Parterre Box
I could not wrap what’s left of my mind around the concept of “filth and dementia” in opera
Renée as Thaïs finding salvation while trudging through the parched Egyptian desert in off-the-shoulder La Croix atelier.
Alexander Köpeczi, currently plying leading roles in two operas in Santa Fe and, rumor has it, the life of one prominent soprano, is the object of this week’s Grand Tier Grab Bag.
That this performance of Verdi’s Lady Macbeth was recorded and preserved for posterity is beyond the pale.
Rising stars Chelsea Lehnea and Ricardo José Rivera are the protagonists of this week’s Grand Tier Grab Bag.
Who doesn’t love a slightly murky archival recording?
Ma che brutta figura per la lirica!
I sort of have a love/hate fascination with countertenors/male falsettists.
Karina Gauvin slays for the slayed. Werk Bitch.
Zubin Mehta was a major part of musical life when I moved to Southern California in 1969, having started his tenure as music director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
It’s a busy summer for Vida Miknevičiūtė and Eric Cutler, the subjects of this week’s Grand Tier Grab Bag.
It is no wonder Bernard Herrmann relishes the wistful lyricism in Barber’s masterwork, as Herrmann’s score for Vertigo is among the most beautiful and haunting of all film scores ever composed.
Based on exactly one recording, Maurice Abravanel is my favorite opera conductor.
Cher public is exhorted to join the Geplauder when the annual week of broadcasts from Bayreuth begins on Saturday
Fifty some years ago I stumbled on to John Barbirolli‘s recording of matchless Elgar & V-Williams music for strings and discovered my go-to conductor for life.
Elina Garanča’s aborted first Ariadne may have been the headline item at the Salzburg Festival next month, but this week Parterre Box features the Zerbinetta, Ziyi Dai.
Whether an opera by Puccini, Verdi, Wagner, Strauss, or Berg, Dimitri Mitropoulos brought to the podium a total understanding and love for each score he touched.
I am once again going to laud the classic Rudolf Kempe commercial recording of Lohengrin (which I have lauded overall) for its conducting.
Roger Norrington conducted Rossini’s Semiramide in Pesaro ’94 and made the Orchestra part of the drama in a way I still have never heard duplicated in a Bel Canto opera.
One Italian soprano continues to save the day in bel canto roles at La Scala; this week Parterre Box features Marta Torbidoni.
Many years ago, when the Met was deciding who the next principal conductor/music director was going to be, it seemed to be a tie between YN-S and Fabio Luisi.
Daniel Barenboim’s Tristan und Isolde is a performance I keep coming back to, again and again.
I first experienced the magic of Seiji Ozawa in 1972 when I was 12 years old.
Ambur Braid‘s biggest dramatic soprano assignment yet — the Dyer’s Wife in Aix — is occasion for Parterre Box to feature her in some of her old repertoire.
Tell us: Filth or dementia?
Hasten thee to feed another quarter of conversation for The Talk of the Town!
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