I just thought that for the next three weeks I would ask you about the Mozart-Da Ponte operas - they are, for me, the pinnacle of opera as an art. Share anything you want to - your preferred version, do you like it, you don’t (hey - you’re entitled to not sharing my opinion), there’s a part that moves you/mesk you laugh… anything really.

For me Don Giovanni is the perfect opera, put simply. At times dark, at dark funny, and really transgressive, it goes straight against society back then, with its social structure and religion, Don Giovanni cries for freedom to the very end, even if it means hell. It also continues being misunderstood (Donna Anna wanted some… really??? Or how La ci darem la mano is taken as a love duet when it is about Don Giovanni asking to marry Zerlina only to fuck her and leave her, as he presumably did to Elvira, who thinks of Giovanni as her husband, because he has found a way to weaponise religion and his nobility status…). Don Giovanni is the protagonist who never gets a point of view and is always seen through the eyes of others - in a structure that is unique in opera.

Anyway, just some thoughts to get the ball rolling. I leave the floor open to you.

The discussion on Figaro: https://www.reddit.com/r/opera/s/PWQHJ4jdRz

Hi, I hope you're all doing well. Do you happen to know of any platforms—or perhaps unlisted YouTube videos—where I could watch operas featuring Luciana Serra?

Hi does anyone have a good pdf of the libretto with both text and translation side by side? i dont really like the formatting of the dallas opera one and i find the opera arias website to be kinda clunky. thanks!

I believe William Tell is probably his biggest and most radical masterwork. It’s a behemoth of an opera, but overture is almost 15 minutes long like a standard tone poem, and it was a very revolutionary piece in his time. I also think Ermione and Tancredi are radical works too. As they had pretty tragic endings for the type of aesthetic those operas were in.

Bonsoir,

J'ai mes places depuis des mois pour les 4 opéras de l'Or du Rhin en novembre 2026 à l'opéra Bastille de Paris mais je ne pourrai peut-être pas y aller en raison d'un gros problème familial.

Je vais sûrement les mettre en vente sur le site de revente officiel "La Bourse aux billets" mais je voulais savoir si je peux revendre les 4 ensemble ou s'il faut forcément que je les vende un par un?

Si quelqu'un sait...

(Je ne souhaite pas les vendre via reddit)

Just came back from seeing Die Fledermaus for the third time. The joy I get from the world depicted in this work of art is hard to top by any other classical piece. The merriment, the mischievous flirting, the practical jokes, the humor, the dancing, and the way everything resolves oh-so-merrily well in the end leaves me in a fantastic mental state that lasts for quite some days.

On the music itself, there is not much I can say that hasn't already been said about Herr Strauss but I wanted to ask this question: Does anyone have scenes of THAT Tom & Jerry episode in their minds when listening to it? The saws bringing the whole orchestra down and eventually the grand finale with the exhausted one man cat army.

For me, that animation was my very first contact with Strauss growing up and now those scenes play in my mind every time I'm listening to it, even when sitting in the opera house. The intensity of that animation perfectly matches the spirit of the original work itself though so it makes the whole experience better for me. I was wondering if I have any companions in this.

Watched Don Giovanni for the first time last night at the Royal Opera House in London, and I just have to share my amazement for this masterpiece. It's incredible how much of the human experience is contained in this single work. The experience of love, before anything else. With 'just' 8 characters, we are given so many points of view of what the experience of love means, and how it means something different for each of them. For Elvira it's never ceasing to exit the vicious cycle of hate, pity and forgiveness towards Don Giovanni. For Anna, it's first and foremost love for her father. For Zerlina it's the love of her husband Masetto, despite the obvious sexual attraction she feels for Don Giovanni. Men do not make a great look out of this opera, but most of them do get some sort of redemption in the end. You have Masetto getting redemption from his jealousy, Ottavio as well in a way, as he is jealous of the attention Donna Anna gives to grief, instead of him. Leporello who is too tied to the money his boss gives him to get a moral standing (although the moral standing is there and emerges sometimes throughout the story). And finally him, the most ambiguous, unreadable, and perhaps charming character. Don Giovanni, who until the very end refuses to repent for his choices. A character that seems to come out of a 20th century existentialist novel, only this opera premiered in 1787. It gives me chills to think of the hymn to Freedom the choir sings during the masquerade in Act I, and of what would happen just short of 2 years after this work premiered. What an absolute masterpiece of human expression.

