Alexander Vinogradov as Count Rodolfo, Xabier Anduaga as Elvino, Deborah Nansteel as Teresa, Nadine Sierra as Amina, Sydney Mancasola as Lisa, Nicholas Newton as Alessio, and solo dancer Niara Hardister (above) in Bellini's "La Sonnambula." Photo: Marty Sohl / Met Opera

Ain’t no mountain high enough

A new production of La sonnambula at the Metropolitan Opera is musically charming if dramatically confounding.

Roberto Ricci

Only vaulting ambition

Macbeth at the Festival Verdi in Parma aims big -- on a small scale

Stephanie Berger

The 500 Fingers of Dr. H

Surely you agree that piano concerti are inherently political.

Javier Del Real

Moor is more

A pair of Otellos – in Madrid and Parma – is a study in contrasts.

Nothing makes me feel better than Roberta Peters in Die Zauberflöte

Other queens have been richer of voice or more dramatically compelling, but none I have ever heard succeeds in sounding something other than human.

Nothing makes me feel better than Conchita Supervia

Conchita Supervia (1895-1936), Spanish mezzo, never fails to lift my spirits, in practically everything she sang.

Nothing makes me feel better than Tosca

Suck it, Joseph Kerman: Puccini’s “Shabby Little Shocker” has outlived you and will probably bury us all.

Nothing makes me feel better than Wozzeck

Wozzeck. Yes, really.

Nothing makes me feel better than Grisélidis

From an early age I knew I should have been French.