Eurydice
Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts Erin Morley (Eurydice), Joshua Hopkins (Orpheus), Jakub Józef Orlinski (Orpheus’s Double), Nathan Berg (Father) and Barry Banks (Hades).
Recent Stories
A certain theatrical precision
Sondra Radvanovsky was a force of nature as Tosca on Thursday night at the Met.
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).
Set a date
Born on this day in 1921 film songstress Deanna Durbin.
Here in little Dallas
On this day in 1993 the first issue of parterre box was published.
Tosca
Yannick Nézet-Séguin leads Sondra Radvanovsky (Tosca), Brian Jagde (Cavaradossi), George Gagnidze (Scarpia) and Patrick Carfizzi (Sacristan).
How deep is your love
As one can see from the chronology published earlier this year, the American Opera Society, in addition to reviving a number of now familiar operas, introduced many singers who became important local figures; however, there were shooting-star exceptions like today’s Trove Thursday offering of d’Albert’s Tiefland featuring Angeles Gulin and Ion Buzea.
Questo popoloso deserto che appellano Parigi
Born on this day in 1923.
Coasting on Bohemia
The Met’s antiquated production of La bohéme proved as popular with our readers as it did with audiences last month!
She was a gadabout, but she’s back again
On this day in 1968, for the first time in history, it was Turkey Lurkey Time.
Suspended in time
You know in some of those old Jeanette MacDonald movies where she plays a prima donna and receives applause in a public setting? That’s just what happened when the three of us walked into that restaurant, one patron calling out “Brava!”
City of angels
In spite of the fact that Rossini and his librettist Jacopo Ferretti removed all the magical elements from the story, therefore making it far easier to produce, there was more than enough enchantment in the singing, and intermittently in the production to enjoy.
The princess and the pirate
Born on this day in 1920 actress Virginia Mayo.
A crash course in adult relationships
The mixture of romance and realism in Sondheim songs, the revelation that while love could be grand and passionate it could also be mundane or inconvenient or mistimed or just plain embarrassing, was such a relief.
Anyone can puzzle
Steve adored puzzles, solving them and creating them, so it makes you wonder that this one continued to fester—was that so few of his songs attained the rank of “standard.”
Learning how to laugh
When I think of Stephen Sondheim, so many of my memories are not simply about shows of his I loved and learned from—they are experiences that literally shaped my life.
A journey to a star
Born on this day film choreographer Busby Berkeley.
“A raw slice of life”
Born on this day in 1923 actress Gloria Grahame.
La traviata
Lisette Oropesa stars in Verdi’s tragic masterpiece at the Royal Opera House, with Liparit Avetisyan and Christian Gerhaher.
Now is the night one blue dew
Born on this day in 1909 author James Agee.
Stephen Sondheim 1930-2021
The master of Broadway musical theater died suddenly earlier today at his home in Connecticut.
Simply the best
Happy 82nd birthday to The Queen of Rock and Roll.
Random acts
Trove Thursday adds two short works—Goyescas and L’enfant et les sortilèges—to Christian’s expansive recent survey of Bernard Haitink’s opera legacy.
Wishbone
“Liberace invites us to his Thanksgiving holiday celebration, playing and singing songs of the season, as well as classical numbers such as Falla’s ‘Ritual Fire Dance’ which a Hopi Indian dances to.”