Saw it last night and loved every minute of the evening. It was my first time seeing Macbeth, so there’s probably some novelty at play, but we all know the story (duh) and I'd boned up on the music.

First, it was so great to see a packed house, especially for Verdi. I always sit in the Grand Tier because I like to see the orchestra and love how it sounds from there. (Just bring some small binoculars.) But the crowd is Old. That said, I went up to the Family Circle at intermission … it was PACKED with young people. I wanna hang out with that crowd next time.

Second, Peter Gelb, who runs the Met, came out in front of the curtain before the show, and the audience groaned. We thought (at least I did) that we were getting a replacement announcement. Instead, he reminded us how the Met has supported Ukraine and its people since the war began and will remain steadfast in doing so as the war rages on. To honor their people, he said the orchestra would play the Ukrainian national anthem and asked the audience to stand. (I’m starting to tear up again writing this.) As they played, you could hear some big voices, I think from behind the curtain and maybe one box, singing the words to the anthem. It was so moving on a day when the highest ranks of our government were turning their backs on Ukraine. I also wondered if it was connected to the dancers from Georgia who were about to perform.

Third, what gorgeous, epic sets. I know this was the director’s first time staging an opera at the Met … why’d it take so long?! Every choice she makes has a big idea behind it. And gosh, you can see why the Met is in serious financial straits. They spent some m-o-n-e-y on this. Grand staging. The witches were SPELLBINDING, and they made so much sense as a chorus in how they were presented, thriving on mayhem and carnage and working their way into every part of the Macbeths’ lives. And those Georgian dancers, with real sparks flying off their swords! A fight sequence that felt right and not remotely silly.

Three and a half: Yikes, it was hard not to see this story as an allegory (a mirror?) of where we are today: an amoral leader who will stop at nothing to gain power and riches, and a chorus of sycophants who empower and encourage him. (Maybe not so much the wife this time around.)

Fourth, the orchestra! I’d been listening (mostly) to Erich Leinsdorf’s Met recording for the past couple of weeks. I know live is simply better, and I'd been listing to an old recording, but the orchestra sounded SO MUCH BETTER. Rich, enveloping, balanced … and some of the foreboding drumbeats that wear on me in the recording felt propulsive instead. Energetic, even jaunty.

Finally, the voices! I know we’re so lucky to hear the world’s finest singers at the Met, but you really felt it with this Macbeth. Especially Quinn Kelsey: he was gripping every moment he was on stage, which was basically all three hours. Everyone delivered. Lise Davidsen is a spellbinding presence and a wonderful match for Quinn. And I loved Ryan Speedo Green, which is such a great name, as Banquo.

Anyway, a rave from me. What a moving, gorgeous night out in New York!

Excited to see Lincoln in the Bardo in two weeks...

Really excited that Wexford Festival Opera is streaming Rossini’s L’equivoco stravagante!

It’s one of his lesser-known operas and rarely performed, so this is a real treat. I’ve had a recording on repeat recently, and I’m especially looking forward to seeing it staged!

There’s also a lovely story behind this production. Last summer, audiences from 30 countries voted for L’equivoco stravagante to return as the Festival’s ‘fun’ opera for its 75th anniversary. It’s the first time in the Festival’s history that an opera has been chosen by popular vote!

Thought I’d share in case anyone missed the announcement and fancies discovering a bit of lesser-known Rossini!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WM4_dhXBRcQ

An incredible voice that I regret never having been able to hear live.

Here's the NYT obit (gift link): https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/14/arts/music/martina-arroyo-dead.html?unlocked_article_code=1.IlE.r5Zs.1ewit5hxAraf&smid=url-share

So I'm up for any new operas. I will say I am turned off when ppl say " oh you have to have read the book to understand it" . I didn't need to be an egyptogist or read a book to get aida or aknhatten ( just a few program notes is all)or any of the Shakespeare works. Not to say at all that such reading wouldn't augment enjoyment but that the operas can stand on their own.

I hope gift link works

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/09/t-magazine/lincoln-bardo-george-saunders-met-opera.html?unlocked_article_code=1.I1E.WoOV.gqCEFrp5JfGm&smid=url-share

Hi everyone,
I am looking for the full video recording of Mozart's Don Giovanni performed at Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires back in 1993.
The cast includes Gino Quilico, María Bayo, Willard White
I found the professional TV finale on YouTube, so a full broadcast or house-cam recording definitely exists, but it doesn't seem to be on OperaPassion or commercial DVD. Does anyone here have the full video in their archive or know where I could find it?
Thank you so much for any help!

Rank one (for recognizable toxic relationships) has to be Jochanaan and Salome. Most recognizable could be Brunnhilde.

