Favorite Operas of the Year 2020 👍🏻

For another perspective on 2020 see the KK Awards.

This list is limited only to performances that I viewed in 2020.  This was another year without travel but with a lot of free streams from the Met and the Vienna State Opera due to the global pandemic.  These are my top ten for this year and are in chronological order.  I find this to be a lovely mix of a wide variety of operatic styles.

Favorite Performances

• Gershwin's Porgy and Bess  This came early in the year when we were still receiving live streams in HD in movie theaters from the Metropolitan Opera.  The stars were Eric Owens and Angel Blue.  I love this opera and found this cast perfect.
  

  

• Bartok's Judith   This came to me as a live stream from Munich before the theaters closed and is entirely an invention of  Katie Mitchell. Bluebeard's Castle becomes a crime story.  This mashup of Concerto for Orchestra in five movements and Duke Bluebeard's Castle, both by Bartok, was new for everyone.  I don't quite know if I should say it's a new opera.  The concerto is staged as a film showing Nina Stemme preparing to go under cover to capture Bluebeard.  You'd have to make your own film.
  

• Handel's Agrippina  This, too, is before the closing of the theaters and was live from the Met.  Joyce Didonato is Agrippina and Kate Lindsey as Nero are spectacular.  I didn't know that Handel wrote any comedies, but this is very funny.
  

  

• Korngold's Das Wunder der Heliane [Heliane's miracle] is from Deutsche Oper Berlin and was performed in 2018.  It was new for me, and I am apparently not the only one.  Korngold died young, and only his Die Tote Stadt has remained in the repertoire.  He is a neo-romanticist who writes great singing roles.  People are wondering why they have never seen this.

 

• Beethoven's Fidelio   My selections jump to July long after the theater closing.  This performance is from ROH in London and occurred this year.  Lise blends in with the guys more than any other Leonore I've seen.  This is for the singing.  The staging of the last act is a bit odd.
  

• Britten's Gloriana   This performance came to me from Madrid and played in 2018.  I had never seen this opera before and liked it very much.  This was composed for the coronation of Elizabeth II and has something of a bad reputation in England.  The story is slanted more politically than romantically.
  

• Strauss's Ariadne auf Naxos  This performance occurred in Vienna in 2017 and stars Lise Davidsen as Ariadne and Erin Morley as Zerbinetta.  This is for the singing.
  

• Puccini's Tosca  There were four Toscas for me this year, but I liked best this one from Vienna in 2019 starring Sondra Radvanovsky and Piotr Beczala.  Two of the other Toscas also came from Vienna.  I am feeling insecure about this choice since the other three were also very good.
  

• Catán's Florencia en el Amazonas    It comes from my alma mater Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana, and played in 2016.  The set is a boat that rotates on the stage.  I saw a film of this last year, but this one is better.  If you have not seen this opera, try this one.  This was the first time I have viewed the IU website, and I should try it again.
  

• Puccini's La Boheme  This was a live performance from Munich played to an empty house.  The waiter wore a mask, and there were no crowds.  I loved it best of all because the singers showed us their real selves and projected a sense of intimacy.  Jonas Kaufmann was his wonderful self.

Favorites of the Past Decade 2010-19 Without Big Names

Here are some favorites from the past decade which did not make the previous list because no big name appeared in the performance.

I saw Rossini's Maometto II at the Santa Fe Opera in the new critical edition in 2012. It starred Luca Pisaroni and Leah Crocetto.  Leah sang the role originally written for Isabella Colbran.  I found this a magnificent opera and have been disappointed that I haven't seen it revived elsewhere.

That same year I saw Heggie's Moby-Dick at the San Francisco Opera.  I declared it to be a masterpiece, but haven't seen much of it lately.  Dead Man Walking seems to be everyone's favorite Heggie opera.  Stephen Costello and Jay Hunter Morris were the stars.

For a triple threat year I also saw a touring company present in its original production Einstein on the Beach by Philip Glass.  It was an historic event, even if I don't remember much about it.

Opera Parallèle brought me Golijov's Ainadamar in 2013.  This was already a favorite from recording.  There is time travel in the story which was easily solved by posting the current year in the titles.  The confusing story was well presented here.  It's about a play by Federico Garcia Lorca, done as a trouser role.  There was Flamenco dancing.  What more could you ask for?

