Recent Stories
My sister Julie celebrates an important birthday later this month which reminded me—as I also recalled I visiting her while she was living in Prague—that I should unearth Bohuslav Martin?’s Julietta with Lucia Popp and Dénes Gulyás for this week’s Trove Thursday.
Born on this day in 1902 actress Margaret Hamilton.
The entire dinner was spent discussing conductors.
On this day in 1949 the Jule Styne musical Gentlemen Prefer Blondes opened on Broadway.
Born on this day in 1893 actress Fay Bainter.
Born on this day in 1900 actress Agnes Moorehead.
Born on this day in 1898 soprano Grace Moore.
Tell us: What’s your favorite Verdi performance?
Hasten thee to feed another quarter of conversation for The Talk of the Town!
Grand Tier Grab Bag
Grand Tier Grab Bag
Northern star
Northern star
Parterre Box previews an upcoming performance of Hercules with Ann Hallenberg in some very unique Baroque repertoire.
Parterre Box previews an upcoming performance of Hercules with Ann Hallenberg in some very unique Baroque repertoire.
Grand Tier Grab Bag
Tra voi belle
Tra voi belle
Following the announcement that she’ll make her Met debut next season, Grand Tier Grab Bag brings Italian soprano Erika Grimaldi to your attention with a duet from Manon Lescaut.
Following the announcement that she’ll make her Met debut next season, Grand Tier Grab Bag brings Italian soprano Erika Grimaldi to your attention with a duet from Manon Lescaut.
Grand Tier Grab Bag
León in winter
León in winter
Ahead of his performance in Les pêcheurs de perles with Washington Concert Opera, Parterre Box features the unusually elegant Anthony León performing Mozart.
Ahead of his performance in Les pêcheurs de perles with Washington Concert Opera, Parterre Box features the unusually elegant Anthony León performing Mozart.
Grand Tier Grab Bag
Assai più vale il soglio
che un genitor perduto
Assai più vale il soglio
che un genitor perduto
Parterre Box highlights a busy few months of Verdi performances for Marina Rebeka and Ludovic Tézier with an exciting sample of their debuts in Nabucco.
Parterre Box highlights a busy few months of Verdi performances for Marina Rebeka and Ludovic Tézier with an exciting sample of their debuts in Nabucco.
Grand Tier Grab Bag
Women’s liberation
Women’s liberation
Parterre Box highlights two recent Verdi Requiems of interest with a pair of Libera mes from Asmik Grigorian and Anna Netrebko.
Parterre Box highlights two recent Verdi Requiems of interest with a pair of Libera mes from Asmik Grigorian and Anna Netrebko.
Grand Tier Grab Bag
Ash and you shall receive
Ash and you shall receive
Bellini and Donizetti may be top of mind these days, so Parterre Box offers two budding belcantisti, Beth Taylor and Dave Monaco, in a duet from Rossini’s La cenerentola.
Bellini and Donizetti may be top of mind these days, so Parterre Box offers two budding belcantisti, Beth Taylor and Dave Monaco, in a duet from Rossini’s La cenerentola.
Featured in a new Barrie Kosky production: Kyle Ketelsen, Ain Anger, Hanna-Elisabeth Müller, Stanislas de Barbeyrac, Kate Lindsey, Philippe Sly, Patricia Nolz and Peter Kellner.
Sondra Radvanovsky was a force of nature as Tosca on Thursday night at the Met.
Born on this day in 1921 film songstress Deanna Durbin.
On this day in 1993 the first issue of parterre box was published.
As one can see from the chronology published earlier this year, the American Opera Society, in addition to reviving a number of now familiar operas, introduced many singers who became important local figures; however, there were shooting-star exceptions like today’s Trove Thursday offering of d’Albert’s Tiefland featuring Angeles Gulin and Ion Buzea.
Born on this day in 1923.
Talk of the Town
The Talk of the Town
A favorite bass performance from Ben Miller
A favorite bass performance from Ben Miller
The one, the only Fyodor Chaliapin, singing Massenet’s “Elegie” (with, I believe, a young Piatigorsky on the cello part).
The one, the only Fyodor Chaliapin, singing Massenet’s “Elegie” (with, I believe, a young Piatigorsky on the cello part).
The Talk of the Town
A favorite bass performance from Leyla Gender-Bender
A favorite bass performance from Leyla Gender-Bender
Fyodor Chaliapin is considered one of the greatest basses ever because he combined a dark, flexible, and instantly recognizable bass voice with extraordinary musical intelligence and nuance.
Fyodor Chaliapin is considered one of the greatest basses ever because he combined a dark, flexible, and instantly recognizable bass voice with extraordinary musical intelligence and nuance.
The Talk of the Town
A favorite bass performance from CKurwenal
A favorite bass performance from CKurwenal
I wanted to make sure Paata Burchuladze gets celebrated in this series.
I wanted to make sure Paata Burchuladze gets celebrated in this series.
The Talk of the Town
The René Jacobs Giulio Cesare is so overrated
The René Jacobs Giulio Cesare is so overrated
George Frideric Handel (born 341 years ago on Monday) composed over 40 operas including many masterpieces, but his Giulio Cesare is the one that everyone knows best.
George Frideric Handel (born 341 years ago on Monday) composed over 40 operas including many masterpieces, but his Giulio Cesare is the one that everyone knows best.
The Talk of the Town
The 1946 La traviata is so overrated
The 1946 La traviata is so overrated
For all his undeniable precision and discipline, I still find Toscanini’s tempi rushed and unyielding and his lack of rubato a chilly turnoff.
For all his undeniable precision and discipline, I still find Toscanini’s tempi rushed and unyielding and his lack of rubato a chilly turnoff.
The Talk of the Town
The 1957 Anna Bolena is so overrated
The 1957 Anna Bolena is so overrated
While the three leads do sing the material well, there has been a glut of recordings since then which are more complete and at least as well sung.
While the three leads do sing the material well, there has been a glut of recordings since then which are more complete and at least as well sung.
The Met’s antiquated production of La bohéme proved as popular with our readers as it did with audiences last month!
On this day in 1968, for the first time in history, it was Turkey Lurkey Time.
You know in some of those old Jeanette MacDonald movies where she plays a prima donna and receives applause in a public setting? That’s just what happened when the three of us walked into that restaurant, one patron calling out “Brava!”
In spite of the fact that Rossini and his librettist Jacopo Ferretti removed all the magical elements from the story, therefore making it far easier to produce, there was more than enough enchantment in the singing, and intermittently in the production to enjoy.
Born on this day in 1920 actress Virginia Mayo.
The mixture of romance and realism in Sondheim songs, the revelation that while love could be grand and passionate it could also be mundane or inconvenient or mistimed or just plain embarrassing, was such a relief.
Steve adored puzzles, solving them and creating them, so it makes you wonder that this one continued to fester—was that so few of his songs attained the rank of “standard.”
When I think of Stephen Sondheim, so many of my memories are not simply about shows of his I loved and learned from—they are experiences that literally shaped my life.