Don’t depend on a holiday date
On this day in 1983 Angela Lansbury headlined a Broadway revival of Mame that ran only 41 performances.
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It’s hard to be a saint in the city
It was thrilling to see and hear Will Crutchfield’s insights come to life onstage in performance when Teatro Nuovo performed Poliuto at the Rose Theater at Jazz at Lincoln Center Wednesday July 19.
Golden goddess
On this day in 1961 American singer Grace Bumbry became the first Black artist to perform at the Bayreuth Festival. She earned 42 curtain calls.
Gli arabi nelle Gallie ossia Il trionfo della fede
Giovanni Pacini’s 1827 opera, revived for the first time since the 19th century.
“The result will astound those watching”
On this day in 1959 Ed Wood‘s magnum opus Plan 9 from Outer Space premiered.
Everything I had is gone
Released on this day in 1943, the film musical Stormy Weather.
Herodias warst du, und was noch?
While reading about the challenges that have faced next week’s Bayreuth opening, I realized I’m a bad Parsifal fan: while I admire the first and third acts of Wagner’s final masterpiece, I really only love the pagan second.
Before the fiddlers have fled
Born on this day in 1930 actress Sally Ann Howes.
Prosperity gospel in tango shoes
If sex sells, then the 40 years of success for Evita show that the strawman construction and vicious takedown of an unsexy, supremely unlikable woman in just under two-and-a-half hours is just as viable a quantity.
All in flower
Born on this day in 1914 soprano Eleanor Steber.
“Only I know my life”
Born on this day in 1911 “triple threat” performer Ginger Rogers.
Semele
Broadcast live from Munich with a number of members of the cast who will appear in the impending Met presentation of this piece.
A summer of solace
From Christian martyrs to naughty fairies, Teatro Nuovo will explore the tragic and comic sides of 19th century Italian Opera.
A bird in a gilded age
Happy 44th birthday to Broadway’s Laura Benanti.
Le jour de gloire
On this day in 1989, soprano Jessye Norman sang “La Marseillaise” at the Place de la Concorde, Paris, to celebrate 200th anniversary of the French Revolution.
Grown deep like the rivers
June is long gone. It was truly a month of excellence and exuberance here in San Francisco, coupled with cozy and inviting weather, as if to make up for the extended winter.
The men who rule Ramrod
It’s been eight decades since darling Aix-en-Provence was under attack—its last formal invasion, at least by non-operagoers, was in 1942 during the German occupation of southern France. But on Friday, the town was besieged once again by its annual festival, with two dazzling premieres that examined the cruel and constructive dimensions of war and revolution.
Northern star
Born on this day in 1895 soprano Kirsten Flagstad.
Stravinsky in the streets, Dostoevsky in the sheets
The Aix festival organized two back-to-back evening concerts dedicated to the Russian masters. One was an embarrassment of Slavic riches, the other… well, just an embarrassment.
A lady with a song
Born on this day in 1920 or so actor Yul Brynner.
To hum it may concern
Happy 54th birthday tenor Jonas Kaufmann.
Quat’sousical the musical
With unrest and looting nearby as France learned collectively that minority lives should matter, Marseille-adjacent Aix-en-Provence could be forgiven for the heavy-handedness of launching its 75th anniversary summer Festival with a new French translation of the ultimate carnival of social tension, The Threepenny Opera.
“A lie who always speaks the truth”
Born on this day in 1889 writer, filmmaker and designer Jean Cocteau.