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On this day in 2005 mezzo-soprano Joyce Di Donato made her Met debut as Cherubino.
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The high and the mighty
Last Wednesday the 92nd Street Y presented the friendliest-ever episode of American Gladiators when Lawrence Brownlee and Michael Spyres continued their bel canto bromance with a delirious (almost) all-Rossini recital accompanied by Myra Huang.
Clothes horse
Born on this day in 1904 actress Laura La Plante.
“I am somebody”
Born on this day in 1896 actress and singer Ethel Waters.
Edmea
Wexford Festival Opera 2021 presents Alfredo Catalani’s Edmea.
“To be somebody you must last”
Born on this day in 1896 actress and screenwriter Ruth Gordon.
Adriana Lecouvreur
Ermonela Jaho, Elina Garanca, Brian Jagde and Nicola Alaimo star in a live performance from the Vienna State Opera.
Everyone’s gone to the moon
On this day in 1956 La Divina made her Metropolitan Opera debut.
One peek in my gazebo is enough
Born on this day in 1902 actress and what-have-you Elsa Lanchester.
Quicksilver princess
Trove Thursday remembers Edita Gruberová with live recordings of two of the three operas I heard her perform at the Met: a 1985 Munich La Traviata with Neil Shicoff and Wolfgang Brendel conducted by Carlos Kleiber and an I Puritani from Vienna 1994 featuring two other artists who recently left us too soon: Marcello Giordani and Dmitri Hvorostovsky.
Sachs appeal
Last night’s cast of Die Meistersinger at the Met, dominated by the irascible, unbeatable duo of Michael Volle and Johannes Martin Kränzle as Sachs and Beckmesser, did much to enliven Otto Schenk’s creaky, nearly 30-year-old production.
Let me linger long
Born on this day in 1920 actress, singer and dancer Nanette Fabray.
Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg
Antonio Pappano conducts Michael Volle, Lise Davidsen, Klaus Florian Vogt and Johannes Martin Kränzle.
Hey, babe
Born on this day in 1946 actress and superstar Holly Woodlawn.
Listening to Bernard Haitink
In the month and a half leading to Bernard Haitink’s passing on October 21, my AirPods constantly channeled a musical festival of sorts centered on the Dutch giant’s expansive discography.
A dream deferred
In an era when the Metropolitan Opera cannot cast an Aida, Trovatore or Forza consistently, New Amsterdam Opera managed to cast large, attractive and fully technically capable voices in all the cruelly demanding principal roles in I Vespri Siciliani!
A true love
Born on this day in 1927 actress and singer Barbara Cook.
Lucrezia Borgia
In tribute to Edita Gruberova, a 2010 performance of one of her favorite later-career vehicles, Lucrezia Borgia.
“I am a first-class liar”
Born on this day in 1882 actress Sybil Thorndike.
All too human
Born on this day 100 years ago soprano Denise Duval.
Do not disturb
Born on this day in 1904 actress Constance Bennett.
Unbreak my harp
A performance of Rossini’s Otello ossia Il Moro di Venezia from the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, featuring Mariella Devia, Bruce Ford and Juan Diego Florez.
But she’s here
Born on this day in 1924 cabaret goddess Julie Wilson.
Genuine charm
Born on this day in 1907 actress and television personality Arlene Francis.