Force of habit
Turmoil and injustice in the federal government; turmoil and grief in the Catholic Church: the time sure seems right for a staging of Francis Poulenc’s Dialogues des Carmélites.
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Ritorna vincitrice
Elina Garanca is back at the Met for the first time since 2020 — her Amneris is, in a word, sensational.
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).
Kevin Ng says you must watch Marie Antoinette
Sofia Coppola‘s cult classic Marie Antoinette is best known for blending a whimsically baroque visuals with a post-punk score.
By Kevin Ng
28 comments
Momentum mori
A fine Don Giovanni at Opera Philadelphia rounds out the company’s inaugural season under Anthony Roth Costanzo
Masques et bergamasques
John Yohalem wraps up Donizetti Month at parterre box with a look back at nearly six decades of Donizetti operagoing.
A favorite Donizetti performance from Mister Snow
As a beginning freshman in college at CSU Long Beach, I was cast in my first opera – the chorus for L’Elisir d’amore ( performed in English as “The Elixir of Love”).
By Mister Snow
83 comments
A masked ball
Opera San José (OSJ) concluded its eclectic 41st Season with another first, Héctor Armienta’s Zorro, which received its Northern California premiere at the California Theatre on Friday, April 19th.
Sex power god
Breaking the Waves and Tannhaüser at Houston Grand Opera are a can’t-miss doubleheader of sex and miracles.
A favorite Donizetti performance from Belfagor
This early performance of Anna Bolena’s final scene is just one of the most poised and magical pieces of bel canto singing I’ve ever heard. It must have been extraordinary to hear her at the outset of her career.
By Belfagor
43 comments
Patrick Mack 1964-2025
parterre box is very sad to learn of the passing of beloved writer Patrick Mack in Los Angeles yesterday.
Smash or pass
The long-awaited Broadway musical adaptation of the NBC series Smash is “not Bombshell – it’s just a bomb,” according to David Fox and Cameron Kelsall.
Loving him isn’t the right thing to do
Matthew Travisano takes on Mimì’s Act III aria from La bohème — not that one, the other one — in the latest installment of the “Perspectives on an Aria” series
A favorite Donizetti performance from Sarah Salter
Pavarotti in his prime – He makes this so-familiar aria new and glowing.
By Sarah Salter
52 comments
Il nome della rosa
A live broadcast from Milan of the world premiere of Francesco Filidei’s opera based on Umberto Eco‘s novel
A favorite Donizetti performance from Windy City Operaman
Sigh! I think most of you realized I would pick this one. Got that “Donizetti and Bellini Heroines” from the Record Club of America when I was in my teens and playing it to death.
By Windy City Operaman
40 comments
Khovanschina
A performance recorded earlier this month at the Salzburg Easter Festival.
A favorite Donizetti performance from Kevin Ng
This to me is everything that makes Donizetti the great dramatist of the bel canto era.
By Kevin Ng
18 comments
Bye bye, birdie
A feast of whimsy for the recently resurrected in Aaron Siegel’s new opera, Rainbird
Knight and deh
When a revival of Handel‘s Ariodante in Boston coincides with the HD relay of the Met’s current revival of Le nozze di Figaro, parterre box can’t help but share a bit of Olga Kulchynska, the Met’s Susanna, singing the florid “Volate amori.”
A favorite Donizetti performance from Remko Jas
The brave and beautiful Maartje Offers – best known from the potted Ring – lends her charismatic voice to Donizetti here.
By Remko Jas
72 comments
Die Sterne des Himmels werden zur Erde fallen
Chris’s Cache highlights the erstwhile Chicago Symphony Orchestra @ Carnegie series with not one but two starry operas conducted by Georg Solti: Salome with Birgit Nilsson and a performance of Moses und Aron