The lonely stage
There’s always companionship of a sort here, cher public, whether it’s off-topic or general interest subjects you feel like discussing.
Questo e Quello
West side, east side
Recently, opera showed up at both Mets, the Metropolitan Opera and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
The lovely bones
Peter Gelb, the Met’s general manager… has engaged Mr. Domingo to sing Don Carlo in Ernani next season, Simon Boccanegra the following season and Nabucco in 2016-17.”
Full of beans
It’s been a bitterly cold winter in NY. When it’s bitterly cold, the air is dry.
Partial eclipse
We must be doubly grateful that The English Concert’s recent Theodora was so quickly followed by the American Classical Orchestra’s fine Samson on Tuesday evening at Alice Tully Hall.
All fall down
parterre box has obtained a memo sent to artists’ managers in which AGMA Executive Director Alan Gordon warns singers contracted to sing at the Met in the 2014-2105 season that due to unpromising developments in upcoming labor negotiations the company may be dark for part or all of the season.
Wir arme Leut
“Matthias Goerne is stepping into the title role in tonight’s opening night performance of Berg’s Wozzeck, replacing Thomas Hampson, who has withdrawn due to illness.”
Fifty Shades of Gré
From Mike Richter‘s CD-ROM “El Anillo,” here is radiant soprano Gré Brouwenstijn in the first act of Die Walküre as performed at the Teatro Colon in 1962.
That’s entertainment!
The highlight of the Bayerische Staatsoper’s 2014-2015 season is a new production of Manon Lescaut featuring Anna Netrebko and Jonas Kaufmann, directed by Claus Guth.
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.
The cup runneth over
I am grateful to Sony for this new release
of the Metropolitan Opera’s latest production of Parsifal and I hope I’m not the only one who discovers what a rich experience this opera can be because of it.
Sinking ship
“Billy Zane, star of James Cameron’s blockbuster Titanic and Broadway’s Chicago, cast as Captain von Trapp.”
Bortsch Mary Garden
“Men have been known to sniff scornfully at the crazy notion of putting beets into soup, but those who protest most violently are usually the first to come back for a second helping.”
A shot in the dark
Jean-François Borras will make his Met debut in the title role of Massenet’s Werther at this evening’s performance, replacing Jonas Kaufmann, who is ill.
Woman on the verge
Anna Netrebko sings “Sola, perduta, abbandonata” from Manon Lescaut at the Rome Opera, Riccardo Muti conducting.
One final glimpse
Which age-appropriate role will serve as the vehicle the return of a veteran diva to the New York stage for the first time this century?
A dream deferred
Andris Nelsons led the Vienna Philharmonic in a performance of Salome that provided just the sort of thing one hopes for in a concert performance of an overflowingly rich operatic score.
Flouncing
Hoist up your petticoats and get ready for a lively discussion of off-topic and general interest subjects, cher public.
Whispers and cries
We were not at Carnegie Hall to hear superb opera singers bestow their vocalism upon Alban Berg’s Wozzeck; we are there to hear the Wiener Staatsoper’s house band work their magic upon an intricate, spooky, devastating score.
Lobbyist
“Who makes these huge sandwiches? Godzilla? You need claws to unwrap the cellophane.”
Eye openers
“Kim Kardashian Reportedly Ditches Date at Vienna Opera Ball After Disturbing Blackface Incident”
Farinelli from heaven
My impossible wish would be to hear one of the great castrati who dominated opera for most of the 18th century.
Arms and the Menotti
He wrote an opera ostensibly about the horrors of dehumanization in which the empty characters exist only to be manipulated for his ulterior motives.
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).