Hector Berlioz, probably France's greatest composer, died 150 years ago yesterday. Here, in honour of his sesquicentenary, are some of his finest works: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HnKSfq9heeo&list=PL_kBt2ShObo_B89l8qZ_YvgiKAijU1JB1 The Opéra de Paris, meanwhile, has released its 2019/20 season: RameauLes Indes galantes [FRENCH]MozartDon GiovanniCosì fan tutteRossiniBarber of SevilleBelliniIl pirataI puritaniVerdiRigolettoLa TraviataDon CarloWagnerDas RheingoldDie WalküreSiegfriedGötterdämmerung  OffenbachLes contes d'Hoffmann [FRENCH] MussorgskyBoris GodunovBorodinPrince … Continue reading Berlioz and other Frenchmen →

The 2019/20 Met season could be jazzed up. I've tried to stick with the same composer or style, rather than, say, fifty French operas nobody's ever heard of. HANDEL: Agrippina GLUCK: Orfeo ed Euridice --> Iphigénie en Aulide MOZART Marriage of Figaro --> SALIERI: Tartare (libretto by Beaumarchais) / Axur re d'Ormus, Italian version, libretto … Continue reading What could the Met do instead? →