Birthday anniversaries of composers Victor Massé (1822) and Maurice Ravel (1875) and baritones Eugene Holmes (1932 or 1934) and Claudio Nicolai (1929); and tenor Robert Gard (1927).
Valse impériale
Born on this day in 1931 soprano Mady Mesplé.
On this day in 1987 tenor Jerry Hadley made his Metropolitan Opera debut as Des Grieux.On this day in 1824 Giacomo Meyerbeer’s opera Il Crociati in Egitto premiered in Venice.
WindyCityOperaman
Dan Soda (Windy City Operaman) is a Chicago native whose first visit to opera was at age 17 and Massenet’s Werther with Troyanos and Kraus. Nothing was ever the same. Opera and concert performances, recordings and video are an obsession. He prepares Parterre Box’s daily birthday and anniversary tributes. He also enjoys concerts, live theater and movies.
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Tell us: What was the best of 2025?
Parterre Box concludes the thrilling first year of Talk of the Town by inviting your lightning rod opinions on several more categories of operatic argumentation.