Varying the song
The opera The Rake’s Progress, as many people know already, was inspired by a series of engravings and paintings of the same name by William Hogarth, showing the decline of a young man into depravity and insanity.
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A faint impression of the genuine article
Can we start by not using Barbra Streisand as a polestar here?
The wanton contessa
Born on this day in 1921 actress Alida Valli.
The Rake’s Progress
Maestro Susanna Mälkki (not pictured) leads Stravinsky’s ingenious neoclassical satire.
Experience has made me rich
Happy 51st birthday to Broadway and soundtrack diva Idina Menzel.
We went as we were
Born on this day in 1894 actress and singer Beatrice Lillie.
Akhnaten
Karen Kamensek conducts Anthony Roth Costanzo (Akhnaten), Rihab Chaieb (Nefertiti), Zachary James (Amenhotep III), Disella Lárusdóttir (Queen Tye), Aaron Blake (High Priest of Amon), Richard Bernstein (Aye), Will Liverman (Horemhab)
Where does that heat come from?
On this day in 1940 Louisiana Purchase (a musical comedy with the unlikely subject matter of political corruption under the administration of Governor Huey Long) opened at the Imperial Theatre, to run 444 performances.
“Art is love times love”
Born on this day in 1911 actor and bon vivant Vincent Price.
Give Paris one more chance
Pavarotti and Freni are gone but the Franco Zeffirelli Bohème remains.
Reminiscences of Mozart
The great Spanish mezzo soprano Teresa Berganza died on May 13 at the age of 89, so Trove Thursday salutes one of its favorites with a pair of dazzling rare live Mozart performances.
I light up when you call my name
Born on this day singer and songwriter Peggy Lee.
Clap your hands, baby!
Happy 79th birthday to songstress and actress Leslie Uggams.
La bohème
Eleonora Buratto, fresh off a successful run in the title role of Madama Butterfly, stars as the ill-fated seamstress Mimì, opposite Matthew Polenzani as her lover, the poet Rodolfo.
Ring my bell
The monsoon outside was no match for the torrents of gorgeous, dramatic singing and playing that was unleashed inside George Washington University’s Lisner Hall Sunday afternoon when Washington Concert Opera, in a glorious deluge of Léo Delibes, presented Lakmé to round out its return season.
This very minute has history in it
On this day in 1966 Jerry Herman‘s Mame opened at the Winter Garden Theatre, to run 1,508 performances.
Spaced out
Before Wednesday I don’t remember gasping when I entered a concert venue.
Somewhere in Egypt
We open in a war room that resembled nothing so much as a parking garage. Amneris’s boudoir was certainly recognizable as such but I’d be hard-pressed to pinpoint the location of the Triumphal Scene other than the inside of a large discothèque.
The most dangerous dame
Happy birthday Dame Joan Collins, who is 89 years young today.
The girl with the million dollar face
Happy 80th birthday to actress, photographer and activist Barbara Parkins.
Lucia di Lammermoor
Riccardo Frizza conducts Nadine Sierra (Lucia), Javier Camarena (Edgardo), Artur Rucinski (Enrico) and Christian Van Horn (Raimondo.)
There wouldn’t be signs big enough
On this day in 1959, Ethel Merman bellowed “Sing out, Louise!” into a Broadway theater for the first of 702 times, as the world’s greatest musical (per La Cieca) sprang forth.
Como crosses over
I feel that any singer attempting crossover would do well to listen to Perry Como to hear how it should be done.
Reviving a pharaoh
The Met brought back 2019 smash Akhnaten last night, with nearly the exact same cast and creative team, and with nearly the same knockout effect of three years ago.