The Vargas Blog

I have been a member of the Juilliard Choral Union for four years. With the ensemble I have performed many wonderful concerts which includ...

It was reported yesterday that soprano Beverly Sills is gravely ill with cancer. The following is an article from The Washington Post det...

After much self-debate, I'll be attending the Kirov Ring at the Metropolitan Opera this summer in July after all. I got tickets to th...

The genius of Frost/Nixon when it comes to the two figures that the play brings to life is not rooted in the fact that Frank Langella look...

LoveMusik , the new Harold Prince show, with its lovely title and incredible talent behind it, is a great idea for a musical. However, li...

Peter Gelb 's first year at The Metropolitan Opera was a fantastic beginning to what will apparently be an exciting, productive tenure ...

The Tristan Project has finally arrived in New York three years after its premiere in Los Angeles. Although it is presented here different...

Peter Shaffer 's magnificent play Equus , the troubling story of a boy who undergoes therapy after blinding a stable of race horses, has...

The new Production of Philip Glass 's opera Satyagraha is now playing at the English National Opera where I saw it last night. This pr...

The following bit of news appeared in The New York Times on February 22. The article is by Daniel J. Wakin. It took only 45 years, but Lor...

It is good to be able to report some Wagner news. A new production of Tannhäuser is playing in Frankfurt. Here is a review from Bloomberg...

Giuseppe Verdi found inspiration time after time in the history and literature of Spain. Some of his best works, such as that perennial fa...

I finally got around to watching Kevin MacDonald 's The Last King of Scotland , the powerful film about the relationship between Ugandan...

With the Oscars ceremony a mere twelve days away, and the nomination of Children of Men , Pan's Labyrinth , and Babel for major awards,...

The following exciting news was reported on Playbill arts: Peter Gelb , the new general manager of The Metropolitan Opera , revealed some ju...

Last night I was very fortunate to be a part of the American Songbook series at the Allen Room inside the AOL-Time Warner Building. As a mem...

Here are four limericks on Wagner’s Ring Cycle DAS RHINEGOLD When swimming along in the Rhine With maidens who rarely said “nein”, A dwarf f...

Now it can be said that I have played all three major houses at Lincoln Center. Tonight, I made my Metropolitan Opera debut in the chorus ...

In the middle of a busy Christmas season, it was good to take a break from all the running around that the Yuletide usually brings and atte...

Online searches come up empty if you want to know when Deborah Voigt was born. I found this a little unusual because, being a highly respe...