Hear those magic reindeer click Hear those magic reindeer click

Jonas Kaufmann would like you know it’s Christmas. Well, not unlike a broken clock, he is right, at least for one day a year.

Cradle song Cradle song

While seasonally-awkward streams of Messiah abound, Trove Thursday turns instead to Berlioz’s exquisite L’Enfance du Christ from francophone forces including Stéphanie d’ Oustrac, Bernard Richter, Edwin Crossley-Mercer and Nicolas Testé (for once, sans sa femme).

No Grinches allowed No Grinches allowed

Grab a fuzzy robe, a hot toddy, and a Wales guidebook, then sink blissfully into your couch for Bryn Terfel’s Christmas concert for the Met’s Live in Concert Series.

Thank you for the music Thank you for the music

Trove Thursday celebrates early St. Cecilia’s Day—November 22—with a 1976 performance of Licino Refice’s Cecilia starring Renata Scotto as the patron saint of music and musicians.

By the beautiful sea By the beautiful sea

On Sunday afternoon, husband-and-wife duo Roberto Alagna and Aleksandra Kurzak presented a charming program of operatic favorites from the patio of the Château de la Chèvre d’Or in Èze, France.

And the star was shining And the star was shining

Such a sleek, polished finish is a testament to the incredible resources and experience at the Met’s disposal – to coordinate this livestream across two different continents so seamlessly and with such flair is very impressive indeed.

Give me the Templar life Give me the Templar life

Otto Nicolai’s Il Templario with Juan Diego Flórez, Clémentine Margaine and Luca Salsi.

Keeper of the flame Keeper of the flame

Elina Garanca’s glorious Marguerite transformed La Damnation de Faust into the Met’s first essential must-see of the year.

Mithridates is dead Mithridates is dead

Trove Thursday marks Mozart’s 264th birthday on Sunday with the 14-year-old’s remarkable opera seria Mitridate, Re di Ponto .

Bleak house Bleak house

Karita Mattila’s Ortrud, taut conducting, and a remarkable debut emerge from Richard Jones’s dreary Lohengrin Konzept.

One night only One night only

Christine Goerke‘s distracted, tentative Isolde turned out to be the least potent feature of what was an otherwise exciting and effective second act of Tristan.

Sweet dreams Sweet dreams

Bard SummerScape’s concert staging of Die Tote Stadt emerged triumphant thanks to Clay Hilley and Sara Jakubiak.

I had too much to dream last night I had too much to dream last night

Erich Wolfgang Korngold’s Die Tote Stadt in a 1967 Vienna broadcast appropriately featuring three American stars: John Alexander, Marilyn Zschau, and George London.

Something cool Something cool

Elina Garanca was radiantly present at Carnegie Hall Friday night performing a ravishingly somber Rückert-Lieder with Yannick Nézet-Séguin and the MET Orchestra.

Two can be as lonely as one Two can be as lonely as one

Anna Netrebko and Jonas Kaufmann in La forza del destino—all of it!

Thousands cheer Thousands cheer

Although Gustav Mahler never wrote an opera, his colossal Eighth Symphony “The Symphony of a Thousand” may give us some glimpses of what a Mahler opera might have sounded like

Once more with feeling Once more with feeling

We humans tend to dislike uncertainty, therefore there is something comforting going to opera revivals; you know exactly what you are going to get. 

New blood New blood

I was shocked to realize I hadn’t seen Don Giovanni at the Met since Michael Grandage’s stultifying production opened in 2011.

Love of the earth Love of the earth

Claudio Abbado passed away on the 20th of January five years ago, just months before I began my Ph.D.

Just add magic Just add magic

Heretofore I’d avoided the Met’s abridged, English-language holiday presentations.

Back in black Back in black

He returned. He sang. He didn’t get hanged. 

Meine Liebe ist croon Meine Liebe ist croon

As opera’s reigning tenor-superstar, Jonas Kaufmann can pretty much do whatever he wants and a sizable adoring public will lap it up.

Golden ‘Girls’ season finale Golden ‘Girls’ season finale

The conclusion of our Fanciulla del West video overview in three parts looks at a trio of performances from the 2010s.

The queen’s throat The queen’s throat

“Trove Thursday ” presents Heinrich Marschner’s Hans Heiling in a 2001 performance from Berlin featuring Alessandra Marc as the title character’s mom, the Queen of the Elves.