With a Z
Happy 76th birthday to the one and only Miss Liza Minnelli.
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Crazy business this
Despite a star-studded cast, last night’s Anyone Can Whistle at Carnegie Hall ultimately failed to take flight.
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).
Rodelinda
Soprano Elza van den Heever makes her role debut as the title heroine. Harry Bicket conducts a cast that also features mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke, countertenors Iestyn Davies and Anthony Roth Costanzo, tenor Paul Appleby, and bass-baritone Adam Plachetka.
Bag it up
Jaromir Weinberger’s Svanda dudák is rarely performed at all and more often than not in German rather than its original Czech, so Trove Thursday inevitably offers Schwanda der Dudelsackpfeifer from Dresden with Marjorie Owens, Tichina Vaughn, Christoph Pohl and Ladislav Elgr.
“No good deed goes unpunished”
Born on this day in 1903 author, politician, U.S. ambassador and public conservative figure Clare Boothe Luce.
“The first chapter sells the book”
Born on this day in 1918 “hard-boiled” crime novelist Mickey Spillane.
Jessye, three ways
We have two reasons for celebrating Jessye Norman and the first is a release on the BBC / London Philharmonic Orchestra label of a Richard Strauss concert.
Beautiful dynamite
Born on this say in 1922 actress and dancer Cyd Charisse.
The Met supports Ukraine
The Metropolitan Opera announced today “A Concert for Ukraine” on Monday, March 14, at 6:00pm ET, with Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin leading the Met Orchestra and Chorus.
Swing! Dig the rhythm!
Born on this day in 1959 Broadway diva Donna Murphy.
“Opera is for a lifetime”
Happy 78th birthday soprano Kiri Te Kanawa.
Peter Grimes
The Bayerische Staatsoper streams its new production of Britten’s tragedy. Conductor: Edward Gardner. Production: Stefan Herheim.
“To scandalize is a right”
Born on this day in 1922 actor, director, and screenwriter Pier Paolo Pasolini.
La fille du régiment
From January 6, 1973: Richard Bonynge; Joan Sutherland, Luciano Pavarotti, Regina Resnik, Fernando Corena
“He’s not gay, he’s just autistic”
“Plus, he never laid a glove on those kids.” — Jonas Kaufmann, probably.
All the world over, so easy to see
Born on this day in 1934 singer and actress Barbara McNair.
Desert island diva
This sterling revival shows the Metropolitan to be surviving well and in good shape.
The Met and Anna Netrebko part ways
“It is a great artistic loss for the Met and for opera,” said Met General Manager Peter Gelb.
French twist
The Met’s new Don Carlos has prompted a lot of discussion lately about opera-in-translation, so Trove Thursday this week offers two works unexpectedly performed in French: Rimsky-Korsakov’s Snegourotchka and Weber’s Euryanthe.
Love is blonde
Born on this day in 1911 actress Jean Harlow.
The mighty monarch of all melodramas
On this day in 1933 the film King Kong premiered simultaneously at Radio City Music Hall and the RKO Roxy.
Doing something right
There was something very Russian—indeed, Chekhovian—about the mix of joy and tears, as the Academy of Vocal Arts performed Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin
Back to black
When was the last time the Metropolitan Opera mounted a new production that was musically outstanding yet the direction and/or design mostly sucked?