Two of the greatest opera composers of the 20th century both happened to be gay and ardent pacifists.

The principal cast members for the week’s Aida are all Wagnerians: Birgit Nilsson, Sándor Kónya, Rita Gorr and Cornell MacNeil.

 La fille du regiment from Wiener Staatsoper with Julie Fuchs and John Tessier. 

I wish to introduce our younger Parterrians to the magical Martha Mödl to commemorate the opening of the Bayreuther Festspiele which opens tomorrow afternoon. 

On 07 May 2007 the air inside Theater an der Wien crackled with anticipation before the premiere of Leos Janácek’s Z mrtvého domu (From the House of the Dead) in a production by Patrice Chéreau conducted by Pierre Boulez. 

It’s a pity that Francis Poulenc took so long to getting around to compose his operas.

Now it’s time to grab Albert Einstein for a lengthy swim.

In March 1973, OONY’s second season featured Francesca da Rimini starring Raina Kabaivanska, Plácido Domingo and Matteo Manuguerra.

I finally get to complete my personal operatic Top Ten this week with Igor Stravinsky’s only full-length opera, The Rake’s Progress. 

 The glorious and beloved Elisabeth Söderström tackles the fiendishly difficult role of Christine in a 1974 performance from Glyndebourne.

Due to a small hiccup in scheduling at Casa della Cieca, this week you get two uploads!

“Did you ever have the feeling that you wanted to go, and then you had the feeling that you wanted to stay?”  This soul-searching question is likely running through the mind of Renée Fleming.

Let’s be honest: I was there for Kaufmann and Kühmeier, two of my favorite singers.

“If you’ve overdosed on Der Rosenkavalier in the past week, let’s go back a few years to Richard Strauss’ first operatic hit: Salome.

Verdi’s ninth opera, Attila, offers all the noisy music from Nabucco without a “Va pensiero” to cherish.

This week brings another opera about which we’ve heard a lot but have had few opportunities to see onstage: The Fiery Angel by Sergei Prokofiev.

It’s been said that the final installment of the great trio of bel canto comedies is Don Pasquale, following Il barbiere di Siviglia and L’elisir d’amore.

This week’s feature is a classic Salzburger Festspiele performance from 1959 with the all-star cast of Leopold Simoneau, Lisa Della Casa, Kurt Böhme, Erika Köth, Walter Berry, Hans Hotter, Graziella Sciutti and Karl Dönch conducted by George Szell.

Opening night of La Scala in 1962 with Franco Corelli, Antonietta Stella, Fiorenza Cossotto, Ettore Bastianini, and Ivo Vinco.

This week we get closer to completing the operas of Benjamin Britten with The Rape of Lucretia.