I do declare
This spring’s Talk of the Town is craving your operatic dominance and your submissions by January 15.
Recent Stories
Follow your bliss
In recital for the Los Angeles Opera, tenor Ben Bliss makes the case for the next stage of his career.
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).
Charlotte Margiono sings “Joseph, lieber Joseph mein”
Christmas kitsch is great fun, of course, but Christmas can be just as wonderful without it, as this great singer proves.
By Remko Jas
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Streamed December 11, 2025 at 6:55 PM
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Carmen, again?
Gulfshore Opera’s vigorous production of Carmen answers a familiar question.
Psyché’d up
It would be difficult to find a better description for Ambroise Thomas’s newly-recovered Psyché, recently heard in a new recording from Palazzetto Bru Zane, than the one uttered by her suitors: “Charmante Psyché!”
Leontyne Price sings “Oh Come All Ye Faithful”
Christmas should be over the top, opulent, a little sad, utterly sincere, and ever so vulgar.
By Jon Dryden Taylor/Armerjacquino
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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.
All the fine young cannibals
Offenbach‘s Robinson Crusoé is salvaged from obscurity.
Joan Sutherland sings “The Twelve Days of Christmas”
Auntie Joan goes the whole nine yards on this one and invigorates it to make it work in a way as no one else can.
By Les Camilles
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Mezzo in the dark
It is a physical pleasure to hear Kate Lindsey at close quarters.
Scenes from a revolution
“This isn’t an opera that touches on queer themes; it’s a bundle of queer themes tied up in an opera.”
Jamie Barton sings “Maria Wiegenlied”
Like Type 2 Diabetes, symptoms of YAS (Yuletide Aversion Syndrome) commonly creep up on gay men after manopause.
By Peter Russell
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Broadcast
Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District / Teatro alla Scala
A live broadcast from Milan of Teatro alla Scala's traditional Sant'Ambrogio opening night starring Sara Jakubiak
Streamed December 7, 2025 at 12:00 PM
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Broadcast
La bohème / Metropolitan Opera
Daniele Rustioni conducts the first Metropolitan Opera Saturday Matinée Broadcast of the season live from New York
Streamed December 6, 2025 at 1:00 PM
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Broadcast
Věc Makropulos / Wiener Staatsoper
Marlis Petersen is the ageless Emilia Marty in a live video broadcast from Vienna
Streamed December 6, 2025 at 1:00 PM
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Broadcast
Medea / Teatro San Carlo
Sondra Radvanovsky sings the lead in a live opening broadcast from the Teatro San Carlo in Naples
Streamed December 6, 2025 at 1:00 PM
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Form over function
A consideration of Anika Kildegaard’s extraordinary recital in Philadelphia—and the oddity of recitals themselves.
Happy holidays from Mary Costa, Bing Crosby, and Robert Goulet
This month’s theme – “Opera singers celebrate the holidays” – conjured up a vast lexicon of memories of growing up in the 1960s and early 1970s.
By TildyDiva
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Paris is always a good idea
Though perhaps showing its age, a storied production of La bohème nonetheless makes a welcome return to the Los Angeles Opera
Jonas Kaufmann sings “All I Want for Christmas Is You”
“It duz… not… SCHVING!!!!”
By Ben Miller
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Kathleen Battle sings “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing”
One of my favorite Christmas recordings is Kathleen Battle‘s A Christmas Celebration.
By Mr. Portafiori
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Lightning strikes twice
New York audiences got a taste of Ben Bliss in Mozart this fall, but this week Grand Tier Grab Bag offers snippets of the tenor trying his hand at Handel earlier this year.