Bay Area wonders continued with West Edge Opera's presentation of Berg's Lulu in 2015.  It starred Emma McNairy, so far my favorite Lulu ever.  She played her for sex, an entirely not irrelevant part of the story.  I see her name pop up in Europe now.

I visited Berlin in 2016 to see five Strauss Operas but ended up liking best Marschner's Der Vampyr at the Komische Oper.  No one I'd heard of before or since was in it, but it was enormous fun.

2017 was a notable year primarily for two different and very interesting productions of Mozart's  La Clemenza di Tito by two of the more notorious regisseurs in opera:  Claus Guth at Glyndebourne and Peter Sellars at Salzburg. Sellars focused on creating a racial context for the drama with racial casting while Guth moved the story from Rome to a river bank.  Sellars featured Golda Schultz and Russell Thomas while Guth had Alice Coote.  I dearly loved both of these performances and have come to regard this as Mozart's greatest opera.

Glyndebourne brought us in 2018 Barber's Vanessa. It was wonderfully mysterious and charming, and made me wonder why it never plays here.

2019 topped everything with the Metropolitan Opera's presentation of Glass's Akhnaten in an astounding production by Phelim McDermott.  We didn't know an opera could be about juggling.  Much of this success is due to the brilliant performance of Anthony Roth Costanzo.

I have added this list because it is simply not complete with only the great stars. Obscure companies can bring us wonderful opera.  This isn't every wonderful thing.  You should create your own list.

Favorites of the Decade 2010-19 👍🏻

We have turned over a new decade, so I have decided to follow the trend and do a list of favorites of my own.  I will group them by favorite artists.

Jonas Kaufmann and Anja Harteros

I am feeling a bit sad that the Bayerische Staatsoper doesn't seem to cast them opposite one another any more.  I hope I'm wrong because together they have brought me some of my favorite Verdi performances.

• My first experience of this pairing was in Wagner's Lohengrin on DVD (2010).  I saw this production live in Munich but with a different soprano.  This is the much maligned blue t-shirt production.  For me it worked and continues to be very watchable.  They are two great artists with magnificent charisma who are musically and theatrically on the same page.  The look may be odd, but it doesn't damage the story.  This is available on DVD.

• Next they appeared together in Verdi's Don Carlo from the ROH (2013).  Thomas Hampson was Rodrigo.  In this wonderful opera they reign supreme.  It is a traditional production.  This is available on DVD.

• That same year brought me my favorite ever of Verdi's La Forza del Destino (2013) from Munich. The villain brother is played by Ludovic Tézier.   Forza is very hard to stage, and I felt this version was successful by keeping the villain evil.  This is available on DVD.

• Giordano's Andrea Chénier (2017) from Munich.  The DVD of Kaufmann in this opera is from ROH, but I prefer this one.  It shows them at the guillotine.

• And finally Verdi's Otello (2018) from Munich.  This is a lot of two Germans performing the essential Italian, but I loved all of it.  Unfortunately the DVD of Kaufmann's Otello is for a different performance from London, but I very much prefer this one for its tilt toward Desdemona and his relationship to her.  It goes very deep.

#ad

Anna Netrebko

This is the decade when Anna Netrebko moved from a lyric soprano to a Verdi spinto.  This change was not to everyone's taste, but I was surprised to find that I liked her Verdi almost as much as I had liked her Donizetti. The red dress Traviata I loved so much is from the previous decade.

• I Capuleti e i Montecchi by Bellini (2012) from Munich with Vesselina Kasarova.  For the lovers of wailing, this is the best.  This is toward the end of Netrebko's bel canto period.

• Verdi's Il Trovatore in HD from the Met (2015).  This is Dmitri Hvorostovsky's last performance in opera.  He died two years later.  Netrebko is becoming a Verdi soprano, and who better to share the stage with than Dmitri?

• Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin in HD from the Met with Peter Mattei (2017).  There are multiple versions of this opera, but I think I like this one best.  As Netrebko matures, her Tatiana improves.

