Leveling up or leveling down?
Arts Council England, as a global policy trendsetter, may have sounded the death knell for the international opera industry as we know it.
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That indescribable feeling
Alma Deutscher’s quest for beautiful music permeates the score of her Cinderella from the hushed opening of the Overture.
Yours, mine and ‘Hours’
Of course the Met premiere of The Hours grabbed most of the attention last month!
Everyone’s an outlaw
On this day in 1962, the Metropolitan Opera presented Ernani starring Carlo Bergonzi, Leontyne Price, Cornell MacNeil and Giorgio Tozzi, conducted by Thomas Schippers.
“Oh, thoughtless crew! Ye know not what ye do!”
One wonders whether an obsession with metrics and measurement has the potential to create arts organizations that are more preoccupied with finding systems that quickly and efficiently tick the Arts Council’s boxes than with creating meaningful, impactful art.
Co-conspirator
On this day in 1990 the Metropolitan Opera presented a new production of Rossini’s Semiramide.
Everything sacred
Wrapping up Diva November, Chris’s Cache offers two sacred works that couldn’t be more unalike.
Bring on the night
On this day in 1937 the Metropolitan Opera opened its season with Tristan und Isolde.
A game of 3-D chess
“Opera needs a reset. We think there needs to be a fundamental shift in the ecology.”
The princess bride
On this day in 1942 the Metropolitan Opera presented a new production of Lucia di Lammermoor.
Comme un doux trésor
On this day in 1906 a 24-year-old soprano named Geraldine Farrar made her Metropolitan Opera debut on the opening night of the season in Roméo et Juliette.
La gazza ladra
Rossini’s comic opera, recorded November 16 at the Theater an der Wien.
A star is porn
Show business fables often involve an ambitious, if naïve, ingenue (male or female) desperate for fame. This young wannabe finds fame and fortune: but it comes at a cost.
The sense of dramatic thrust
Soprano Lydia Grindatto confirmed the fine impression she had made at Giargiari vocal competition with a charismatic, thoroughly inhabited performance that showed careful preparation in every aspect.
The lady came with an excellent reputation
On this day in 1885, soprano Lilli Lehmann made her Metropolitan Opera debut in the title role of Carmen (in German, of course.)
When my ship comes in
On this day in 2000 soprano Nina Stemme made her Metropolitan Opera debut as Senta.
Unhappy ‘Hours’
The film of The Hours failed to effectively weave together the novel’s trio of threads of interiority about suicide and secondarily literary creation. I wondered if an opera would stand a better chance at achieving that? Based on Tuesday’s diva-encrusted stage premiere of Kevin Puts and Greg Pierce’s The Hours, its creators didn’t pull it off either.
Marchons, marchons!
On this day in 1940 the Metropolitan Opera opened its season with La Fille du Régiment, starring Lily Pons and featuring the “Casablanca” finale!
The Hours
The world premiere of Kevin Puts‘ new opera opens at the Met tonight.
The beautiful and damned
On this day in 1965 Montserrat Caballé and Sherrill Milnes made their Metropolitan Opera debuts in Faust.
Judith in disguise
No one who followed Trove Thursday will be surprised that Diva November on Chris’s Cache today features Ann Hallenberg and Sandrine Piau.
Three dimensions
Lyric Opera of Chicago’s Don Carlos was a real feast of good singing and orchestral grandeur.
Better off dead
I have a horrible confession. I’ve always judged the quality of an opera largely on the number of dead characters at the finale.