Parterre Box
Nobody in my experience has come close to rivaling Samuel Ramey as the shy, lovelorn Englishman Lord Sidney from that first cast.
The great bass Len Dresslar became famous (if unknown) as the voice of the Jolly Green Giant on all those ads that those of us (of a certain age) grew up on
Fyodor Chaliapin, the very great Russian basso, to this day owns the role of Massenet’s Don Quichotte.
Parterre Box previews an upcoming performance of Hercules with Ann Hallenberg in some very unique Baroque repertoire.
Fyodor Chaliapin is considered one of the greatest basses ever because he combined a dark, flexible, and instantly recognizable bass voice with extraordinary musical intelligence and nuance.
I wanted to make sure Paata Burchuladze gets celebrated in this series.
Hasten thee to feed another quarter of conversation for The Talk of the Town!
Following the announcement that she’ll make her Met debut next season, Grand Tier Grab Bag brings Italian soprano Erika Grimaldi to your attention with a duet from Manon Lescaut.
“Soprano Aleksandra Kurzak will sing the role of Cio-Cio-San in Puccini’s Madama Butterfly, replacing Sonya Yoncheva, who has withdrawn from the run due to family reasons,” says the Met press office.
For all his undeniable precision and discipline, I still find Toscanini’s tempi rushed and unyielding and his lack of rubato a chilly turnoff.
While the three leads do sing the material well, there has been a glut of recordings since then which are more complete and at least as well sung.
Ahead of his performance in Les pêcheurs de perles with Washington Concert Opera, Parterre Box features the unusually elegant Anthony León performing Mozart.
It was many decades ago that I first listened to the Solti Ring Cycle.
The Solti recording of Bohème is completely miscast.
Parterre Box highlights a busy few months of Verdi performances for Marina Rebeka and Ludovic Tézier with an exciting sample of their debuts in Nabucco.
The recent highly hyped studio recording of Puccini’s Turandot left me greatly disappointed.
All in all, an ill-advised venture.
Heavy-hitters: the first complete Ring in its history, Tosca with Marina Rebeka, Jonas Kaufmann, and Ludovic Tézier; plus recitals from Aigul Akhmetshina, Nadine Sierra, Jeanine De Bique, Michael Spyres, and more
It’s always surprised me how so many performances of the major Brecht/Weill collaborations seem to have zero clue of how to handle either Weill’s music.
Music Director Eun Sun Kim is at the center of the repertory, and a long Wagner arc is now officially underway
Parterre Box highlights two recent Verdi Requiems of interest with a pair of Libera mes from Asmik Grigorian and Anna Netrebko.
I don’t know if it’s overrated because I don’t think anyone rates it, but for pure party disc joy not much beats this 2018 recording of the original 1847 version of Verdi‘s Macbeth.
Easily the Met’s new Sonnambula, where cast and production team delivered a gorgeously sung and well thought out concept for a libretto often derided for its simplicity.
Ahead of a special boozy, bawdy Valentine’s Day concert, artistic director of Opera Lafayette Patrick Quigley speaks with soprano Maya Kherani about her journey from MIT to rising American Baroque star.
Tell us: What’s your favorite Verdi performance?
Hasten thee to feed another quarter of conversation for The Talk of the Town!
×
Sign up for Parterre’s free newsletter.
Exclusive opera reviews, commentary, and top reads
delivered to your email weekly…ish.