Do you believe in magic? Do you believe in magic?

Remember that time you went to the opera and the whole evening was like magic? Saturday night at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion probably ranks among my greatest nights in the theater and I’m finding the superlatives in my thesaurus inadequate to the task.

The big cube The big cube

Ludwig van Beethoven’s “rescue opera” Fidelio was presented by San Francisco Opera as their first new production of the season last Thursday in reinterpreted fashion.

Riddle me this Riddle me this

Turandot finally arrives on Trove Thursday, but it’s the setting by Ferruccio Busoni which predates by a decade the one by that other Italian guy, and it’s paired today with Arlecchino, the composer’s other commedia dell’arte-influenced short opera.

No country for gold men No country for gold men

Trove Thursday offers two very different live recordings of Halévy’s grand opera La Juive.

Uncloistered Uncloistered

Let’s all cast our minds back to March of 2020. Or, better, let’s not.

Letting their hair down Letting their hair down

After the break the ladies stepped up their game so much that it elevated the night into legendary status: definitely one for the books!

Tauride zone Tauride zone

This week Trove Thursday presents Gluck’s Iphigénie en Tauride in three stirring broadcasts starring Rita Gorr, Gré Brouwenstijn and Sena Jurinac

Get ready for the judgment day Get ready for the judgment day

In anticipation of the Met’s reopening performance on September 11, another serving of pandemic-hoarding arrives on Trove Thursday with 10 rare live performances of the Verdi Requiem’s concluding “Libera me.”

Uninvited ghost Uninvited ghost

Trove Thursday sends best wishes to Michael Tilson Thomas, currently recovering from a recent surgery to remove a brain tumor, and presents him in a broadcast leading the UK premiere of Rimsky-Korsakov’s Mlada with Makvala Kasrashvili, Felicity Palmer, Jon Frederic West and Sergei Leiferkus.

The curious case of Benjamin Bernheim The curious case of Benjamin Bernheim

Who’s been hiding tenor Benjamin Bernheim from me all this time?

Charisma and chemistry Charisma and chemistry

For this revival of Tosca Teatro Real has configured several casts with some of the best singers in the world: Sondra Radvanovsky, Maria Agresta, Anna Netrebko, Joseph Calleja, Michael Fabiano, Yusif Eyvazov, Jonas Kaufmann, Carlos Álvarez, Gevorg Hakobyan and Luca Salsi.

Can we still be friends? Can we still be friends?

As soon as James Clutton, the new Opera Holland Park director, stepped on stage to welcome the audience, we all knew that we were not at the typical English summer opera festival.

War! What is it good for? War! What is it good for?

The crown jewel of this year’s Munich Festival is undoubtedly Richard Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde, which opened the Festival on June 29 and will close the Festival with an “Opera for All” screening on July 31.

“Jonathan loved him as his own soul” “Jonathan loved him as his own soul”

Trove Thursday celebrates Pride with a Bible-based homoerotic sort-of opera not by the guy who wrote “Depuis le jour”: Charpentier’s David et Jonathas with Mark Padmore, Laurent Naouri and Jaël Azzaretti led by Emmanuelle Haïm.

Gianna Rolandi 1952-2021 Gianna Rolandi 1952-2021

American soprano Gianna Rolandi died Sunday morning, according to a number of her friends and colleagues. She was 68.

Two by two Two by two

Were Joan Sutherland and Marilyn Horne 20th century opera’s ultimate same-sex pairing?

I have a song to sing, O! I have a song to sing, O!

The lovely English soprano Valerie Masterson turns 84 today, prompting Trove Thursday to present her in a pair of her specialties.

Stratas in the Sixties Stratas in the Sixties

Teresa Stratas turned 83 yesterday and Trove Thursday features one of the recent past’s most interesting yet frustrating artists in two rare broadcasts.

In memoriam Pauline Tinsley In memoriam Pauline Tinsley

Pauline Tinsley, who died May 11, made few commercial recordings; Trove Thursday offers the thrilling English soprano in excerpts over nearly two decades from nine works ranging from Handel to Richard Strauss.

Maddalena scene Maddalena scene

This solid if not stellar performance finds our diva in particularly passionate form. Maybe they should have re-titled it Maddalena?

Shining through Shining through

Trove Thursday celebrates Christa Ludwig with live excerpts from 1955 through 1982.

Night of the comet Night of the comet

The American Opera Society introduced many important singers to New York City audiences, but few were as controversial as the Greek soprano Elena Souliotis; Trove Thursday offers her local debut (at age 23) in Anna Bolena with Marilyn Horne, Janet Baker, Plácido Domingo and Carlo Cava.

I, Franco I, Franco

Franco Corelli was born on April 8, 1921 in Ancona and Trove Thursday celebrates the matinee-idol tenor’s centenary with a pair of his rare non-Met US appearances; seducing Marie Collier in La Fanciulla del West and vacillating between Ilva Ligabue and Grace Bumbry in Il Trovatore.

Lois Kirschenbaum 1933-2021 Lois Kirschenbaum 1933-2021

We all lost a great champion of the arts as news arrived that Lois Kirschenbaum passed away on 27 March at the Beth Israel hospital.