San Francisco Opera 2026–27 San Francisco Opera 2026–27

Music Director Eun Sun Kim is at the center of the repertory, and a long Wagner arc is now officially underway

Old wife’s tale Old wife’s tale

Pénélope at the Bayerische Staatsoper’s summer festival spotlights the crossroads between the nostalgic and the progressive.

Back over the rainbow bridge Back over the rainbow bridge

“Let’s start at the very beginning” of Kent Nagano’s pioneering complete Ring project which was recently discussed here in depth in Montagu James’s review of Die Walküre.

I shall be released I shall be released

Welcome, beloveds, to the Jessye Norman Memorial Museum. I’ll be the docent for your tour today.

For art’s sake For art’s sake

Few operas scream “summertime easy listening” like Pfitzner’s Palestrina—all 225 minutes of itso Trove Thursday presents a performance from the Royal Opera’s 1997 New York visit conducted by Christian Thielemann.

Prophet center Prophet center

Trove Thursday couldn’t wait until Passover to offer Mendelssohn’s Elijah featuring two of my favorite singers, Gabriela Benacková and José van Dam, joined by Florence Quivar, Francisco Araiza and Thomas Moser.

Der Meisterdirigent Der Meisterdirigent

Christian Thielemann is widely regarded as our time’s preeminent master of the Austro-German symphonic ensemble.

Being alive Being alive

Orfeo’s  latest edition is a 1978 performance of Lucia di Lammermoor with a very estimable cast that on its surface may seem a tad mundane but the extensive liner notes (with performance photos) tell the story of why it held such magic.

Tale of the tape Tale of the tape

As the Deutsche Grammophon producer for the 1972 Metropolitan Opera Carmen recording, I was delighted to read Patrick Mack’s review of its recent re-release on a surround-sound/stereo CD set.

Salo, me

David McVicar’s ravishingly lurid 2008 production of Strauss’s Salome for the Royal Opera House Covent Garden has been issued as an HD-filmed DVD from Opus Arte.  Now, Strauss’s music is ravishingly lurid on its own, so I came to this production, which claims as a visual source reference the Pasolini film Salo, The 120 Days…