Questo e Quello
On this day in 1845, Richard Wagner’s opera Tannhäuser premiered in Dresden.
On this day in 1902 American actress Miriam Hopkins was born.
Which rat-faced former elected official—who has been coasting (and profiting) off the one good week he had 14 years ago ever since then—is now about to stick his notoriously art-hating snout into Monday night’s anti-Klinghoffer demonstrations?
There was wonder and magic last night in Philly when The Philadelphia Chamber Music Society presented British tenor Mark Padmore and American pianist Jonathan Biss in a recital devoted to the songs of Schumann, Tippett, and Fauré.
On this day in 529 BC, King Cyrus the Great of Persia marched into the city of Babylon.
Christopher Alden‘s production of Handel’s Partenope is so erudite and theatrically audacious and also such a rollicking ride, it’s hard to believe it isn’t crap.
Gotham Chamber Opera, which began to operate twelve years ago with a double bill of Bohuslav Martinu’s quirky little pieces, opened its 2014-15 season with two more, Alexandre bis (Alexander, twice) and Comedy on the Bridge.
Three nights, three concert halls, and three incredibly diverse programmes.
On this day in 1925 English-American actress Angela Lansbury was born.
Join the party, cher public, for the free web broadcast of Macbeth tonight starting at 7:15. Of course, La Casa della Cieca will be buzzing!
“Taken by itself, the St. Matthew Passion felt a little mundane. But compared to Zauberflöte, it could have been the Second Coming.”
Here’s a quick last-minute quiz for you Martinu fans out there: answer the question after the jump and win two tickets to Gotham Chamber Opera’s double bill program of Alexandre bis and Comedy on the Bridge this week.
On this day in 1793, Queen Marie-Antoinette of France was tried and convicted in a swift, pre-determined trial in the Palais de Justice, Paris, and condemned to death the following day.
That miracle of the internet age, the slow leak, has begun.
“Norwegian mezzo-soprano Ingeborg Gillebo will make her Met debut singing the role of Cherubino in this evening’s performance of Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro, replacing Isabel Leonard, who is ill.”
On this day in 1930, Ethel Merman debuted on Broadway in Girl Crazy.
Brandon Jovanovich has agreed at short notice to step into the role of Don José in this evening’s performance of Carmen, replacing Aleksandrs Antonenko, who is ill.
As dear Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (not pictured) said on at least one occasion, “Und ich habe, mein Lieber, wieder bei diesem kleinen Geschäft gefunden, dass Missverständnisse und Trägheit vielleicht mehr Irrungen in der Welt machen als List und Bosheit. Wenigstens sind die beiden letzteren gewiss seltener.”
As if Juan Diego Florez in a Seinfeldian puffy shirt were not festive enough, Vesselina Kasarova and Michele Pertusi also star in L’italiana in Algeri.
On this day in 1917 American puppeteer Burr Tillstrom was born.
You will be happy to hear that Michael Fabiano was the unrivaled star of the Richard Tucker Foundation Gala tonight.
Which stage director—who, incidentally, has a smash hit on Broadway at the moment—has been blackballed from at least two return engagements at the Met because of a kerfuffle with a conductor?
Maestro Christian Thielemann has made his choice for Lohengrin casting in Dresden and, later, Bayreuth: “Anna Netrebko als Elsa und Piotr Beczala in der Titelpartie.”
Though our gypsy friend Carmen may not puff cigarettes in Australia, nothing will prevent the cher public from blowing smoke about off-topic and general interest subjects.
Tell us: What’s your favorite Verdi performance?
Hasten thee to feed another quarter of conversation for The Talk of the Town!
