Jay David Saks Movies

Verdi’s admiration for Shakespeare led to such masterpieces as Othello and Falstaff, and if the earlier Macbeth isn’t on their exalted...

The opera's dramatic structure frames and enhances the characters. Scenes of magnificence regularly alternate with scenes of darkness and squalor....

The Met production easily has the most beautiful staging, designed by Otto Schenck, who also produced the fabulous set for the Met's previous Ring...

A look behind the scenes at the 1994 recording sessions for the acclaimed album of Julie Andrews singing the great songs of Richard Rodgers. Musical...

Valery Gergiev conducts Mariusz Trelinski’s thrilling new production of these rarely heard one-act operas. Anna Netrebko stars as the blind...

Anthony Dean Griffey creates a haunting portrait of the outcast fisherman who struggles under the burden of presumed guilt. This chilling production...

It is no wonder that Met audiences have gone wild over Karita Mattila’s sizzling Salome. Indisputably one of the greatest Salomes of our time,...

What happened to Figaro and his friends after the events told in Rossini’s and Mozart’s operas? One possible sequel is told in John...

Luciano Pavarotti brings his spectacular voice and artistry to one of the most famous of all tenor roles—Manrico, the ardent troubadour,...

A youthful cast brings Rossini’s immortal comedy to sparkling life, led by Christopher Maltman as Figaro, the resourceful barber and...

When the most voluptuous, sought-after courtesan in the world meets an ascetic monk whose life is devoted to God, you know erotic sparks are going to...

"Irresistible" (Opera News) rising-star mezzo Elina Garanca triumphs as Rossini's Cinderella in this delightful Metropolitan Opera production. "As...

John Copley’s colorful production, with designs by Beni Montresor, was created around the beloved superstar Luciano Pavarotti. As the simple,...

Soprano Anna Netrebko appears in her highly anticipated Met role debut as Leonora, the tortured heroine who sacrifices her own life for the love of...

The world’s most famous love story comes to operatic life with superstars Anna Netrebko and Roberto Alagna playing the star-crossed young...

Wagner’s Romantic opera demands singing actors who can truly inhabit their parts, and that’s just what we have here. Is it possible for a...

Director and choreographer Mark Morris’s production of Gluck’s masterpiece updates the immortal story from its ancient Greek roots to the...

One of today’s most compelling singing actresses, Karita Mattila takes on the irresistible role of Manon Lescaut, the headstrong young woman...

Tamino, a handsome prince, and Papageno, a bird-catcher, are sent by the Queen of Night to rescue her daughter Pamina from captivity under the high...

Elijah Moshinsky's production of Saint-Saëns's "Samson et Dalila", recorded live at the Metropolitan Opera 28 September 1998. Plácido...