“Flute-like Santos-Dumont notes”
On this day in 1908 soprano Ellen Beach Yaw made her debut and only performance at the Metropolitan Opera as Lucia di Lammermoor.
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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).
Veil song
On this day in 1901 the Metropolitan Opera presented the company premiere of Reyer’s Salammbô.
Diva moment
Angela Meade, reportedly flown in at the very last minute to take on the role of Norma, absolutely triumphed, pulling out all the stops to deliver a commanding performance that should, indeed, go down in history.
Valentine’s massacre
On this day in 1884 the Metropolitan Opera presented its first performance of Meyerbeer’s Les Huguenots.
Lohengrin
“I greatly enjoyed the musical interpretation as a whole, even if I felt that many of the singers seemed a little lost, mismatched, or out-of-place in François Girard’s production.”
Demimondaine
On this day in 1993 Tiziana Fabbricini made her Metropolitan Opera debut as Violetta.
Spook music
On this day in 1967 the Metropolitan Opera presented the world premiere of Marvin David Levy‘s Mourning Becomes Electra.
Falstaff
“In its current Met revival, happily, Falstaff has everything it needs.”
Moody ‘Blue’
Originally scheduled for a D.C. premiere in spring 2020 but thwarted by the pandemic, Washington National Opera was finally able to present composer Jeanine Tesori and librettist Tazewell Thompson’s Blue at the Kennedy Center last Saturday.
Citizen of the world
Mezzo-soprano Fleur Barron showed herself unafraid to move the expectations of classical music forward, linguistically, thematically, and culturally.
If it makes you happy
Protean Anna Netrebko has booked her first performances of Ponchielli’s La Gioconda .
Dove sono i bei momenti
On this day in 1991 soprano Renée Fleming made her Metropolitan Opera stage debut as Countess Almaviva.
Someday she’ll come along, the girl I love
In Richard Strauss’s Arabella, the heroine is consumed with finding the right man—der Richtige—but who is the right Arabella?
Happy, happy solo woman
There’s nothing unusual about casting a woman in Solomon‘s titular role.
Helen is always willing
On this day in 2007 the Metropolitan Opera presented a new production of Die Ägyptische Helena.
Radically giddy
Verdi’s Falstaff is a brilliantly written opera: funny, with a complex ability to operate across minutely shifting registers of farce and lyricism. It needs, ideally, a production and cast capable of executing both comedy and drama, irony and sincerity—often concurrently. In its current Met revival, happily, Falstaff has everything it needs.
Knocking on heaven’s door
On this day in 1959 soprano Martina Arroyo made her Metropolitan Opera debut as the Celestial Voice in Don Carlo.
Overachiever
The program for Jasmine Rice LaBeija’s concert as part of Works & Process at the Guggenheim on Wednesday, March 8 read a bit like a curriculum vitae.
“You must change your life”
This was a wonderful concert because MIchael Tilson Thomas approached every moment of it with an air of expansiveness and gratitude.
It might as well be Einspring
I can’t imagine anything more anxiety-inducing than being put in at last-minute to sing a role in a high-profile production at the Met.
Cistern act
On this day in 1965 the Metropolitan Opera offered a matinee performance of Salome featuring Birgit Nilsson.
Master of monumentality
On this day in 1987 the Met raised the curtain on Franco Zeffirelli‘s production of Turandot.