Aix and you shall receive
Mesdames et Messieurs, this summer’s broadcasts from the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence begin this weekend!
Recent Stories
Giuseppe Patanè was a great opera conductor
I think Patanè did far more than just hold it together: he did full honor to Verdi.
By Peter Russell
26 comments
Rafael Kubelik was a great opera conductor
Opera conductors … my favorite subject!
Broadcast
La favorite / Oper Dortmund
Varduhi Abrahamyan and Kang Wang lead a performance recorded in Dortmund last month
Streamed July 4, 2026 at 2:00 PM
3 comments
Broadcast
Ercole amante / Paris Opera
Leonardo García-Alarcón conducts Antonia Bembo's opera in a performance recorded last month in Paris.
Streamed July 4, 2026 at 2:00 PM
5 comments
Broadcast
Die Walküre / Bayerische Staatsoper
Tobias Kratzer's new production in a live video broadcast from Munich
Streamed July 4, 2026 at 10:30 AM
109 comments
Herbert von Karajan was a great opera conductor
He has conducted some of my favorite opera recordings.
By Mr. Portafiori
136 comments
Ernest Ansermet was a great opera conductor
Although Ernest Ansermet is most often associated with orchestral music, his 1964 recording of Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande is still my favorite.
By trevor
69 comments
Extravagant minimalism
Ahead of his new production of Die Frau ohne Schatten, Barrie Kosky chats with Kevin Ng in Aix about pretty much everything — except the details of his new Frau.
Beyond the valley of the gods
The Bayerische Staatsoper’s Ring cycle scores another triumph with Tobias Kratzer’s take on Die Walküre.
Aegean in place
Greek National Opera’s Medea in the ancient theater at Epidaurus is an intermittently rewarding exercise in nostalgia.
Ma queer immortelle
San Francisco Opera hosts an exuberant tribute to queerness past and present.
Yannick Nézet-Séguin is a great opera conductor
Historically, conductors were often viewed as rigid, authoritarian figures. Yannick Nézet-Séguin completely subverts this stereotype.
By Leyla Gender-Bender
155 comments
Goodnight, Irene
Grand Tier Grab Bag features the American Zwischenfach mezzo Irene Roberts ahead of an eclectic season of Wagner.
Queening out
Brett Dean‘s Of One Blood casts a well-trodden Tudor tale in a poignant, new light.
Patrizia Ciofi should have made it to the Met
The artist who I feel should have made it to the Met is Patrizia Ciofi.
By Mr. Portafiori
101 comments
Giannina Arangi-Lombardi never made it to the Met
Giannina Arangi-Lombardi never sang at the Met.
Broadcast
Parsifal / Wiener Festwochen
Yi-Chen Lin conducts Russell Thomas, Dshamilja Kaiser, Albert Dohmen, and Kartal Karagedik in a performance recorded earlier this month in Vienna
Streamed June 27, 2026 at 1:00 PM
60 comments
Broadcast
Siegfried / Royal Ballet and Opera
Antonio Pappano conducts Andreas Schager, Elisabet Strid, and Christopher Maltman in a performance recorded in London in March
Streamed June 27, 2026 at 1:00 PM
18 comments
Broadcast
Simon Boccanegra / Dutch National Opera
Fabio Luisi conducts George Petean, Federica Lombardi, and Riccardo Massi in a performance recorded earlier this month in Amsterdam
Streamed June 27, 2026 at 1:00 PM
3 comments
Et O ces voix d’enfants
Brundibár at the Opéra Comique combines whimsy with historicity to sobering effect.
Andrée Esposito and Alain Vanzo should have made it to the Met
This Mireille duet unites Andrée Esposito and Alain Vanzo and shows the timbral and stylistic qualities that made them exemplary.
By Krunoslav
153 comments
Broadcast
Lucia di Lammermoor / Teatro alla Scala
Rosa Feola goes mad in a live broadcast from Milan
Streamed June 26, 2026 at 2:00 PM
9 comments
A little tenderness
The premiere recording of David T. Little’s What Belongs to You reveals a work of both tenderness and artistic tenacity.