A visit to Santa Fe has become an essential part of my summer travels. The magic of the venue and the quality of the performances is unrivalled in North America and General Director Charles MacKay and his team have become good friends.

I was proud to arrive here on Saturday for the last opening of the season, Richard Strauss' Arabella, a co-production of Santa Fe Opera, Minnesota Opera and the COC. Santa Fe Opera has a long tradition of performing Strauss's operas. Between Tim Albery's elegant production, Andrew Davis' conducting, Erin Wall and Mark Delavan debuting as Arabella and Mandryka this was a great evening for Strauss' neglected masterpiece. Arabella is often described as a somehow weaker sequel to Der Rosenkavalier, but I wouldn't want to have to choose between the two and look forward to having this production on our stage in a few seasons.

Over the next few days I will see the remaining four operas of the Santa Fe season, Puccini's Tosca, Bizet's Pearl Fishers, Rossini's Maometto II and Szymanowski's King Roger, all presented in new productions - and I will get a chance to hear the apprentice singers, after Santa Barbara and San Francisco the third group of young artists that I will hear this summer. All together, I will have heard about 70 of the most talented young singers in North America, about 10 of them Canadians. A lot of new material for future casting.