Tremens factus sum ego
One got a sense that the Met and the maestro directed most of the rehearsal and preparation toward the opening night premiere of the Heggie opus
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Son io il poeta, essa la poesia
On this day in 1965 soprano Mirella Freni and tenor Gianni Raimondi made their Metropolitan Opera debuts in La bohème.
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).
Nun of a kind
“None of that sentimental crap, okay?”
Think different
Bay Area composer Mason Bates’s and librettist Mark Campbell’s contemporary opera about the life of the tech mogul Steve Jobs came home “to the place where it all began” in spectacular fashion
Non chiedo in bontà di ritirarmi
On this day in 1968 tenor Placido Domingo made his Metropolitan Opera debut as Maurizio in Adriana Lecouvreur
Verdi Requiem
From the Metropolitan Opera, Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts Leah Hawkins, Karen Cargill, Matthew Polenzani, and Dmitry Belosselskiy in Verdi’s Requiem
Some unholy war
Rather than focusing on a narrative, Unholy Wars explores a series of timeless yet current themes: war, destruction, alienation, and what it means to be perceived as outsider—particularly from the Middle East—in the context of a violent world.
Divas and scholars
httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRn8FZA-Pa4 Happy 66th birthday opera director Peter Sellars Birthday anniversaries of composers Cyril Scott (1879) and Vincent Youmans (1898) and musicologist Philip Gossett (1941) Happy 83rd birthday soprano Josephine Barstow Happy 72nd birthday tenor Peter Dvorsky Happy 71st birthday tenor Chris Merritt
Dead Man Walking
Yannick Nézet-Seguin conducts Ryan McKinny, Joyce DiDonato, Latonia Moore, and Susan Graham in the season opening night and Metropolitan Opera Premiere of Jake Heggie and Terrence McNally’s Dead Man Walking.
Double take
German opera-director Claus Guth has reimagined Schwanengesang as a series of scarred soldier’s visions in Doppelgänger, showing this week in at the Park Avenue Armory.
Wie stark ist nicht dein Zauberton
Born on this day in 1930 tenor Fritz Wunderlich
Dogecoin
In sum: not a perfect Simon Boccanegra—is there such a thing?—but a grand and often great one.
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.