La Bellissima
Born on this day in 1932 soprano Anna Moffo.
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La traviata
In this video from 2015, soprano Lisette Oropesa makes her role debut as Violetta in a new production of Verdi’s La traviata at the Academy of Music.
Horse whisperer
Born on this day in 1922 actress Eleanor Parker.
Samson et Dalila
Baritone-turned-tenor SeokJong Baek and superstar mezzo Elina Garanca take the title roles in Richard Jones‘s new production of Saint-Saëns’s biblical opera.
“Opera is big and scary”
Happy 82nd birthday to soprano and actress Mary Beth Peil.
She’s way ahead
Happy 80th birthday actress and singer Michele Lee.
The sound of silence
Die Schweigsame Frau, in a Munich performance featuring Kurt Moll, Julie Kaufmann, Francisco Araiza and Wolfgang Rauch conducted by Wolfgang Sawallisch.
Of dreamless ease fled she
Born on this day in 1916 actress Irene Worth.
Shoot your shot
Director R.B. Schlather deftly walks a porous boundary, casting this primordial paroxysm of Germanness as a dialogue between its naïve and moralistic narrative with its outsized legacy.
“Pain and danger and fear”
Happy 90th birthday to actress Prunella Scales.
Dream on
The second act of Dream of the Red Chamber reached the apex and provided the audience with soul-stirring fulfillment.
“I hated the whole idea of being an actress”
Born on this day in 1921 actress and singer Judy Holliday.
A real vibrancy
Your favorite box set-aholic here completely missed the release last August of Giuseppe Di Stefano – Complete Decca Recordings in honor of the great tenor’s centenary.
Consistently enthralling
To conclude its triumphant season, last week the Met Orchestra performed its annual Carnegie Hall concerts under music director Yannick Nézet-Séguin and once again performed superbly.
On the make
Born on this day in 1911 actress Gail Patrick.
How high
Born on this day in 1912 soprano Virginia MacWatters.
Turandot
A new production of Puccini’s lyric drama is conducted by Zubin Mehta and directed by Philipp Stölzl.
The night is romantic and I am alone
Born on this day in 1903 actress and soprano Jeanette MacDonald.
Al fresco
On this day in 1967 Barbra Streisand performed A Happening in Central Park.
The Italian job
Trove Thursday presents a delightful pirate recording from the 1983 Pesaro Festival of Rossini’s Il Turco in Italia with a cast headed by three Americans—Trove fav Lella Cuberli, Samuel Ramey and David Kuebler—along with Alessandro Corbelli and Luigi De Corato, conducted by Donato Renzetti.
Song of my homeland
Born on this day in 1910 actress Ilona Massey.
“Why do people have to love people anyway?”
On this day in 1960 the film The Apartment premiered in New York City.
Thousand yard stair
On this day the revue New Faces of 1956 opened at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre, featuring an eclectic collection of talent including Maggie Smith, Jane Connell, Tiger Haynes, John Reardon, Bill McCutcheon and Inga Swenson.
I suspect you’re a treasure
Born on this day in 1910 comic actress Mary Wickes.