Aegean in place
Greek National Opera’s Medea in the ancient theater at Epidaurus is an intermittently rewarding exercise in nostalgia.
Germany
Queening out
Brett Dean‘s Of One Blood casts a well-trodden Tudor tale in a poignant, new light.
Die Walküre
Vladimir Jurowski conducts Nicholas Brownlee, Miina-Liisa Värelä, Joachim Bäckström, and Irene Roberts in the opening of the Munich Opera Festival
Streamed June 25, 2026 at 11:00 AM
99 comments
Mahler if ya hear me
Yannick Nézet-Séguin, leading the Met Orchestra, and Joyce DiDonato continue their exploration of Mahler at Carnegie Hall.
Das Rheingold
Kirill Petrenko conducts the Berlin Philharmonic in a performance recorded in April
Streamed June 13, 2026 at 2:00 PM
10 comments
Talestri, regina delle Amazzoni
An opera by Maria Antonia Walpurgis live from the Handel Festival in Halle
Streamed June 6, 2026 at 2:00 PM
7 comments
The Parterre Box Guide to Bayreuth
After more than twenty years of unsuccessful attempts to secure tickets, I imagined that experiencing a performance at the Festspielhaus would be a singular, once-in-a-lifetime event. Yet…
Not in Kansas anymore
Christopher Corwin speaks to rising bass-baritone Le Bu about his journey from Yancheng, China to the Met (with a stop in Wichita) and what important roles await him.
The Berlin stories
Madison Schindele surveys the endlessly diverse offerings of Berlin’s 2026-27 opera season.
The Grand Salzburg Hotel
A.J. Goldmann on the Salzburg Festival’s revolving doors, both in its administration and in its delectable production of Il viaggio a Reims.
Were you silent or were you silenced
A new production of Die schweigsame Frau at the Berlin Staatsoper has precious little to say.
Nabucco
Francesco Lanzilotta leads Ariunbaatar Ganbataar and Anastasia Bartoli in a live performance from Berlin
Streamed May 23, 2026 at 12:00 PM
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Holding out for a hero
Clémence de Grandval’s Mazeppa gets the superhero treatment in Dortmund.
They don’t stoop to conquer
The countertenors conquer the day in Handel‘s Giulio Cesare in Egitto at the Deutsche Oper Berlin.
A favorite Verdi performance from CKurwenal
Like probably all of us, there are so many different things I could have submitted for a favorite Verdi performance.
By CKurwenal
51 comments
“Modern convention is the oddity”
Michael Spyres talks to Kevin Ng about his winding path as a baritenor, which composer he wants to conquer next, and how he makes Wagner work in his voice — and in his native Ozarks.
Un ballo in maschera
Enrique Mazzola conducts a live performance from Berlin starring Charles Castronovo, Amartuvshin Enkhbat, Anna Netrebko, and Anna Kissjudit
Streamed March 29, 2026 at 12:00 PM
43 comments
Lohengrin
Joana Mallwitz conducts Piotr Beczała, Rachel Willis-Sørensen, Tanja Ariane Baumgartner, and Wolfgang Koch in a slightly delayed performance from Baden-Baden
Streamed March 28, 2026 at 2:00 PM
25 comments
A favorite bass performance from Cornelia
I don’t know if I’ll ever hear as great a performance as René Pape‘s Gurnemanz.
By Cornelia
42 comments
Once I was a schlepper, now I’m Miss Mazeppa
John Danaher on the world-premiere recording of Clémence de Grandval‘s wild and worthy Mazeppa, the latest release from the operatic archaeologists at Palazzetto Bru Zane.
Elektra
Ingela Brimberg, Christina Nilsson, Karita Mattila, and Andreas Bauer Kanabas lead a performance recorded last month in Hamburg
Streamed March 14, 2026 at 2:00 PM
7 comments
Tunnel vision
Lise Davidsen, Michael Spyres, and Yannick Nézet-Séguin are astonishing in Tristan und Isolde at the Met, while Yuval Sharon‘s new production is anything but.
Is this head kosher?
A captivating Asmik Grigorian leads the Bayerishce Staatsoper‘s revival of its Holocaust-set Salome.
Rigoletto
Igor Golovatenko, Serena Sáenz, and Bekhzod Davronov lead a live broadcast from Munich
Streamed March 7, 2026 at 2:03 PM
2 comments
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).