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Late Callas singing Maria from “Figlia del Reggimento” a role she wisely never attempted on stage.
parterre box offers a Good Friday pick-me-up: elusive chanteuse Juliana Grigoryan in perhaps her most canceled role, the soprano soloist in Verdi’s Requiem
Don Carlos returns to the Opéra National de Paris and it’s an unusually happy occasion
Who knew that rehearing a performance you believed had become nothing more than a cherished memory would have such healing properties during a time of bereavement?
Jessica Pratt sings the title role in a live broadcast from Trieste
It may be blasphemy to admit—particularly this month—but usually I can either take or leave Donizetti’s serious operas. However, I love the composer in comic mode, so Chris’s Cache runs with that sentiment in offering three recordings of Don Pasquale.
The ham in this pandemic-era let’s-put-on-a-show Elisir duet (from the Met at Home broadcast) may make the performance more sooey than sui generis. But I find it irresistible.
Missy Mazzoli has established herself as one of contemporary opera’s most skilled and subtle architects of emotional response, and her latest, The Listeners—now at the Lyric Opera of Chicago—is no exception.
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
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.
Grand Tier Grab Bag
Northern star
Northern star
Parterre Box previews an upcoming performance of Hercules with Ann Hallenberg in some very unique Baroque repertoire.
Parterre Box previews an upcoming performance of Hercules with Ann Hallenberg in some very unique Baroque repertoire.
Grand Tier Grab Bag
Tra voi belle
Tra voi belle
Following the announcement that she’ll make her Met debut next season, Grand Tier Grab Bag brings Italian soprano Erika Grimaldi to your attention with a duet from Manon Lescaut.
Following the announcement that she’ll make her Met debut next season, Grand Tier Grab Bag brings Italian soprano Erika Grimaldi to your attention with a duet from Manon Lescaut.
Grand Tier Grab Bag
León in winter
León in winter
Ahead of his performance in Les pêcheurs de perles with Washington Concert Opera, Parterre Box features the unusually elegant Anthony León performing Mozart.
Ahead of his performance in Les pêcheurs de perles with Washington Concert Opera, Parterre Box features the unusually elegant Anthony León performing Mozart.
Grand Tier Grab Bag
Assai più vale il soglio
che un genitor perduto
Assai più vale il soglio
che un genitor perduto
Parterre Box highlights a busy few months of Verdi performances for Marina Rebeka and Ludovic Tézier with an exciting sample of their debuts in Nabucco.
Parterre Box highlights a busy few months of Verdi performances for Marina Rebeka and Ludovic Tézier with an exciting sample of their debuts in Nabucco.
Well, it’s a clip from Mary Zimmermann‘s production of Lucia di Lammermoor… wait, wait, come back!
The nail-biting adventures of Voltaire’s titular hero Candide are hardly more circuitous than those faced by Leonard Bernstein’s 1956 Broadway musical adaptation.
The German Heldentenor died yesterday at his home in Austria.
BAM is back!
A live broadcast from New York
Does anyone remember Beverly Sills as the three Donizetti queens at NYCO? This made a huge impression on me.
Madison Schindele on loving Die Frau ohne Schatten as a “woman of childbearing age”
The Met’s 2022 Lucia was divisive, to say the least, but it was the first time Lucia truly resonated with me.
Talk of the Town
The Talk of the Town
A favorite bass performance from La Grunowa
A favorite bass performance from La Grunowa
Tancredi Pasero is so noble in mien and rich-voiced here, a perfect complement to Caniglia’s earthy Leonora who honestly charts the movement from despair to fervent, transcendent faith in this duet.
Tancredi Pasero is so noble in mien and rich-voiced here, a perfect complement to Caniglia’s earthy Leonora who honestly charts the movement from despair to fervent, transcendent faith in this duet.
The Talk of the Town
A favorite bass performance from Cornelia
A favorite bass performance from Cornelia
I don’t know if I’ll ever hear as great a performance as René Pape‘s Gurnemanz.
I don’t know if I’ll ever hear as great a performance as René Pape‘s Gurnemanz.
The Talk of the Town
A favorite bass performance from Bere Wendriner
A favorite bass performance from Bere Wendriner
Cesare Siepi and Giulio Neri give a reference rendition of the Grand Inquisitor scene.
Cesare Siepi and Giulio Neri give a reference rendition of the Grand Inquisitor scene.
The Talk of the Town
A favorite bass performance from Ivy Lin
A favorite bass performance from Ivy Lin
Not much to say here. Legendary bass Mark Reizen was born in the USSR and thus never got to tour much to the west.
Not much to say here. Legendary bass Mark Reizen was born in the USSR and thus never got to tour much to the west.
The Talk of the Town
A favorite bass performance from Krunoslav
A favorite bass performance from Krunoslav
Boris Christoff’s Procida (along with Cerquetti’s Elena) lifts Mario Rossi’s RAI Torino Vespri to distinction.
Boris Christoff’s Procida (along with Cerquetti’s Elena) lifts Mario Rossi’s RAI Torino Vespri to distinction.
The Talk of the Town
A favorite bass performance from Michael Landman-Karny
A favorite bass performance from Michael Landman-Karny
If I must choose a single bass performance, it is still Boris Christoff’s Boris Godunov.
If I must choose a single bass performance, it is still Boris Christoff’s Boris Godunov.
In terms of elegance and beauty of execution, Renato Bruson is in a class by himself among Donizetti baritones.
A live broadcast from New York
Walking out of this Lucia performance from October 2010, my companion said to me, “No mystery who Seattle Opera’s Artist of the Year is going to be.” Aleksandra Kurzak did end up getting that award, to no one’s surprise!
Ahead of his only New York appearances this season later this month, parterre box looks forward to the return of estimable baritone Amartuvshin Enkhbat by sharing a clip featuring starry company.
My favorite scene in my favourite Donizetti opera. Even if she does go ahead and sing that damnable cabaletta, it’s Mariella Devia and she can do little RONG.