• Verdi's Aida from Salzburg (2017).  I liked this for the exotic production where everything looks like Iran. Netrebko sang beautifully.

• Cilèa's Adriana Lecouvreur in HD from the Met (2019) with Anita Rachvelishvili.  Piotr Beczala is a wonderful added bonus.  This performance brings us a whole new generation of wailing.  It is appropriate that Anna end the decade with a new female voice at her side.  They were together in Aida at the Met, but the tenor spoiled the performance.

 

Elīna Garanča

Elīna's performances are beautifully sung and magnificently acted

• Bizet's Carmen (2010) in HD from the Met with Roberto Alagna begins the decade.  Will she ever top this astoundingly sexy performance?  This is on DVD.

• Strauss's Der Rosenkavalier (2017) in HD from the Met.  This was for Renée Fleming's retirement from opera where they pulled out all the stops.  Günther Groissböck as Ochs was an added bonus.  Both acting and singing were magnificent.

 
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Cecilia Bartoli

Cecilia began the decade with a Grammy for Sacrificium.  Shortly after that she became the manager of the Salzburg Whitsun Festival.  Of her triumphs I enjoyed these most.  Her contract in Salzburg continues to 2026 while she has added Opera de Monte Carlo to her future management duties.

• Handel's Giulio Cesare at Salzburg (2012) in a regie production.  This production made it to DVD, and the DVD was nominated for a Grammy.  For some reason not known to me this opera is often regarded as a comedy with silly action.  In spite of that the musical elements are spectacularly beautiful.  Cecilia singing with a bag over her head may be going too far.

• Bellini's Norma I experienced first as a CD and then in live performance at Salzburg (2013) in her second year as Intendant.  This was a critical edition performance which was subsequently performed in various places in Europe but has not become a DVD.  The regie production moved us to WWII.

• Handel's Ariodante (2017) from Salzburg.  This is Cecilia having fun with gender issues.  She begins with a beard and wearing a suit of armor.  She takes off her armor, dances, changes into a dress, and eventually removes her beard.  She blows smoke rings, or at least mimes blowing smoke rings since we see no smoke.  The singing is lovely.  The beard idea has found its way onto her latest album.

• Rossini's L'Italiana in Algeri (2018) from Salzburg.  Of the bunch, this is my favorite.  Cecilia rides a camel, takes a bath, rejects the baritone and talks the tenor into returning to Italy, all in great comic style.  Cecilia sings wonderfully, acts as only she can and looks gorgeous.

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Nina Stemme

Nina Stemme is an almost incidental singer, but nevertheless there are a few performances by her that have completely charmed me.  [That sounds worse than I meant it.]

• Wagner's Ring in San Francisco (2010).  Die Walküre is my favorite Wagner and this one was fun.
  

• Puccini's La Fanciulla del West (2013) from Vienna with Jonas Kaufmann.  He didn't just sing with Anja that year.  I have watched this a few times and never fail to feel the romance between these two great artists.

• Wagner's Tristan und Isolde (2016) from the Met with Stuart Skelton.  I realize I'm not supposed to, but I loved this.  Simon Rattle conducted and drew me into the music throughout.  

 

Everyone Else

Here are some favorites from the past decade which did not make the previous list because no big name appeared in the performance.

I saw Rossini's Maometto II at the Santa Fe Opera in the new critical edition in 2012. It starred Luca Pisaroni and Leah Crocetto.  Leah sang the role originally written for Isabella Colbran.  I found this a magnificent opera and have been disappointed that I haven't seen it revived elsewhere.

That same year I saw Heggie's Moby-Dick at the San Francisco Opera.  I declared it to be a masterpiece, but haven't seen much of it lately.  Dead Man Walking seems to be everyone's favorite Heggie opera.  Stephen Costello and Jay Hunter Morris were the stars.

For a triple threat year I also saw a touring company present in its original production Einstein on the Beach by Philip Glass.  It was an historic event, even if I don't remember much about it.

Opera Parallèle brought me Golijov's Ainadamar in 2013.  This was already a favorite from recording.  There is time travel in the story which was easily solved by posting the current year in the titles.  The confusing story was well presented here.  It's about a play by Federico Garcia Lorca, done as a trouser role.  There was Flamenco dancing.  What more could you ask for?

