Recent Stories
Asmik Grigorian pulls a hat trick in Puccini‘s triple bill recorded (and reviewed) last month in Paris
With tenth anniversary productions of Fellow Travelers, the heart wrenching gay romance opera by composer Gregory Spears and librettist Greg Pierce, due to grace several major U.S. companies next season, what better way to commemorate Pride Month than by reading Thomas Mallon’s 2007 historical novel on which it’s based?
Two women singing an operatic love duet is virtually an everyday occurrence, but two men? Not so much.
Julian Budden‘s masterful, three-volume analysis of the entire Verdi oeuvre is fascinating reading.
Contrasting approaches to Regie duke it out in Cavalleria rusticana & Pagliacci and Rusalka in Munich
Krzysztof Warlikowski‘s Der Rosenkavalier at the Théâtre des Champs Elysées surpasses even Nigel Wilkinson‘s high ‘WTF threshhold’
Although presented as an overview of the performance of Italian opera from the first half of the 19th century, Divas and Scholars is really an impassioned defense of musicology as a discipline and of Italian opera as a subject worthy of scholarly attention.
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
Don’t cry because it’s over
Don’t cry because it’s over
Grand Tier Grab Bag hearkens back to the days when Sondra Radvanovsky — who is singing no Verdi at all next season — seemed like the Verdi soprano of reference.
Grand Tier Grab Bag hearkens back to the days when Sondra Radvanovsky — who is singing no Verdi at all next season — seemed like the Verdi soprano of reference.
Grand Tier Grab Bag
Rizzin’ to the occasion
Rizzin’ to the occasion
Parterre Box features the Met’s current Eugene Onegin, Iurii Samoilov, in a performance of Rossini ahead of a return to Pesaro this summer.
Parterre Box features the Met’s current Eugene Onegin, Iurii Samoilov, in a performance of Rossini ahead of a return to Pesaro this summer.
Grand Tier Grab Bag
When they go low
When they go low
Nostalgic for bass month, Parterre Box offers excerpts from two young basses to watch: Giorgi Manoshvili and Patrick Guetti.
Nostalgic for bass month, Parterre Box offers excerpts from two young basses to watch: Giorgi Manoshvili and Patrick Guetti.
Grand Tier Grab Bag
Nailin’ the coughin’
Nailin’ the coughin’
Rosa Feola, still scheduled for a run of performances as Violetta in New York this spring, is the subject of this week’s Grand Tier Grab Bag.
Rosa Feola, still scheduled for a run of performances as Violetta in New York this spring, is the subject of this week’s 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.
In a satanic panic, this week Chris’s Cache presents trio of performances of Mefistofele
Eli Jacobson on a luscious evening of early Strauss with Guntram at Carnegie Hall
If you love the astonishing vocal works of J. S. Bach, John Eliott Gardiner’s 2013 book is a deeply rewarding read.
Francesco Filidei’s new opera The Name of the Rose struggles to bridge the past and the present in Milan
A plodding La bohème in San Francisco never quite takes off
A fascinating autobiography that delivers both on the diva anecdotes and on intelligent artistic observations about the singer’s life.
Perhaps the conversation about Rigoletto and disability isn’t limited to physical appearance. What if we broaden the scope of what disability in this opera might look like?
Fascinating account of the role of musical theater in an uneasy context of art emerging from the conflict and resolutions of high culture and popular sentimentality in an era where elites were challenged by political instability.
Talk of the Town
The Talk of the Town
A favorite Verdi performance from Lou Ann Darras
A favorite Verdi performance from Lou Ann Darras
I have very few opportunities to see real-life opera divas, but when Natalie Dessay chose to debut her first Traviata at Santa Fe, there was no way I was going to miss it.
I have very few opportunities to see real-life opera divas, but when Natalie Dessay chose to debut her first Traviata at Santa Fe, there was no way I was going to miss it.
The Talk of the Town
A favorite Verdi performance from Astyanax
A favorite Verdi performance from Astyanax
The air held a real charge that night in SF’s War Memorial Opera House.
The air held a real charge that night in SF’s War Memorial Opera House.
The Talk of the Town
A favorite Verdi performance from Ivy Lin
A favorite Verdi performance from Ivy Lin
This is one of those rare performances that makes you believe that everything Verdi was greater Way Back When.
This is one of those rare performances that makes you believe that everything Verdi was greater Way Back When.
The Talk of the Town
A favorite Verdi performance from Mister Snow
A favorite Verdi performance from Mister Snow
Nothing prepared me for the Soviero experience
Nothing prepared me for the Soviero experience
The Talk of the Town
A favorite Verdi performance from Tildy Diva
A favorite Verdi performance from Tildy Diva
A well-known Met Aïda with a starry cast from 1967 is TildyDiva’s Favorite Verdi Performance
A well-known Met Aïda with a starry cast from 1967 is TildyDiva’s Favorite Verdi Performance
The Talk of the Town
A favorite Verdi performance from Arrigo
A favorite Verdi performance from Arrigo
My favorite Verdi performance is Claudio Abbado Don Carlo opening of the Scala.
My favorite Verdi performance is Claudio Abbado Don Carlo opening of the Scala.
The final Saturday Matinee Broadcast of the 2024-25 season, live from New York
Man, I tried so hard to get this commissioned as a radio drama, because I want everyone to know what a ride this book is.
parterre box celebrates the beginning of Pride Month with a throwback to one of the queerer events in recent operatic memory: a bit of Carmen starring Jamie Barton and Stephanie Blythe!
A double bill of rare Bizet works in Paris is not something any of us needs to do more than once
Yannick Nézet-Séguin leads the Philadelphia Orchestra, Stuart Skelton, and Nina Stemme in a Tristan und Isolde for the ages
Not about opera per se, Sweeney Todd notwithstanding, but I’m looking forward to reading the poignant and touching ode to Sondheim’s oeuvre by Richard Schoch.
For Niel Rishoi, a new CD of Bellini, Donizetti, and Verdi by Eleonora Burrato for Pentatone can’t help but invite unflattering comparisons
A live broadcast from Rome
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