek at Asmik Grigorian‘s attempt, parterre box humbly offers an in-house snippet of Federica Lombardi‘s “Casta Diva” from a few blocks over on the Ringstrasse
Even if our monolingual American tourists can be the source of vexation for many a Parisian, our singers gave much for the city’s operagoers to admire this month in stylish productions of Semele at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées and I Puritani at the Opéra Bastille.
More action than in Gluck‘s other great works, and plenty of opportunities for scenic spectacle.
The conclusion of Romeo Castellucci‘s Pierre Audi‘s Ring cycle live from Brussels
Talk of the Town
The Talk of the Town
The best thing I saw in 2025 was Stiffelio
The best thing I saw in 2025 was Stiffelio
Looking back, this Stiffelio in Piacenza is the one I cherish the most.
Looking back, this Stiffelio in Piacenza is the one I cherish the most.
The Talk of the Town
The best thing I saw in 2025 was Amartuvshin Enkhbat
The best thing I saw in 2025 was Amartuvshin Enkhbat
I wasn’t alive during the golden age of Verdi baritones like MacNeil, Warren, or Gobbi, but hearing Amartuvshin Enkhbat live in an opera house must be the next best thing.
I wasn’t alive during the golden age of Verdi baritones like MacNeil, Warren, or Gobbi, but hearing Amartuvshin Enkhbat live in an opera house must be the next best thing.
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.
It’s time to correct the pandemic’s error in canceling the scheduled 2020-21 production.
Teodor Currentzis conducts Rameau‘s opera in a performance recorded earlier this month in Paris
Samuel Barber may have had an edge as melodist over Dominick Argento, but the latter had a far better instinct as dramatist, and his 1988 setting of Henry James’s The Aspern Papers is overdue for a Met premiere. It is a gripping work of musical psychodrama.
Ahead of a broadcast in Europe on Arte on Sunday, parterre box has snagged a snippet of Asmik Grigorian‘s eagerly anticipated role debut as Norma in Vienna
Larry Wolff continues his musings on Verdi’s varied career, this time over Giovanna d’Arco at the Teatro Regio in Parma
Jonny spielt auf by Ernst Krenek could be a lot of rollicking fun, especially if a director and design team leaned into creating a 1927 world that acknowledged modernist art movements, silent film acting aesthetics, and the use of historical film footage of nightlife and cityscapes of the time.
