Recording Reviews

Now, voyager

The miracle workers at Boston Modern Orchestra Project and Odyssey Opera have published another premiere recording of a work that I’ve long heard of but never heard: Dominick Argento’s The Voyage of Edgar Allan Poe.

our own

Before the fall

If you haven't yet sounded off for this fall's The Talk of the Town, what on earth are you waiting for?

Marcello Orselli

Grand Tier Grab Bag

Sings like a god

Anticipating a busy season for both, Parterre Box features married couple Angela Meade and John Matthew Myers trading soaring Strauss lines in a duet from Die Liebe der Danae.

Steven Pisano

Museum quality

Opera Philadelphia’s Il viaggio a Reims in a nutshell: Hyperactive, confusing, and distracting from (and sometimes for) the singers? Yes. Imaginative, wildly entertaining, and musically rewarding? Absolutely.

Courtesy of Wolf Trap

The rain in Spain

Wolf Trap Opera concluded its 2025 summer season last month with a production of Carmen that was vocally strong, though not entirely dramatically satisfying, amid challenging weather.

Next season I’m excited for The Death of Klinghoffer

Maggio Musicale Fiorentino presents John Adams's The Death of Klinghoffer next May.

Next season I’m excited for Palm Beach Opera

Palm Beach Opera has listed its 3 operas for next year -- La bohème, The Pearl Fishers, and Rigoletto -- but has not listed any casting yet!

Next season I’m excited for Corinne Winters in Il trittico

Corinne Winters will take on a trio of roles in Puccini's Trittico in Houston.

Next season I’m excited for Lisette Oropesa in Roméo et Juliette

I am looking forward to seeing The Greatest Thing Ever as Gounod's Juliette, a role I have never seen her in, at the Berlin Staatsoper on 6 November.

Next season I’m excited for Pacific Opera Project

I am pretty excited to add coverage of nearby performances while I am getting settled here in Southern California.

Next season I’m excited for Der Freischütz en français

Thank you, Leon Botstein, for giving us a chance to hear the Berlioz adaptation of Der Freischütz (or Freyschütz).

Next season I’m excited for Aïda

My next production will be Aïda with the Israel Philharmonic conducted by Zubin Mehta.

Next season I’m excited for Kyle Ketelsen in Don Giovanni

It's always interesting to hear the master of one role in an opera take on another one.

Next season I’m excited for Innocence

Kaija Saariaho’s gifts for vocal and instrumental writing and the uncanniness of the themes she musicalized resonate with unforced power

Next season I’m excited for De Materie

De Materie (1989) by Louis Andriessen is unsuitable for home listening, so I'm really looking forward to hearing the great Asko|Schönberg ensemble perform it live in Rotterdam next season.