A lady with a song
Born on this day in 1920 or so actor Yul Brynner.
Recent Stories
To hum it may concern
Happy 54th birthday tenor Jonas Kaufmann.
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).
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.
Murder’s never perfect
On this day in 1944 the film noir Double Indemnity directed by Billy Wilder was released in Baltimore, Maryland
An improbable farce
On this day in 1941 Noel Coward‘s play Blithe Spirit premiered in London.
The good girl
Born on this day in 1916 actress Olivia de Havilland.
Accidentally like a martyr
Chris’s Cache previews Donizetti’s Poliuto, with a broadcast starring Sondra Radvanovsky, Gregory Kunde and Gabriele Viviani, along with Les Martyrs, the opera’s French grand opera revision, with Leyla Gencer, Mario di Felici and Renato Bruson.
Traubel in mind
On this day in 1956 Rodgers and Hammerstein’s musical Pipe Dream closed at Shubert Theater, NYC, after 245 performances.
Star of eve
Born on this day in 1901 baritone and film star Nelson Eddy.
Sax education
On this day in 1846 Adolphe Sax received a patent for what would become his greatest invention.
Looking for Trouble
The ailing and grief-stricken Pinkerton was shown to give his son a diary about his time in Nagasaki, and as Trouble read it, he (and the audience) was taken back in time as the story came to life, similar to the use of Pensieve in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Book 4).
High flying bird
Born on this day in 1932 soprano Anna Moffo.
Blond ambition
This showcase concert gave notice that countertenor Hugh Cutting is among the most promising artists of his generation.
Glorious excess
Despite the ever-increasing media coverage of San Francisco’s “doom loop,” June 2023 will be forever remembered as the time where San Francisco was the opera capital of the United States.
How often I think of the past!
On this day, The Ziegfeld Follies of 1924 opened at the New Amsterdam Theatre with a cast including Billie Burke, W. C. Fields, Will Rogers, Vivienne Segal, Ethel Shutta and Louise Brooks.
Rainbow connection
Happy Pride! On this day in 1978 the rainbow flag representing gay pride was presented for the first time during the San Francisco Gay Freedom Day Parade.
Il Turco in Italia
Alex Esposito and Lisette Oropesa star at the Teatro Real de Madrid.
Theme park
On this day in 1967 the Metropolitan Opera presented its first “Met in the Parks” performance in Crocheron Park, Bayside, Queens. La bohème featured Anna Moffo, Sandor Konya, Laurel Hurley and Frank Guarrera.
Carmen
For your Friday evening chatting pleasure, a video from the Opéra Comique, Paris.
Born in ultry-sultry Martinique
Born on this day in 1763 Joséphine de Beauharnais.
El último sueño de Frida y Diego
“Gabriela Lena Frank‘s score for Frida y Diego was nothing short of extraordinary, at times recalling Béla Bartók (in her treatment for climaxes) or Giacomo Puccini (in her handling of choruses), but the musical idioms were certainly her own. I particularly mesmerized by many instrumental solos peppered throughout the score (most particularly the bassoon and violin solos), and Frank used such device to define the characters, almost in a way of leitmotif.”
“Blame it on the summer knight”
On June 20, a rather breezy, pleasant cool summer evening, the soprano Gabriella Reyes, tenor René Barbera and baritone Will Liverman took over the Summerstage space with a wide-ranging, ambitious recital program with Dimitri Dover tickling the ivories.