List of Publications
Polina Lyapustina is an Editorial Writer, Columnist, Opera Critic, and Managing Editor at OperaWire.com.
This list contains weekly columns, essays, reviews, and interviews. Publications are structured as follows: OperaWire publications; then publications in other magazines. New articles come first in each section. Every title is linked to the original publication. You can also read most of these articles in this Medium publication.
👋 Season 2023–24
Noicattaro Lirica 2024 Review: Turandot
Review (July 8, 2024)
☝☝ Editorial: Russian Opera Through the Iron Curtain
Essay (June 28, 2024)
☝Editorial: Is Peter Gelb Ready to Run the Met Opera Renewal All on His Own?
Essay (June 20, 2024)
☝Editorial: Riccardo Muti Claims That Opera is Beyond the Singing
Essay (June 14, 2024)
🤞Season 2022–23
☝ 🗞 Criticism on Fridays: Breaking! Lithuanian Ministry of Culture Is About to Destroy The National Opera
Weekly column (February 3, 2023)
🗞 Criticism on Fridays: The Voices Raised Against the Coming Changes At the MET
Weekly column (February 3, 2023)
🗞 Criticism on Fridays: Opera As a Part Of Political Strategy?
Weekly column (January 6, 2023)
🗞 Criticism on Fridays: End of the Year But Not the War
Weekly column (December 30, 2022)
🗞 Criticism on Fridays: Re-Evaluating the Perspective on the English National Opera Crisis
Weekly column (December 16, 2022)
☝ La Favorite (@Donizetti Festival 2022)
Review (December 12, 2022)
Best of 2022: OperaWire’s Staff on the Best Performances of the Year
OperaWire Staff (December 10, 2022)
☝🗞 Criticism on Fridays: La Scala Opening Night
Weekly column (December 9, 2022)
L’aio nell’imbarazzo (@Donizetti Festival 2022)
Review (December 8, 2022)
🤯 Season 2021–22
☝ Editorial: Diva In The War
Essay (April 6, 2022)
☝ Editorial: Cancel Me
Essay (April 1, 2022)
🗞 Criticism on Fridays: Stop the War (Between Us)
Weekly Column (February 25, 2021)
☝ 🗞 Criticism on Fridays: Hans Neuenfels & The Death That Comes On Its Own
Weekly Column (February 11, 2021)
Best of 2021: OperaWire’s Staff on the Best Performances of the Year
OperaWire Staff (December 21, 2021)
☝ 🗞 Criticism on Fridays: Femicide As a Norm?
Weekly Column (December 3, 2021)
🗞 Criticism on Fridays: Aging & Poor?
Weekly Column (November 12, 2021)
🗞 Criticism on Fridays: Walk With Amal
Weekly Column (October 22, 2021)
☝ 🗞 Criticism on Fridays: Safety First?
Weekly Column (October 15, 2021)
Orlando @Haymarket Opera Company
Review (October 14, 2021)
🗞 Criticism on Fridays: So, This Is a Strike
Weekly Column (October 8, 2021)
🗞 Criticism on Fridays: Catching Up With Opera Today
Weekly Column (October 1, 2021)
🗞️ Season 2020–21
🗞 Criticism on Fridays: The Societal Problems Jonas Kaufmann’s ‘Tristan’ Revealed
Weekly Column (August 6, 2021)
☝ Editorial: Predictions — The Fight Between Local 802 and the Met Spreads Further Than the Orchestra Pit
Editorial (August 3, 2021)
🗞 Criticism on Fridays: IATSE (Local 1) vs the MET
Weekly Column (July 2, 2021)
Q & A: Sonya Yoncheva on the Rebirth of the Opera Industry & Finding Her Own Freedom as an Artist
Interview (June 30, 2021)
☝ 🗞 Criticism on Fridays: Pretty Yende vs French Customs
Weekly Column (June 25, 2021)
🗞 Criticism on Fridays: How AGMA Failed Its Artists
Weekly Column (June 11, 2021)
☝ 🗞 Criticism on Fridays: The Curtain Call of the MET/AGMA Negotiations
Weekly Column (May 28, 2021)
Tosca In Concert @Teatro del Maggio Musicale
Review (May 19, 2021)
🗞 Criticism on Fridays: Can Anything Prevent the Met from Reopening?
Weekly Column (May 7, 2021)
Adriana Lecouvreur @Teatro del Maggio Musicale
Review (April 30, 2021)
🗞 Criticism on Fridays: The Italian Theatres Reopen
Weekly Column (April 30, 2021)
🗞 Criticism on Fridays: Could Jonas Kaufmann Defeat the Regime?
