Aryeh ready for a miracle? Aryeh ready for a miracle?

Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen shows that he’s at the top of a crowded pack of countertenors in two recent New York performances with Philharmonia Baroque.

Barbara Hannigan should make it to the Met Barbara Hannigan should make it to the Met

The fact that Barbara Hannigan has never performed at The Metropolitan Opera is just plain dumb.

Follow the signs Follow the signs

Opera directors could learn a thing or two from Deaf Broadway’s vivacious performance of Jeanine Tesori‘s Violet.

I wanna be the one to walk in the sun I wanna be the one to walk in the sun

Two recent Paminas feature in concerts at Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall.

<em>Blue</em> it <em>Blue</em> it

Jeanine Tesori’s Blue is an ambitious and worthy opera that deserves a better presentation than it got at Lincoln Center on Saturday.

The bodies keep score The bodies keep score

Music for New Bodies at Lincoln Center’s Running AMOC* Festival proves Matthew Aucoin really is everything he’s made out to be

Now and at the hour of our death Now and at the hour of our death

This evening of Julius Eastman at Lincoln Center was so good it hurt

The turning point The turning point

The Comet/Poppea at this summer’s Running AMOC* festival at Lincoln Center is a thrilling, startling, deeply moving experience

Pennies from heaven Pennies from heaven

BAM is back!

Thoughts on <em>Il trovatore</em>: the opera Thoughts on <em>Il trovatore</em>: the opera

When asked to express some “thoughts” here about Verdi’s Il trovatore, my immediate thought was “hmm… not a lot to think about there.”

Crying ‘Uncle’ Crying ‘Uncle’

Surely it was lightning in a bottle. The announcement that Steve Carell would appear at Lincoln Center’s Beaumont Theater playing the titular Uncle Vanya in Anton Chekhov’s classic play would, of course, be a box office windfall.

Garden party Garden party

Two of France’s leading Early Music ensembles recently visited New York City to perform music by some of the 17th century’s leading composers.

Mälkki way Mälkki way

When the New York Philharmonic announced Gustavo Dudamel as its next music director earlier this year, speculation arose immediately as to who would take his place out West when he leaves the Los Angeles Philharmonic in 2026.

I shall be released I shall be released

Welcome, beloveds, to the Jessye Norman Memorial Museum. I’ll be the docent for your tour today.

Overachiever Overachiever

The program for Jasmine Rice LaBeijas concert as part of Works & Process at the Guggenheim on Wednesday, March 8 read a bit like a curriculum vitae.

Touched by a fallen Angel Touched by a fallen Angel

Angel Blue‘s refulgent, lush soprano blooms as Violetta’s vocal lines broaden and soar.

I had too much to dream last night I had too much to dream last night

Trove Thursday previews next week’s BBC Proms presentation of Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius with a 2008 broadcast conducted by Colin Davis with Sarah Connolly, Ben Heppner and Gerald Finley.

Behold the happy pair Behold the happy pair

Beverly Sills and Renée Fleming perform 30 years apart the same work with the same orchestra in the same venue!

Queen’s evidence Queen’s evidence

Trove Thursday’s belated contribution to last weekend’s Platinum Jubilee is a broadcast from Aldeburgh of Benjamin Britten’s Gloriana with Christine Brewer and Tom Randle as Elizabeth and Essex, an opera which premiered 69 years ago yesterday.

Mark, with thee we mean to live Mark, with thee we mean to live

People these days often exclaim “…..is everything!” but often it feels like gross hyperbole. But surely anyone who has seen Mark Morris’s L’Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato since it premiered in 1989 would agree that it is indeed everything!

To the night To the night

Minutes into “An die Nacht,” the first song Friday night, I realized how much I’d missed being enveloped in that seductive Straussian combination of a soprano (or two or three) rising higher and higher over a surging orchestra.

A place in the shade A place in the shade

Next Wednesday is the composer’s 337th birthday, so Trove Thursday previews this spring’s most enticing Handel performance with two very different live versions of his delightful Serse,.

Endearing gifts Endearing gifts

Since my previous CD round-up review the onslaught of solo recital disks of 18th century (and sometimes also 17th) vocal music has continued unabated.

Shining through Shining through

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