Venue: Academy of Music, Philadelphia

The Philadelphia Ballet transported audiences back to Belle Époque Paris with The Merry Widow, set to Franz Lehár’s beloved score (adapted by John Lanchbery) and Ronald Hynd’s spectacular choreography.

Opera Philadelphia commissions ten composers to tell the story of an ordinary woman's idiosyncratic march from cradle to tomb.

The intrepid company brings Damiano Michieletto’s well-traveled production of a Rossini rarity to the US for the first time. 

The new opera by Missy Mazzoli and Royce Vavrek draws on cult mindsets and conspiracy theories but smartly avoids sensationalism. 

In his role debut as the Genoan Doge, the American baritone continues to burnish his bona fides as the premier Verdi baritone of his generation.

Yuval Sharon's La bohème for Opera Philadelphia proves a mix of great singing and disorienting navigation. 

Carl Orff's bawdy choral work shares a program with the sweet and sincere Credo, a rediscovered work by the American composer and arranger Margaret Bonds.

Lawrence Brownlee further cements his status as the world's leading bel canto tenor with a blazing performance as Rodrigo, the unlikely central figure in Rossini's rendering of the Shakespearean tragedy.