Dogecoin
In sum: not a perfect Simon Boccanegra—is there such a thing?—but a grand and often great one.
Recent Stories
A madhouse is not a home
David Devan may be leaving the company, but there can be no better living tribute to him than this extraordinary work, which in 90 minutes gives us everything we could want from a new opera
The lady with the repertoire
Happy 82nd birthday soprano Anna Tomowa-Sintow.
Float like a butterfly
Phil Chan described his point of departure for reimagining Orientalist works as the question, “what else could this be?”
The silky-toned Miss Verrett
On this day in 1968 mezzo-soprano Shirley Verrett made her Metropolitan Opera debut as Carmen.
Il trovatore
San Francisco Opera’s first livestream (with a 48-hour on-demand viewing window) of the new season.
Got to get you into my strife
Power struggles, prejudice, feuds and revenge abound in San Francisco at the moment.
Fifty percent
Happy 88th birthday actress Sophia Loren.
“Being young isn’t about age”
Happy 74th birthday to supermodel, actress and singer Twiggy.
Out standing in the field
Shaggy weltstar tenor murmurs the haunting love theme from Gladiator.
Lady willpower
Happy 52nd birthday soprano Anna Netrebko.
“Are you getting paid?”
Born on this day in 1925 actress and songstress Dorothy Loudon.
Don Carlo
From the Royal Opera House, London, starring soprano Lise Davidsen, tenor Brian Jagde and bass John Relyea, conducted by Bertrand de Billy.
White hot
The great archetypal image of an opera singer is a towering Wagnerian soprano who shatters entire panes of glass the moment she opens her mouth.
Sacred flame
Left this world on this day 46 years ago in Paris.
Transfiguration
Born on this day in 1945 soprano Jessye Norman.
Lise Davidsen in Recital with James Baillieu
The Norwegian soprano sings a program of music by Wagner, Verdi, Tchaikovsky, Schubert, Strauss, Sibelius and Grieg.
I’ll face the unknown
Happy 79th birthday to triple threat Joey Heatherton.
Fly me to the moon
Lisette Oropesa has announced she will sing Norma “in the future.”
More trouble with zippers
Born on this day in 1903 actress Claudette Colbert.
Michael Kaye’s Puccini
La Cieca asked that the next installment of Chris’s Cache mark the recent passing of Michael Kaye, known to readers of this site as QuantoPainyFakor.
Fatal beauty
Born on this day in 1938 mezzo-soprano Tatiana Troyanos.
Tosca, two ways
When our friends at Naxos and C Major announced near-dueling releases of Puccini’s “shabby little shocker,” I was ready with my critic’s pen dipped in bile.
“I am like a bird!”
On this day in 1850 Swedish soprano Jenny Lind made her American debut at the Castle Garden Theatre in New York City.