The first time I saw Paris
On this day in 1981 “the Zeffirelli Bohème” opened at the Metropolitan Opera.
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Witch side are you on?
A main theme in Becky Nurse of Salem is how history is distorted by those who get to tell it.
Razor-sharp
On this day in 1979 mezzo Agnes Baltsa made her Metropolitan Opera debut as Octavian.
All quirk and no play
Perhaps the quirkiest of Mahler’s nine symphonies, the Fourth fits nicely with Yannick Nézet-Séguin’s somewhat idiosyncratic style.
Manon of the gowns
A double bill (with a choral intermezzo) that just finished four nights’ run at the Manhattan School of Music is a delight, musically whimsical and reminiscent, wittily and colorfully staged.
“An ascending progression of sonority”
On this day in 1920 Ravel’s La Valse premiered in Paris.
Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg
A live performance from the Vienna State Opera featuring Michael Volle, Georg Zeppenfeld, Wolfgang Koch, David Butt Philip and Hanna-Elisabeth Müller, conducted by Philippe Jordan.
Queen of the B’s
Born on this day in 1919 actress Marie Windsor.
The Hours
The opening of the Metropolitan Opera Saturday Broadcast season.
Poker night
On this day in 1910 Puccini’s La fanciulla del West had its world premiere at the Metropolitan Opera.
Freaky ‘Freitag’
Monday November 14th’s performance of Karlheinz Stockhausen’s Freitag aus Licht by the contemporary music ensemble Le Balcon began in complete chaos.
Wagnerienne
Diva November meets Wagner December when Chris’s Cache this week offers Régine Crespin as both Elisabeth in Tannhäuser and Senta in Der Fliegende Holländer via a pair of American pirates from the 1960s.
Behind the veil
On this day in 1905 Richard Strauss‘s Salome premiered in Dresden.
“That might be a wisecrack, but I doubt it”
On this day in 1925 the George S. Kaufman / Irving Berlin musical The Cocoanuts opened at the Lyric Theatre starring The Marx Brothers.
Louis Louis
For those who relish 17th and 18th century vocal music, the annual visits to the Morgan Library by the singers and instrumentalists of the Boston Early Music Festival invariably guarantee delight
Almost paradise
Born on this day in 1864 soprano Sibyl Sanderson.
So far away
As the focal point of the The Far Country, Eric Yang anchors the production with a cool steadiness that only occasionally betrays a sense of urgency beneath his patient countenance.
“Pseudo-Greek”
On this day in 1960 soprano Eileen Farrell made her Metropolitan Opera debut in the title role of a new production of Gluck’s Alceste.
Triste madre
On this day in 1960, Galina Vishnevskaya made a guest appearance with the Metropolitan Opera, singing Madama Butterfly in Russian.
“A soprano from the antipodes”
On this day in 1935 the Metropolitan Opera presented a new production of Die Walküre featuring the company debut of soprano Marjorie Lawrence as Brünnhilde.
Alone in the world
Step aside, Texas: “Everything is bigger at Aida” is the motto of the Met’s second attempt at retiring Sonja Frisell’s colossal production.
Lohengrin
Premiere of a new production from the Bayreische Staatsoper.
‘Contes’, get you out of my head
On this day in 2009 the Metropolitan Opera presented a production of Les Contes d’Hoffmann that went through six major cast changes during the rehearsal period.
Aida
Soprano Latonia Moore stars as the Ethiopian princess torn between love and country in Verdi’s grand Egyptian epic.