Nothing makes me feel better than the 1966 Salzburg Festival Nozze
This performance truly “never fails to lift my mood.”
By DC K
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Recent Stories
Dona nobis pacem
A Missa Solemnis to celebrate 125 years of Boston’s Symphony Hall was sophisticated and subdued.
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).
Nothing makes me feel better than Der Rosenkavalier
Der Rosenkavalier is a three-hour meditation on nostalgia. What could be better to bathe in?
By Ben Miller
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Streamed October 14, 2025 at 7:25 PM
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Broadcast
Adriana Mater / Teatro dell'Opera di Roma
Kaija Saariaho's opera in a live broadcast from Rome
Streamed October 14, 2025 at 2:30 PM
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Hold! Enough!
The timing for Boston Lyric Opera’s production of Macbeth this weekend was perfect for Halloween, though the show itself at the Emerson Colonial Theatre was decidedly less spooky.
Rock ‘n’ Tyrol
Parterre Box features an exclusive sample of Lawrence Brownlee‘s jump-in performance in La sonnambula from this weekend
Nothing makes me feel better than War and Peace
‘Comfort opera.’ Hmm… I had to give this one some thought.
By Nigel Wilkinson
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Nothing makes me feel better than L’incoronazione di Poppea
I have listened to this clip on the way to every first date I’ve ever been on.
By Harry Rose
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Broadcast
The Bartered Bride / Wiener Staatsoper
A live broadcast from the Wiener Staatsoper (in German)
Streamed October 11, 2025 at 1:30 PM
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Broadcast
The Queen of Spades / Garsington Opera
Laura Wilde and Aaron Cawley lead a performance recorded at Garsington this summer
Streamed October 11, 2025 at 1:00 PM
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Seen and heard
Mere days remain to contribute to The Talk of the Town for the rest of the year!
Nothing makes me feel better than The Cunning Little Vixen
The opera is life affirming, but also recognizes that life comes to an end.
By Ethel Clutterbuck
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Mommy and me
Today’s Grand Tier Grab Bag features Chiara Isotton and Joyce El-Khoury as two murderous mommies in the final scene of Cherubini‘s Medea (and Medée)
Nothing makes me feel better than Elektra
My comfort opera is Elektra. Yes, you read correctly, Elektra.
By Peter Feliks
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Streamed October 9, 2025 at 7:25 PM
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Nothing makes me feel better than the 1961 performance of Turandot
The old Nilsson/Corelli radio checks from the 1960s are a reminder that what this opera needs are VOICES.
By Ivy Lin
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Ain’t no mountain high enough
A new production of La sonnambula at the Metropolitan Opera is musically charming if dramatically confounding.
Seeing double
Jonas Kaufmann has a new lieder album called Doppelgänger, but the contents of the album vary depending on how you purchase it.
Nothing makes me feel better than Roberta Peters in Die Zauberflöte
Other queens have been richer of voice or more dramatically compelling, but none I have ever heard succeeds in sounding something other than human.
By Jon Taylor/Armerjacquino
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Broadcast
La bohème / Dallas Opera
Bekhzod Davronov, Sylvia D’Eramo, Takaoki Onishi, and Emily Pogorelc lead a performance recorded last spring in Dallas
Streamed October 6, 2025 at 9:00 PM
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Broadcast
La sonnambula / Metropolitan Opera
A live opening night broadcast from New York starring Nadine Sierra and Xabier Anduaga
Streamed October 6, 2025 at 7:55 PM
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Only vaulting ambition
Macbeth at the Festival Verdi in Parma aims big — on a small scale