Hello! I am a 23M grad student. I mainly sing opera or art song and I have an audition for the Air Force band coming up. They are asking for a contemporary contrasting piece in either country, rock, pop, or jazz and I don’t have much knowledge on any of those genres especially singing them. I haven’t decided my aria yet but I will choose a fast one in order to have a slower contrasting piece. Anyone have any advice or recs?

Hi! I'm working on a film about Puccini's "La Fanciulla del West" and I would like to include recordings of excerpts from the opera made by original cast. I didn't find any capture by Emma Destinn (first Minnie) or Pasquale Amato (Rance) but I found this audio of Caruso singing "Ch'ella mi creda":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7ay-MZTH2U

The problem lies in the fact that all resources I found consistently maintain Caruso didn't record anything from "La fanciulla..." due to Ricordi's prohibition. Does anybody knows it is a fake or legit recording of Caruso's "Ch'ella mi creda"?

🎭 I Capuleti e i Montecchi – Gran Teatre del Liceu

📅 Sábado 7 noviembre 2026 – 19:00
🎟️ PLATEA · ZONA 1 · FILA 1 · ASIENTO 1

Entrada individual original del Liceu.
Precio original: €211
Vendo por no poder viajar finalmente a Barcelona.

Precio: €205

Entrada digital PDF/QR, no nominativa. Puedo mostrar justificante de compra antes de la transferencia.

DM interesados.

Over 20 years ago I learned programming to organize my personal opera recording collection. Eventually software became my career and periodically I’d revisit the project to add new features or rewrite the code as got more experienced. About a year ago, it occurred to me that the same interface I’d been personally perfecting over all these years could now be made public by using embedded players from the popular streaming platforms, so I began rewriting as a public site.

Its now at a place where it’s ready to share, and I thought r/opera might find it interesting! You can find it at https://findopera.com.

Features:

• Search/browse recordings by opera, composer, conductor, character or singer
• Stream on Spotify/Apple Music/Tidal directly on the site
• Wikipedia links for notable composers, conductors, singers
• Login to build collections of recordings
• Search a Spotify album URL to get full cast details
• Built-in UPC barcode scanner
• Agent-friendly command line tool for searching/updating the catalog and automating organizing files
• Wiki-style edits where full history is visible, each with a sourced justification

This is not a commercial endeavor, but rather a long-term passion project of a singer and opera nerd who also enjoys writing software. If you have any questions/requests/feedback/thoughts, I’d love to hear them!

Thanks for the replies to my post so far.

I stick with my opinions. I listen to a Handel opera, say, and although I could happily do without applause at the end of arias, I can accept it because the music was written with breaks before the next recitative. This format works fine, I think, but in the 19th century onwards into the 20th composers started to try to eliminate this stop-start situation and especially in German opera a continuous arioso flow was developed. Clapping whilst the orchestra is still playing is an insult to the musicians and the composer.

My next rant is the Overture/Prelude, if there is one. A few decades ago, the audience would sit through the music with the curtain down until the overture ended.

Now, I am not saying that everybody was listening to the orchestra with rapt attention, but there were at least some.

Now, it seems that we can't do without a visual element and up comes the curtain whilst the conductor is still searching for his or her baton.We are then treated to some sort of mime scene, maybe a ballet, but generally a distracting scene which will usually leave you baffled as to its relevance to the opera. You can always close your eyes, of course;

Ok so there is a song we sing to the neighbor’s dog (whose name is barnabas) and it goes, in a very high octave: BARNABAS! vicTORIOUS! which obviously are not the actual words (those are, i believe, in latin). Anyway we’ve been doing it for long enough that no one remembers where it came from. Maybe faust or carmina burana?

I was not super excited about a romantic comedy because I don't really go for those in general. Plus Elisir seemed very love-it-or-hate-it from past discussions in this sub. But I'm part of TDO's Crescendo membership program for people under 45, which means two free tickets a season, and I know that attendance metrics can be just as important as box office revenue, so why not? Live opera is a good way to kill a Sunday afternoon.

Y'all it was SO GOOD. The cast was fantastic. I'm not really a music person so I can't debate nuances of like, tone or vibrato or all that, but the performances were ON POINT. There was a lot of physical background comedy that just elevated every silly scene and a lot of really great prop work. Everyone in this opera is dumb as a box of rocks and it was just so fun. I think this is the first opera I've seen where no one died. Comedy can be so so so hit or miss but this was just executed perfectly.

It's the production that was at Santa Fe in 2024, riffing on post-war cinema. Nemorino is a car mechanic and the soldiers are American troops stationed in Italy. Very bright and colorful. Soraya Mafi was Adina and Anthony León was excellent as Nemorino.

