Here they are, cher public, your most popular 10 (or, rather, 11) parterre posts for the month of May 2018.
1. The return of the Pubies: With the Met’s final performances of the spring coming up this weekend, it’s time to vote on the 2018 Pubie Awards.
2. Belt register: Latvian soprano Kristine Opolais has withdrawn from the role of Elsa in The Royal Opera’s forthcoming new production of Lohengrin.
3. Prodigy: Maria Callas’s most outstanding Adalgisa, out of all she partnered with, was Fiorenza Cossotto. (How’s that for a change of pace?)
4. Spring break: Jennifer Rowley will sing the title role in tonight’s performance of Puccini’s Tosca, replacing Anna Netrebko who is ill.
5. Manca la diva: With Sonya Yoncheva canceling the Philadelphia Orchestra’s performances of Tosca, who do you, the cher public, think will take her place?
6. Double diva day: Born on this day in 1906 soprano Zinka Milanov and in 1918 soprano Birgit Nilsson.
7. Meeting Rigoletto: I have a confession to make. I have been taking Rigoletto for granted.
8. Climb every diva: So Anna Netrebko met Julie Andrews yesterday afternoon at an event for the American Austrian Foundation, but that’s just the beginning!
9. Tosca, starring the Philadelphia Orchestra: Waiting for Yannick Nézet-Séguin’s semi-staged Tosca to begin, I remembered 27 years ago, when I last heard the Philadelphia Orchestra perform the work.
10. (tie) Sondra castle: The Canadian Opera Company announced a new (to the COC, anyway) production of Donizetti’s Anna Bolena staring soprano Sondra Radvanovsky in the title role.
10. (tie) Senza nube e senza vel: How could I resist the chance to see Mariella Devia in one of operas greatest roles in Venice?
