The Talk of the Town
My favorite scene in my favourite Donizetti opera. Even if she does go ahead and sing that damnable cabaletta, it’s Mariella Devia and she can do little RONG.
I’m convinced that someone else will claim this Donizetti opera before I do, but Maria Stuarda is definitely my very favorite Donizetti opera.
Kind of self-explanatory, but Maria Callas‘s mad scene in Anna Bolena has truly ruined this music for me.
A friend who frequents these pages recently turned me on to a Donizetti cantata that I had never heard of: his setting of the speech of Dante‘s Conte Ugolino.
Leyla Gencer cussing out Shirley Verrett’s Elisabetta so convincingly the audience spontaneously breaks out in applause and bravas.
In 1972, when I was 12 years old, my mother took me to the Salzburg Festival.
One of my favorite scenes from Donizetti is the Act I finale from Anna Bolena.
La Favorita is my favorita. Whether it’s Favorita or Favorite, I love them both.
Fiorenza Cossotto in her prime had few equals, particularly in the Italian repertoire
Donizetti wrote so much great music, it’s hard to single out a favorite opera, or even a preferred aria!
After her Mimìs in the springtime Bohème, she will perhaps be less under the radar here.
Ida Miccolis (1920-2005), Brazilian soprano, never or rarely sang outside Brazil.
One of the great Rossini sopranos of the 1980s and sadly under-recorded in that rep.
Reading Dorothy Kirsten‘s autobiography twice last year made me revisit her work anew.
I discovered this magical soprano when I was a teenager, and came across a mixed program RCA Victor LP recital.
Maria Caniglia sings with unabashed commitment and honesty. She sings as if the music was born with her.
Aga Mikolaj (born Agnieszka Beata Mikolajczyk) sang Strauss and Mozart with a gorgeous, shimmering tone.
Not exactly obscure, but she has such elegance and poise
Karolina Bengtsson is just at the beginning – we are going to hear from her, I am quite sure…
Never saw her in anything, only on You Tube videos and in a few recordings.
For me, Renée Doria epitomizes the best of French style – pointed diction, a slightly lemon-y timbre that cuts through any cloying sentimentality…..love her!
… as Minnie in La fanciulla del west
Tell us: What was the best of 2025?
Parterre Box concludes the thrilling first year of Talk of the Town by inviting your lightning rod opinions on several more categories of operatic argumentation.
