Everyone’s gone to the moon
On this day in 1956 La Divina made her Metropolitan Opera debut.
Recent Stories
One peek in my gazebo is enough
Born on this day in 1902 actress and what-have-you Elsa Lanchester.
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).
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.
Fire Shut Up in My Bones
An audio stream of tonight’s sold-out Met performance.
Do you believe in magic?
Remember that time you went to the opera and the whole evening was like magic? Saturday night at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion probably ranks among my greatest nights in the theater and I’m finding the superlatives in my thesaurus inadequate to the task.
Disjointed
La Cieca hears that Anna Netrebko has cancelled her November performances of Nabucco in Vienna to schedule shoulder surgery.
A seacoast of Bohemia
The people—I assume most of them were natives—seemed pretty happy at La Boheme at the San Carlo on Saturday night. For one thing, the theater was packed to the top tier, all of us masked (vigili di fuoco—firemen—made sure of that)
The big cube
Ludwig van Beethoven’s “rescue opera” Fidelio was presented by San Francisco Opera as their first new production of the season last Thursday in reinterpreted fashion.
Born to be hurt
Born on this day in 1914 actress Juanita Moore.