Three ages of woman
Asmik Grigorian’s scorching turn in Il trittico in Paris has Nigel Wilkinson wondering, ‘what is it that makes Americans so weepy?’
Austria
Tannhäuser
Lydia Steier‘s production in a live video stream from Vienna
L’Orfeo
Rolando Villazon stars in a performance of Monteverdi‘s opera from Salzburg’s Mozartwoche recorded in January
Promising young women
Ahead of her return to the Met, soprano Corinne Winters chats with Kevin Ng about her repertoire, overcoming biases about her voice type, and how she plans to play “energetic, young women” as long as she can.
Concerto barocco
Christopher Corwin on three stylish sopranos delighting audiences live in New York and on recording in a trio of new releases.
Khovanschina
A performance recorded earlier this month at the Salzburg Easter Festival.
Arabella
A live broadcast of a most Viennese opera from Vienna itself
Iolanta
A live video broadcast from Vienna of Tchaikovsky‘s opera
A favorite Donizetti performance from James Grant
In 1972, when I was 12 years old, my mother took me to the Salzburg Festival.
By James Grant
125 comments
Betrothal in a Monastery
A live broadcast of Prokofiev‘s opera from Vienna’s Theater an der Wien
A favorite Donizetti performance from Mr. Portafiori
One of my favorite scenes from Donizetti is the Act I finale from Anna Bolena.
By Mr. Portafiori
144 comments
Iolanta
A live broadcast of Tchaikovsky‘s opera from Vienna starring Sonya Yoncheva
The Women are like that
A stylish and funny Così fan tutte at LA Opera is a pretty glam affair, according to Patrick Mack.
Norma
Federica Lombardi is Norma in a performance recorded in Vienna last month.
Act out, Luisa
Prompted by Washington Concert Opera’s upcoming Luisa Miller, Chris Cache’s misbehaves five times by offering just the opera’s final act with sopranos from the 1970s, some of whom might be considered “under-appreciated”: Gabriella Tucci, Adriana Maliponte, Renata Scotto, Gilda Cruz-Romo, and Katia Ricciarelli.
Wishin’ and hopin’ and thinkin’ and prayin’
Eli Jacobson inaugurates parterre box’s new “Perspectives on the Aria” feature with a deep dive into Leonore’s “Abscheulicher!” from Beethoven’s Fidelio which returns to the Metropolitan Opera tomorrow with the Met’s current dramatic soprano star Lise Davidsen as Leonore.
Sediziosa voce
Ahead of a broadcast in Europe on Arte on Sunday, parterre box has snagged a snippet of Asmik Grigorian‘s eagerly anticipated role debut as Norma in Vienna
Die Zauberflöte
A live broadcast from the Vienna Staatsoper conducted by Franz Welser-Möst.
Otto Schenk 1930-2025
The celebrated Austrian director, known for his picturesque and conservative stagings, was 94.
It’ll all be Auger
A perfect meeting of voice with composer occurred when Arleen Auger took part in the rediscovery of early works by Mozart.
New kids from the bloc
If song recitals by opera stars Piotr Beczala and Asmik Grigorian sometimes came up short, Semyon Bychkov’s powerful rendition of the Glagolitic Mass instantly became one of the year’s highlights.
My Verona
It surprises even me how some operas have eluded me in live performance even after lo, these many years. One of them is Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette.
Draculette reborn
Happy was I to attend the Celebrity Opera Series presentation Saturday night at BroadStage, mere blocks from my humble abode in Santa Monica as Anglela Gheorghiu was making an eagerly awaited return for the first time since her debut here in 2013.
Thoughts on Il trovatore: recordings
As for complete recordings of Il trovatore, which was discussed at some length last week, there are at least 200 of them, both studio and live.
I’ll take the fall
The days are getting shorter, but you can keep the prattle going this fall’s Talk of the Town! You will, you can, you must join in the discussion about: Great mezzo soprano performances (October),
Gained in translation (November), Teleport me back to… (December).