Parterre Box
East Germany’s Hochdramatische icon, Berlin’s local Nachtigall.
Unfortunately, Barbara Haveman does not perform very much anymore and she did not leave many recordings.
My parents- heroes that they were- used to drive me to Tower Records in Piccadilly Circus (RIP, to both the store and while we’re here, to my parents) after dinner on my birthday, to take advantage of the fact that it was open until midnight.
Many of us of a certain age had the good luck to see Benita Valente frequently at the Met. My memory is that she was treated rather like a house singer at first, and only later was appreciated for her extraordinary gifts.
Following the successful launch of the new regular feature The Talk of the Town in January, the team at the box is inviting contributions for a new quarter of operatic potpourri.
Ahead of Natalie Dessay‘s adieu to classical music and upcoming American turn, parterre box offers a sample of her in Gounod‘s “Jewel Song” recorded just last year.
Mussorgsky‘s Khovanshchina is one of the most gripping operatic political dramas ever written, with lots of gorgeous melodies and superb choral writing.
Great score; let anyone but Jeremy Sams concoct a new libretto!
It used to be proverbial on the Met Opera Quiz, usually quoted by quiz master Edward Downes: “If you can’t remember where a certain plot event occurs … it happens in La Gioconda.”
I know that there is no chance that Met will ever do this since they have decided to focus on contemporary opera at the expense of reviving older works. Still it has some of Donizetti’s most moving and striking moments. The plot is so over the top gothic that it could still be quite effective.
Following the peek at Asmik Grigorian‘s attempt, parterre box humbly offers an in-house snippet of Federica Lombardi‘s “Casta Diva” from a few blocks over on the Ringstrasse
More action than in Gluck‘s other great works, and plenty of opportunities for scenic spectacle.
The conclusion of Romeo Castellucci‘s Pierre Audi‘s Ring cycle live from Brussels
It’s time to correct the pandemic’s error in canceling the scheduled 2020-21 production.
Teodor Currentzis conducts Rameau‘s opera in a performance recorded earlier this month in Paris
Samuel Barber may have had an edge as melodist over Dominick Argento, but the latter had a far better instinct as dramatist, and his 1988 setting of Henry James’s The Aspern Papers is overdue for a Met premiere. It is a gripping work of musical psychodrama.
Ahead of a broadcast in Europe on Arte on Sunday, parterre box has snagged a snippet of Asmik Grigorian‘s eagerly anticipated role debut as Norma in Vienna
Jonny spielt auf by Ernst Krenek could be a lot of rollicking fun, especially if a director and design team leaned into creating a 1927 world that acknowledged modernist art movements, silent film acting aesthetics, and the use of historical film footage of nightlife and cityscapes of the time.
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.
