The Talk of the Town
I could not wrap what’s left of my mind around the concept of “filth and dementia” in opera
Renée as Thaïs finding salvation while trudging through the parched Egyptian desert in off-the-shoulder La Croix atelier.
What to our wondering ears should appear, but a 40-track Jonas Kaufmann Christmas album?
Speaking of dementia in opera, all I can think of is the extraordinary reimagined production of Béla Bartók’s chamber opera Bluebeard’s Castle that I saw at Atlanta Opera in October 2022.
That this performance of Verdi’s Lady Macbeth was recorded and preserved for posterity is beyond the pale.
Dementia and filth in the same clip!
Not really sure what was going on here.
Who doesn’t love a slightly murky archival recording?
Ma che brutta figura per la lirica!
I sort of have a love/hate fascination with countertenors/male falsettists.
Karina Gauvin slays for the slayed. Werk Bitch.
Zubin Mehta was a major part of musical life when I moved to Southern California in 1969, having started his tenure as music director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
It is no wonder Bernard Herrmann relishes the wistful lyricism in Barber’s masterwork, as Herrmann’s score for Vertigo is among the most beautiful and haunting of all film scores ever composed.
Lorenzo Molajoli is a mysterious figure.
Based on exactly one recording, Maurice Abravanel is my favorite opera conductor.
I trust, fellow Parterre readers, that we can all agree that Riccardo Muti is a great opera conductor.
Fifty some years ago I stumbled on to John Barbirolli‘s recording of matchless Elgar & V-Williams music for strings and discovered my go-to conductor for life.
Antonio Pappano‘s versatility in both German and Italian repertoire and beyond is both rare and impressive.
Whether an opera by Puccini, Verdi, Wagner, Strauss, or Berg, Dimitri Mitropoulos brought to the podium a total understanding and love for each score he touched.
I am once again going to laud the classic Rudolf Kempe commercial recording of Lohengrin (which I have lauded overall) for its conducting.
Roger Norrington conducted Rossini’s Semiramide in Pesaro ’94 and made the Orchestra part of the drama in a way I still have never heard duplicated in a Bel Canto opera.
Many years ago, when the Met was deciding who the next principal conductor/music director was going to be, it seemed to be a tie between YN-S and Fabio Luisi.
Pierre Monteux‘s career defies time.
Tell us: Filth or dementia?
Hasten thee to feed another quarter of conversation for The Talk of the Town!
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