Be very afraid
Turn of the Screw is an incredibly frightening ghost story really at the heart of it but with a very modern edge.
Questo e Quello
Wingless victory
Of particular visual interest in last weekend’s Lohengrin (though not perhaps so tantalizing as Jonas Kaufmann‘s aristocratic bare feet, pictured above) is the very obvious change in the staging that was made between the antegenerale (in which Anja Harteros sang Elsa) and the telecast opening night.
Galina Vishnevskaya 1926-2012
The soprano and political dissident of the postwar Soviet Union died yesterday in Moscow. She was 86.
Lisa della Casa 1919-2012
The elegant Swiss-born soprano has died at 93.
Divas merrily on high
Cecilia Bartoli and Joyce DiDonato are not the only ladies who have recorded recitals this year featuring music from the 17th and 18th centuries.
Una donna misteriosa ognora
Soprano Kristin Lewis will sing the role of Maddalena in Opera Orchestra of New York’s presentation of Andrea Chenier on January 6.
Carry on Cleo
Natalie Dessay coyly bares a breast on the cover of Virgin Classics’ new Giulio Cesare.
Two pairs of pants
“French mezzo-soprano Géraldine Chauvet will make her Met debut as Sesto in this evening’s performance of Mozart’s La Clemenza di Tito, replacing Elina Garanca, who is ill.”
“Say that La Cieca leaves her loge in disgust at the travesty they call Art in this opera house!”
Actually, Lohengrin at La Scala wasn’t all that bad, so the reports go.
Don’t mask, don’t tell
But do chat this afternoon, cher public, during the season opener of the Metropolitan Opera’s 2012-2013 Saturday matinee broadcasts.
Leather underground
Putting in a little face time (and what faces!) at Charles Castronovo‘s cabaret at 54 Below last night were barihunk trifecta Erwin Schrott, Dmitri Hvorostovsky and Ildar Abdrazakov.
What the well-dressed Alexandrian will wear
“The courtesan’s entourage included dancing girls in filmy harem pants and bedazzled Afro wigs, and the hunky chorus boys pranced about in velour leggings, codpieces and nipple ornaments.”
Bear in mind
Before there was a Stefan Herheim Boheme (which I reviewed a couple of weeks back for this site), there was a Herheim Eugene Onegin, recorded in June 2011 at De Nederlanse Opera.
Odd numbers
All of the operas of Giuseppe Verdi contain music that is worth hearing and can be rewarding in good performances.
Bea in the bonnet
Everyone who revives Bellini’s Beatrice di Tenda, as the Collegiate Chorale did at Carnegie Hall on Wednesday night, calls the piece an “overlooked masterpiece.”
Going, going, gone!
“New York City Opera, seeking to shed decades’ worth of old sets, costumes and props, has decided to auction off most of the material next month, the company’s general manager and artistic director, George Steel, said on Wednesday.”
Yellow journalism
Our Own JJ‘s nominee for 2012 Newsmaker of the Year: the Met’s Peter Gelb.
The Beatrice generation
Beatrice di Tenda was a problem child, Vincenzo Bellini an alternately protective and disparaging parent.
Captivating in Babylon
Verdi’s first operatic masterpiece is well served by this DVD
of a performance from the Teatro Regio di Parma.
Racette baiting
Protean diva Patricia Racette will perform an ethnic hat-trick in 2013-2014 at San Francisco Opera.
In the details
The saga of the Royal Opera’s production of Robert le Diable, infinitely more melodramatic than the plot of the opera proper, continues.
Ring cycle
Anthony Tommasini and his long-time partner Ben McCommon were married on Friday.
By La Cieca
The anniverary
It’s that date that rolls around once a year, cher public, the date we celebrate the 1993 founding of parterre box and the 1923 birth of Maria Callas.
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).