Conductor’s conductor
On this day in 1955 Rudolf Kempe made his Metropolitan Opera debut conducting Tannhäuser.
Questo e Quello
Agamemnon, dein Tag wird kommen!
The Richard Strauss / Hugo von Hofmannsthal music drama Elektra premiered on this day in 1909 at the Semperoper, Dresden.
The trouble with troubadours
Anita Rachvelishvili and Quinn Kelsey towered over an otherwise pedestrian if still exciting Il Trovatore.
Every little movement has a meaning all its own
On this day in 1958 soprano Inge Borkh made her Metropolitan Opera debut as Salome.
Broadcast: Il trovatore
The Met’s season premiere of Verdi’s melodrama begins at 7:25 PM.
BASTA: Press your luck
Jerold Offerman had spent the day readying the Algonquin Opera orchestra for a high-profile, high-stakes revival of Lucia, and things weren’t going well with the glass harmonica.
Little house on the scary
Out of a literal perforation in the horizon of the Nebraskan prairie emerges Proving Up, the most convincing case I have ever seen for modern American opera.
Webcast: Die Walküre
Get an early start today, cher public, with the 11:00 AM live video webcast of Die Walküre from the Bayerische Staatsopera.
The velvet touch
Born on this day in 1897 ‘vocal miracle’ Rosa Ponselle.
Flour song
Touting an austere, governessy program—the hour-and-change Schubert/Müller cycle, Die schöne Müllerin—Jonas Kaufman fulfilled his long-awaited, high-profile return to Carnegie Hall last night.
Once I thought he’d never grow tall as this fence
Happy birthday to Harry Rose, formerly known as Opera Teen, who is 20 years old today.
Heather on the ‘shrill’
Opera originalist Heather MacDonald is at it again, describing Our Own JJ as “New York’s shrillest advocate for revisionist opera productions.”
Broadcast: Thaïs
La Cieca, right, suddenly realizes she forgot to post today’s chat.
The strange case of Benjamin Britten
On this day in 1967 Colin Davis made his Metropolitan Opera debut conducting Peter Grimes, with Jon Vickers, Lucine Amara and Geraint Evans in the cast.
No sex please, we’re homosexual
Oh look, another critic who part-times as a necromancer!
This magic moment
On this day in 1984 bass Samuel Ramey, conductor Mario Bernardi and director Frank Corsaro made their Metropolitan Opera debuts in Handel’s Rinaldo.
Untouched by an angel
Los Angeles Opera is the latest company to jump in on that cr-razy trend that sweeping the nation: boring the public to death.
These three
In the midst of Tosca month “Trove Thursday” assembles from the 60s to the 80s an Il Trittico in which each opera features an important Italian star.
Placebo effect
Good singing and a dramatically potent (if conservative) production were an unbeatable combination in the Metropolitan Opera’s season premiere of Donizetti’s L’Elisir d’Amore.
Girls just want to have fun
On this day in 1907 the Metropolian Opera premiered Puccini’s Manon Lescaut with the composer in attendance.
Do let this stranger wait outside your door
San Francisco opera offers a new peak in drab, listless programming in their 2018-2019 “Leftovers and Stuff We Got With Coupons” gala season.
Take this ‘Job’ and stage it
There is some difficulty in describing just what IYOV the musical occasion is—and I’ll take refuge in calling it a musical work in the current PROTOTYPE Festival.
The day the clown cried
On this day in 1960 tenor Jon Vickers made his Metropolitan Opera debut as Canio.
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).