Bell of the ball
On this day in 1883 Leo Delibes’ Lakmé premiered in Paris.
Questo e Quello
Kingly sex
As far as prewar Italian verismo goes, L’amore dei tre re is a supernova.
I want magic
Why, only now, Cendrillon is having its premiere at the Met is a puzzling question.
They live by night
A heady audience paid top price to pack Carnegie Hall Thursday for just 80 minutes of unstaged Wagner.
Day of the Divas 2: Divadienst!
Born on this day: four divas and counting!
BASTA: You must take the ‘C’ train
After an early Saturday shift bar-backing at Aura Bar, Evan had trotted over to his friend Jesús Halévy’s for a late-night slumber party à deux.
Djinn and tonic
“Trove Thursday” offers one of Rameau’s rarest full-length works, Acante et Céphise featuring The English Concert conducted by Trevor Pinnock.
Day of the divas
Born on this day in 1898 soprano Lily Pons. Happy 85th birthday soprano Montserrat Caballé and happy 70th birthday soprano Mariella Devia!
Modern family
Yusif Eyvazov will sing the role of Cavaradossi in the first four performances of the spring run of Puccini’s Tosca, replacing Marcelo Álvarez.
The trouble with Norma
If one looks at trends in the last 40 or so years, the most successful Normas are mainly those who’ve made not just bel canto, but Bellini as a mainstay in their repertoire.
Bella come un’aurora
On this day in 1975 soprano Katia Ricciarelli made her Met debut as Mimi.
The priestess with the mostest
Edita Gruberova takes on the requirements of the title role in Bellini’s Norma.
New boy in town
On this day in 1996 tenor Roberto Alagna made his Met debut as Rodolfo.
Momentary impoliteness row in tots’ opera shock
The unheard-of horror of a lack of unanimous approbation for a British composer’s work led to an appalling lack of civility on Twitter over the weekend.
Devil’s candy
The Richard Tucker Music Foundation announced today that Christian Van Horn has been named as the winner of the 2018 Richard Tucker Award.
The messenger
On this day in 1992 soprano Deborah Polaski made her Met debut as Kundry.
Lady first
This revival of Phyllida Lloyd’s 2002 Macbeth production was probably the most anticipated event of the Royal Opera House 2017/2018 season, due mostly to Anna Netrebko’s return to Covent Garden after a three-year absence.
Prince of the city
Tenor Franco Corelli was born on this day in 1921, the 45th anniversary of the premiere of Ponchelli’s La Gioconda in Milan.
Broadcast: Tristan und Isolde
Act Two of Wagner’s music drama with the Boston Symphony.
Broadcast: Lucia di Lammermoor
Speaking of grand opera (and La Cieca is sure the cher public will!), today’s matinee broadcast begins at 12:30 PM.
Mother lode
Charles Busch‘s The Confession of Lily Dare bundles up a long weekend’s worth of TCM “pre-code fallen woman” tropes into a neatly hilarious 90 minute package.
You’ve got to climb Mount Everest
On this day in 1975 soprano Beverly Sills made her official Metropolitan Opera debut as Pamira in L’assedio di Corinto.
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).