On this day in 1808 Beethoven‘s Fidelio premiered in Vienna
Happy 86th birthday tenor René Kollo
Happy 75th birthday soprano Barbara Hendricks
Happy 73rd birthday tenor Vinson Cole
Birthday anniversary of dancer Alexandra Danilova (1903)
A season in hell
On this day in 1907 bass Fyodor Chaliapin made his Met debut as Boito‘s Mefistofele
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.