Do you believe in Zajick?
“Trove Thursday” gives a preview of Saint-Saëns’s Samson et Dalila with a broadcast featuring an unexpected temptress—Dolora Zajick—who will celebrate the 30th anniversary of her Met debut next month.
Questo e Quello
Funny lady
Happy 81st birthday to one of La Cieca’s very first divas, comedienne and actress Joanne Worley.
Blonde fury
Happy 58th birthday soprano Karita Mattila.
Being alive
Orfeo’s latest edition is a 1978 performance of Lucia di Lammermoor with a very estimable cast that on its surface may seem a tad mundane but the extensive liner notes (with performance photos) tell the story of why it held such magic.
Tristan up close
Sunday, August 26, marked the inaugural performance for the newly-created The Claude Heater Foundation with a concert performance of Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde in the Herbst Theatre.
A career takes more than talent
Born on this day in 1910 singer, actress, TV panelist and arts activist Kitty Carlisle Hart.
Bows and arias
On this day in 1829 Rossini’s Guillaume Tell premiered in Paris.
The man who would be nymph
Sometimes the fates conspire, preventing an artist from recording the role for which he is his generation’s touchstone.
The man who played God
Born on this day in 1926 baritone Thomas Stewart.
Rigoletto on the fringe
Tanglewood may bring the classical music crowd to Lenox, but for opera, it’s all about neighboring Pittsfield, Mass.
The long haul
Happy 77th birthday bass Paul Plishka.
Eire long
Happy 69th birthday Irish mezzo-soprano (not Canadian pop singer) Ann Murray.
Amber alert
Born on this day in 1918 composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein.
“The Duel”
A vintage performance of Il trovatore from Paris in 1975 featuring (in alphabetical order) Renata Scotto and Shirley Verrett.
Indefatigable
Happy 62nd birthday director Francesca Zambello.
Twin Spyres
Lately “Trove Thursday” has been binging on prima donnas so the rest of August will be more tenor-centric. This week brings a double bill starring the marvelous Michael Spyres, a specialist in rarities: Rossini’s Ermione and that American obscurity Candide whose composer’s 100th birthday, by the way, is this Saturday.
Truth or Dare
>Happy 64th birthday actor, playwright, cabaret performer, drag legend, raconteur and clothes horse Charles Busch.
“For what, we ask, is life without a touch of Feminism in it?”
The Lamplighters Music Theatre opened their 66th season in SF last Saturday with triumphant performance of Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Pirates of Penzance.
Them too?
“An up-and-coming baritone singer alleges he was drugged and violently raped in 2010 by two of opera/classical music’s shining stars, David Daniels and Scott Walters.”
I hate writing, I love having written
Born on this day in 1893 poet, writer, critic and satirist Dorothy Parker.
Barbara Harris 1935 – 2018
The actress and teacher died earlier today of lung cancer. She was 83.
Dame of thrones
Happy 85th birthday mezzo-soprano Janet Baker.
New Yorker prepares for breastfeeding
For your pleasure: visit Fake Norman Stories and see AI-generated Slipped Disc headlines.
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).