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Born on this day in 1900 composer Kurt Weill.
Starring Beverly Sills, Alfredo Kraus, Håkan Hagegård, and Gabriel Bacquier, conducted by Nicola Rescigno. Production by John Dexter. From January 11, 1979.
February was a month for diva admiration on parterre box.
On this day in 1979 Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler‘s Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street opens at the Uris Theatre, to run 557 performances.
Starring Anna Netrebko, Dolora Zajick, Yonghoon Lee, and Dmitri Hvorostovsky, conducted by Marco Armiliato. Production by Sir David McVicar. From October 3, 2015.
Happy 73rd birthday to Broadway diva Bernadette Peters.
Starring Sondra Radvanovsky, Kathleen Kim, Stephanie Blythe, Marcelo Álvarez and Dmitri Hvorostovsky, conducted by Fabio Luisi. Production by David Alden. From December 8, 2012.
Now, through the auspices of the Metropolitan Opera, we have Sonya Yoncheva—and if anything, the diva-dom has been kicked up a notch!
Tell us: What’s your favorite Verdi performance?
Hasten thee to feed another quarter of conversation for The Talk of the Town!
Grand Tier Grab Bag
Grand Tier Grab Bag
One man’s Junker
One man’s Junker
Handel’s Deidamia — and one of its current champions, soprano Sophie Junker — are the subject of this week’s Grand Tier Grab Bag.
Handel’s Deidamia — and one of its current champions, soprano Sophie Junker — are the subject of this week’s Grand Tier Grab Bag.
Grand Tier Grab Bag
Don’t cry because it’s over
Don’t cry because it’s over
Grand Tier Grab Bag hearkens back to the days when Sondra Radvanovsky — who is singing no Verdi at all next season — seemed like the Verdi soprano of reference.
Grand Tier Grab Bag hearkens back to the days when Sondra Radvanovsky — who is singing no Verdi at all next season — seemed like the Verdi soprano of reference.
Grand Tier Grab Bag
Rizzin’ to the occasion
Rizzin’ to the occasion
Parterre Box features the Met’s current Eugene Onegin, Iurii Samoilov, in a performance of Rossini ahead of a return to Pesaro this summer.
Parterre Box features the Met’s current Eugene Onegin, Iurii Samoilov, in a performance of Rossini ahead of a return to Pesaro this summer.
Grand Tier Grab Bag
When they go low
When they go low
Nostalgic for bass month, Parterre Box offers excerpts from two young basses to watch: Giorgi Manoshvili and Patrick Guetti.
Nostalgic for bass month, Parterre Box offers excerpts from two young basses to watch: Giorgi Manoshvili and Patrick Guetti.
Grand Tier Grab Bag
Nailin’ the coughin’
Nailin’ the coughin’
Rosa Feola, still scheduled for a run of performances as Violetta in New York this spring, is the subject of this week’s Grand Tier Grab Bag.
Rosa Feola, still scheduled for a run of performances as Violetta in New York this spring, is the subject of this week’s Grand Tier Grab Bag.
Grand Tier Grab Bag
Landing the plane
Landing the plane
With Nixon, Klinghoffer, and Andris Nelsons on the mind, Parterre Box offers a recording of the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s recent John Adams outing.
With Nixon, Klinghoffer, and Andris Nelsons on the mind, Parterre Box offers a recording of the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s recent John Adams outing.
Some answers to the Rosenkavalier Trio Vocal ID quiz for you!
Sonya Yoncheva sings Verdi, Puccini, Massenet and much more!
Born on this day in 1899 contralto Marian Anderson.
Starring Natalie Dessay, Matthew Polenzani, and Dmitri Hvorostovsky, conducted by Fabio Luisi. Production by Willy Decker. From April 14, 2012.
Born on this day in 1802 author and playwright Victor Hugo.
