Stealing fire Stealing fire

Esa-Pekka Salonen and The Los Angeles Philharmonic serve a feast for all five senses.

This is what trauma looks like This is what trauma looks like

Valentin Schwarz‘s and Simone Young‘s Ring, in its final outing at Bayreuth, is dramaturgically messy and musically excellent.

C’est une vraie voix C’est une vraie voix

Don Carlos returns to the Opéra National de Paris and it’s an unusually happy occasion

Somewhere in time Somewhere in time

The current Met revival of Der Rosenkavalier, while not perfect, has much to feel joyful and excited about.

Coups de theatre Coups de theatre

This month, both the Paris Opéra and the Opéra-Comique are mounting seminal works about unhinged anti-heroines who meet their downfall after falling head-over-heels for an unavailable, deeply unattainable man – Salome, in the case of the Opéra; and Armide, in the case of the Opéra-Comique.

Desert island diva Desert island diva

This sterling revival shows the Metropolitan to be surviving well and in good shape.

Undead of the night Undead of the night

For those pining for Puccini with the Met out of commission. Trove Thursday steps up with the composer’s brief first opera Le Villi with Krassimira Stoyanova, José Cura and Franz Grundheber, led by Simone Young.

Rock out with your Tracht out Rock out with your Tracht out

Lohengrin descended upon the Wiener Staatsoper this month like American college students to Oktoberfest: loudly, spastically, not especially coherent, and in full lederhosen and dirndls.

You stepped out of a dream You stepped out of a dream

One of opera’s great “what ifs?” is what would young Erich Wolfgang Korngold have contributed to the repertoire had the likes of The Adventures of Robin Hood not beckoned him to Hollywood?

Between the dragon and his wrath Between the dragon and his wrath

Aribert Reimann’s 1978 opera Lear, based of course on Shakespeare’s titanic tragedy King Lear, is a major achievement in modern operatic scoring.

My God, it’s full of stars!

Ioan Holender was General Manager of the Wiener Staatsoper for nineteen years, the longest anyone has held this post, and the august institution honored him with the gala to end all galas in the final days of his administration.  With the goal of commemorating each of the 40 new productions premiered at the Staatsoper during…