Bay Area wonders continued with West Edge Opera's presentation of Berg's Lulu in 2015.  It starred Emma McNairy, so far my favorite Lulu ever.  She played her for sex, an entirely not irrelevant part of the story.  I see her name pop up in Europe now.

I visited Berlin in 2016 to see five Strauss Operas but ended up liking best Marschner's Der Vampyr at the Komische Oper.  No one I'd heard of before or since was in it, but it was enormous fun.

2017 was a notable year primarily for two different and very interesting productions of Mozart's  La Clemenza di Tito by two of the more notorious regisseurs in opera:  Claus Guth at Glyndebourne and Peter Sellars at Salzburg. Sellars focused on creating a racial context for the drama with racial casting while Guth moved the story from Rome to a river bank.  Sellars featured Golda Schultz and Russell Thomas while Guth had Alice Coote.  I dearly loved both of these performances and have come to regard this as Mozart's greatest opera.

Glyndebourne brought us in 2018 Barber's Vanessa. It was wonderfully mysterious and charming, and made me wonder why it never plays here.

2019 topped everything with the Metropolitan Opera's presentation of Glass's Akhnaten in an astounding production by Phelim McDermott.  We didn't know an opera could be about juggling.  Much of this success is due to the brilliant performance of Anthony Roth Costanzo.


Oh.  I award the decade to Jonas Kaufmann.  I liked him in more things than the performances with Anja Harteros. 

Favorites by Year 2019 👍🏻

For another perspective on 2019 see the KK Awards.

This list is limited to performances that took place in 2019.  This was another year without travel, but there is so much on the internet these days that it hardly matters.  This year I reviewed 50 performances, including 1 DVD, 8 HDs, 12 live, 3 movies of musicals, 3 oldies from Met on Demand, and 22 Streams.  14 operas were new to me.  Some of my favorite viewings this year came from performances in previous years and don't appear in this list.  It was an ok but not very exciting year for me.

Favorite Performances

• Cilea's Adriana Lecouvreur.  I love it when they wail and you cannot beat Anna Netrebko and Anita Rachvelishvili when it comes to wailing.  This came to me in HD from the Met.  ** Met HD

• Donizetti's La Fille du Regiment.  This also came to me live in HD from the Met and starred Pretty Yende and Javier Camarena in outstanding performances.  They were both lively and outgoing in their roles.  ** Met HD

• Poulenc's Dialogue des Carmélites.  This is a third item live in HD from the Met starring Karita Mattila and Isabel Leonard.  It is a magnificent almost all female opera done extremely well.  ** Met HD

• Hoiby's Bon Appétit!.  An opera has been made of an episode of Julia Child's cooking show.  It was seen live streamed from Iowa.  The surprise here was to find out how few Europeans were familiar with Julia Child.  She cooked while she sang, and the audience got a taste.  **

• Verdi's Rigoletto.  This was an outdoor summer festival item from Bregenz and was chosen for the spectacular set.

• Heggie's If I Were You.  This was composed for the Merola Program of the San Francisco Opera, and performed by its graduates.  I attended the world premier.  **

• Mazzoli's Breaking the Waves.  This was produced in excellent style by West Edge in the Bay Area.  We like to recognize all the good new opera.  **

Marcellina, Bartolo, Count, Curzio, Figaro 

• Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro.  This was a new production from the San Francisco Opera.  **

• Massenet's Manon. This came in HD from the Met.  I love Lisette Oropesa, and this was her best performance of the year.  ** Met HD

• Strauss, J II's Die Fledermaus.  This streamed from the Wiener Staatsoper.  This was all in the traditional style with all the old jokes which I love.

• Glass's Akhnaten.  Also live in HD from the Met.  ** Met HD

Singer of the Year

The singer of the year doesn't appear anywhere in this list but must be Lise Davidsen for Tannhäuser at Bayreuth and Pique Dame at the Met.  If you don't know her, listen.
.

