Crazy extremes
Simon McBurney’s Die Zauberflöte, the second new production of the Met’s May Mozart Miracle, opened on Friday to rousing near-unanimous cheers.
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It’s a time for making merry
On this day in 1966 Jerry Herman‘s musical Mame opened at the Winter Garden Theatre, to run 1,508 performances.
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).
“A palace in which you know every room isn’t worth living in”
On this day in 1963 The Leopard directed by Luchino Visconti won the Cannes Palme d’Or.
Meister of ceremony
Born on this day in 1813 composer Richard Wagner.
First thoughts
JJ//La Cieca crave your indulgence as they address some ongoing health challenges.
Are women magic?
On this day in 1973 the film Day for Night premiered at Cannes.
Aida
The troubled run of Verdi’s opera at the Met this season is almost over.
Creature of the stage
Nina Stemme’s program guided her audience through a period of musical history that explores themes of love and mortality with texts that traverse emotional extremes.
“Always be smarter than the people who hire you”
On this day in 1981 Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music opened at the Nederlander Theatre to run 333 performances.
Keep it a happy song
On this day in 1965 the Kander-Ebb musical Flora, the Red Menace opened at the Alvin Theatre, to run 87 performances.
It takes a Village
Born on this day in 1922 actress (and, somewhat less frequently, director) Nancy Walker.
Don Giovanni
“One consistent feature was a tendency across the cast to tip from recitative into aria with no pause for breath or thought. The effect was almost naturalistic—if such a thing were possible in opera—and was just one example of the many ways in which the night’s music felt fresh, even urgent.”
Unexpected Wagneriennes
After attending three Met Lohengrins I’ve gone into Wagner withdrawal waiting for the upcoming Der Fliegende Holländer.
Souvenirs of a killing
On this day in 1958 the psychological thriller Vertigo was released.
Grace Bumbry 1937-2023
In voice, artistic sensibility and glamour, the singer was every inch a diva.
Nervous system theater
Like a sommelier of male entitlement, Peter Mattei paired with precision moves from a wide-ranging vocabulary of gesture.
“Nothing is wrong that great singing won’t cure”
On this day in 1946 the Metropolitan Opera presented La Gioconda on tour in Chicago.
Ein Feldlager in Schlesien
Giacomo Meyerbeer’s Singspiel in three acts, as broadcast from Bonn Opera.
Glitter and gold
On this day in 2017 the Metropolitan Opera celebrated 50 years at Lincoln Center.
Calling all fairies!
Gilbert and Sullivan’s Iolanthe, presented at Carnegie Hall this past Wednesday by MasterVoices, is a charming rom-com that pits the feminine world of nature against masculine government with unabashedly silly and utterly delightful results.
La bohème
Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts Puccini’s timeless tragedy for the first time at the Met, leading a cast that stars Eleonora Buratto and Stephen Costello.
The look of love
Born on this day in 1895 actor Rudolph Valentino.
Don GIovanni
Peter Mattei heads a luxe cast conducted by Nathalie Stutzmann.