Weekly Column (April 23, 2021)
🗞 Criticism on Fridays: Denying an Outbreak at Teatro Real
Weekly Column (April 9, 2021)
Q & A: Haymarket General Director Chase Hopkins on Stepping Into a Leadership Role in a Trying Time
Interview (April 5, 2021)
☝ 🗞 Criticism on Fridays: Opera Australia Celebrates Reopening at Workers’ Expense
Weekly Column (April 2, 2021)
🗞 Criticisms on Fridays: The Opera Managers Declare Themselves
Weekly Column (March 26, 2021)
Editorial: The Met Opera ‘Deal’ [Un]Explained
Editorial (March 12, 2021)
☝ 🗞 Criticisms on Fridays: James Levine is Dead (The Polarized Response to the Death of Problematic Artist)
Weekly Column (March 19, 2021)
🗞 Criticism on Fridays: Italian Workers’ Union Confronts Teatro La Fenice
Weekly Column (March 12, 2021)
Apollo e Dafne @Haymarket Opera Company
Review (March 9, 2021)
🗞 Criticism on Fridays: The Promising Little Headlines
Weekly Column (March 5, 2021)
☝ 🗞 Criticism on Fridays: Can We Already MET?
Weekly Column (February 26, 2021)
🗞 Criticism on Fridays: Letters to Russia
Weekly Column (February 19, 2021)
🗞 Criticism on Fridays: Empowering Each Other
Weekly Column (February 12, 2021)
☝ Without Making Compromises — Baritone Holger Falk on Empty Space as a Key-Driver of the Artistic Self-Development
Interview (February 11, 2021)
🗞 Criticism on Fridays: Brexit Holds UK Artists Hostage
Weekly Column (February 5, 2021)
☝ 🗞 Criticism on Fridays: The Slow Decay of Italian Opera
Weekly Column (January 29, 2021)
🗞 Criticism on Fridays: Connecting the Opera Industry
Weekly Column (January 22, 2021)
☝ Eight Songs for a Mad King @Bayerische Staatsoper
Review (January 11, 2021)
☝ 🗞 Criticism on Fridays: The Apparent Well-Being of German Musicians
Weekly Column (January 15, 2021)
☝ 🗞 Criticism on Fridays: Re: Metropolitan Opera Outsourcing
Weekly Column (January 8, 2021)
🗞 Inter-Holiday Criticism: New Year’s Resolution
Weekly Column (December 30, 2020)
🗞 Criticism on Fridays: South African Opera Singers in Crisis
Weekly Column (December 18, 2020)
Kasia Głowicka’s ‘Lilian’
Review (December 17, 2020)
🗞 Criticism on Fridays: The End of the Year
Weekly Column (December 11, 2020)
☝ Fragments Part I — Traviata
Review (December 7, 2020)
🗞 Criticism on Fridays: Speaking for All of Us
Weekly Column (December 4, 2020)
Fedora @Teatro Grattacielo
Review (December 3, 2020)
🗞 Criticism on Fridays: Opera Journalism in Times of Crisis
Weekly Column (November 27, 2020)
Marino Faliero @Donizetti Opera Festival 2020
Review (November 20, 2020)
🗞 Criticism on Fridays: European Culture Bailout 2021–2027
Weekly Column (November 20, 2020)
🗞 Criticism on Fridays: Revising the Canon
Weekly Column (November 13, 2020)
Acis and Galatea @Haymarket Opera Company
Review (November 7, 2020)
🗞 Criticism on Fridays: November Protests in Europe
Weekly Column (November 6, 2020)
☝ Q & A: Elīna Garanča on the Challenges COVID-19 Presents for the Opera World Faces
Interview (November 2, 2020)
☝ Editorial: Why Is It Hard to Praise
Essay (October 14, 2020)
La Serva Padrona @LNOBT
Review (October 3, 2020)
☝ Anna Bolena @LNOBT
Review (October 4, 2020)
☝️Season 2019–20
Das Lied von der Erde @Lithuanian National Philharmony
Review (June 18, 2020)
Lithuanian National Opera’s New Normal Looks Somewhat Familiar
Essay (June 23, 2020)
☝ Andrea Bocelli @Kaunas
Review (January 10, 2020)
Die Fledermaus @LNOBT
Review (December 18, 2019)
Best of 2019 — OperaWire’s Staff on the Best Performances of the Year
OperaWire Staff (December 20, 2019)
☝ Die tote Stadt @Bayerische Staatsoper
Review (November 22, 2019)
Q & A: Soprano Venera Gimadieva on Balancing Her Profession & Motherhood
Interview (November 20, 2019)
☝ Always Singing & Smiling. Roberto Alagna On His Undying Passion
For His Art, Taking Care of His Voice, & The Challenges Facing Young Singers Today
Interview (November 9, 2019)
Don Carlo @Opéra national de Paris
Review (October 25, 2019)
☝ Editorial: Assessing the State of Modern Opera Criticism Per Legendary Soprano Jessye Norman’s Famed Quote
Essay (October 25, 2019)
What Is Your Favorite Verdi Opera?