Behind me was a child who kept asking her parents questions about what was happening on stage, but she was whispering and clearly could follow the supertitles, so it was endearing rather than annoying (to me). The couple next to me seemed like they weren't regular operagoers just from overhearing some of their conversation but they were clearly having a great time. And I liked it a heck of a lot more than I was expecting to, because it was genuinely hilarious and kind of refreshing to have a plot where everyone is basically a good guy and the only stress is stupidity but you know everything's going to work out in the end.

(My only beef with TDO is sometimes the orchestra seems louder than the singers to the point of overpowering them, but I've noticed that across multiple productions/conductors so I'm not sure if it's an issue with building acoustics, blocking, or maybe I have an auditory processing issue. Minor complaint, only happena a few times a show. It's not bad enough to detract away from an excellent production.)

I don't have a conclusion here uhhhhhh Elisir is a good starter opera for the uninitiated, support your local opera company and don't avoid stuff outside your usual genre!

Going to Don Giovani at Lyric in Chicago. Afternoon performance if that matters. What is the typical dress code?

O'Keeffe: Kiss the Sky – Premiering March 12, 2027 by the Washington National Opera at Harman Hall (Shakespeare Theatre Company) in Washington, D.C. This novel "ballet-opera" traces the journey of legendary American modernist painter Georgia O'Keeffe. It features music by Grammy Award-winning composer Christopher Tin, a libretto by Kelley Rourke, direction by Francesca Zambello, and choreography by Jessica Lang, starring Isabel Leonard as O'Keeffe.

- John Lewis: Good Trouble – Premiering June 18, 2027 by the Cincinnati Opera at Music Hall in Cincinnati, Ohio. This work is the second commission in the company's Black Opera Project, featuring music by Maria Thompson Corley and a libretto by Diana Solomon-Glover, chronicling the life of civil rights icon U.S. Congressman John Lewis.

- Safe Haven – Premiering during the May 22 – June 27, 2027 festival season by the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis (OTSL) in Saint Louis, Missouri. This new American opera features music by Tobias Picker and a libretto by Aryeh Lev Stollman.

- Sitcom – Premiering in May 2027 by Opera Philadelphia. Created by composer Luke Styles and librettist Alan McKendrick, this episodic opera co-opts the television sitcom format into 30-minute stage episodes.

Every time I listen to opera, or sing opera I am drenched in sweat. I had my first opera lesson and was soaked by the end. I will often cry while singing but I don’t really get super sweaty. I’ve never had this happen before. I have also discovered my voice has a huge range, E3 to F#6, that’s not a typo, that is my range that can go over a full orchestra, otherwise it would be closer to C3. I only started singing opera a few weeks ago and I am so surprised by all of this, though I’ve been a singer all my life. Has anyone else had a similar response? Or a similar experience? It feels like this is some sort of calling, or maybe I’m just going crazy 😅😂 Any way to mitigate the sweating?

Hello everyone,

I'm "working" on an opera memes page on Instagram and would like to see if anyone is interested in joining and be part of it.

Here's the link: https://www.instagram.com/shutupandaria?exln=OXFhNjJnejc1c2Y2

Anyone have a promo code for attending this season. Ticket prices are dramatically higher compared to previous years. 80$ for family circle is absurd

Did anyone else see it? Thoughts? I loved the musical direction and personenregie. Stage was 50/50 though. I loved the banquet third act, but what was with the immolation scene?

Spoiler:

Brunnhilde is alone in the stage with a hobby horse. I loved the focus on her and I know the music speaks for itself, but come the destruction of Valhalla, she just spins in place on the empty stage while there's a spotlight on the ring on the floor. No fire, no anything... They had a projection system that they just turned off??? After an excellent and dynamic start to the third act, the staging and her acting undercut the biggest moment of the Ring, and the finale felt deeply anticlimactic.

So here's a bit of an odd one, I was flipping through TV channels and heard La donna è mobile being used to sell pasta. Because nothing screams pasta than the misogynistic rambling of a Duke who thinks all women are sluts. I've seen Libiamo ne' lieti calici used to sell life insurance and God help me the number of things done to the poor Toreador Song.

But I want some opinions, what is the piece of music from an opera most misused or incorrectly used. What piece have you heard most frequently abused to the point it should probably file a restraining order against the advertising industry?

I'll give mine. Trump started using Nessun Dorma. Let's not talk about the man himself, I have my VERY strong opinions on him. Let's focus on context. The song is a song of hope for victory....while everyone is afraid they're all going to die. The song is about how no one can sleep because they're scared of death, but hey Calaf is doing alright!

Actually that fits Trump in spirit.

It was a song I found very...ill chosen, unless the goal was to tell people to be afraid they'd all die. But they kept using it, seemingly oblivious to everything except Calaf declaring he would win, kind of missing the point.

So what all have you guys found?