The Magic Flute
Patrick Furrer conducts Janai Brugger, Kathryn Lewek, Piotr Buszewski, Rolando Villazón and Brindley Sherrat in a broadcast of the Met’s holiday presentation
Recent Stories
Myth and meaning
Two short theatrical works and one sacred piece from the beguiling oeuvre of the guy who didn’t write Louise
All is grist for the Miller
On this day in 1849 Verdi’s Luisa Miller premiered in Naples
Not with a bang
When the Staatskapelle Berlin announced a two-night engagement at Carnegie Hall performing all four Brahms symphonies, I immediately made a note in my calendar to attend. I also wondered who would be the conductor when the announced Daniel Barenboim inevitably withdrew.
Don Carlo
Riccardo Chailly conducts Michele Pertusi, Anna Netrebko, Francesco Meli, Luca Salsi, Elina Garanca and Jongmin Park in a live Sant’Ambrogio opening night broadcast from Milan
Son’io la gloria
Born on this day in 1863 composer Pietro Mascagni
Love potion no. 8 1/2
A perfect escape for a city laden with recent layoffs and job cuts coming into Holiday season
Trouble must be treated just like a rebel
On this day in 1846 Berlioz’s La damnation de Faust premiered in Paris
Contents fragile
Perhaps the greatest souvenir of her art there is.
Favola bella che ieri t’illuse, che oggi m’illude
Washington Concert Opera’s season opened with a triumphant performance of Gioachino Rossini’s rarely heard Ermione Saturday night at George Washington University in D.C., led by Antony Walker and a stellar quartet of principals in Angela Meade, Lawrence Brownlee, David Portillo, and Ginger Costa-Jackson.
A chanté le carnage
Happy 77th birthday tenor José Carreras
Christian science monitored
In any case, we probably got as good a Tannhäuser cast as could be assembled these days.
Celebrating 30 Years of parterre box
Readers, writers, and stars reflect on the 30th anniversary of “the most essential blog in opera” (NYT)
Voce di donna
On this day in 1993, the first issue of parterre box was published
Tosca
A broadcast of the 1953 recording featuring Maria Callas, Giuseppe Di Stefano, and Tito Gobbi conducted by Tullio Serafin in celebration of the Callas centennial
Filth and dementia
Zachary Woolfe reflects on the legacy of parterre box founder James Jorden and three decades of “remembering when opera was queer and dangerous and exciting and making it that way again”
By Zachary Woolfe
21 comments
Old school and better for it
As far as I know, Juan Diego Flórez last appeared in New York City (not totally to his advantage) as Alfredo in the Met’s garish new production of La Traviata back in December 2018, nearly five years ago.
Tannhäuser
Donald Runnicles conducts Wagner’s Tannhäuser live from New York with Elza van den Heever, Ekaterina Gubanova, Andreas Schager, Christian Gerhaher, and Georg Zeppenfeld
‘Don’ or dinner party
A revival of Peter Konwitschny’s rightly legendary Don Carlos and Dmitri Tcherniakov’s confounding new Salome: both turned out to be unforgettable!
Always DeVolving
Happy 81st birthday soprano Luana DeVol
Stuffing and licking
parterre box turns 30 on Sunday and writers from around the box are reflecting on the legacy of founder James Jorden and three decades of “remembering when opera was queer and dangerous and exciting and making it that way again”