New to Me Opera

Hans Abrahamsen'sThe Snow Queen (2019) streamed from Munich.
Daniel Catán's opera Florencia en el Amazonas (1996) on film
Glass's Akhnaten in HD (1984) from the Met.
Heggie's If I Were You  (2019) live in San Francisco.  **
Henze's The Bassarids (1966) streamed.  My first Henze.
Hoiby's Bon Appétit! (2018) streamed from Iowa.  **
Kuusisto's Ice (2019) streamed.
Mazzoli's Breaking The Waves (2016) live in the Bay Area  **
Menotti's Amelia Goes to the Ball (1937) live at CSUS  **
Pergolesi's La Serva Padrona (1733) on DVD
Sullivan's The Yeomen of the Guard (1888) live in Sacramento  **
Verdi's I Masnadieri (1888) streamed.
Vivaldi's Juditha Triumphans (1716) streamed.
Wagner's Rienzi (1842) streamed on medici.tv

** live, live stream or live in HD

Things recommended to buy

The pickings are very slim.

Favorites by Year 2018

2018

For another perspective on 2018 see the KK Awards.

This list is limited to performances that took place in 2018.  This was another year without travel, but there is so much on the internet these days that it hardly matters.  This year I reviewed 46 performances, including 1 CD, 4 DVDs, 12 HDs, 11 live, 1 movie, 16 Streams and 1 YT.

Favorite Performances

Full cast

• Mozart's Cosi fan Tutte.  I saw only one Mozart this year, and it was this overdone, rather silly circus.  Nevertheless I loved it because it slanted the plot toward the arrogance and egotism of the men.  ** Met HD

• Donizetti's Roberto Devereux live at the San Francisco Opera with Sondra Radvanovsky was even better than her performance in New York in 2016.  **  Local

• (AN)Verdi's Aida  with Anna Netrebko and Anita Rachvelishvili  I loved Anna and Anita together and was surprised to see the same old production made to look new.  The tenor sort of ruined it.  Look it up in Met on Demand.  ** Met HD

• (JK)(AH)Verdi's Otello live streamed from the Bayerische Staatsoper with Kaufmann and Harteros.  It was an Otello for a lifetime.  **  Live Stream.

 

• Saint-Saëns' opera Samson et Dalila in HD from the Met starring Roberto Alagna and Elina Garanca for sheer sexiness.  ** Met HD

• Benjamin's Lessons in Love and Violence from the ROH.  This appears in the list because it's a new opera and starred Barbara Hannigan.

•  Muhly's Marnie  for the wonderful work of Isabel Leonard. This was a world premier.  ** Met HD

• The Sonya Yoncheva film festival from the Met in HD included Verdi's Luisa Miller, Puccini's La Boheme and Puccini's Tosca.  Taken together this was a remarkable tour de force.  My favorite was her Tosca.  ** Met HD  Another excellent opera this year that starred Sonya Yoncheva was Monteverdi's L'Incoronazione di Poppea from Salzburg.  Live Stream.

• Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana and Leoncavallo's I Pagliacci live at the San Francisco Opera were magically joined into a single opera.  **  Local

• Barber's Vanessa from Glyndebourne.  This was excellent.
  

• Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor from Teatro Real, Madrid starring Lisette Oropesa and Javier Camarena.  Wonderful singing.

• Meyerbeer's Les Huguenots streamed from Paris Opera Bastille starring Lisette Oropesa.  I liked this best for Lisette who replaced Diana Damrau.  **

Singer of the Year

Lisette Oropesa wins the singing prize for both Lucia and Les Huguenots.  For the year of Lisette.

New to Me Opera

1. Benjamin's Lessons in Love and Violence (new this year), 
2. Britten's Albert Herring (research), 
3. Donizetti's Il campanello di notte,done live at CSUS
4. Heggie's It's a Wonderful Life.  (live at SFO) 
5. Meyerbeer's Le Prophete (research from Toulouse), 
6. Meyerbeer's Les Huguenots  live from Paris
7. Muhly's Marnie (new from the Met in HD), 
8. Petit's Le Jeu de l'Amour et du Hasard, done live at CSUS
9. Rubinstein's The Demon (for Dmitri), 
10. Stravinsky's Perséphone (research on DVD for Sellars), 
11. Sullivan's The Gondoliers (I'm weak in the Gilbert and Sullivan area.  Live in Sacramento), 
12. Verdi's Il Corsaro (it amazes me I can still see new Verdi), 
13. Weill's Die sieben Todsünden (research for Sellars),

