Jungfer Marianne Leitmetzerin

Big river Big river

Was he listening to a lot of Meyerbeer?

Ah, youth! Ah, youth!

Once again, your alte Jungfer is pleased to offer a performance by a polarizing diva: it seems that parterriani either love her or loathe her.

How Green was my Verdi How Green was my Verdi

As the world knows, Anja Harteros dropped out of this series of Don Carlo for a stab at Aïda in Rome. Illness sidelined Ramón Vargas from the title roles in both Don Carlo and Werther. While Wiener Staatsoper has been plagued with cancellations all season (even substituting L’elisir d’amore for La Juive at the last…

Eternamente Eternamente

“Go while the going is good.  Knowing when to leave may be the smartest thing anyone can learn,” sings Fran in Promises, Promises, the 1968 Hal David/Burt Bacharach musical which apparently Edita Gruberová has never seen.

The kindness of Previn The kindness of Previn

Renée Fleming is one of the most polarizing figures to be discussed here on an ongoing basis.

Ein sel’ger Engel dort zu werden! Ein sel’ger Engel dort zu werden!

I really wanted to post Victoria de los Angeles‘ Met performance of Elisabeth, but this recording is a more than acceptable substitute.

Meyerbeer me! Meyerbeer me!

So, how well does Les Huguenots stand up in this, our modern world?

Che grido è questo mai? Che grido è questo mai?

Defying a computer breakdown and an online outage, I fled to a smoky Iranian Internet café to upload this performance of Don Giovanni. It was worth the trouble.

My one and only My one and only

Today’s program documents the only time Joan Sutherland and Luciano Pavarotti performed La traviata together at the Met.-

Blind item Blind item

As a preview of sorts of the Next Big Thing at the Met, here’s a performance of Tchaikovsky’s Iolanta featuring Piotr Beczala from 2002.

Perfectly Franco Perfectly Franco

It’s Corelli two ways and across nearly two decades in this dream double bill of Cavalleria rusticana and Pagliacci.

The Fotheringay kerfuffle The Fotheringay kerfuffle

This week, we return to the 1970s with a very special performance of Donizetti’s Maria Stuarda featuring the duelling queens of Beverly Sills and Pauline Tinsley.

The brass menagerie The brass menagerie

This week’s post is a bit of a departure for your Jungfer Marianne (pictured). It’s a New Year’s salute to all the broad and brassy dames, divas, and diseuses we have grown to love from the 1950s and 1960s. In a special collaboration with parterre.com, La Cieca, the grand doyenne of Parterre Box, and I…