Category Archives: Opera
The Otello Tenor
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 12th February 2026I recently wrote that the title role in Verdi’s Otello was unique and so difficult to fully realize that it needed a tenor so gifted that the role might belong to a class of its own – The Otello Tenor. The role requires a tenor with the strength of an offensive tackle and the finesse…
› Read the full entry
The 25 Best Operas – Part 2
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 5th February 2026Part 1 of this list is here. Aida (Verdi, 1871) was composed to open the new Cairo Opera House. It was written to a libretto by Antonio Ghislanzoni, which in turn was based on a scenario developed by the French Egyptologist Auguste Mariette. Because of the Franco-Prussian War of 1870 its sets made in Paris…
› Read the full entry
The 25 Best Operas – Part 1
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 3rd February 2026This list grew to such length that I decided to split it into two parts. The first 12 operas discussed are here. The remaining 13 will be in the next post. A few disclaimers before I start my list. This sort of compendium is just for fun. There can be no definitive list of the…
› Read the full entry
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
