WindyCityOperaman
Dan Soda (Windy City Operaman) is a Chicago native whose first visit to opera was at age 17 and Massenet’s Werther with Troyanos and Kraus. Nothing was ever the same. Opera and concert performances, recordings and video are an obsession. He prepares Parterre Box’s daily birthday and anniversary tributes. He also enjoys concerts, live theater and movies.
On this day in 1497 Vasco da Gama rounded the Cape of Good Hope, the point where Bartolomeu Dias had previously turned back to Portugal.
On this day in 1973 the American Psychiatric Association voted 13–0 to remove homosexuality from its official list of psychiatric disorders, the DSM-II.
On this day in 1823 Gioacchino Rossini arrived in London.
On this day in 627, a Byzantine army under Emperor Heraclius defeaeds Emperor Khosrau II’s Persian forces, commanded by General Rhahzadh, in the Battle of Nineveh.
On this day in 1882, Victorien Sardou‘s Fedora premiered in Paris with Sarah Bernhardt in the title role.
On this day 1955, Mighty Mouse Playhouse premiered on American television.
On this day in 1842, Glinka’s opera Ruslan and Lyudmila premiered in St. Petersburg.
On this day in 1949, Jule Styne‘s musical Gentlemen Prefer Blondes opened at the Ziegfeld Theater.
On this day in 1940, sponsorship of the Metropolitan Opera’s Saturday afternoon broadcasts by The Texas Company (Texaco) began with Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro.
On this day in 1956, the musical Happy Hunting opened at the Majestic Theater.
On this day in 1890 Hector Berlioz‘s Les Troyens premiered in Karlsruhe.
On this day in 1928 Walter Donaldson and Gus Kahn‘s musical Whoopee premiered at the New Amsterdam Theatre.
On this day in 1993, the first issue of parterre box was published to commemorate the 70th birthday of Maria Callas, and, yes, La Cieca knows she got the date wrong.
On this day in 1933, Fred Astaire‘s first film, Dancing Lady, was released.
On this day in 1956, the musical Candide opened at the Martin Beck Theater for 73 performances.
On this date in 1825, Il barbiere di Siviglia was performed at the Park Theatre.
On this day in 1932 Groucho Marx performed on radio for the first time.
On this day in 1095 Pope Urban II declared the First Crusade at the Council of Clermont.
On this day in 1476, Vlad the Impaler (Dracula) defeated Basarab Laiota with the help of Stephen the Great and Stephen V Báthory and became the ruler of Wallachia for the third time.
On this day in 1915, Albert Einstein presented the field equations of general relativity to the Prussian Academy of Sciences.
On this day in 1936 Noel Coward’s Tonight at 8:30 premiered in New York City.
On this day in 534 BC, Thespis of Icaria became the first recorded actor to portray a character onstage.
On this day in 1831, Meyerbeer’s Robert le diable was first produced.
On this day in 1877 Thomas Edison announced his invention of the phonograph.
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.
