A passing mood
Mascagni‘s Zanetto, a slight, Renaissance scene, gets a new recording from the Berlin Opera Group.
New York
Les Troyens à Carthage
The second part of Berlioz's Les Troyens in a broadcast from 1974 starring Christa Ludwig and Jon Vickers, chosen by Yannick Nézet-Séguin
Streamed March 7, 2026 at 1:00 PM
121 comments
They do the sand dance, don’t you know?
Akhnaten has lost none of its power or glitz at the Los Angeles Opera.
I’m likin’ this American boy
Baritone John Brancy smoothly traverses the American songbook at Carnegie Hall.
She’s no basic britch
Samantha Hankey’s Composer is the standout in the Wiener Staatsoper’s episodically sublime Ariadne auf Naxos revival.
La Prise de Troie
The first part of Berlioz's Les Troyens in a broadcast from 1974 starring Shirley Verrett and Jon Vickers, chosen by Yannick Nézet-Séguin
Streamed February 28, 2026 at 1:00 PM
116 comments
Married to their jobs
Ahead of their opening in Don Carlo in Dallas tonight, Christopher Corwin chats with Nicole Car and Étienne Dupuis — and offers a special edition of Chris’s Cache!
Tra voi belle
Following the announcement that she’ll make her Met debut next season, Grand Tier Grab Bag brings Italian soprano Erika Grimaldi to your attention with a duet from Manon Lescaut.
The René Jacobs Giulio Cesare is so overrated
George Frideric Handel (born 341 years ago on Monday) composed over 40 operas including many masterpieces, but his Giulio Cesare is the one that everyone knows best.
For my next trick
The St. Louis Symphony Orchestra under conductor Stéphane Denève plays up the schtick in a concert performance of The Magic Flute – and obscures Mozart’s magic in the process.
Dashed hopes
Joyce DiDonato makes the most of Kevin Puts‘s trite new Emily Dickinson monodrama.
Manon Lescaut
Mirella Freni stars in a 1990 Metropolitan Opera performance chosen by Asmik Grigorian
Streamed February 21, 2026 at 1:00 PM
57 comments
Di qualità, di qualità!
San Diego Opera presents a strongly directed and cast revival of Il barbiere di Siviglia.
Some unholy wars
Caitlin Vincent‘s new book Opera Wars paints a persuasive picture of the problems facing opera today, though her solutions leave something to be desired.
The Solti Ring Cycle is so overrated
It was many decades ago that I first listened to the Solti Ring Cycle.
By Mister Snow
281 comments
Idomeneo
A performance from 1986 featuring David Rendall, Frederica von Stade, and Hildegard Behrens curated by Joyce DiDonato
Streamed February 14, 2026 at 1:00 PM
178 comments
Living the part
Diana Soviero chats with Roger Pines about six decades of performing, four decades of teaching, and how she’s handing the tradition off to the next generation.
Extravaganza of ideas
Iván Fischer‘s Mahler 3 with the Budapest Festival Orchestra at Carnegie Hall is memorable but crude, sometimes exhilarating and often tedious.
The crowd-pleaser comes around
Juan Diego Flórez‘s charm and artistic sensibility remain as vibrant as ever, as seen at a recent Carnegie Hall recital.
Werther
A performance from 1979 starring Alfredo Kraus and Régine Crespin, chosen by Lawrence Brownlee
Streamed February 7, 2026 at 1:00 PM
54 comments
Carnegie Hall 2026–27 season: the vocal highlights
Heavy-hitters: the first complete Ring in its history, Tosca with Marina Rebeka, Jonas Kaufmann, and Ludovic Tézier; plus recitals from Aigul Akhmetshina, Nadine Sierra, Jeanine De Bique, Michael Spyres, and more
More than a material girl
The vivacious MANON! at Heartbeat Opera makes a strong case for the return of opera in translation.
Any recording of Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny is so overrated
It’s always surprised me how so many performances of the major Brecht/Weill collaborations seem to have zero clue of how to handle either Weill’s music.
By Cornelia
6 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).