Parterre Box
The conclusion of the Metropolitan Opera’s annual competition, live from New York
parterre‘s protean publisher and historical singing authority Nick Scholl sits down with the Bel Canto Boot Camp team to discuss the old school and what makes for good filth
A drama/trauma-tic soprano in the model of Gencer and Olivero, Martile Rowland sang a brilliant Elisabetta in Roberto Devereux (a last minute replacement for Zampieri, another controversial pick) at a concert, did half a Puritani at the Met, and sang the other “Gencer” roles such as Paolina in I Martiri, the title roles in Caterina Cornaro and Linda di Chamounix, and then retired to teach in the midwest somewhere(?).
But two weeks remain for readers to stoke the fires of daily discussion over at The Talk of the Town!
Joyce Guyer’s silvery soprano, impeccable musicianship and beguiling stage presence made her an invaluable member of the Met roster in the late 1990s and early 2000s, appearing most frequently in harmony with others in such assignments as Najade in Ariadne auf Naxos, Woglinde in Wagner’s Ring Cycle and as a Parsifal Flower Maiden.
Hoping to speed up the arrival of spring, parterre box coaxes you to Michael Spyres‘s blazing pira with an in-house sampling of his Manrico from last fall’s Il trovatore in Houston.
Although not exactly unknown, why she isn’t a big star is mysterious to me.
I first encountered Karina Gauvin in 2003 in the Boston Early Music Festival’s production of Conradi’s Ariadne. It does not happen often that I encounter an unknown singer with such a gorgeous sheen to their voice. Her performance was a knockout.
Eugenia Burzio is the most demented soprano on record, for me at least.
Lyric Opera of Chicago has announced its 2025-26 season, its first complete one under its new General Director, President & CEO John Mangum.
Such clean, beautifully poised technique, rich timbre, gorgeous agility…the anti-Melba
A currently active dramatic coloratura who has the voice and technique for Odabella! how often do we see that?
I first saw her perform with Portland Opera in Lucia. I subsequently saw her in Traviata, also in Portland. Later, I saw her as both Gilda and Juliette as the Met.
Not sure if she’s under-appreciated per se, but hers is my favorite Manon Lescaut with Jussi Björling.
A performance recorded earlier this year at the Teatro Regio di Parma.
parterre box is titillated (in the most prudishly puritanical way possible) to share a clip from the Paris Opera’s recent production of I Puritani starring Lisette Oropesa and Lawrence Brownlee
The assumption is that singers, singing in their own language, will be more expressive and idiomatic. The reality is that it often seldom makes a difference.
Diana Soviero, America’s standard-setter in Puccini and verismo — an artist whose vocalism was luminous, and whose inner conviction achieved the ultimate in shattering, profoundly moving emotional intensity.
I first heard Patrizia Ciofi in a production of La traviata from Venice. It was a very modern production set in present day, but still she shown through her performance was just incredible.
Tell us: What was the best of 2025?
Parterre Box concludes the thrilling first year of Talk of the Town by inviting your lightning rod opinions on several more categories of operatic argumentation.