OperaWire Staff (October 10, 2019)
Pimpinone @Banchetto Musicale
Review (September 27, 2019)
Candide @LNOBT
Review (September 18, 2019)
🎬 Season 2018–19
Asmik Grigorian in Concert @MidsummerVilnius
Review (1st of August 2019)
Edgaras Montvidas in Concert @Christopher Summer Festival
Review (16th of June 2019)
☝ Reading between the lines of the major operatic event (on Rolex Ambassadors Gala)
Essay (24th of July 2019)
Soprano and Conductor Barbara Hannigan on Conducting, Equilibrium Project, and Ojai Festival
Interview (1st of June 2019)
☝ The Rake’s Progress @Philharmonie De Paris
Review (27th of May 2019)
Tosca @Opera National De Paris
Review (24th of May 2019)
The Greatest Moments In Wagner’s Operas
OperaWire Staff (22nd of May 2019)
Iolanta @Opera National De Paris
Review (22nd of May 2019)
☝ Rolando Villazón In Concert @Salle Gaveau
Review (21st of May 2019)
OperaWire’s Favorite ‘Le Nozze di Figaro’ Recordings Of All Time
OperaWire Staff (1st of May 2019)
Madama Butterfly @LNOBT
Review (4th of April 2019)
Tenor Kristian Benedikt On ‘Samson et Dalila’ & Opera Culture Around The World
Interview (26th of March 2019)
Turandot @LNOBT
Review (6th of March 2019)
☝ Director Robert Wilson on His ’Turandot,’ Lady Gaga, & His Style
Interview (2nd of March)
Black History Month 2019
OperWire Staff (26th of February 2019)
Queen of Spades @Vilnius City Opera
Review (26th of February 2019)
Plácido Domingo & Ana Martinez On Competitions, Repertory Stagnation & Contemporary Works
Interview (19th of February)
Opera “Alpha” (full version)@Operomanija
Review (11th of January 2019)
☝ Most Memorable Opera Performances Of the Year
OperaWire Staff (December 2018)
L’Elisir d’Amore @Opera National De Paris
Review (28th of December 2018)
Tenor Levy Sekgapane On Performing Bel Canto Repertoire, His Idol,
& Plácido Domingo
Interview (25th of December 2018)
☝ Otello @Bayerische Staatsoper
Review (18th of December 2018)
☝ Lisette Oropesa On Building Her Career & A Triumphant 2018
Interview (21st of November 2018)
☝ Simon Boccanegra @Opera National De Paris
Review (21st of November 2018)
Gewandhausorchester Leipzig’s Autumn Tour
Review (20th of October 2018)
Have A Good Day! @Operomanija
Review (15th of October 2018)
Season 2019–20
Great musician of today
Essay (19th of September 2019)
Appeared in the LNOBT educational program
☝ Music Theatre of Lenny (LT version)
Essay (10th of September 2019)
Appeared in Bravissimo (September 2019), 15min.lt, LNOBT performance program
☝ The Garden that Bernstein Grew
Essay (August 2019)
Appeared in LNOBT Season Book 2019–20, LRT
The portrait of the roulette wheel
Essay (August 2019)
Appeared in LNOBT Season Book 2019–20, Bravissimo Magazine (December 2019), LNOBT performance program
Justice for Anna
Essay (August 2019)
Appeared in LNOBT Season Book 2019–20, Bravissimo Magazine (February 2020), LNOBT performance program
Season 2018–19
☝ Opera Criticism in ‘The Best of All Possible Worlds’ (LT version)
Memoir/Essay (July 2019)
Appeared in Nemunas
Not Just Another Zeffirelli Obituary
Essay (June 2019)
Enrico di Borgogna @Donizetti festival 2018
Review (8th of December 2018)
Appeared on Schmopera.com
