Patrick Mack

Patrick Mack starting listening to opera as a teenager to the total bewilderment of his rock and roll mother. He sang leading roles in the opera departments of Santa Monica College and UCLA and for two years in the Baltimore Symphony Chorus. In 2003 he joined the tenor section of The Verdi Chorus which has been giving young singers paid performance opportunities for over 30 years. He has served on their Board of
Directors since 2012 and handles their publicity, marketing, and Facebook page. Patrick is a luxury cruise consultant with All-Travel in
Los Angeles and was honored as one of the Top 25 Travel Agents in the country in 2015 by Travel Agent Magazine. Having weaned himself from an
early age on the musical opinions of Andrew Porter in the New Yorker, he has been wielding the critics pen on Parterre.com since 2011.
His singing of the national anthem has never failed to impress those standing closest to him at any public event he attends.

Diva, unfiltered Diva, unfiltered

How many books have been published about Anna Maria Sofia Cecilia Kalogeropoulou Meneghini Callas, great operatic goddess of the dark arts?

on December 15, 2016 at 2:58 PM
It’s about this town It’s about this town

L.A. Opera offered an inspired concert staging of Leonard Bernstein’s musical-comedy bouquet to New York, Wonderful Town.

on December 06, 2016 at 8:10 AM
Teeny furniture Teeny furniture

Sony Classical has now released “Leontyne Price Prima Donna Assoluta” containing nearly her entire operatic oeuvre in a box set.

on November 02, 2016 at 12:08 PM
Comeback thane Comeback thane

The characters get right down to work immediately with their foul deeds.

on September 26, 2016 at 9:00 AM
The upper depths The upper depths

The Teatro di San Carlo in Naples is a pearl itself and this presentation proffers some of the best that company has to offer.

on September 25, 2016 at 9:00 AM
Going Hollywood Going Hollywood

The Hollywood Bowl is truly the preeminent musical venue in Los Angeles.

on July 27, 2016 at 8:30 AM
Snow business Snow business

Los Angeles saw the first U.S. performance of Giacomo Puccini’s snow-dusted weeper in 1897 just a year after the young Toscanini led the prima in Turin.

on May 17, 2016 at 2:33 PM
Site unseen Site unseen

Giuseppe Verdi was so unhappy with the first production of his Giovanna d’Arco at La Scala in 1845 that he swore an oath to himself that he would never entrust that theatre with a prima again.

on April 25, 2016 at 12:00 PM
To live and die (with honor) in L.A. To live and die (with honor) in L.A.

Los Angeles first saw Giacomo Puccini’s Madama Butterfly presented at the Mason Opera House downtown in 1908 by the English Grand Opera Company. Rumors that LA Opera Artistic Director Placido Domingo portrayed Cio-Cio San’s little boy in that production remain unsubstantiated. 

on March 26, 2016 at 9:00 AM
La lune est encore sur la mer La lune est encore sur la mer

There was a general feeling of homecoming in the hall on Friday evening in anticipation of what promised to be a special return visit on many levels.

on February 24, 2016 at 10:00 AM
Out there in the dark Out there in the dark

The revival of Mozart’s The Magic Flute at the Music Center downtown, last seen at LA Opera in 2013, is reason for jubilation for everyone except perhaps the singers engaged.

on February 18, 2016 at 9:00 AM
Every little thing she does is magic Every little thing she does is magic

Ms. Guy goes into detail about what made Sills a “magic” performer, recounting reactions of people across an extraordinarily broad socio-economic spectrum who discovered their love of opera and singing through her.

on February 12, 2016 at 9:00 AM
Everytime we say goodbye Everytime we say goodbye

Gather around while I play Ghost of New Year’s Eve past!

on January 15, 2016 at 9:00 AM
Ardori inospiti Ardori inospiti

The most recent Egyptian voluptuary of 2006 by our friend Franco has now been replaced by the most singularly spartan production of Verdi’s masterpiece I think I’ve ever seen.

on December 21, 2015 at 9:00 AM
Gli enigmi sono due Gli enigmi sono due

Giacomo Puccini’s final opus interruptus is and shall always remain my favorite opera. The reasons for this preference are so varied and numerous that if they were printed and bound the volume would most assuredly require its own stand.  

on December 11, 2015 at 8:00 AM
The rite stuff The rite stuff

Remember that time you went to the opera and the entire evening was perfection?

on December 08, 2015 at 9:00 AM
Consider the subtleness of the sea Consider the subtleness of the sea

Hopefully the assignment of Herman Melville’s endless whaling opus Moby-Dick as compulsory reading for High School students is a thing of the past.

on November 17, 2015 at 10:00 AM
Lady on demand Lady on demand

If you had told me 20 years ago that at some point in the future I would have over 550 of the Metropolitan Opera’s performances, audio and video, at my command with the touch of a button I would say my eulogy had just been read and I’d been taken to my reward.

on October 06, 2015 at 9:00 AM
Fifty shades of Domingo Fifty shades of Domingo

LA Opera opened their 30th season with a pairing of two of their most popular productions, both of which were initially staged by filmmakers not unfamiliar with the vagaries of our industry outpost here in Hollywoodland.

on September 30, 2015 at 9:00 AM
Worth the candle Worth the candle

One of the glorious perks of my job, which is selling luxury cruises, is that on a semi-occasional basis I get to sample the wares myself—purely from an educational standpoint, mind you.

on September 15, 2015 at 9:00 AM
Rolling along Rolling along

You might be surprised, though, when that title turns out to be Show Boat.

on July 24, 2015 at 9:00 AM
A ‘Ring’ for the rest of us A ‘Ring’ for the rest of us

I was once accused—by my own mother, mind you!—of having too many recordings of Verdi’s Aida.  The blistering audacity of that recrimination did get me to thinking: How many recordings of Aida is too many? I mean, you’ve got the old classic you cut your teeth on. Then there’s he one where the tenor and…

on July 09, 2015 at 2:14 PM
d’Arc victory d’Arc victory

Tonight’s program at the New York Philharmonic, Arthur Honegger’s massive oratorio dramatique Jeanne d’Arc au Bûcher, has been an occasional visitor to the orchestra’s repertoire starting with the performance conducted by Charles Munch in January of 1948.

on June 10, 2015 at 10:40 AM
Crown jewel Crown jewel

I’m a long-time fan of the Opera in English series funded by The Peter Moores Foundation that started, fittingly enough, with conductor Reginald Goodall’s performances of Wagner’s Ring cycle recorded live from the London Coliseum and released by EMI

on June 05, 2015 at 9:00 AM