Faces in the crowd
Saturday night’s Rosenkavalier at the Met was an evening of excess — beautiful singing, sensitive acting, elaborate sets, and an unfortunate business that mars Robert Carsen’s otherwise excellent production.
Metropolitan Opera
The mothership and mecca of opera in America—and home base for Parterre Box.
Every snarl and shimmer
Yannick Nézet-Séguin and the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra reigned supreme at the opening night of Wozzeck on Friday evening, rendering every snarl and shimmer of Berg’s score with gripping intensity.
Wozzeck
Tonight’s listening experience: the premiere of a new Met production of Wozzeck.
Macbeth
A blast from the (recent) past on this afternoon’s Met broadcast.
You better sit down kids
If Sunday’s performance of Magic Flute at the Met demonstrated one thing, it is that opera targeted at children must be just as good as (if not better than) opera targeted at adults.
Bass instinct
Günther Groissböck’s ridiculously entertaining Baron Ochs and Sir Simon Rattle’s enthralling conducting soared highest during a mostly excellent revival of Der Rosenkavalier.
Der Rosenkavalier
The Strauss-Hofmannsthal sex comedy returns to the Met tonight at 7:00.
Sitting Pretti
The Metropolitan Opera today announces two cast changes for its forthcoming production of Verdi’s La Traviata, opening January 10, 2020.
The real deal
Yusif Eyvazov dominated Friday’s Met premiere of Pikovaya Dama with a fearless, world-class portrayal that instantly transformed the opera into December’s must-see event.
It’s now or Neva
In preparation for her much-awaited Met debut, Lise Davidsen sings the arioso from Queen of Spades.
Seal the deal
“Yusif Eyvazov will sing Hermann in the performances of Tchaikovsky’s The Queen of Spades on November 29 and December 2 and 5, replacing Aleksandrs Antonenko, who has withdrawn due to illness.”
Singing through
A near-full house attended the Jessye Norman Memorial Celebration at the Met on Sunday afternoon, the auditorium packed with family, friends, colleagues, and fans of the late soprano, who passed away on September 30 of this year.
La bohème
That bohemian opera returns to the airwaves tonight at 7:25 PM.
Let your love flow
Saturday afternoon’s performance of Le Nozze di Figaro at the Met was awash with contradictions.
Le nozze di Figaro
Listen and discuss, cher public, beginning at 12:55 PM. Photo: Marty Sohl/The Metropolitan Opera
Unfriended
The Metropolitan Opera announced today that longtime [almost 40 years!] Artistic Administrator Jonathan Friend will be stepping down from his position following the end of the 2019–20 season.
A place in the sun
Friday evening’s Met premiere of Akhnaten was a resounding triumph and an outstanding testament to Philip Glass’s enduring operatic vision.
Endlessly engrossing
It seems a travesty that Philip Glass’s Akhnaten, one of the seminal works of the 20th by one of America’s most iconic composers, is only just receiving its Met premiere in 2019, some 35 years after its first performance!
Akhnaten
The Metropolitan Opera premiere of Akhnaten begins at 7:55 PM.
Count your blessings
“Etienne Dupuis will sing the Count in the February 5, 8, and 11 performances of Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro, replacing Mariusz Kwiecien.“
Orfeo ed Euridice
Gluck’s masterpiece returns to the streamwaves tonight for your listening and chatting pleasure.
We’ll always have Paris
At Friday night’s performance of La Bohème at the Met, the cast seemed to lean into (and gamble upon) the production’s enduring popularity.
Drag me to hell
My first-ever Met Sunday opera brought the welcome return of Gluck’s sublime Orfeo ed Euridice in an enchanting afternoon that combined elegant conducting, joyous dancing and Jamie Barton’s extraordinary hero.
Win a Free Ticket to Opening Night at the Met!
Quinn Kelsey and Lise Davidsen star in the Met's new Macbeth. We're giving away one ticket, so screw your courage to the sticking place and enter now!
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).
