Grand Tier Grab Bag

Stimulating morsels from here, there, and everywhere around the opera world.

Dear in headlights Dear in headlights

Two women singing an operatic love duet is virtually an everyday occurrence, but two men? Not so much.

Masc et femme fatale Masc et femme fatale

parterre box celebrates the beginning of Pride Month with a throwback to one of the queerer events in recent operatic memory: a bit of Carmen starring Jamie Barton and Stephanie Blythe!

Il fascino immortale Il fascino immortale

Corinne Winters is back at the Met and back in the pages of parterre box, which inclines us to share a bit of Winters in Jenufa

With noise and light With noise and light

Antony and Cleopatra is perhaps not the showcase Elizabeth DeShong deserves, so Grand Tier Grab Bag highlights the superlative mezzo in two clips

Blissfully astray Blissfully astray

It’s mad! It’s gay! It’s Michael Fabiano singing “Come un bel dì di maggio” from Andrea Chénier!

Girls interrupted Girls interrupted

parterre box presents for your comparing pleasure excerpts of three Italian sopranos trying their (poker) hands at Puccini’s Minnie: Carmen Giannatasio, Chiara Isotton, and Anna Pirozzi

The other Mr. Brownlee The other Mr. Brownlee

While the thoroughly established Lawrence Brownlee reprises his familiar Count Almaviva in the Met’s Barbiere di Siviglia, parterre box calls your attention to another Mr. Brownlee making waves: Nicholas Brownlee.

Knight and deh Knight and deh

When a revival of Handel‘s Ariodante in Boston coincides with the HD relay of the Met’s current revival of Le nozze di Figaro, parterre box can’t help but share a bit of Olga Kulchynska, the Met’s Susanna, singing the florid “Volate amori.”

Dies magna et amara valde Dies magna et amara valde

parterre box offers a Good Friday pick-me-up: elusive chanteuse Juliana Grigoryan in perhaps her most canceled role, the soprano soloist in Verdi’s Requiem

Fathered in Fathered in

Ahead of his only New York appearances this season later this month, parterre box looks forward to the return of estimable baritone Amartuvshin Enkhbat by sharing a clip featuring starry company.

Sorrowful mystery Sorrowful mystery

As tenor Pene Pati continues his Rodolfo-across-America tour, parterre box presents a snippet of his role debut as Werther from earlier this year.

Mañana por la mañana Mañana por la mañana

One might be surprised to not see the blusteringly charismatic Saioa Hernández mentioned amidst the litany of favorite under-appreciated sopranos. Then one hears what she’s been up to lately.

Unreleased cut Unreleased cut

Recent rapturous musings about Huw Montague Rendall and curiosity about Aigul Akhmetshina‘s return to the Met as Rosina in May have prompted the box to share a recent sample of the pair in “Dunque io son.”

‘Do’ or die ‘Do’ or die

Hoping to speed up the arrival of spring, parterre box coaxes you to Michael Spyres‘s blazing pira with an in-house sampling of his Manrico from last fall’s Il trovatore in Houston.

Roundheads heard ’round the world Roundheads heard ’round the world

parterre box is titillated (in the most prudishly puritanical way possible) to share a clip from the Paris Opera’s recent production of I Puritani starring Lisette Oropesa and Lawrence Brownlee