Tabor-ing under no illusions
A grandly sung revival of The Ballad of Baby Doe at Central City Opera mines poignance from America’s past and present.
Live
Aix and you shall receive
Mesdames et Messieurs, this summer’s broadcasts from the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence begin this weekend!
Beyond the valley of the gods
The Bayerische Staatsoper’s Ring cycle scores another triumph with Tobias Kratzer’s take on Die Walküre.
Daniel Barenboim is a great opera conductor
Daniel Barenboim’s Tristan und Isolde is a performance I keep coming back to, again and again.
16 comments
Broadcasts / Live Chat
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I first experienced the magic of Seiji Ozawa in 1972 when I was 12 years old.
Ambur Braid‘s biggest dramatic soprano assignment yet — the Dyer’s Wife in Aix — is occasion for Parterre Box to feature her in some of her old repertoire.
Fausto Cleva, in this glorious Fanciulla from the old Met, demonstrates all the great skills of opera conducting
A Pasolini-inspired Tosca at La Monnaie does not quite find the pleasure in the pain.
I think Patanè did far more than just hold it together: he did full honor to Verdi.
Tell us: Filth or dementia?
Hasten thee to feed another quarter of conversation for The Talk of the Town!
Grand Tier Grab Bag
Grand Tier Grab Bag
Box Braid
Box Braid
Ambur Braid‘s biggest dramatic soprano assignment yet — the Dyer’s Wife in Aix — is occasion for Parterre Box to feature her in some of her old repertoire.
Ambur Braid‘s biggest dramatic soprano assignment yet — the Dyer’s Wife in Aix — is occasion for Parterre Box to feature her in some of her old repertoire.
Grand Tier Grab Bag
Goodnight, Irene
Goodnight, Irene
Grand Tier Grab Bag features the American Zwischenfach mezzo Irene Roberts ahead of an eclectic season of Wagner.
Grand Tier Grab Bag features the American Zwischenfach mezzo Irene Roberts ahead of an eclectic season of Wagner.
Grand Tier Grab Bag
Poetic license
Poetic license
Parterre Box shines a light on Liparit Avetisyan, who made his Met debut as Alfredo earlier this spring.
Parterre Box shines a light on Liparit Avetisyan, who made his Met debut as Alfredo earlier this spring.
Grand Tier Grab Bag
Frau Miina-Liisa will es werde Nacht
Frau Miina-Liisa will es werde Nacht
Parterre Box features soprano Miina-Liisa Värelä, making her title role debut in Die Walküre in Munich next week, in a performance of Tristan und Isolde from 2021.
Parterre Box features soprano Miina-Liisa Värelä, making her title role debut in Die Walküre in Munich next week, in a performance of Tristan und Isolde from 2021.
Grand Tier Grab Bag
Lux aeterna luceat eis
Lux aeterna luceat eis
Grand Tier Grab Bag this week honors the late Limmie Pulliam with a bit of his Verdi Requiem.
Grand Tier Grab Bag this week honors the late Limmie Pulliam with a bit of his Verdi Requiem.
Grand Tier Grab Bag
Kathryn the great
Kathryn the great
Parterre Box previews Kathryn Lewek‘s upcoming Salome with clips of her as another unhinged lady of antiquity.
Parterre Box previews Kathryn Lewek‘s upcoming Salome with clips of her as another unhinged lady of antiquity.
Broadcast
Die Walküre / Bayerische Staatsoper
Tobias Kratzer‘s new production in a live video broadcast from Munich
Streamed July 4, 2026 at 10:30 AM
109 comments
He has conducted some of my favorite opera recordings.
Although Ernest Ansermet is most often associated with orchestral music, his 1964 recording of Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande is still my favorite.
Ahead of his new production of Die Frau ohne Schatten, Barrie Kosky chats with Kevin Ng in Aix about pretty much everything — except the details of his new Frau.
Greek National Opera’s Medea in the ancient theater at Epidaurus is an intermittently rewarding exercise in nostalgia.
San Francisco Opera hosts an exuberant tribute to queerness past and present.
Historically, conductors were often viewed as rigid, authoritarian figures. Yannick Nézet-Séguin completely subverts this stereotype.
Talk of the Town
The Talk of the Town
Daniel Barenboim is a great opera conductor
Daniel Barenboim is a great opera conductor
Daniel Barenboim’s Tristan und Isolde is a performance I keep coming back to, again and again.
Daniel Barenboim’s Tristan und Isolde is a performance I keep coming back to, again and again.
The Talk of the Town
Seiji Ozawa was a great opera conductor
Seiji Ozawa was a great opera conductor
I first experienced the magic of Seiji Ozawa in 1972 when I was 12 years old.
I first experienced the magic of Seiji Ozawa in 1972 when I was 12 years old.
The Talk of the Town
Fausto Cleva was a great opera conductor
Fausto Cleva was a great opera conductor
Fausto Cleva, in this glorious Fanciulla from the old Met, demonstrates all the great skills of opera conducting
Fausto Cleva, in this glorious Fanciulla from the old Met, demonstrates all the great skills of opera conducting
The Talk of the Town
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.
I think Patanè did far more than just hold it together: he did full honor to Verdi.
The Talk of the Town
Rafael Kubelik was a great opera conductor
Rafael Kubelik was a great opera conductor
Opera conductors … my favorite subject!
Opera conductors … my favorite subject!
The Talk of the Town
Herbert von Karajan was a great opera conductor
Herbert von Karajan was a great opera conductor
He has conducted some of my favorite opera recordings.
He has conducted some of my favorite opera recordings.
Grand Tier Grab Bag features the American Zwischenfach mezzo Irene Roberts ahead of an eclectic season of Wagner.
Brett Dean‘s Of One Blood casts a well-trodden Tudor tale in a poignant, new light.
The artist who I feel should have made it to the Met is Patrizia Ciofi.
Giannina Arangi-Lombardi never sang at the Met.
Brundibár at the Opéra Comique combines whimsy with historicity to sobering effect.
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