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Renée Fleming leads a performance recorded in New York in 2007
The forces of the Teatro La Fenice in a performance of Respighi‘s opera recorded last spring at Venice’s Teatro Malibran
Peter—may I call you Peter? It has come to our attention that you are seeking operas with “rich, melodic scores.”
Nigel Wilkinson reports on Teodor Curentzis and Peter Sellars‘s new production of Rameau‘s Castor et Pollux in Paris.
This is an astonishing recording by one of the greatest singers of the 19th century.
An 1887 French grand opera by a Black American composer receives its world premiere with Opera Lafayette and OperaCréole next week and is raising questions about the potential of “restorative justice” in the operatic canon.
The Greatest Thing Ever (AKA Lisette Oropesa) in a stunning performance of “Martern aller Arten”
Are Beethoven’s symphonies overplayed? Yes, but for a reason. While this justification may sound cliché, Beethoven’s humanist universalism is a sentiment that feels urgent in an era of widespread polarization and pessimism.
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.
Following last week’s multiple versions of three prime concert arias, Chris’s Cache concludes its Mozart month by offering more of those special vocal works, this time twenty-five arias for mezzo, tenor or bass, as well as more for soprano.
Never heard more beautiful runs than by Della Casa.
A message from CEO and General Director Piper Gunnarson and Board President Corey Kinger announces the closure of the innovative New York-based On Site Opera
William Christie curates an evening of French Baroque music in a live broadcast from Carnegie Hall.
Lise Davidsen and Michael Spyres, now in a live video broadcast from Vienna.
Despite the practically unmitigated fiasco of the last Verdi concert opera performance seen in Boston, I approached Sunday’s Boston Youth Symphony Orchestras performance of Don Carlo at Harvard’s Sanders Theatre with much more optimism.
Idomeneo from the 2022 Aix festival. A wacky production, with those moving towers, but the cast is outstanding: Michael Spyres (Idomeneo), Anna Bonitatibus (Idamante), Sabine Devieilhe (Ilia), Nicole Chevalier (Elettra); Raphaël Pichon, Conductor.
One of the most purely gorgeous voices I’ve ever heard live.
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.
Mozart: Zaide, K.344 / Act 1: “Ruhe sanft, mein holdes Leben” · Lucia Popp · Vienna Haydn Orchestra · István Kertész from Mozart Opera Festival ? 1972 Decca Music Group Limited
A live broadcast of a new production from the Deutsche Oper Berlin.
A live video broadcast from Reggio Emilia featuring rising stars Annalisa Stroppa and Benedetta Torre.
A live performance starring Lise Davidsen and Michael Spyres
One of my most favorite pieces is Barbarina’s delightful opener to Act IV of Le nozze di Figaro, “L’ho perduta, me meschina!” from the recording conducted by Otto Klemperer.
John Yohalem reports from the New York Dramatic Voices performance of Act III of Die Walküre
Though I’ve sometimes complained that the Paris Opera, while supposedly short of cash, changes its productions nearly as often as the rest of us change our socks, André Engel’s Cunning Little Vixen first appeared there 17 years ago. At the time it was billed as ‘new’, though it actually dates back further still, to 2000 at the Lyon Opera. I saw it when it arrived at the Bastille and wrote it up at the time.