A live broadcast from New York
A muted and merry carousel ride out of feudalism in the Met’s production of Le nozze di Figaro
A parade of young singers delight in an intimate Madama Butterfly at Amore Opera
As this is “Donizetti Month” here on parterre box, Chris’s Cache offers the recently deceased Paul Plishka and Opera Orchestra of New York with Carol Vaness in Anna Bolena and with Mariella Devia in the rarely heard Adelia.
Opera Philadelphia announced today its 50th Anniversary 2025-2026 season, the second under the leadership of Anthony Roth Costanzo, but the first to bear his distinctive imprint.
IN Series concluded its exploration of the works of Claudio Monteverdi with a production of the composer’s final opera, L’incoronazione di Poppea, performed with the addition of Indian music and dance.
A live broadcast from New York
Look, for one of the most-staged operas in the repertoire, Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte seems awfully difficult to stage.
A live broadcast from New York
This week, Chris’s Cache highlights Bernarda Fink and Inga Kalna in an opera by Johann Gottlieb Naumann
Some people were introduced to the art form listening to the Met’s NBC broadcasts on a glowing tube radio or watching acid-trip animated adaptations on the BBC or seeing Elmer Fudd sing, “Kill the Wabbit.” I came to opera through simulated drive-by shootings soundtracked by The Marriage of Figaro.
Hilda Harris and Catherine Malfitano in an 1981 broadcast to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Ravel‘s opera
Christina Nilsson‘s debut enlivens the Met’s new Aïda.
Karen Slack is downright magisterial in her recital African Queens.
The conclusion of the Metropolitan Opera’s annual competition, live from New York
Joyce Guyer’s silvery soprano, impeccable musicianship and beguiling stage presence made her an invaluable member of the Met roster in the late 1990s and early 2000s, appearing most frequently in harmony with others in such assignments as Najade in Ariadne auf Naxos, Woglinde in Wagner’s Ring Cycle and as a Parsifal Flower Maiden.
The new musical starring Idina Menzel, ostensibly a paean to back-to-naturism, could hardly feel more manufactured and synthetic.
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.
Washington Concert Opera delved into Mozart for the first time earlier this month with the composer’s once neglected penultimate stage work, La Clemenza di Tito, led by Maestro Antony Walker.
David Fox and Cameron Kelsall review Rebecca Frecknall’s new staging of A Streetcar Named Desire at BAM, “a gripping realization that makes new a play many of us feel we know inside out.”
John Yohalem reports on a serendipitous recital from J’Nai Bridges and Joshua Mhoon in Montclair, New Jersey
Fidelio, which opened last week at the Metropolitan Opera, will always be relevant, I fear.
Tell us: Filth or dementia?
Hasten thee to feed another quarter of conversation for The Talk of the Town!
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