The love that dare not yawp its name
Matthew Aucoin’s Crossing depicts Walt Whitman’s experience serving wounded soldiers in a DC infirmary and chronicles the period’s tragic effects.
Queer
‘Mawrdew,’ he wrote
Published in 1975, James McCourt’s novel Mawrdew Czgowchwz is engaged with a longing for the divine.
We’re here, we’re queer (well, some of us)
What the hell is Three Way doing on a list of 7 American Operas That Put LGBTQ Issues Center Stage?
Crazy in love
I am, perhaps instinctively, skeptical of those who commit suicide.
Chanson d’amour
Much like Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde, which launched the Met’s 2016-2017 season, Kaija Saariaho’s L’Amour de Loin is an opera about love and death.
Rock, star
The centerpiece of Janácek’s Jenufa was the performance of Karita Mattila as the murderous Kostelnicka.
Imagined possibilities
The opera Patience and Sarah is a fantastic example of radical creativity.
Cruise, control
Cincinnati Opera presented the world premiere Fellow Travelers Friday and I’m here to tell you that not only does the opera have legs, it has balls.
Bleeding love
I have always wanted to see a production of Strauss’ Elektra that made my ears bleed.
If looks could kill
What is an Orphic moment? A song so sweet that even Hades must release the dead back to the living?
Women past the verge
An astute double-feature exposes all the complexities of female suffering embedded within two canonical works.
Yes, Mother
On this day in 1993, the first issue of parterre box, the queer opera zine was published.
“Senza rancor”
The winds of change sweep across the first post-9/11 issue of parterre box, the queer opera zine.
Spunk
In issue #46 of parterre box the queer opera zine (“Spunk”), you will find an endorsement by the legendary Astrid Varnay.
A Life in the Theater
Devotees of Dawn Fatale (and you are legion!) will be delighted to hear that the parterre scribe made an early (2001!) appearance in issue #45 of parterre box, the queer opera zine, ranting about the “squish-squish school of opera direction.”
Less than Zarah
In a slight detour from the usual all-opera-all-the-time format of parterre box, the queer opera zine, issue #44 centers on Ben Letzler‘s superb appreciation of film and cabaret diva Zarah Leander.
Marc Two
Issue #43 of parterre box, the queer opera zine is called “Marc Two” in honor of dramatic soprano Alessandra Marc, subject of an interview with Our Own JJ.
City of dreams
With issue #42a, “City of Dreams,” parterre box the queer opera zine returns at least temporarily to a rational numbering system.
Recklessly passionate
Before you ask, cher public, there is no Issue #41 of parterre box, the queer opera zine, or, rather, this issue, #42 is the 41st.
On with the motley
In Issue #40 of parterre box, the queer opera zine, Our Own JJ nabs lengthy interviews with critic John Ardoin and tenor Richard Leech.
“I felt the hand of Death”
Oddly enough, Eva Marton‘s interpretation of the Kostelnicka (pictured) goes unmentioned in Issue #38.
Something beyond the normal
The celebrated “lost” issue of parterre box, the queer opera zine (now found, thanks to the avid cataloging of Indiana Loiterer III.)
Wayback Wednesday
As the celebrations for the 20th anniversary of parterre box continue, La Cieca (left) introduces a new feature: each week, a vintage issue of parterre box, the queer opera zine, scanned into PDF format for handy download!
A song at twilight
Yes, you’ve heard it already, but you might as well have an official place to talk about it: Marina Poplavskaya goes on tonight in Les Vêpres siciliennes at the Royal Opera House.
I’ll take the fall
The days are getting shorter, but you can keep the prattle going this fall’s Talk of the Town! You will, you can, you must join in the discussion about: Great mezzo soprano performances (October),
Gained in translation (November), Teleport me back to… (December).