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.
Born on this day in 1938 mezzo-soprano Tatiana Troyanos.
Born on this day in 1899 West End, Broadway and film crooner Georges Metaxa.
Born on this day in 1890 fashion designer Elsa Schiaparelli.
Born on this day in 1828 writer Lev Nikolayevich “Leo” Tolstoy.
Born on this day in 1932 singer Patsy Cline.
Born on this day in 1937 big-voiced comic actress Joanne Worley.
Happy 59th birthday soprano Karita Mattila.
Happy 55th birthday bass René Pape.
Born on this day in 1910 singer, actress and arts administrator Kitty Carlisle Hart.
Happy Labor Day / Labour Day US and Canadian parterrians!
Happy 78th birthday soprano Julia Varady.
On this day 190 years ago, Rossini’s Guillaume Tell premiered in Paris.
Born on this day in 1922 operatic polymath Regina Resnik.
Born on this day in 1862 playwright Maurice Maeterlinck.
On this day in 1850 Wagner’s Lohengrin premiered at the Staatskapelle Weimar.
Happy 70th birthday Canadian pop singer Irish mezzo-soprano Ann Murray.
On this day 1920 in the 19th Amendment to the United States Constitution, guaranteeing women the right to vote, was declared in effect.
Born on this day in 1918 composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein.
Born on this day in 1945 gay liberation and AIDS activist, drag queen and transgender pioneer Marsha P. Johnson.
Like an echo from the caves of Coccamaura, film, drag and cabaret legend Charles Busch came forth whilst Deirdre wept cool tears.
Born on this day in 1862 composer Claude Debussy and in 1928 composer Karlheinz Stockhausen.
Happy 86th birthday mezzo-soprano Dame Janet Baker.
Born on this day in 1918 (not that she’d admit it) author and actress Jacqueline Susann.
Born on this day in 1883 designer Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel.
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.
