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Roberto Abbado conducts Nicolò Donini, Dmitry Korchak, Giorgi Manoshvili, Aya Wakizono, and Jessica Pratt in a live broadcast of the opening of the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro
Folks who have never attended a full-length, uncut Giacomo Meyerbeer grand opera have been known to pout and ponder: Why did the most popular opera composer of the mid-nineteenth century all but vanish from the stages of the world after a hundred years?
Born on this day in 1903 soprano Maria Reining
Lise Davidsen will sing Brünhilde in the Met’s new Yuval Sharon-directed and Nézet-Séguin-conducted Ring Cycle starting in 2027-28 and culminating in 2030
Paul Agnew conducts Les Arts Florissants in a live Proms performance featuring Paulina Francisco, Georgia Burashko, Rebecca Leggett, Juliette Mey, Rodrigo Carreto, and Ilja Aksionov
As a burgeoning opera fan, I relied on YouTube to connect me with the art form.
Born on this day in 1954 writer, editor, and parterre creator James Jorden
Harry Bicket conducts a performance recorded earlier this summer in Santa Fe featuring Ryan Speedo Green, Rachel Fitzgerald, Rachael Wilson, David Portillo, Nicholas Newton, Liv Redpath, William Guanbo Su, and Soloman Howard
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.
Born on this day in 1890 conductor Erich Kleiber
Happy 64th birthday soprano Deborah Voigt
Happy 65th birthday baritone Simon Keenlyside
Chris’s Cache wishes Gundula Janowitz a happy 87th birthday today with three early live broadcasts of a favorite soprano in works by Pergolesi, Haydn, and Schumann.
Maxime Pascal conducts Caroline Wettergreen, Freya Apffelstaedt, Robin Tritschler, Tobias Moretti, Tanja Ariane Baumgartner, Georg Nigl, and John Daszak in a 20th century double bill of Il Canto sospeso and Il prigioniero recorded last week at the Salzburg Festival
Simone Young leads the final 2024 Bayreuth Ring broadcast with Klaus Florian Vogt, Olafur Sigurdarson, Catherine Foster, Michael Kupfer-Radecky, Mika Kares, and Gabriela Scherer
Happy 87th birthday soprano Gundula Janowitz
Talk of the Town
The Talk of the Town
The best thing I saw this year was Das Rheingold
The best thing I saw this year was Das Rheingold
Tobias Kratzer‘s production of Das Rheingold at the Bayerische Staatsoper was a resounding success.
Tobias Kratzer‘s production of Das Rheingold at the Bayerische Staatsoper was a resounding success.
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.
Oksana Lyniv conducts Michael Volle, Elisabeth Teige, Georg Zeppenfeld, Eric Cutler, Nadine Weissmann, and Matthew Newlin in a live broadcast from Bayreuth
Born on this day in 1926 bass Theo Adam
Anna Netrebko returns to our shores in February for the first time since 2019 as part of a fundraiser for Palm Beach Opera.
Does Diane Paulus really have no better ideas?
Born on this day in 1930 tenor Pedro Lavirgen
Too young to be in love. But not too young to go to war or to die.
Born on this day in 1925 bass Carlos Feller