“James Levine, the longtime Metropolitan Opera music director whose health struggles recently brought him to the verge of retirement from that position, has canceled a series of concerts with the Philadelphia Orchestra next week.”
Welcome, cher public, to the real-time chat (or at least commentary) for tonight’s Met premiere of Manon Lescaut, starting at 7:55 PM ET on Listen Live.
With February 14th falling on a Sunday, there will be no Valentine’s Day Met performance this year.
Ms. Guy goes into detail about what made Sills a “magic” performer, recounting reactions of people across an extraordinarily broad socio-economic spectrum who discovered their love of opera and singing through her.
Born on this day in 1884 writer and socialite Alice Roosevelt Longworth.
Three weeks ago “Trove Thursday” presented Mozart’s Lucio Silla and today we have Bach’s—Johann Christian Bach’s, that is.
The concert presented by Opera Lafayette at the Alliance Française last Friday and Saturday was devoted to music of witty, short-lived Emmanuel Chabrier, notably Une Éducation Manquée.
On this day in 1840 Donizetti’s La fille du Regiment premiered in Paris.
I think we can all agree that this Anna Pirozzi is the real thing!
There was a bit of a foofaraw over on Facebook yesterday involving two of your doyenne’s favorite people, in alphabetical order Christine Goerke and Norman Lebrecht.
“Ana María Martínez will sing her first Met performances of Cio-Cio-San in Puccini’s Madama Butterfly on February 19 and 22, replacing Hei-Kyung Hong, who is ill,” says the Met press office.
Bellini blossomed over us like a love fest.
“Madame Anna Netrebko, souffrant d’une bronchite aiguë, ne sera pas en mesure d’assurer le rôle de Leonora pour la représentation du spectacle Il Trovatore ce jeudi 11 février.
Our Own Chris Corwin (not pictured) has taken a peek at the current guesses for the “Sola perduta” quiz and notes that fewer than half of the selections offered have been correctly identified.
Happy 89th birthday soprano Leontyne Price!
“A few weeks after the opening night of Otello in New York, The Washington Post convened a group of African–American opera singers to discuss the issue.”
On this day in 1893 Verdi’s Falstaff premiered in Milan.
Jarrett Ott is a star. That is the only surprise takeaway from the well-intended snore, Cold Mountain.
Here’s a lesser piece by a great composer, single-handedly “rescued” for our generation by Angela Gheorghiu.
On this day in 1895 the Petipa staging of Tchaikovsky’s ballet Swan Lake premiered in St Petersburg.
On this day in 1792 Cimarosa’s Il Matrimonio Segreto premiered in Vienna.
Hello, hello, cher public? You called, I can’t hear a thing.
On this day in 1935, the “Monopoly” board game went on sale for the first time.
La Cieca hopes the cher public won’t let poor Manon Lescaut get too lonely out there in the bayou or the heath or whatever it is, because you’ll want stay close to listen to our latest Identification Quiz, 15 sopranos in full hysterical wail.
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).
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