Category Archives: Opera
I Puritani in HD
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 10th January 2026Vincenzo Bellini’s final opera, first produced in 1835, the year of his death at age 33, was telecast today by the Metropolitan Opera. This new production was staged by Charles Edwards who also designed the sets. If you ask any singer or conductor what their artistic goal is, they will say that it’s to realize…
› Read the full entry
Jonas Kaufmann Will No Longer Sing in London or New York
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 28th December 2025Star tenor Jonas Kaufmann recently announced that he would no longer appear at Covent Garden in London and at the Met in New York. It’s been more than seven years since he last appeared at the Met, and that was after a four year absence. Kaufmann expressed dissatisfaction with how the Met treated its chorus…
› Read the full entry
Ombra Mai Fu
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 26th December 2025“Ombra mai fu”, also known as “Largo from Xerxes” or “Handel’s Largo”, is the opening aria from the opera Serse (1738) by George Frideric Handel. Serse is an opera seria in three acts. It was first performed at the King’s Theatre, Haymarket on 15 April 1738. It was a complete failure lasting for only five…
› Read the full entry
Andrea Chénier in HD
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 13th December 2025The Met added Giordano’s Andrea Chénier to its HD series today. The opera, the composer’s only hit, is a rousing four act distillation of the French Revolution. It has three demanding parts for tenor, soprano, and baritone. While the opera is considered a prime example of the verismo school of Italian opera, it requires singers…
› Read the full entry
The Disappearing Verdi Operas at the Met
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 3rd December 2025This season the Met staged only one Verdi opera, La Traviata. Next season it appears there will only be two: A new production of Macbeth, which will open the season, and a revival of Aida. My subject is why the Met is steering away from the work of opera’s greatest and most performed composer. I…
› Read the full entry
Arabella in HD
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 22nd November 2025Librettist Hugo von Hofmannsthal finished the last of the six librettos he wrote for Richard Strauss in 1929 – the year of his death. The resultant opera, Arabella, did not appear until 1933. There are several reasons for this delay, but the biggest is likely the absence of Hofmannsthal to revise the libretto, as it…
› Read the full entry
Is the Met Opera Dead?
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 8th November 2025Is it a zombie? Animate but lifeless? It’s probably too soon to tell, but it’s well on its way to the six-foot trench. Is the terminal event linked to the Met alone or to the art form in general? A caveat, I’m not as good at predicting the future as was Yogi Berra, so you…
› Read the full entry
Invano Alvaro
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 1st November 2025‘Invano Alvaro’ is the last of three tenor-bartitone duets that grace Verdi’s La Forza Del Destino. All three are excellent, but the final one is likely the best such duet ever written by the composer. It’s in the same class as ‘Quando al mio sen per te parlava’ from Act 3 of I Vespri Siciliani…
› Read the full entry
O Tu Palermo
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 23rd October 2025Of all Verdi’s mature works (ie, post Rigoletto), his The Sicilian Vespers in either its French or Italian versions is the least performed. This neglect is hard to explain as the opera is a splendid work exhibiting all the characteristics that make its composer the master of the lyric theater. The bass aria ‘O tu…
› Read the full entry
La Sonnambula in HD 2025
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 18th October 2025Today’s telecast of Bellini’s soprano showcase revealed the numerous problems that have been afflicting the Met during the tenure of its general manager, Peter Gelb. Not that there was a problem with the show – which was fine, it’s issues surrounding the production that reflect the company’s difficulties. First is the need for a new…
› Read the full entry
