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 1974 soprano Kiri Te Kanawa made an “emergency” Met debut as Desdemona and her broadcast debut
Happy 37th birthday soprano Lise Davidsen
On this day in 1928 soprano Grace Moore made her Metropolitan Opera debut as Mimi.
On this day in 1968 mezzo-soprano Fiorenza Cossotto made her Metropolitan Opera debut as Amneris.
On this day in 1887 Verdi‘s Otello premiered in Milan
On this day in 2006 tenor Jonas Kaufmann made his Metropolitan Opera debut as Alfredo.
Born on this day in 1887 poet and expatriate Gertrude Stein
Happy 87th birthday soprano Martina Arroyo
Born on this day in 1922 soprano Renata Tebaldi
On this day in 1974 Verdi‘s I Vespri Siciliani had its first Metropolitan Opera performance.
On this day in 1957 soprano Martha Mödl made her Metropolitan Opera debut as the Siegfried Brunnhilde.
On this day in 1781 the premiere of Mozart‘s Idomeneo in Munich
On this day in 1916 Granados’s Goyescas premiered at the Met
Born on this day in 1756 composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
On this day in 1955 conductor Rudolf Kempe made his Metropolitan Opera debut conducting Tannhaüser
Born on this day in 1963 tenor Marcello Giordani
On this day in 1958 soprano Inge Borkh made her Metropolitan Opera debut as Salome (paired, of all things, with Gianni Schicchi)
On this day in 1964 the American premiere of Gian Carlo Menotti’s The Last Savage took place at the Metropolitan Opera.
Born on this day in 1897 soprano Rosa Ponselle
Happy 83rd birthday tenor/baritone/conductor Plácido Domingo
On this day in 1967 Colin Davis made his Metropolitan Opera debut conducting Peter Grimes
On this day in 1984 bass Samuel Ramey, conductor Mario Bernardi and director Frank Corsaro made their Metropolitan Opera debuts in Handel’s Rinaldo
On this day in 1907 the Metropolitan Opera premiered Puccini’s Manon Lescaut with the composer in attendance
On this day in 1960 tenor Jon Vickers made his Metropolitan Opera debut as Canio