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.

The Battle of Carnegie Hall The Battle of Carnegie Hall

Trove Thursday sneaks in one more OONY offering before 2021 ends: Verdi’s rare La Battaglia di Legnano from 1987 with Aprile Millo, Mario Malagnini, and Matteo Manuguerra.

on December 16, 2021 at 2:02 PM
The key of dreams The key of dreams

My sister Julie celebrates an important birthday later this month which reminded me—as I also recalled I visiting her while she was living in Prague—that I should unearth Bohuslav Martin?’s Julietta with Lucia Popp and Dénes Gulyás for this week’s Trove Thursday.

on December 09, 2021 at 10:00 AM
How deep is your love How deep is your love

As one can see from the chronology published earlier this year, the American Opera Society, in addition to reviving a number of now familiar operas, introduced many singers who became important local figures; however, there were shooting-star exceptions like today’s Trove Thursday offering of d’Albert’s Tiefland featuring Angeles Gulin and Ion Buzea.

on December 02, 2021 at 10:00 AM
Random acts Random acts

Trove Thursday adds two short works—Goyescas and L’enfant et les sortilèges—to Christian’s expansive recent survey of Bernard Haitink’s opera legacy.

on November 25, 2021 at 10:00 AM
We are family We are family

Symphony orchestras crave Wagner so much they occasionally program single acts of one of the master’s demanding operas, especially Die Walküre’s rapturous first, so Trove Thursday offers six (!) incestuous concert renditions spanning half a century.

on November 18, 2021 at 10:00 AM
Take me to the world Take me to the world

With one show opening Sunday, another beginning previews on Monday and two more scheduled for the spring, 2021-22 will be yet another Stephen Sondheim-centric season in New York City which leads Trove Thursday to offer three “international” live recordings in which the artist’s works are performed without his inimitable English lyrics.

on November 11, 2021 at 10:00 AM
Straight to hell Straight to hell

November in New York hosts two premieres dedicated to mythology’s greatest musician, which prompts Trove Thursday to present a vintage Monteverdi L’Orfeo with Judith Raskin and Gérard Souzay conducted by Leopold Stokowski (!) and a recent HIP London broadcast of Luigi Rossi’s L’Orfeo.

on November 04, 2021 at 10:00 AM
The high and the mighty The high and the mighty

Last Wednesday the 92nd Street Y presented the friendliest-ever episode of American Gladiators when Lawrence Brownlee and Michael Spyres continued their bel canto bromance with a delirious (almost) all-Rossini recital accompanied by Myra Huang.

on November 01, 2021 at 12:54 PM
Quicksilver princess Quicksilver princess

Trove Thursday remembers Edita Gruberová with live recordings of two of the three operas I heard her perform at the Met: a 1985 Munich La Traviata with Neil Shicoff and Wolfgang Brendel conducted by Carlos Kleiber and an I Puritani from Vienna 1994 featuring two other artists who recently left us too soon: Marcello Giordani and Dmitri Hvorostovsky.

on October 28, 2021 at 10:14 AM
Sachs appeal Sachs appeal

Last night’s cast of Die Meistersinger at the Met, dominated by the irascible, unbeatable duo of Michael Volle and Johannes Martin Kränzle as Sachs and Beckmesser, did much to enliven Otto Schenk’s creaky, nearly 30-year-old production.

on October 27, 2021 at 1:05 PM
Unbreak my harp Unbreak my harp

A performance of Rossini’s Otello ossia Il Moro di Venezia from the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, featuring Mariella Devia, Bruce Ford and Juan Diego Florez.

on October 21, 2021 at 10:00 AM
Emperor concerto Emperor concerto

The fifth annual edition of Trove Thursday’s “Handel for my Birthday” actually falls on the very day this year, and there are few broadcasts I love more than the 1972 BBC Tamerlano starring the greatest Janet Baker along with Norma Burrowes, Patricia Kern, Maureen Lehane and Alexander Young.

on October 14, 2021 at 10:00 AM
Riddle me this Riddle me this

Turandot finally arrives on Trove Thursday, but it’s the setting by Ferruccio Busoni which predates by a decade the one by that other Italian guy, and it’s paired today with Arlecchino, the composer’s other commedia dell’arte-influenced short opera.

on October 07, 2021 at 10:00 AM
No country for gold men No country for gold men

Trove Thursday offers two very different live recordings of Halévy’s grand opera La Juive.

on September 30, 2021 at 10:00 AM
A wig and a prayer A wig and a prayer

A snarky commentator might dub last night at the Met “Boris of the divo hair flip” but that would do a disservice to a serious, often effective performance of the challenging original version of Mussorgsky’s masterpiece.

on September 29, 2021 at 11:23 AM
I’m a Slav 4 U I’m a Slav 4 U

Trove Thursday joins with those who prayed for opera to reopen worldwide for two broadcasts—more than fifty years apart–of Janacek’s stunning Glagolitic Mass, one conducted by Robert Shaw featuring Martina Arroyo, the other with Asmik Grigorian (pictured) led by rising American Karina Canellakis.

on September 23, 2021 at 10:00 AM
Divas by the dozen Divas by the dozen

Anticipating Chicago’s prima donna-debut weekend and with apologies to Dorothy Bishop (not pictured), Trove Thursday mounts its own “Dozen Divas Show.”

on September 16, 2021 at 10:00 AM
Tauride zone Tauride zone

This week Trove Thursday presents Gluck’s Iphigénie en Tauride in three stirring broadcasts starring Rita Gorr, Gré Brouwenstijn and Sena Jurinac

on September 09, 2021 at 10:00 AM
By Porpora demand By Porpora demand

Important European revivals this season would like to return Nicola Porpora to the remarkable prominence he held during the first half of the 18th century. Trove Thursday argues his case with a “pirate” recording of Polifemo featuring Franco Fagioli in a star performance along with Xavier Sabata (pictured), Laura Aikin, Mary-Ellen Nesi and Christian Senn.

on September 02, 2021 at 8:00 AM
Get ready for the judgment day Get ready for the judgment day

In anticipation of the Met’s reopening performance on September 11, another serving of pandemic-hoarding arrives on Trove Thursday with 10 rare live performances of the Verdi Requiem’s concluding “Libera me.”

on August 26, 2021 at 10:00 AM
Uninvited ghost Uninvited ghost

Trove Thursday sends best wishes to Michael Tilson Thomas, currently recovering from a recent surgery to remove a brain tumor, and presents him in a broadcast leading the UK premiere of Rimsky-Korsakov’s Mlada with Makvala Kasrashvili, Felicity Palmer, Jon Frederic West and Sergei Leiferkus.

on August 19, 2021 at 10:00 AM
And five for Mahler And five for Mahler

Trove Thursday returns to vocal works of Gustav Mahler!

on August 12, 2021 at 10:00 AM
Fun and games Fun and games

As Tokyo’s games wind down, Trove Thursday’s are just beginning with settings of L’Olimpiade, an important Metastasio libretto, by Giovanni Pergolesi and Domenico Cimarosa, both featuring gold-medal mezzo Anna Bonitatibus.

on August 05, 2021 at 10:00 AM
Round Table discussion Round Table discussion

Like many composers of his generation, Ernest Chausson was enthralled by Wagner and he too turned to legend for his only opera, one that would consume him for final decade of his brief life.

on August 03, 2021 at 10:00 AM