Paul Steinberg

One of the troubles of being a major institution like the Met is that when they produce a new production of a major opera--and Verdi’s UN BALLO IN MASCHERA, which opened in revival the other night, certainly falls into that category--it’s an expensive undertaking. It's true that sometimes a production can be pulled out of its death tumble, with a new cast or simply time making the absolutely awful suddenly make sense. In the case of the current run of the opera, with Angela Meade, Charles Castronovo and Quinn Kelsey heading the cast, even good and sometimes inspired singing can’t save the day. Alden’s take is simply too laden with concept for it to breathe.

Verdi’s Un Ballo in Maschera returns to the Met for the first time since 2015, featuring debuts and a captivating production by David Alden.

San Francisco Opera presents Richard Wagner's Lohengrin from October 15–November 1 in director David Alden's staging, a co-production of London's Royal Opera, Covent Garden and Antwerp's Opera Vlaanderen. Learn more about the opera here!

Deftly balances psychological thrill with morality as murky as the North Sea

All new rehearsal photos have been released for the English National Opera's Peter Grimes  at the London Coliseum. Check out the photos here!

This September, opening the 2023/24 Season at the London Coliseum, the English National Opera (ENO) presents Benjamin Britten’s searing psychological drama, Peter Grimes. David Alden’s production returns for its second revival. Following its premiere in 2009, this production won a South Bank Sky Arts Award in the Opera category.  

It took Richard Strauss only about 100 minutes apiece (with no breaks) to tell the lurid tale of SALOME and the tragedy of ELEKTRA. So why on earth did he and librettist Hugo von Hofmannsthal need almost five hours (including two intermissions) to tell the personal stories of an “aging” (she was really in her 30s) noblewoman, a couple of teenagers in love and a repulsive sexual predator?

Verdi’s exuberant final opera, Falstaff, brought down the house with laughter and applause at its opening on Sunday, 12th March, and audiences around the world are invited to experience the production live in cinemas on Saturday 1st April. Check out all new photos from the production here!

Watch video from Lise Davidsen, a leading international soprano who has been lauded for her recent Met performances in Strauss's Elektra and Ariadne auf Naxos and Wagner's Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, returns to the Met stage for Strauss's grand comedy Der Rosenkavalier, singing the Marschallin for the first time in a seven-performance run from March 27 to April 20.

Combine a supreme farceur with a stentorian voice that thrills and you get baritone Michael Volle’s portrayal of the title role in Verdi’s FALSTAFF, which breezed into town late last week for a limited run at the Met. While we’ve had dramatic singers in the role before, they were mostly from Italian repertoire; I don’t know when the last time a Wagnerian--a Wotan from the Ring, for instance--took on this role around here, but Volle did himself proud.

Der Rosenkavalier is coming to the Metropolitan Opera March 27 to April 20. See how to purchase tickets!

Verdi’s exuberant final opera, Falstaff, will return to the Met for six performances, March 12–April 1.

The Metropolitan Opera has announced the launch of The Met: Live at Home, a streaming platform that allows audiences to watch the Met’s acclaimed series of live simulcasts from any device in the comfort of their homes—the latest effort by the company to reach as broad a public as possible.

Richard Wagner’s Lohengrin may be famous for introducing the tune of “Here Comes The Bride” to the world but there’s much more here in this stirring tale. David Alden’s bold production debuted in 2018 to critical fanfare and now returns to the Royal Opera House with some excellent leads and immersive flourishes.

The 2020 Henry Hewes Design Award Honors for the 2019–2020 theater season were presented yesterday at a virtual awards ceremony attended by more than 100 people.

The 2020 Henry Hewes Design Award Honors for the 2019-2020 theater season were presented yesterday at a virtual awards ceremony attended by more than 100 people. Awards were presented in 6 different categories and Allen Lee Hughes was awarded the Ming Cho Lee Lifetime Achievement Award.

The 2020 Henry Hewes Design Award Honors for the 2019-2020 theater season were announced today and will be presented at a virtual awards ceremony on October 14.

Tune in right here at 7:30pm to watch The 65th Annual Drama Desk Awards and check back for a full list of winners, updating live!

The 65th Annual Drama Desk Awards has partnered with 'Stars in the House' to live stream this year's Nominations. Seth Rudetsky and James Wesley, the hosts of the virtual daily series benefiting the Actors Fund, will announce the nominees.

Luckily for viewers on the Metropolitan Opera's “Met on Demand”—with selections available free in this time of COVID-19, on your laptop or as apps for your phone or tablet—there were a couple of knee-slappers thrown in among the drama of AIDA, PARSIFAL and ROMEO ET JULIETTE this week. Two of my favorites were there: Donizetti's DON PASQUALE and Verdi's FALSTAFF.