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.

Expect opera, pay less Expect opera, pay less

You may remember, gentle readers, that last year about this time Peter Gelb decided to enter into an unholy alliance with Target to benefit their mountainous number of opera loving customers by pre-releasing two Met performances exclusively in their fine emporiums.

By on May 25, 2012 at 12:14 AM
60 comments
“Ne m’accuse pas, pleure-moi!” “Ne m’accuse pas, pleure-moi!”

Jules Massenet wrote Werther at the midpoint of his very successful career.

By on May 15, 2012 at 11:38 PM
55 comments
Hier bleibt Elektra Hier bleibt Elektra

The Met has finally released the contents of the James Levine 40th Anniversary box sets separately for those of us who didn’t have $500 lying around.

By on April 23, 2012 at 9:43 AM
123 comments
There will have been blood There will have been blood

There’s nothing like a good performance of Verdi’s Macbeth and here is proof positive because this dvd is (almost) nothing like a good performance.

By on April 08, 2012 at 2:14 AM
6 comments
Royal Hunt Royal Hunt

I have been a devotee of Berlioz’s Les Troyens since I first discovered the Covent Garden recording conducted by Colin Davis.

By on March 26, 2012 at 10:05 AM
88 comments
Questo Weimar rosso Questo Weimar rosso

The case for this DVD production of Puccini’s La Boheme from Opera Australia is all about the “inspired concept” of director Gale Edwards to move this oft-told tale from 1840’s Paris all the way to the Berlin at the end of Weimar-era Germany. Hmmm.

By on March 11, 2012 at 10:35 PM
14 comments
Senior moment Senior moment

Being an opera lover in Los Angeles is a lot like being a Red Sox fan.  As hard as they try we never make it to the World Series, let alone the playoffs.

By on March 05, 2012 at 11:15 AM
149 comments

Ah, the “themed” recital disc! Sometimes it’s a special treasure in a collector’s trove showing off the lesser known skills of a beloved performer; more often, an object of mirth and ridicule toward those who’ve been ill-advised or have already committed most of their repertoire in the studio and are now starting in on someone…

By on January 04, 2012 at 5:55 PM
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I’ve been a big fan of Donizetti’s Anna Bolena since I first heard it on recording and have always felt that it deserved a definitive recorded performance. Here’s a brief tour of why this hasn’t happened. There’s the Bible, also known as the live Scala relay with Callas and Simionato and musical cuts so egregious…

By on December 08, 2011 at 11:59 AM
33 comments

I’ll confess it. I am a bloodthirsty opera fan.  I’m not above judging the quality of a work by the size of the body count at the finale.  After sitting through Traviata or Boheme all evening I’m often disappointed when only one person dies in the last act. All the principals are dead at the…

By on October 10, 2011 at 9:59 AM
3 comments

In what may qualify as the most unholy alliance of Peter Gelb‘s tenure at the Met so far, since February the “Live in HD” performances from 2009 of both Turandot and Aida issued by Decca have been available from… Target. Only Target. They are scheduled for international release this July. Up until recently there has…

By on June 12, 2011 at 12:31 PM
110 comments

This mostly wonderful performance of Handel’s Theodora opened the 2009 Salzburg Festival in honor of the 250th anniversary of the composer’s death. Written at the beginning of the last decade of the composer’s life, it was a work that he held in very high regard even though he knew its subject matter would not excite. Only…

By on May 29, 2011 at 5:04 PM
70 comments