Black and white tv
On this day in 1948 Verdi‘s Otello was the first opera to be telecast from the Metropolitan Opera
Recent Stories
Bottoms were tougher in those days
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”
Jailhouse Roccos
Chris’s Cache wraps up November with Régine Crespin’s Chicago Leonore; two rare Met Fidelios headed by Christa Ludwig and Hildegard Behrens; and a concert performance with Birgit Nilsson led by Leonard Bernstein, plus a final twist: excerpts of Carol Vaness in Leonore.
Three tall women
Birthday anniversaries of sopranos Helen Jepson (1904)…
Crowe’s feat
I can still vividly remember the first time the music of George Frideric Handel made an impression on me.
Mefistofele
Michele Mariotti conducts John Relyea, Joshua Guerrero, Maria Agresta, Sofia Koberidze and Marco Miglietta in a live opening night broadcast from Rome
Experimental pros
On this day in 1843 Michael Balfe’s The Bohemian Girl premiered in London
“Peanuts” gallery
Happy 82nd birthday mezzo-soprano Susanne Marsee
Wozzeck
Simon Rattle conducts Christian Gerhaher, Malin Bystrom, Thomas Blondelle, Brindley Sherratt, and Peter Hoare in a performance from Aix-en-Provence recorded this summer
Ich Vogelfänger bin bekannt
Happy 78th birthday baritone Håkan Hagegård
X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X
Kazeem Abdullah conducts Will Liverman, Leah Hawkins, Raehann Bryce-Davis, Michael Sumuel, and Victor Ryan Robertson in a live broadcast from New York
Giving head voice
Anna Bolena might be the earliest of Donizetti’s operas that might have name recognition to a non-specialist audience.
Between a prayer and a spell
Although primarily known as a vanguard of the Downtown music scene, John Zorn’s artistic and intellectual ethos is at home at the decidedly Uptown institution of Columbia University.
Chiara di luna
On this day in 1938 tenor Jussi Bjoerling made his Met debut as Rodolfo.
Flores para los muertos
Despite this being the first full-length opera for Gabriela Lena Frank, there’s no lack of experience across the creative team which, along with favorable reviews for the production, contributed to high levels of anticipation.
Harmonic minor
It took more than 25 years for Harmony, the passion project of singer-songwriter Barry Manilow, to reach Broadway, where it opened recently at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre.
Yes. I remember Aldeburgh–
Born on this day in 1913 composer Benjamin Britten
Nighthawks
Edward Hopper’s paintings from the 1930s and 1940s are simply lousy with windows.
Pagan poetry
On this day in 1967 conductor Herbert von Karajan bows at the Metropolitan Opera in Walkure.
Martial “La”
I’ve never had a better time in an opera house.
Let the river run
In its Met premier, neither a talented cast nor some beautiful musical moments were enough to make Florencia feel new or vital.
A season in hell
On this day in 1907 bass Fyodor Chaliapin made his Met debut as Boito‘s Mefistofele
Le Grand Macabre
Pablo Heras-Casado conducts Georg Nigl, Sarah Aristidou, Andrew Watts, Maria Nazarova, Isabel Signoret, Wolfgang Bankl, and Hans Peter Kammerer in a broadcast from Vienna.