Starring Angela Meade, Marcello Giordani, Dmitri Hvorostovsky, and Ferruccio Furlanetto, conducted by Marco Armiliato. Production by Pier Luigi Samaritani. From February 25, 2012.
Still under the spell of the recent stream of the Met’s 1983 Les Troyens (finally!), Trove Thursday offers an important musical and mythic antecedent to Berlioz’s epic work: Gluck’s Iphigénie en Aulide, as well as Iphigenia in Aulis, Wagner’s 1847 reworking of the earlier composer’s first French tragédie.
On this day in 1973, the Prince-Sondheim musical A Little Night Music opened at the Shubert Theatre, to run 601 performances.
Talk of the Town
The Talk of the Town
A favorite Verdi performance from Krunoslav
A favorite Verdi performance from Krunoslav
Much as I love the Abbado Deutsche Grammophon studio set, this 1980 San Francisco Opera live Simon Boccanegra under Lamberto Gardelli has an emotional punch.
Much as I love the Abbado Deutsche Grammophon studio set, this 1980 San Francisco Opera live Simon Boccanegra under Lamberto Gardelli has an emotional punch.
The Talk of the Town
A favorite Verdi performance from Michael M. Landman-Karny
A favorite Verdi performance from Michael M. Landman-Karny
Nadine Sierra‘s Gilda at the Metropolitan Opera had that rare quality of sounding both immaculate and spontaneous, as if Verdi’s lines were being discovered in the moment rather than executed.
Nadine Sierra‘s Gilda at the Metropolitan Opera had that rare quality of sounding both immaculate and spontaneous, as if Verdi’s lines were being discovered in the moment rather than executed.
The Talk of the Town
A favorite Verdi performance from Moe Rear
A favorite Verdi performance from Moe Rear
Tito Gobbi‘s performance of Rigoletto’s “Cortigiani, vil razza dannata” offers the most musically and dramatically complete portrait of Verdi’s tortured court jester that I have ever heard.
Tito Gobbi‘s performance of Rigoletto’s “Cortigiani, vil razza dannata” offers the most musically and dramatically complete portrait of Verdi’s tortured court jester that I have ever heard.
The Talk of the Town
A favorite Verdi performance from Quinn Kelsey
A favorite Verdi performance from Quinn Kelsey
I’ve looked to Sherrill Milnes many a time for insight and guidance whenever I’ve added a new Verdi role to my repertoire.
I’ve looked to Sherrill Milnes many a time for insight and guidance whenever I’ve added a new Verdi role to my repertoire.
The Talk of the Town
A favorite Verdi performance from Leyla Gender-Bender
A favorite Verdi performance from Leyla Gender-Bender
Stiffelio has always been the dark horse of early Verdi operas.
Stiffelio has always been the dark horse of early Verdi operas.
Starring Renée Fleming, Ramón Vargas, and Dmitri Hvorostovsky, conducted by Valery Gergiev. Production by Robert Carsen. From February 24, 2007.
The eventually reopened Metropolitan Opera promises a swift return to its status quo ante as a farm team for the English National Opera, sharing the London company’s new Ring cycle directed by vieillard terrible Richard Jones.
With Laura Aikin, Ludovit Ludha, Thomas Ebenstein, Margarita Gritskova, Markus Marquardt and Heinz Zednik.
Happy 87th birthday soprano Renata Scotto.
Starring Galina Gorchakova, Elisabeth Söderström, Plácido Domingo, Dmitri Hvorostovsky and Nikolai Putilin, conducted by Valery Gergiev. Production by Elijah Moshinsky. From April 15, 1999.
Giacomo Puccini’s La fanciulla del West may have its detractors (Stravinsky referred to it as a “horse-opera’) but you will not find me among them.
Whatever you think of Angela Gheorghiu, she epitomizes a star sound, the kind of voice that’s recognizable within three seconds, and she definitely knows her way around a performance.
Born on this day in 1927 soprano Régine Crespin.
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