Die tote Stadt, Royal Opera House

Die tote Stadt is Korngold’s masterpiece in the old sense of the word, when a craftsman would produce a dazzling work to show the world what he could do. This is Korngold’s manifesto, so to speak.

Eugene Onegin at the MET

Pushkin’s poem Eugene Onegin is the first of the great line of Russian novels, passionately loved by all the literate of that most literary nation.

Poaching in Cologne

One definition of “poach” is “to take or appropriate something unfairly.”

Brussels’ Definitive Death

ThÈ‚tre Royal de la Monnaie / De Munt started 2009 by serving up a real New Year’s treat for the Belgian capital’s opera enthusiasts: a near-perfect staging of Benjamin Britten’s Death in Venice.

Partenope in Ferrara

The Greek princes Arsace (alto) and Armindo (alto) are seeking handsome Queen Partenope (soprano), who has just founded the city of Naples, in marriage.

Amsterdam Hercules Dazzlingly In Love

I had never personally imagined mythical Hercules as a WWF Wrestler-cum-Caveman but damn if Dutch National Opera’s staging of Francesco Cavalli’s Ercole Amante didn’t almost persuade me it could be so.

Pfitzner’s Palestrina at Bavarian State Opera

Writer Jens F. Laurson reports from Munich, where a new staging of Hans Pfitzner’s Palestrina opened Jan. 19 at the National Theater. The rarely-performed 1917 three-act opera stars Christopher Ventris in the title role.

Barber’s Antony and Cleopatra by NYCO

The two performances of Samuel Barber’s Antony and Cleopatra given at Carnegie Hall — the New York City Opera’s only performances this year while the State Theater is in rehab and the company is in flux — may or may not prove to be swan song of New York’s gallant number two company, whose succession of identity crises have been so fascinating to observe — and hear — over the decades.

La Rondine at the MET

The first thing that hits you about the Met’s production of La Rondine is the beauty of the sets and costumes (from the classy team of Ezio Frigerio and Franca Squarciapino, respectively) — especially in contrast to the tawdry glitz of the recent ThaÔs.

ThaÔs at the MET

Everyone who likes Massenet’s ThaÔs seems to feel obliged to apologize for it, or to become defensive: it’s not that bad, they all seem to say.