Parterre Box

Performance Review

Turkish sound bath

A brilliant L’italiana in Algeri in Rome has Larry Wolff once again thinking about “singing Turks”

By Larry Wolff 9 comments

Broadcast

The Queen of Spades

A live video broadcast from Vienna starring Anna Netrebko and Yusif Eyvazov

By Parterre Box 24 comments

Broadcast

Norma

A live broadcast from Milan starring Marina Rebeka

By Parterre Box 63 comments

The Talk of the Town

This summer I’m reading Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes

I first read Edith Hamilton‘s classic book on Greek mythology about sixty years ago.

By Moe Rear 38 comments

Performance Review

Up an Octavia

The operatic offerings of Boston Early Music Festival — Keiser‘s Octavia and Telemann‘s Pimpinone and Ino — are delectable discoveries

By John Yohalem 7 comments

The Talk of the Town

This summer I’m reading a juicy diva autobiography

What better beach read than a juicy diva autobiography?

By Richard Lynn 65 comments

Podcast / Chris's Cache

Claudio Abbado made his Met debut on 7 October 1968 conducting Verdi’s Don Carlo, led five more performances through 14 November, and then never returned. Chris’s Cache offers the only complete recording I’ve run across from that run.

By Christopher Corwin 13 comments

The Talk of the Town

This summer I’m reading The Music Goes Round

The earliest days of recording told by F.W. Gaisberg, the man who recorded Patti, Melba, Moreschi, and Tamagno among many others.

By Belle Raggio 33 comments

Grand Tier Grab Bag

Wet ‘n wild

Parterre Box invites you to cool off with a dip in the lake alongside Sonya Yoncheva and Pavel Černoch in Rusalka.

Grand Tier Grab Bag

Troy and Troy again

For those with Odyssey fever, this week’s Grand Tier Grab Bag item features a performance of another ancient epic: Les Troyens with Russell Thomas.

Grand Tier Grab Bag

Bass desires

Alexander Köpeczi, currently plying leading roles in two operas in Santa Fe and, rumor has it, the life of one prominent soprano, is the object of this week’s Grand Tier Grab Bag.

Grand Tier Grab Bag

Bel canto snarl for bel canto snarl

Rising stars Chelsea Lehnea and Ricardo José Rivera are the protagonists of this week’s Grand Tier Grab Bag.

Grand Tier Grab Bag

Wie tönender Schall schlug’s an mein Ohr

It’s a busy summer for Vida Miknevičiūtė and Eric Cutler, the subjects of this week’s Grand Tier Grab Bag.

Grand Tier Grab Bag

Noch mein’ ich mir selber so sicher zu sein

Elina Garanča’s aborted first Ariadne may have been the headline item at the Salzburg Festival next month, but this week Parterre Box features the Zerbinetta, Ziyi Dai.

Grand Tier Grab Bag

Ah! Bella a me ritorna

Norma returns La Scala this week for the first time in nearly 40 years and parterre box marks the occasion with titular druidess Marina Rebeka singing a bit of Verdi

By Parterre Box 33 comments

The Talk of the Town

This summer I’m reading Mawrdew Czgowchwz

(What else?)

By Brian Newhouse 27 comments

Performance Review

New world charm

The Met Orchestra under Yannick Nézet-Séguin surges into summer with a mixed program at Carnegie Hall

By Cameron Kelsall 2 comments

Performance Review

They call me the wanderer

Kent Nagano‘s and the Richard-Wagner-Akademie‘s historically informed Ring Cycle takes on Siegfried in Dresden

By Montagu James 2 comments

The Talk of the Town

This summer I’m reading Evening in the Palace of Reason: Bach Meets Frederick the Great in the Age of Enlightenment

Not really an opera book but, c’mon, it’s Bach.

By David Phillips 39 comments

Broadcast

Peter Grimes

Nicky Spence sings the title role in a performance recorded earlier this spring in Cardiff

By Parterre Box 12 comments

Broadcast

Carmen

Gäelle Arquez sings the title role in a live broadcast from Rome

By Parterre Box 5 comments

The Talk of the Town

This summer I’m reading A Time to Sing

I did not expect Dorothy Kirsten‘s autobiography to be so rewarding a read: I did so twice.

By Niel Rishoi 243 comments

Talk of the Town

The Talk of the Town

Next season I’m excited for La fanciulla del West

I’m looking forward to the Met’s new production of Puccini’s La fanciulla del West.

The Talk of the Town

Some filth or dementia from Leyla Gender-Bender

It is only a concert performance, but no one seems to have told them that; and thank the heavens for that!

The Talk of the Town

Some filth or dementia from piotr

Pure dementia. Magda Olivero in the finale to Fedora.

The Talk of the Town

Some filth or dementia from Darby Fegan

What is more demented than a thrilling performance of Strauss’s Elektra?

The Talk of the Town

Some filth or dementia from Sanford

This Strauss is demented in the best way possible.

The Talk of the Town

Some filth or dementia from Ben Miller

They should sell pay-per-view tickets to this like WWE.

our own

Hey now, hear what I say now

A reminder to relax and refresh this summer by sharing your innermost operatic thoughts for The Talk of the Town

By Parterre Box 3 comments

Recording Review

All about her stepmother

A new recording by the London Symphony Orchestra is the latest landmark in a spring full of Janácek‘s Jenufa

By Christian Ocier 66 comments

Broadcast

Dialogues des Carmélites

A live broadcast from Venice featuring Anna Caterina Antonacci as Madame de Croissy

By Parterre Box 2 comments

Grand Tier Grab Bag

Girl of summer

parterre box looks forward to the official start of summer tomorrow with a wistfully pointed performance of Samuel Barber‘s “Knoxville: Summer of 1915” by soprano Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha

By Parterre Box 6 comments