This week, in Pique Dame Karita Mattila is scolded by Leonie Rysanek and pursued by Ben Heppner and Dmitri Hvorostovsky, while Valerie Masterson, Patricia Kern and John Brecknock have a three-way in Rossini’s Le Comte Ory.

I’m hoping not to duplicate anything available on YouTube which has become increasingly difficult as the years pass. I will simply say that the 1995 Pique Dame remains one of the most memorable performances I’ve attended (I went earlier in the run; this pirate recording preserves the final one with this sterling cast). Later this month Lyric Opera of Chicago presents Ory starring Kathryn Lewek and Lawrence Brownlee.

Tchaikovsky: Pikovaya Dama

Lisa: Karita Mattila
Countess: Leonie Rysanek
Paulina/Daphnis: Birgitta Svendén
Chloé: Marie Plette
Governess: Ludmila Filatova
Masha: Emily Pulley
Gherman: Ben Heppner
Prince Yeletsky: Dmitri Hvorostovsky
Count Tomsky/Plutus: Nikolai Putilin
Chekalinsky: Peter Kazaras
Surin: Julien Robbins
Master of Ceremonies: Anthony Dean Griffey
Plutus: Nikolai Putilin
Chaplitsky: Tony Stevenson
Narumov: Kurt Link

Conductor: Valery Gergiev

Metropolitan Opera
16 November 1995

Rossini: Le Comte Ory (in English)

Countess Adèle: Valerie Masterson
Isolier: Patricia Kern
Ragonde: Anne Collins
Alice: Sandra Dugdale
Count Ory: John Brecknock
Raimbaud: Alan Opie
Tutor: Harold Blackburn

Conductor: Hazel Vivienne

English National Opera

11 June 1973

Broadcast

Both works can be downloaded by clicking on the icon of a cloud with an arrow pointing downward on the audio player above and the resulting mp3 file will appear in your download directory. Come back next Tuesday for more diva delicacies!