Christopher Corwin

Christopher Corwin began writing for parterre box in 2011 under the pen name “DeCaffarrelli.” His work has also appeared in , The New York Times, Musical America, The Observer, San Francisco Classical Voice and BAMNotes. Like many, he came to opera via the Saturday Met Opera broadcasts which he began listening to at age 11. His particular enthusiasm is 17th and 18th century opera. Since 2015 he has curated the weekly podcast Trove Thursday on parterre box presenting live recordings.

Summer of the mezzo Summer of the mezzo

August on “Trove Thursday” begins with Midsummer Mezzo Madness featuring a sterling quartet of lower-voiced ladies

on August 02, 2018 at 12:10 PM
You shall know them by their ‘Flutes’ You shall know them by their ‘Flutes’

This year’s Salzburg Festival opens Saturday with a new production of Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte, an opera often performed elsewhere in translation, so “Trove Thursday” offers two for the price (!) of one.

on July 26, 2018 at 10:31 AM
The wedding singers The wedding singers

Caramoor imported the venerable West-Coast period orchestra Philharmonia Baroque to perform Atalanta, an obscure pastoral work by Handel.

on July 24, 2018 at 9:07 AM
Aggrieved is the glorious work Aggrieved is the glorious work

What could go wrong? As it turned out: just about everything!

on July 20, 2018 at 1:19 PM
“Neither wine nor apples can appease my desire” “Neither wine nor apples can appease my desire”

“Trove Thursday” salutes the thrilling Ursula Schröder-Feinen with a special double-bill: a complete Salome followed by a rare Siegfried Brünnhilde.

on July 19, 2018 at 10:10 AM
Who’s that girl? Who’s that girl?

“Trove Thursday” goes modest with Donizetti’s domestic comedy Don Pasquale featuring Ileana Cotrubas, Alfredo Kraus, Vicente Sardinero and Wladimiro Ganzarolli.

on July 12, 2018 at 10:00 AM
More than words More than words

This week’s star-spangled “Trove Thursday” offers the second crazy-quilt installment of divas in the wrong language.

on July 05, 2018 at 10:00 AM
Tongue tied Tongue tied

“Trove Thursday”’s latest folie de grandeur is an overflowing three-part explosion of post-war divas in live performances of unexpected arias always in the “wrong language.”

on June 28, 2018 at 9:00 AM
A touch of classic A touch of classic

“Trove Thursday” offfers Joseph Martin Kraus’s superb Aeneas i Cartago, eller Dido och Aeneas—in Swedish!—starring a luminous Elisabeth Söderström as the doomed Queen.

on June 21, 2018 at 12:24 PM
Contes stop the music Contes stop the music

Trove Thursday wades into the murky musicological waters of Offenbach’s Les Contes d’Hoffmann..

on June 14, 2018 at 10:00 AM
Making out like a bandit Making out like a bandit

“Trove Thursday” turns for the third of Verdi’s four Schiller adaptations to a recent I Masnadieri with risen stars Lisette Oropesa and Russell Thomas.

on June 07, 2018 at 10:00 AM
Piau’s labyrinth Piau’s labyrinth

Arianna in Creta with Sandrine Piau, Kristina Hammarström and Ann Hallenberg conducted by Christophe Rousset.

on May 31, 2018 at 8:00 AM
The constant nymph The constant nymph

The old adage “the third time’s the charm” proved to be the case with me and Daphne, Richard Strauss’s ravishing bukolische Tragödie, when I recently heard it performed by Franz Welser-Möst and the Cleveland Orchestra.

on May 24, 2018 at 9:00 AM
A touch of the stone A touch of the stone

“Trove Thursday” turns its Rossini-150 series to one of the composer’s least known but tastiest comic gems La Pietra del Paragone with Julia Hamari, Justino Diaz, Alessandro Corbelli, Claudio Desderi and Paolo Barbacini conducted by Roberto Abbado. 

on May 17, 2018 at 10:00 AM
Crazy for you Crazy for you

“Trove Thursday” salutes Barbara Hannigan with an eclectic triple bill.

on May 10, 2018 at 9:00 AM
Pretty little lyres Pretty little lyres

While one sympathized with Matthew Aucoin’s urge to add his voice to the Orpheus canon it was difficult to figure out how his work complemented Gluck’s.

on May 07, 2018 at 12:42 PM
Come what May Come what May

At “Trove Thursday” it’s May Night, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s 1880 comic opera, in a recent broadcast from Moscow led by pianist-conductor Mikhail Pletnev.

on May 03, 2018 at 9:42 AM
Madness on the moors! Madness on the moors!

The new cast at the Met suggested an alliterative retitling of Lucia di Lammermoor was needed—perhaps Lost Loonies in Love or its Italian equivalent?

on April 27, 2018 at 12:53 PM
The queen’s throat The queen’s throat

“Trove Thursday ” presents Heinrich Marschner’s Hans Heiling in a 2001 performance from Berlin featuring Alessandra Marc as the title character’s mom, the Queen of the Elves. 

on April 26, 2018 at 10:32 AM
Quantum leap Quantum leap

Like Julius Caesar before her, Anna Netrebko can rightly proclaim “Veni vidi vici” about her decisive Roman victory at the Metropolitan Opera where she took on her first-ever Tosca.

on April 22, 2018 at 11:08 AM
Panglossed over Panglossed over

Celebrating Lenny’s 100th this year has made Candide ubiquitous at opera houses worldwide.

on April 20, 2018 at 10:58 AM
Season of the Witch Season of the Witch

Trove Thursday offers a pair of live broadcasts of Médée featuring two compelling mid-20th century divas—Inge Borkh in German and Eileen Farrell in Italian. 

on April 19, 2018 at 1:19 PM
Tragically Hippolyte Tragically Hippolyte

I had my head in my hands groaning in disbelief instead of joining in the general applause around me. 

on April 18, 2018 at 12:26 PM
They live by night They live by night

A heady audience paid top price to pack Carnegie Hall Thursday for just 80 minutes of unstaged Wagner. 

on April 13, 2018 at 11:57 AM