Before anything else, and I know this usually comes at the end, a very warm thank you to the Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne for the invitation. Truly appreciated. Now,…
BRAHMS / ELGAR | Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia
There are pianists one admires, and then there are pianists who make admiration feel like an inadequate response. Igor Levit belongs to the second category — and the Brahms First…
LA TRAVIATA | Teatro Comunale Ferrara
Before even talking about the opera… I need to talk about the place. Because honestly, for me, the Teatro Comunale di Ferrara is one of the most beautiful theatres in…
TOSCA | Opera Carlo Felice
I hadn’t been to the opera in over a month. I think that has never happened in my life. And let me tell you — a few minutes before the…
DER ROSENKAVALIER | Staatsoper Berlin
After the triumph of Elektra and the less conclusive venture of Ödipus und die Sphinx, Hofmannsthal felt the need to step back from tragedy and attempt a genre more accessible…
MACBETH | Bayerische Staatsoper
Verdi was thirty-three years old. The great trilogy did not yet exist. Rigoletto, Trovatore, Traviata — none of it. And yet here he was, producing this: an opera about guilt…
DIALOGUES DES CARMELITES | Teatro Regio Torino
It is noteworthy that Poulenc’s masterpiece has enjoyed a growing presence on Italian stages in recent years. After Rome and Venice, Turin has now presented “Dialogues des Carmélites” for the…
BILLY BUDD | Opéra National de Lyon
Presented for the first time in its history at the Opéra de Lyon, Billy Budd by Benjamin Britten is staged by the company’s director, Richard Brunel. It is no small…
IL TROVATORE | Opéra de Monte-Carlo
There is something quietly miraculous about Il Trovatore. Dismissed by snobs and adored by the masses, Verdi’s most melodically concentrated opera has always thrived on a certain paradox: the more…