Satan keeps the beat
With tight, jazzy orchestrations, a queer-coded Mephistopheles, and sassy modern recitative, Heartbeat Opera’s fast 100-minute Faust delivers Gounod in miniature, minus some of the schmaltz.
Recent Stories
Ivy Lin says you must watch Romeo + Juliet
I love the use of the Liebestod at the end of Romeo + Juliet. It’s such a lush, romantic way to end the movie. The most Baz Lurhmann thing ever.
By Ivy Lin
51 comments
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).
Sweet birds of youth
Buoyed by a cast of emerging stars, the Metropolitan Opera’s revival of Il Barbiere di Siviglia asserted a key trait of this ubiquitous buffo: it is a young person’s opera.
Cornelia says you must watch Melancholia
Impossible to pick any one film clip, but it’s hard to imagine a more evocative use of operatic music than Lars von Trier‘s Melancholia.
By Cornelia
66 comments
Milk of human kindness
Opera Parallèle is revisiting Stewart Wallace and Michael Korie’s Harvey Milk during Pride Month. It’s “not a reaction,” but it couldn’t be more timely.
Alben Barg says you must watch Babette’s Feast
I think Babette’s Feast is a more or less perfect film and has been my favorite since the first time I saw it.
By Alben Barg
101 comments
A favorite Donizetti performance from Lawrence Brownlee
The thing that inspires me about Pavarotti’s performance here is that this is the piece within the opera that everyone in the audience is waiting to hear.
By Lawrence Brownlee
48 comments
Mitridate, re di Ponto
Philippe Jaroussky conducts a performance recorded last month in Montpellier featuring Levy Sekgapane
Sarah Salter says you must watch Margaret
Anna Paquin cries at the opera to the Barcarolle from Tales of Hoffmann (Renée Fleming and Susan Graham)
By Sarah Salter
43 comments
Up stares, down stares
Ahead of tomorrow’s Live in HD, Michael Steinberg talks Leonore, Salome, and the “endemic misogyny” of Claus Guth‘s new production
Blissfully astray
It’s mad! It’s gay! It’s Michael Fabiano singing “Come un bel dì di maggio” from Andrea Chénier!
H_Badger says you must watch The Leftovers
One of the most striking uses of opera in television appears in HBO’s The Leftovers.
By H_Badger
5 comments
Sexual orientalization
An impressive cast blurs binaries as John Adams‘s ambitious Antony and Cleopatra arrives at the Met
Harry Rose says you must watch Gilligan’s Island
I’m cheating by choosing TV over a movie, but I can’t not pick the Hamlet episode of Gilligan’s Island.
By Harry Rose
35 comments
Baroque pearls
Chris’s Cache looks forward to next month’s Boston Early Music Festival with a comprehensive introduction to German Baroque featuring Sandrine Piau, Jennifer Larmore, and Joan Sutherland
Concerto barocco
Christopher Corwin on three stylish sopranos delighting audiences live in New York and on recording in a trio of new releases.
Belle Raggio says you must watch Maytime
It’s a total fraud, but I have always loved Maytime‘s “Csaritza” a fake “MGM” opera based on themes from Tchaikovsky‘s 5th symphony.
By Belle Raggio
86 comments
Opera injustice
Hunding, of Die Walküre notoriety, is the most misunderstood character in opera.
Ortrud Jones says you must watch Excalibur
A brutal, chilling, gory final scene leading to a triumphant and goose bumps inducing final moments.
By Ortrud Jones
46 comments