Review | A Rheingold Reforged: Petrenko, Berliner & Serebrennikov in Salzburg
There are productions that succeed, productions that impress, and—very rarely—productions that bring the art form to a new level. The new Das Rheingold at the…
Denise Wendel-Poray
Denise Wendel-Poray
Denise Wendel-Poray is a Canadian/ French writer, editor and curator holding degrees from the universities of Yale and McGill. Formerly an opera singer, she is author of books and essays on the relationship between art, theater and music. (Painting the Stage, Skira Editore 2019; The Last Days of the Opera, Skira Editore 2023)
From this author
Review | Matthias Pintscher’s luminous Nuit sans aube at Opéra-Comique
After more than a decade shaping the sound of the Ensemble Intercontemporain and several years working largely in New York, Matthias Pintscher returns to the…
Review | How to Bludgeon Carmen: Bieito’s Lesson in Four Acts
Calixto Bieito’s Carmen at the Opéra Bastille—a production created in 1999 at the Festival de Peralada (Spain) and revived in Paris since 2017—arrives with the…
Review | Paris Opera Ballo: Netrebko & Tézier in a Dramatic Void
With the Paris Opera’s 2026 season now in full swing—and offering several genuinely striking productions, Eugene Onegin directed by Ralph Fiennes among them — this…
Review | Ralph Fiennes’ Eugene Onegin at Paris Opera
The excitement around this sold-out Eugene Onegin at the Palais Garnier (seen Feb. 1) begins with a name: Ralph Fiennes. One senses his presence before…
Review | Siegfried at Paris Opera: Magnificent Music, a Theatrical Void
At Opéra national de Paris’s Opéra Bastille, Calixto Bieito staging of Wagner’s Siegfried arrives as the third panel of a much-anticipated new Ring. Musically, the…
Review | Die Fledermaus in Zürich: Strauss for an Age of Amnesia
Opernhaus Zürich’s Die Fledermaus (seen Dec. 7) opens with a prelude in the form of a short film. It’s a party: young, good-looking people, drinks in hand,…
Review | Jonas Kaufmann Still Brings Down the House in Paris Tosca
Puccini’s Tosca is an opera built on irresistible contradictions: a thriller wrapped in velvet, a story of political terror carried on some of the most seductive melodic…
Review | Love as Spectacle: Robert Carsen’s Così fan tutte at La Scala
The evening begins inside a dazzling television studio. Cameras glide, applause signs flash, and a suave host greets a group of young couples assembled to…
Review | Verdian Passions, Persian Shadows: Shirin Neshat’s Aida at Paris Opera
A sense of expectation hung over the Opéra Bastille before the curtain rose for the Sept. 24 opening night of Verdi’s Aida. The foyer murmured with…
