Placebo effect
Good singing and a dramatically potent (if conservative) production were an unbeatable combination in the Metropolitan Opera’s season premiere of Donizetti’s L’Elisir d’Amore.
Patrick Clement James
Patrick Clement James is from Woodstown, New Jersey. His creative writing has appeared in Meridian, Ninth Letter, AGNI, PANK, and other journals. His scholarship has appeared in Rhetoric Society Quarterly and NANO. His essay “Six Essays for Six Works of Art” was nominated for a Pushcart Prize and named a notable essay in The Best American Essays 2019. His research has received awards from CLAGS: The Center for LGBTQ Studies and the Rhetoric Society of America. He teaches writing at West Chester University of Pennsylvania.
Purple hearts
Composer Gregory Spears is a unique example of this maxim that one must be “deeply rooted in tradition in order to innovate with integrity.”
Angel of the mourning
The most distinct pleasure of The Merry Widow at the Metropolitan Opera was the polished, yet warm, performance of Susan Graham as Hanna Glawari.
Forgiveness
It was odd, if not downright uncomfortable, to watch Le Nozze di Figaro at the Metropolitan Opera.
Puppet show
Madama Butterfly remains fascinating because of its complexity.
Leah and the barihunk
At yesterday’s recital at the Morgan Library, Leah Crocetto sang as her encore Kern and Hammerstein’s “Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man.”
Untouched by an ‘Angel’
Just because one can write an opera based on a film, does this necessarily indicate that one should?
Turandon’t
From the perspective of current identity politics, Puccini’s Turandot is a disaster of epic proportions.
A voice that must be heard
At the center of the Met’s revival of Puccini’s La bohème, one found the rich and layered talent of Angel Blue.
Dark matter
In Schikaneder’s patriarchal cosmology, darkness is the province of emotional women—not just the erratic fury of the Queen of the Night, but the pathetic supplications of Pamina as well.
‘Mawrdew,’ he wrote
Published in 1975, James McCourt’s novel Mawrdew Czgowchwz is engaged with a longing for the divine.
But is it an artful paradox?
It was a timeout—but maybe it was a timeout we deserved.
Apparition
There was a moment during Natalie Dessay’s performance of Schubert’s “Gretchen am Spinnrade” when the singer summoned the ghost of her former self.
Tragedy in song
LoftOpera’s Saturday night performance of Rossini’s Otello successfully appealed to the essential kinetic energy of the operatic art form.
Reunited
There is much to say about the similarities between the plot of Fidelio and the ancient myth of Orpheus.
Plummeting in love
The Met’s current production of Verdi’s La Traviata is something of a mixed bag.
Crazy in love
I am, perhaps instinctively, skeptical of those who commit suicide.
Purists
Someone—a deranged purist no doubt—heckled Javier Camarena from the balcony of the opera house for withholding the infamous high F during “Credeasi, misera.”
Sleeping with the fishes
With a cast of stellar singers and uneven direction by Mary Zimmerman, Dvorák’s Rusalka debuts in a new production at the Metropolitan Opera.
It’s a Mantua’s world
Verdi’s Rigoletto returned to the Met Friday in the stilted “Las Vegas” production by Michael Mayer, with mostly competent singing from a good-looking cast.
Not my dragoon
The Metropolitan Opera’s revival of Carmen began with a bit of drama Thursday night when tenor Rafael Davila replaced Marcelo Álvarez.
You give me fever
Mortality is ugly—it smells, it makes uncomfortable noises, it takes its time; and then there is the overwhelming sense of dread and helplessness.
A little off the top
Beaumarchais clearly delighted in this unobtrusive realm.
Musical theater of the absurd
It’s easy to see why Leonard Bernstein’s Candide was a flop when it premiered on Broadway.
Win a Free Ticket to Opening Night at the Met!
Quinn Kelsey and Lise Davidsen star in the Met's new Macbeth. We're giving away one ticket, so screw your courage to the sticking place and enter now!
I’ll take the fall
The days are getting shorter, but you can keep the prattle going this fall’s Talk of the Town! You will, you can, you must join in the discussion about: Great mezzo soprano performances (October),
Gained in translation (November), Teleport me back to… (December).
