Popp culture
Born on this day in 1939 soprano Lucia Popp
Recent Stories
Le nozze di Figaro
Raphaël Pichon conducts Andrè Schuen, Adriana González, Sabine Devieilhe, Krzysztof B?czyk, and Lea Desandre in a performance recorded at this year’s Salzburg Festival.
I’ll take the fall
The days are getting shorter, but you can keep the prattle going this fall’s Talk of the Town! You will, you can, you must join in the discussion about: Great mezzo soprano performances (October),
Gained in translation (November), Teleport me back to… (December).
Moonstruck
On this day in 1993 Dvorak’s Rusalka finally appears at the Met.
Before we croak
Aristophanes’ The Frogs is a comedy with a lump in its throat – laughter coming from tears.
Scholarly pursuits
“What would you do if the world you knew was suddenly gone and you were thrown into the deepest abyss stripped of all humanity? Would you fight to remember who you were?”
Ewing and ahhing
On this day in 1994 Shostakovich’s Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk finally bows at the Met.
X rated
Let’s not forget that it’s only been two years since the Met mounted its first-ever opera by a Black composer.
Step and repeat
Three important daughter-stepmother pairs
Bass desires
Happy 64th birthday baritone Thomas Quasthoff
Un ballo in maschera
Carlo Rizzi conducts Angela Meade, Liv Redpath, Olesya Petrova, Charles Castronovo, and Quinn Kelsey in a broadcast from New York
Garden party
Two of France’s leading Early Music ensembles recently visited New York City to perform music by some of the 17th century’s leading composers.
Manon Lescaut
Jader Bignamini conducts Anna Netrebko, Davide Luciano, Joshua Guerrero and Evgeny Solodovnikov in a broadcast from Vienna.
Devil in the details
On this day in 1965 bass Nicolai Ghiaurov made his Metropolitan Opera debut as Méphistophélès
That which we call a Rosa
Rosa Feola, hailed last year for her Gilda at the Met, brought a level of vocal refinement and elegance to Juliet that substantially elevated the night’s proceedings.
More than stupendous
Born on this day in 1926 soprano Joan Sutherland
Mälkki way
When the New York Philharmonic announced Gustavo Dudamel as its next music director earlier this year, speculation arose immediately as to who would take his place out West when he leaves the Los Angeles Philharmonic in 2026.
Mussel your way in
On this day in 1928 the American Premiere of Richard Strauss‘ Die ägyptische Helena at the Met.
Operalia 2023 Finals
Live from Cape Town, South Africa, the finals of the 2023 Operalia Competition
Dell’invito trascorsa è già l’ora
On this day in 1883 the Metropolitan Opera presented its very first traviata.
Parsifal
Pablo Heras-Casado conducts Andreas Schager, Georg Zeppenfeld, Elina Garanca, Derek Welton, and Jordan Shanahan in a recording from this summer’s Bayreuth Festival.
Baby steppes
In 1961 soprano Phyllis Curtin makes her Metropolitan Opera debut as Fiordiligi
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 season premiere broadcast from New York
A noi duce fa l’amor
On this night in 1924 Tullio Serafin made his Met debut conducting Elisabeth Rethberg and Giovanni Martinelli in Aida.