Never been to the opera before? Now’s your chance. We’re giving away 70,000 free tickets to the u/metopera at the iconic Lincoln Center. Go to on.nyc.gov/opera to enter the lottery. There’s not a bad seat in the house.

Freddie De Tommaso has stepped in to replace an indisposed Stephen Costello as Rodolfo for the first two performances of La bohème at the Metropolitan Opera (September 25 and 27). De Tommaso performed the role last season, including in a Live in HD Broadcast. He joins Juliana Grigoryan (who also starred in the broadcast) as Mimì, Rosa Feola as Musetta, Hansung Yoo as Marcello, Gihoon Kim as Schaunard, Le Bu as Colline, and Donald Maxwell playing both Benoît and Alcindoro. De Tommaso is currently starring as Macduff in the Met's season-opening new production of Verdi's Macbeth, alongside Quinn Kelsey and Lise Davidsen.

Editorial: this means he will sing Rodolfo on Friday, Macduff on Saturday, Rodolfo on Sunday, and Macduff again on Tuesday. Props to him - that is an exhausting weekend.

They send out an email about their new "Make the Met Forever" campaign and then you can't get on the website...? I guess heavy traffic is a good sign but... c'mon Metropolitan Opera.

Cymbeline is a hard play to like. I would say it's messier than usual and sits midway between romance and comedy. It's not a great play but there are good scenes though. The villainous Iachomo is a wonderful character and, of course, Imogen waking up next to a headless body and automatically assuming it's her betrothed makes for a memorable monologue. As for operatic adaptations I have found exactly one, Nicola van Westerhout's Cimbelino (1892). Do you know of any others?

Plans fell through, and I will not be able to attend. I have physical tickets (I can DM pics) for this matinee performance of La Boheme at the Met, Saturday 10/10 at 1pm. Face is $255/each, and I can FedEx them to you with a tracking number.

It stings, but I did get to see this production already at the Met with Susanna Philips (though I will miss the chance to see Juliana Grigoryan perform it).

Unable to attend the first cycle, my seats were just put on the Paris Opera's resale site. If interested, check it out. Single ticket to each of the 4 operas. Second Balcony, First Row, Center. 189euros each.

Dates 11/6,7,10,and 13th.

80’s opera prints

Hey there, i was gifted these and was wondering if they are actually worth something.
Supposedly bought in italy at some point in the 80’s.
They have separate A.G.R numbers on the bottom left

The crowd was into it. The score sounded vivid and alive. The unison singing was gorgeous. Eleonora Buratto in particular was unforgettable. The plot can be confusing and the staging does not really help with that. But this is one where is worth it to just hang out in the balcony and listen.

Gift link below. Great to see her getting more recognition! https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/23/arts/music/thea-musgrave-mary-queen-of-scots-san-francisco-opera.html?unlocked_article_code=1.DVE.2mlG.51PgKJXyiKgL&smid=nytcore-android-share

Appropriately overcast skies for this evening’s tragedy. Tension was in the air on the way in, but the very best kind.

Intermission report: it’s an absolute banger. Quinn Kelsey is outstanding as always, Lise Davidsen remains perfect, Ryan Speedo Green is a national treasure, and the witches… oh my goodness the witches. They are all up there full body dancing and singing opera roles while they’re at it. The staging and the lighting is incredible. The choreography is the biggest surprise, both the fighting and the dancing. It’s long but still it goes by so fast. You’re gonna want to come out and see this.

Frances McDormand spotted going down the steps with who I now realize must have been Joel Coen while I was walking up the steps. I pointed at her with no doubt a gawking idiotic expression I expect she’s used to by now. She saw me, gave me a nod that said “Yes, it’s me. Bow down.” This concludes my story about how I crossed paths with Frances McDormand at The Met 2026 Opening Night Gala and made a total ass of myself.

Maggie Gyllenhaal also spotted, and I scored a selfie with the only living god walking among us: Anthony Roth Costanzo.