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Greta Garbo as diva Rita Cavallini with an Italo-Swedish accent.
With tight, jazzy orchestrations, a queer-coded Mephistopheles, and sassy modern recitative, Heartbeat Opera’s fast 100-minute Faust delivers Gounod in miniature, minus some of the schmaltz.
I love the use of the Liebestod at the end of Romeo + Juliet. It’s such a lush, romantic way to end the movie. The most Baz Lurhmann thing ever.
Buoyed by a cast of emerging stars, the Metropolitan Opera’s revival of Il Barbiere di Siviglia asserted a key trait of this ubiquitous buffo: it is a young person’s opera.
Impossible to pick any one film clip, but it’s hard to imagine a more evocative use of operatic music than Lars von Trier‘s Melancholia.
Opera Parallèle is revisiting Stewart Wallace and Michael Korie’s Harvey Milk during Pride Month. It’s “not a reaction,” but it couldn’t be more timely.
I think Babette’s Feast is a more or less perfect film and has been my favorite since the first time I saw it.
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
Landing the plane
Landing the plane
With Nixon, Klinghoffer, and Andris Nelsons on the mind, Parterre Box offers a recording of the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s recent John Adams outing.
With Nixon, Klinghoffer, and Andris Nelsons on the mind, Parterre Box offers a recording of the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s recent John Adams outing.
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.
The thing that inspires me about Pavarotti’s performance here is that this is the piece within the opera that everyone in the audience is waiting to hear.
Philippe Jaroussky conducts a performance recorded last month in Montpellier featuring Levy Sekgapane
Anna Paquin cries at the opera to the Barcarolle from Tales of Hoffmann (Renée Fleming and Susan Graham)
Ahead of tomorrow’s Live in HD, Michael Steinberg talks Leonore, Salome, and the “endemic misogyny” of Claus Guth‘s new production
It’s mad! It’s gay! It’s Michael Fabiano singing “Come un bel dì di maggio” from Andrea Chénier!
One of the most striking uses of opera in television appears in HBO’s The Leftovers.
The Peruvian tenor Luigi Alva has died at 98.
Talk of the Town
The Talk of the Town
A favorite art song performance from Peter
A favorite art song performance from Peter
A very haunting Hugo Wolf song sung exquisitely here by Arleen Auger.
A very haunting Hugo Wolf song sung exquisitely here by Arleen Auger.
The Talk of the Town
A favorite art song performance from TildyDiva
A favorite art song performance from TildyDiva
I had heard the renowned Dutch soprano on recordings and was an admirer of hers. I was unprepared, however, for such a truly memorable evening.
I had heard the renowned Dutch soprano on recordings and was an admirer of hers. I was unprepared, however, for such a truly memorable evening.
The Talk of the Town
A favorite art song performance from Lou Ann Darras
A favorite art song performance from Lou Ann Darras
Thanks to Elly Ameling, I made it through college.
Thanks to Elly Ameling, I made it through college.
The Talk of the Town
A favorite art song performance by Harry Rose
A favorite art song performance by Harry Rose
What a shaded and elegant delivery William Mattteuzzi brings to this lilting setting of D’Annunzio‘s “O falce di luna calante”!
What a shaded and elegant delivery William Mattteuzzi brings to this lilting setting of D’Annunzio‘s “O falce di luna calante”!
The Talk of the Town
A favorite art song performance from David Phillips
A favorite art song performance from David Phillips
Does this count as an art song?
Does this count as an art song?
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.
An impressive cast blurs binaries as John Adams‘s ambitious Antony and Cleopatra arrives at the Met
I’m cheating by choosing TV over a movie, but I can’t not pick the Hamlet episode of Gilligan’s Island.
Chris’s Cache looks forward to next month’s Boston Early Music Festival with a comprehensive introduction to German Baroque featuring Sandrine Piau, Jennifer Larmore, and Joan Sutherland
Christopher Corwin on three stylish sopranos delighting audiences live in New York and on recording in a trio of new releases.
It’s a total fraud, but I have always loved Maytime‘s “Csaritza” a fake “MGM” opera based on themes from Tchaikovsky‘s 5th symphony.
Hunding, of Die Walküre notoriety, is the most misunderstood character in opera.
A live broadcast from New York
A brutal, chilling, gory final scene leading to a triumphant and goose bumps inducing final moments.