Recent Stories
Forest spright
Chris’s Cache ends the month with another “fun” opera but one even rarer than last week’s Rossini: Der Wildschütz by Albert Lortzing.
Rapido passa fuoco d’amor!
On this day in 1948 Verdi‘s Otello was the first opera to be telecast from the Metropolitan Opera.
All the light we cannot hear
The Boston Symphony Orchestra’s program of works by Mozart and Kevin Puts, a composer championed by star Renée Fleming, was one of musical and artistic contrasts.
Boho chick
On this day in 1843 Michael Balfe’s The Bohemian Girl premiered in London
Otello
Take two – a live broadcast of the strike delayed-opening night of the 2024-25 season from Venice
And suddenly that name will never be the same
Christopher Corwin reviews Pablo Larraín‘s Maria
Cinderella story
Happy 83rd birthday mezzo-soprano Susanne Marsee
Hello to Berlin
Montagu James reviews the US tour of the Kirill Petrenko-led Berlin Philharmonic
Sisters are doing it for themselves
War! Heroism! Mysterious strangers! Attempted suicide! Steadfast love! Così fan tutte, as staged November 18-21 at Juilliard Opera, had… none of these things.
Beyond the Kenny
Happy 74th birthday soprano Yvonne Kenny
Chiara di luna
On this day in 1938 tenor Jussi Bjoerling made his Met debut as Rodolfo.
A stately pleasure dome decree
On this day in 1903 tenor Enrico Caruso made his Metropolitan Opera debut as the Duke of Mantua
Spelling it out for you
A friend of the box has furnished a sample of Anita Rachvelishvili‘s first staged opera performance in over a year
Is our singers learning?
Judith Malafronte on firebrand pedagogues, the old-school singing manual revival, and what many voice teachers are getting wrong.
Midcentury modern
Born on this day in 1913 composer Benjamin Britten
It takes a woman
The plight of two women, each from different backgrounds, was on full display in San Francisco opera houses last week.
All in the family
On this day in 1967 conductor Herbert von Karajan bows at the Metropolitan Opera in Walküre.