Cipher space Cipher space

Salieri’s La Cifra (“The Cipher”) played all over Europe for 20 years, in several translations (German, Spanish). Then, like many a worthy work, it was forgotten.

Something lies beyond the Scene Something lies beyond the Scene

I was overjoyed by the coincidence that Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival would be presenting Façade.

Social Medea Social Medea

Simone Mayr’s Medea in Corinto, a curious work of 1813, has been revived by Will Crutchfield’s new enterprise, Teatro Nuovo.

Alexander was great Alexander was great

As the first of the 2018 opera productions last Saturday, the Merola Opera Program chose Mozart’s rarely-performed early serenata, Il re pastore.

Too much, too soon Too much, too soon

Heartbeat is, after all, a company that loves to tinker.

Königin of Mozart Königin of Mozart

The third installment of my 50th anniversary tribute to Edita Gruberova was impossible to narrow down to one selection.

Dark matter Dark matter

In Schikaneder’s patriarchal cosmology, darkness is the province of emotional women—not just the erratic fury of the Queen of the Night, but the pathetic supplications of Pamina as well.

And the villain still pursued her And the villain still pursued her

Bard College presented a semi-staged concert of Halka on Saturday evening as part of its impressively wide-ranging two-week “Chopin and his World” festival.

Three sisters who are not sisters Three sisters who are not sisters

Due to bandwidth limits “Trove Thursday” must post some more modest offerings in months with five Thursdays.

Mostly Mozart in the Jungle Mostly Mozart in the Jungle

Tack on a little symphonic Beethoven and some particularly zany hosting patter from Bernadette Peters, and you start to lose focus, or at least some sense of, um, what matters mostly.

Out of the depths Out of the depths

“Trove Thursday” provides a live broadcast of Mozart’s rarely performed cantata Davide Penitente by Les Arts Florissants conducted by William Christie.

Apparition Apparition

There was a moment during Natalie Dessay’s performance of Schubert’s “Gretchen am Spinnrade” when the singer summoned the ghost of her former self.

C’est la chanson des rêveurs qui s’étaient arraché le coeur C’est la chanson des rêveurs qui s’étaient arraché le coeur

Sandrine Piau‘s lovely recital with pianist Susan Manoff at The Philadelphia Chamber Music Society on February 14 entered around the themes of sleep, dreams and waking. 

“Thy power standeth not in multitude nor thy might in strong men” “Thy power standeth not in multitude nor thy might in strong men”

An unstaged performance of Juditha Triumphans by five soloists and the Venice Baroque Orchestra under Andrea Marcon.

Woman on the verge of a repertoire breakthrough Woman on the verge of a repertoire breakthrough

Revive is a manifesto of sorts, declaring Elina Garanca’s intentions for the new direction in her career.

While you were sheeping While you were sheeping

To mark Mozart’s 260th birthday tomorrow, “Trove Thursday” offers his infrequently performed bucolic opera Il Re Pastore with the sublime Arleen Augér as its heroine and Edith Mathis as her shepherd-lover.

Stage beauty Stage beauty

>What does a great opera production do, and what does a bad production fail to do?

Ezio said than done Ezio said than done

Ezio was an inspired choice for Boston’s feisty Odyssey Opera to open its “When In Rome” festival.

Cold Turkey Cold Turkey

The no-star, slapstick revival of John Dexter’s 37-year-old production of Mozart’s Die Entführung aus dem Serail that opened Friday night proved James Levine’s tenure as Music Director of the Met will end in two weeks with neither a whimper nor a bang.

Very old things for very new needs Very old things for very new needs

With recent events in politics, it is becoming ever clearer that humankind hasn’t evolved much since the Enlightenment.

Significant mother Significant mother

Fans of divas who sing 19th and 20th century opera may find themselves searching in vain for CDs to buy with this season’s gift cards, since their idols so rarely put out solo recitals these days.

Cherubino jumps the shark Cherubino jumps the shark

Homer, inspired by many a muse, sang not of sequels to his Iliad.

A passel of pirates A passel of pirates

Many live treasures (and some duds) began to take up more and more space—first in my dorm room, then in my first little studio apartment thanks to a group of quite special men, none of whom I ever met face to face.

Married to the mobcap Married to the mobcap

I have an idea (soon to be angrily debunked in the comments section) that Le nozze di Figaro is rarely a source of unalloyed bliss to the chronic operagoer.