Vox populi Vox populi

In Bayreuth, a confident Magnus Vigilius and luminous Jennifer Holloway attempt to elevate Wagner’s populist Rienzi.

Maurice Abravanel was a great opera conductor Maurice Abravanel was a great opera conductor

Based on exactly one recording, Maurice Abravanel is my favorite opera conductor.

Giuseppe Patanè was a great opera conductor Giuseppe Patanè was a great opera conductor

I think Patanè did far more than just hold it together: he did full honor to Verdi.

The Pennsylvania Dutchman The Pennsylvania Dutchman

Verdi’s Stiffelio goes Amish in Vienna, featuring a stellar Luciano Ganci in the title role.

Tunnel vision 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.

Married to their jobs 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!

Erste Brautnacht Erste Brautnacht

Nearly three years after the premiere of François Girard’s Lohengrin at the Met, Parterre Box looks back at the production with a duet from Piotr Beczala and Elena Stikhina.

Old friends, new friends Old friends, new friends

Les Arts Florissants present two ravishing programs in Brooklyn and Manhattan. 

Scarcity mindset Scarcity mindset

Michael Thalmeier‘s Tristan und Isolde in Berlin asks, how much minimalism is too much minimalism?

I’m still thinking about Hans Neuenfels’s <em>Lohengrin</em> I’m still thinking about Hans Neuenfels’s <em>Lohengrin</em>

Who are the rats? Why are their tails getting longer? Is Lohengrin a rat trying to free himself from a maze?

Grail against the machine Grail against the machine

A new production of Parsifal at San Francisco Opera stirred something deep inside Michael Anthonio about how music soothes the soul

Nothing makes me feel better than <em>Lohengrin</em> Nothing makes me feel better than <em>Lohengrin</em>

I take such comfort in the assumption that someone or something will save us from injustice and the lust for power.

Jaundiced view Jaundiced view

Richard Lynn bravely asks what we’re hoping to get out of the continued Peter Gelb-bashing — and whether our expectations of him have ever been fair

This is what trauma looks like This is what trauma looks like

Valentin Schwarz‘s and Simone Young‘s Ring, in its final outing at Bayreuth, is dramaturgically messy and musically excellent.

A favorite Wagner performance from Scott Grunow A favorite Wagner performance from Scott Grunow

Rita Gorr as Ortrud, Bayreuth, 1959, Cluytens.

Space oddity Space oddity

In Lohengrin, populism comes to an apocalyptic end on the Bavarian stage

Lohengrin Lohengrin

A performance recorded earlier today at the Bayreuth Festival

Robert Wilson 1941-2025 Robert Wilson 1941-2025

The groundbreaking director and designer of works like Einstein on the Beach died earlier today at his home in Water Mill, New York

Do you believe in life after opera? Do you believe in life after opera?

Opera Director and Detroit Opera Artistic Director Yuval Sharon begins his recent book A New Philosophy of Opera by imagining a future – some forty to fifty years from now – in which opera ceases to exist as an art form.

Peter Seiffert 1954-2025 Peter Seiffert 1954-2025

The German Heldentenor died yesterday at his home in Austria.

T’amo ancora qual t’amava in basso stato T’amo ancora qual t’amava in basso stato

As this is “Donizetti Month” here on parterre box, Chris’s Cache offers the recently deceased Paul Plishka and Opera Orchestra of New York with Carol Vaness in Anna Bolena and with Mariella Devia in the rarely heard Adelia.

Beyond redemption Beyond redemption

This performance of Mahler’s Symphony N°8 at the Bozar in Brussels will probably be my last ever Mahler concert.

Next to godliness Next to godliness

Washington National Opera rounded out its season opening weekend with a one-night-only performance entitled “Gods & Mortals: A Celebration of Wagner” the evening after the premiere of its new production of Fidelio.

It’s Brittany, bitch It’s Brittany, bitch

Sparks flew when the San Francisco Opera opened their new production of Richard Wagner’s monumental Tristan und Isolde on Saturday, October 19th, at the War Memorial Opera House.