Questo e Quello
Welcome, cher public, to the real-time chat for this evening’s Met premiere of Roberto Devereux, starting at 7:55 PM. Photo: Ken Howard/Metropolitan Opera
On this day in 1955 Tennessee Williams‘ play Cat on a Hot Tin Roof opened at the Morosco Theatre, to run 594 performances.
“Singers slated for next season include… Jane Eaglen (Mother Goose in The Rake’s Progress).”
By the time Roberto Devereux saw its premiere at Napoli’s Teatro San Carlo on 29 October, 1837, Gaetano Donizetti had lost, in an 18-month time frame, both his parents, two still-born children, and his beloved wife Virginia.
On this day in 1896 Giordano’s Andrea Chenier premiered in Milan.
Myto’s transfer of Herbert von Karajan’s star-bedecked 1958 Die Walküre from La Scala gives collectors on a budget access to one of the legendary performances committed to tape.
Born on this day in 1912 soprano/mezzo-soprano Martha Mödl,
The focus in this 1974 performance of Salome from Orange is (mostly) on the Herodes of Jon Vickers.
On this day in 1963 Elliott Gould and Barbra Streisand were married.
The 2017 Salzburg Easter Festival promises an intriguing blend of dramaturgy and necromancy “by attempting to re-create Karajan’s musico-theatrical vision of Die Walküre from 1967.”
Born on this day in 1928 television personality Fred Rogers.
Transgender performance artist Justin Vivian Bond appropriated a symbol of operatic conservatism—the Marschallin’s costume as designed by Robert O’Hearn (and paid for by Mrs. John D. Rockefeller, Jr.!)
Crack open a bottle of Bordeaux and enjoy this afternoon’s “La Casa della Cieca” chat during the Met broadcast of L’elisir d’amore.
Here the first video of Natalie Dessay in Sondheim’s Passion at the Théâtre du Châtelet.
On this day in 1859 Charles Gounod’s Faust premiered in Paris; five years later his opera Mirelle also premiered.
Back by popular demand, cher public, live chat, just in time for this evening’s webcast of Un ballo in maschera from Munich.
“David McVicar, on his knee, with… Mariusz Kwiecien during a rehearsal.”
Just when you thought it was safe to return to Rossini and Verdi—blam!
Tenor Paul Appleby’s onstage persona is as American as apple crisp, and he possesses the untroubled confidence of a politician.
On this day in 1910, Frederick S. Converse‘s The Pipe of Desire premiered at the Met, the first opera by an American composer to be performed by that company.
“Join me this Friday at The Metropolitan Opera for the next #FUN40”
“Trove Thursday” presents Campra’s first “hit” L’Europe Galante in a broadcast from Versailles’s Opéra Royal by Les Musiciens du Louvre conducted by Marc Minkowski.
On this day in 1990 the Paris Bastille Opera opened with a performance of Berlioz’ Les Troyens.
There are two kinds of opera lovers: Those who despise or tolerate La Gioconda as a preposterous rip-off of Aida that lingered a century in the repertory in spite of its galumphing story, largely because of the popularity of its tuneful ballet—and true opera lovers. We love every silly note of the thing, and every…
Tell us: What’s your favorite Verdi performance?
Hasten thee to feed another quarter of conversation for The Talk of the Town!