##20 top 20 all time

** live, live stream or live in HD

Things recommended to buy

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Favorites by Year 2017 👍🏻

For the sake of my budget I made no opera trips farther away than San Francisco this year.  To compensate the international opera festivals brought me an overwhelming selection of live streams.  I reviewed 55 performances, including 1 DVD, 9 HDs, 15 live, 3 movies, 2 tv, 17 streams, and 7 YT.

For another perspective on 2017 see KK Awards.

Favorite Performances

• Gounod's Roméo et Juliette in HD ** is mentioned for intense sexiness. Vittorio Grigolo and Diana Damrau projected wonderful youthfulness.   Met HD

• (JK)(AH) Giordano's Andrea Chénier from Munich with Jonas Kaufmann and Anja Harteros.  I can't decide if I prefer this one over the one from La Scala.   Live Stream.  ##20

• Rossini's opera Semiramide from Munich starred Joyce DiDonato in fine form.  It was exciting to hear Semiramide sung by a mezzo.   Live Stream.

• Jean-Philippe Rameau's Le temple de la Gloire was brought to us by Berkeley's Philharmonia Baroque. ** It featured traditional Baroque dancing.    Local

• Bach's Matthew Passion from Berlin staged by Peter Sellars. I found this very moving.  Delayed Stream

• (AN) Lohengrin from Dresden with Anna Netrebko and Piotr Beczala.  This was mainly for fun but produced a DVD.   Live Stream.

• Richard Strauss's Der Rosenkavalier from the Met with the spectacular cast assembled by Peter Gelb for Renée Fleming's retirement.  **  Met HD  ##20

• Verdi's Rigoletto live from San Francisco.  Quinn Kelsey was one of the best Rigolettos I've ever seen. **   Local  ##20

• Fun things from the summer festivals, such as the bare boobs Tannhäuser from Munich, the Carmen as psychological treatment from Aix,  La Clemenza di Tito from Glyndebourne and Salzburg##, Rigoletto from Orange, and the puppet Oberon from Salzburg.  What a collection, and all from my computer room.   Live Stream.

• Richard Strauss's Elektra live from San Francisco.  **  This included a modern production and Christine Goerke as Elektra.  My mom had a kitchen like that.    Local  ##20

• The new McVicar Norma from the Met. **   Met HD

•  Poulenc's La Voix humaine () was live in an intimate setting near SFO.
  

Singer of the Year

The singing prize goes to Quinn Kelsey for his magnificent Rigoletto.

Didn't like

For me there was much to love from all over the world in 2017.

New to Me Opera

1. John Adams's Girls of the Golden West (2017) given its world premier by the San Francisco Opera (Live). **
2. Thomas Adès's The Exterminating Angel (2016) in HD from the Met (HD) **
3. Alma Deutscher's Cinderella (2016) made its American premier at Opera San Jose and was streamed.
4. Jonathan Dove's Flight (1999) which was presented live by Opera Parallele, **
5. Sebastian Fagerlund's Autumn Sonata (2017) from Finland (F),
6. Handel's Theodora from Glyndebourne (1759) on DVD (F),
7. Jimmy López's Bel Canto (2015) which was shown on television (F),
8. Vicente Martín y Soler's The Chastity Tree (1787) performed live by West Edge **
9. Kirke Mechem's Tartuffe (1980) done live at CSUS,**
10. Mussorgsky's Sorochyntsi Fair (1923) from The Opera Platform (F),
11. Poulenc's La Voix Humaine (1959) live from the San Francisco Opera  **
12. Rameau's Le Temple de la Gloire (1746) which was performed live by Philharmonia Baroque **
13. Arthur Sullivan's Patience (1881) presented live by Sacramento Light Opera **
14. Leonardo Vinci's Artaserse (1730) from an old film (F),
15. Carl Maria von Weber's Oberon (1826) from Munich live stream regie.

##20 top 20 all time

** live, live stream or live in HD

Things recommended to buy

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