Resisting the recognizable
It was Matthew Jocelyn’s libretto, with its disorientingly deconstructive approach to its source text, that gave Brett Dean’s Hamlet its identity.
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Room temperature
It’s maybe not a surprise that Carmen is neither a good vocal nor temperamental fit for Isabel Leonard.
I’ll take the fall
The days are getting shorter, but you can keep the prattle going this fall’s Talk of the Town! You will, you can, you must join in the discussion about: Great mezzo soprano performances (October),
Gained in translation (November), Teleport me back to… (December).
The two faces of Karita
An evening with Finland’s most famous opera star.
Rachel, Rachel
It’s nice to see Sony Classical backing a serious operatic soprano and not some crossover refugee from Britain’s Got Talent or another syrupy Christmas album from the world’s reigning Heldentenor.
Your lifelong membership is free
Born on this day in 1931 actor Robert Morse.
“I sang before I could walk”
Born on this day in 1918 soprano Birgit Nilsson.
“Acting in the movies is just like ditch-digging”
Born on this day in 1909 actress Margaret Sullavan.
Songbird
Happy 86th birthday to soprano and actress Anna Maria Alberghetti.
The lady who dared
Born on this day in 1903 actress Billie Dove.
Hamlet
Brett Dean‘s operatic treatment of the Bard makes its Metropolitan Opera premiere.
Teresa Berganza 1933 – 2022
The beloved concert and opera singer died earlier today.
To Bea or not to Bea
Happy centennial to actress and activist Bea Arthur.
A deed without a name
Trove Thursday offers Ernst Bloch’s 1910 Macbeth featuring Inge Borkh and Nicola Rossi-Lemeni and Hamlet by Ambroise Thomas starring Thomas Allen with Christine Barbaux and Josephine Veasey as the women in his life.
“Be yourself; it’s a tough act to follow”
Born on this day in 1907 actress Katharine Hepburn.
Bohemian rhapsody
Tenor Yusif Eyvazov, who was scheduled to sing Rodolfo in the upcoming four performances of Puccini’s La bohème, is ill and has withdrawn.
Everything the traffic will allow
Born on this day in 1888 composer Irving Berlin.
Mainly in the plain
I wonder why many New Yorkers have been led to believe that the only Handel conductor in the world is Harry Bicket.
Nowhere near
Born on this day in 1922 actress and comedian Nancy Walker.
Au reservoir
Born on this day in 1932 actress Geraldine McEwan.
“Dreams of ultimate masculinity”
Born on this day in 1920 artist Touko Valio Laaksonen AKA “Tom of Finland.”
Turandot
Marco Armiliato conducts Liudmyla Monastyrska (Turandot), Yonghoon Lee (Calàf), Ermonela Jaho (Liù) and Ferruccio Furlanetto (Timur).
Where words cease to play a part
Born on this day in 1902 film director Max Ophüls.