Wedding from hell Wedding from hell

Les Arts Florissants (lightly) stages two Charpentier rarities as a summer wedding gone wrong.

The best things I saw in 2025 were Nina Stemme and Les Arts Florissants The best things I saw in 2025 were Nina Stemme and Les Arts Florissants

I can’t say 2025 was my best operagoing year; apart from a superb Fille du régiment, most of my good nights at the opera were decidedly mixed affairs.

Old friends, new friends Old friends, new friends

Les Arts Florissants present two ravishing programs in Brooklyn and Manhattan. 

Georges has Georges Georges has Georges

A double bill of rare Bizet works in Paris is not something any of us needs to do more than once

Kevin Ng says you <em>must</em> watch <em>Marie Antoinette</em> Kevin Ng says you <em>must</em> watch <em>Marie Antoinette</em>

Sofia Coppola‘s cult classic Marie Antoinette is best known for blending a whimsically baroque visuals with a post-punk score.

Aged in oak Aged in oak

When the birthdays start to pile up in the double digits in big round numbers, you start to examine your past and review what you have done with your life.

Playing midwives to an egg Playing midwives to an egg

Nigel Wilkinson reports on Teodor Curentzis and Peter Sellars‘s new production of Rameau‘s Castor et Pollux in Paris.

Les Arts Florissants Les Arts Florissants

William Christie curates an evening of French Baroque music in a live broadcast from Carnegie Hall.

Quand sur la plage Quand sur la plage

What can you say, other than that everything was fab?

Neither fish nor fowl Neither fish nor fowl

Nigel Wilkinson reviews Kris Defoort‘s kaleidoscopic, unsettling new opera in Brussels.

A woman scorned A woman scorned

Marc-Antoine Charpentier and Thomas Corneille’s Médée is a monument of the 17th century French baroque lyric tragedy.

Myth and meaning Myth and meaning

Two short theatrical works and one sacred piece from the beguiling oeuvre of the guy who didn’t write Louise

Garden party Garden party

Two of France’s leading Early Music ensembles recently visited New York City to perform music by some of the 17th century’s leading composers.

Blond ambition Blond ambition

This showcase concert gave notice that countertenor Hugh Cutting is among the most promising artists of his generation.

I’ll remember April I’ll remember April

If April is the cruelest month, it may be that spring’s arrival brings far too many things to do and see.

Behold the happy pair Behold the happy pair

Beverly Sills and Renée Fleming perform 30 years apart the same work with the same orchestra in the same venue!

Light up my Rameau Light up my Rameau

For those who complain (not entirely unfairly) that Handel operas are “just a string of da capo arias,” I sometimes mutter to myself, “Have they ever tried Rameau?”

Old masters Old masters

Jordi Savall and William Christie, 80 and 77 respectively, stand as the two senior masters whose recordings and appearances have done the most over the past decades to build a healthy local enthusiasm for pre-Classical music.

A place in the shade A place in the shade

Next Wednesday is the composer’s 337th birthday, so Trove Thursday previews this spring’s most enticing Handel performance with two very different live versions of his delightful Serse,.

Playing the diva vs. being the diva Playing the diva vs. being the diva

In the last weeks of January, as the Metropolitan Opera season wound to a close (prior to the winter hiatus) two striking sopranos were thrust into the limelight.

Fascinating but frustrating Fascinating but frustrating

Now, through the auspices of the Metropolitan Opera, we have Sonya Yoncheva—and if anything, the diva-dom has been kicked up a notch!

Terracotta puppets of the gods Terracotta puppets of the gods

Dancing sheep! Flying sheep! Flying sheep who dance!

Love sex magic Love sex magic

By an astounding coincidence, on Monday night Handel’s third and fourth extant operas were being performed simultaneously across the street from each other at Lincoln Center.

The bad and the beautiful The bad and the beautiful

“Trove Thursday” offers Offenbach’s irreverent La Belle Hélène featuring the beauteous Véronique Gens.