Fancy pants

Harold C. Schonberg in The New York Times:

Miss Troyanos, a handsome woman, looked entirely convincing in her pants role, and dramatically she carried it off—the last two acts, anyway—in a most authoritative manner. The first act, not unexpectedly, found her feeling her way, looking a little uncomfortable. A debut in such a major role cannot be easy on the nerves.

Miss Troyanos has a strong and clear voice, accurate in intonation, wide enough in range to take care of anything Octavian has to sing. Much more than a mere vocalist, she is an artistic singer who can phrase with real elegance, and did so last night.

Birthday anniversary of librettist and playwright Jules Barbier (1825), composer Franco Alfano (1875), tenors Franz Klarwein (1914) and Robert Tear (1939) and director Luca Ronconi (1933).

Happy 84th birthday tenor Horst Laubenthal.

Happy 62nd birthday tenor Mark Padmore.