parterre box
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The best opera magazine on the web, bet. Performance reviews, breaking news, critical essays, and brainrot commentary on opera from those demented enough to love it.
Look to your laurels
Look to your laurels
A Strauss rarity receives a ravishing concert performance at Seattle Opera.
parterre.com
January 24, 2026 at 4:00 PM
Look to your laurels
The best thing I saw in 2025 was Christina Nilsson in Aïda
The best thing I saw in 2025 was Christina Nilsson in Aïda
Christina Nilsson's successful Met debut as Aïda was for me one of the shining highlights of the 2025 season.
parterre.com
January 24, 2026 at 3:00 PM
The best thing I saw in 2025 was Christina Nilsson in Aïda
Irish blessing
Irish blessing
Lise Davidsen's first Isolde is only one of the highlights of Tristan und Isolde at the Liceu in Barcelona.
parterre.com
January 23, 2026 at 4:00 PM
Irish blessing
The best thing I saw in 2025 was The Queen of Spades
The best thing I saw in 2025 was The Queen of Spades
Garsington's new production of The Queen of Spades, directed by Jack Furness, had better become a house staple.
parterre.com
January 23, 2026 at 3:01 PM
The best thing I saw in 2025 was The Queen of Spades
You’re as cold as ice
You’re as cold as ice
A classic German fairytale gets a modern update at the Staatsoper Berlin.
parterre.com
January 22, 2026 at 4:00 PM
You’re as cold as ice
The best thing I saw in 2025 was Manon
The best thing I saw in 2025 was Manon
I had the pleasure of attending Manon starring Lisette Oropesa and Benjamin Bernheim at Opernhaus Zürich this past October.
parterre.com
January 22, 2026 at 3:00 PM
The best thing I saw in 2025 was Manon
The revolutionary costume for today
The revolutionary costume for today
The 20th anniversary revival of Richard Foreman and Michael Gordon's What to Wear at the PROTOTYPE Festival showcases a fabulous ensemble.
parterre.com
January 21, 2026 at 3:00 PM
The revolutionary costume for today
When her ship comes in
When her ship comes in
Anticipating the titanic arrival of Lise Davidsen's Isolde in New York in March, Parterre Box is thrilled to share a bit of her debut opposite Clay Hilley recorded in Barcelona last week.
parterre.com
January 20, 2026 at 4:01 PM
When her ship comes in
The best thing I saw this year was Pittori fiamminghi
The best thing I saw this year was Pittori fiamminghi
Part of the annual Festival Illica honoring the city's native son Luigi Illica, the performance offered a precious opportunity to hear a rare score by an even rarer composer in a gorgeous medieval piazza.
parterre.com
January 20, 2026 at 3:01 PM
The best thing I saw this year was Pittori fiamminghi
The best thing I saw in 2025 was Robinson Crusoé
The best thing I saw in 2025 was Robinson Crusoé
"When there's so much to get right, unsurprisingly a lot can and, as we all know, does go wrong."
parterre.com
January 19, 2026 at 3:00 PM
The best thing I saw in 2025 was Robinson Crusoé
Stealing fire
Stealing fire
Esa-Pekka Salonen and The Los Angeles Philharmonic serve a feast for all five senses.
parterre.com
January 18, 2026 at 5:00 PM
Stealing fire
I wanna be the one to walk in the sun
I wanna be the one to walk in the sun
Two recent Paminas feature in concerts at Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall.
parterre.com
January 18, 2026 at 4:00 PM
I wanna be the one to walk in the sun
The best things I saw in 2025 were Nina Stemme and Les Arts Florissants
The best things I saw in 2025 were Nina Stemme and Les Arts Florissants
I can't say 2025 was my best operagoing year; apart from a superb Fille du régiment, most of my good nights at the opera were decidedly mixed affairs.
parterre.com
January 18, 2026 at 3:00 PM
The best things I saw in 2025 were Nina Stemme and Les Arts Florissants
The best thing I saw in 2025 was St. John the Baptist
The best thing I saw in 2025 was St. John the Baptist
What do you get when you blend innovative 17th century composition, 1970s family drama, and one of the most sordid tales of the New Testament?
parterre.com
January 17, 2026 at 3:00 PM
The best thing I saw in 2025 was St. John the Baptist
Nun the wiser
Nun the wiser
Sarah Kirkland Snider’s Hildegard gives the Middle Ages the Bridgerton treatment at the Prototype Festival.
parterre.com
January 16, 2026 at 4:00 PM
Nun the wiser
The best thing I saw this year was Das Rheingold
The best thing I saw this year was Das Rheingold
Tobias Kratzer's production of Das Rheingold at the Bayerische Staatsoper was a resounding success.
parterre.com
January 16, 2026 at 3:01 PM
The best thing I saw this year was Das Rheingold
Strangeness in the proportion
Strangeness in the proportion
A pairing of rarities makes for an inspired evening with the Brooklyn Art Song Society.
parterre.com
January 15, 2026 at 4:01 PM
Strangeness in the proportion
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.
parterre.com
January 14, 2026 at 4:01 PM
Erste Brautnacht
The best thing I saw in 2025 was Amartuvshin Enkhbat
The best thing I saw in 2025 was Amartuvshin Enkhbat
I wasn't alive during the golden age of Verdi baritones like MacNeil, Warren, or Gobbi, but hearing Amartuvshin Enkhbat live in an opera house must be the next best thing.
parterre.com
January 14, 2026 at 3:01 PM
The best thing I saw in 2025 was Amartuvshin Enkhbat
Lucky those people who are so anxious to believe
Lucky those people who are so anxious to believe
A high-drama Vanessa by the Boston Symphony Orchestra offers something to believe in.
parterre.com
January 13, 2026 at 3:00 PM
Lucky those people who are so anxious to believe
Dad, I’m seria
Dad, I’m seria
Sir Simon Rattle and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra strike (almost) all the right notes in their new recording of Mozart’s Idomeneo.
parterre.com
January 12, 2026 at 5:00 PM
Dad, I’m seria
Music is a woman
Music is a woman
Dan Johnson on the unique voice of Hildegard composer Sarah Kirkland Snider — and why some music could only ever be written by a woman.
parterre.com
January 12, 2026 at 4:01 PM
Music is a woman
The best things I saw in 2025 were vocal recitals
The best things I saw in 2025 were vocal recitals
I'm going with four outstanding, deeply personal NYC recitals
parterre.com
January 12, 2026 at 3:01 PM
The best things I saw in 2025 were vocal recitals
The best thing I saw in 2025 was In a Grove
The best thing I saw in 2025 was In a Grove
I had the pleasure of going with some members of the Pittsburgh Opera to the PROTOTYPE Festival in New York at the start of the year- almost unfortunate it was so early on in 2025 because it set my expectations for the year so high!
parterre.com
January 11, 2026 at 3:00 PM
The best thing I saw in 2025 was In a Grove
The best thing I saw in 2025 was Festen
The best thing I saw in 2025 was Festen
It's a dazzling, shocking, and entertaining 100 minutes - one of the best new operas I've seen.
parterre.com
January 10, 2026 at 3:00 PM
The best thing I saw in 2025 was Festen