Questo e Quello
Happy 83rd birthday actress Joanna Barnes.
Born on this day in 1926 soprano Leonie Rysanek
Astonishing Anna Netrebko intones the “Monologo di Fedra” at a dress rehearsal of Adriana Lecouvreur.
Madama Butterfly live from the Met at 7:25 PM.
A dozen women or more talk and sing about all sort of important and exciting things, with “a man” near the bottom of their list of priorities.
A wonderfully committed Ailyn Pérez and Gerald Finley at Saturday afternoon’s revival abetted by Emmanuel Villaume’s passionate conducting converted me to a Thaïs believer.
In the seventies and eighties Dominick Argento (who turned ninety this year) was one of the most oft-performed of American opera composers.
On this day in 1940 the animated film Fantasia produced by Walt Disney and starring Leopold Stokowski (not pictured) was released.
The broadcast debuts of Anna Netrebko‘s Adriana and Piotr Beczala‘s Maurizio.
Born on this day in 1939 soprano Lucia Popp.
“C’est Thais, l’idole fragile qui vient pour la première fois.”
Born on this day in 1917 soprano Gertrude Grob-Prandl.
On this day in 1970 the Richard Rodgers–Martin Charnin musical Two By Two opened on Broadway.
Renée Fleming makes her belated “Trove Thursday” debut as Sandrina in a rare early performance of Mozart’s La Finta Giardiniera.
Born on this day in 1922 actress and singer Dorothy Dandridge.
Born on this day in 1912, more or less, actress and playwright June Havoc.
I’ve always believed that Follies, like life, should be relentless and inescapable.
John Adams and Peter Sellars didn’t bother to learn a fucking thing about the Puccini masterpiece whose title they stole.
What if you could time travel back to the first run of Giuseppe Verdi’s first great success Nabucco?
Breaking: The New York Times‘ 24/7 all-Exterminating Angel all the time coverage continues .
Happy 81st birthday soprano Gwyneth Jones.
Flotow’s Martha, a work of 1847 that was popular around the world for a hundred years.
The second DVD/Blu-ray with Plácido Domingo as Verdi’s other beleaguered Doge, Francesco in I due Foscari.
Washington National Opera’s lukewarm Alcina, unthreateningly misguided in both its musical and theatrical values, made little impact.
Tell us: What’s your favorite Verdi performance?
Hasten thee to feed another quarter of conversation for The Talk of the Town!
