The broken idol
On this day in 1842, Verdi’s Nabucco had its premiere in Milan.
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Manon Lescaut
Starring Renata Scotto, Plácido Domingo, Pablo Elvira, and Renato Capecchi, conducted by James Levine. Production by Gian Carlo Menotti. From March 29, 1980.
Don’t you forget about me
HERE’s new radio opera marks itself out by leaning into the dramatic affordances of the audio-only format in No One is Forgotten, an adaptation of a play by Winter Miller with new music by Paola Prestini and Sxip Shirey.
She came at me in sections
Born on this day in 1922 dancer and actress Cyd Charisse.
La Forza del Destino
Starring Leontyne Price, Giuseppe Giacomini, Leo Nucci, and Bonaldo Giaiotti, conducted by James Levine. Production by John Dexter. From March 24, 1984.
La traviata
Giacomo Sagripanti conducts a production by Simon Stone featuring Pretty Yende, Juan Diego Flórez and Igor Golovatenko.
“I begin by considering an effect”
Born on this day in 1875 composer, pianist and conductor Maurice Ravel.
Rusalka
Starring Renée Fleming, Emily Magee, Dolora Zajick, Piotr Beczala and John Relyea, conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin. Production by Otto Schenk. From February 8, 2014.
Das Rheingold
The first segment of San Francisco Opera’s Ring cycle featuring Greer Grimsley and Jamie Barton.
Bei momenti di dolcezza e di piacer
Happy 77th birthday soprano Kiri Te Kanawa.
Peter Grimes
Starring Patricia Racette, Anthony Dean Griffey, and Anthony Michaels-Moore, conducted by Sir Donald Runnicles. Production by John Doyle. From March 15, 2008.
“My religion was but a fragrance”
Born on this day in 1922 actor, director and screenwriter Pier Paolo Pasolini.
Die Zauberflöte
To mark Women’s History Month, the Met presents Mozart’s seminal feminist work starring Golda Schultz, Kathryn Lewek, Charles Castronovo, Markus Werba, and René Pape, conducted by James Levine. Production by Julie Taymor. From October 14, 2017.
Kaleidoscopic maestro
Saturday marks the centenary of Julius Rudel’s birth which Trove Thursday celebrates with Le Coq d’or, Faust and Ariodante, a triple-bill showcasing his impressive versatility, featuring Beverly Sills and Norman Treigle, two of the most important artists he nurtured during his leadership of the New York City Opera.
We’ll make the whole world small!
Born on this day in 1888 actress Rafaela Ottiano.
Die Walküre
Starring Hildegard Behrens, Jessye Norman, Christa Ludwig, Gary Lakes, James Morris, and Kurt Moll, conducted by James Levine. Production by Otto Schenk. From April 8, 1989.
Ariadne auf Naxos
Christian Thielemann conducts Soile Isokoski, Johan Botha, Peter Mati?, Jochen Schmeckenbecher, Sophie Koch, Daniela Fally.
Original ‘Sin’
I can safely say that this is the gay drama I’ve been waiting for: a genuinely devastating drama that doesn’t treat its characters like lambs waiting for the slaughter or overdose on weepiness, and a queer narrative that unapologetically centers the queer perspective.
In complete authority
On this day in 1970 mezzo-soprano Marilyn Horne made her Metropolitan Opera debut as Adalgisa.
Falstaff
Starring Mirella Freni, Barbara Bonney, Marilyn Horne, Susan Graham, Paul Plishka, Frank Lopardo, and Bruno Pola, conducted by James Levine. Production by Franco Zeffirelli. From October 10, 1992.
Merely an obsolete art
Born on this day in 1900 composer Kurt Weill.
Don Pasquale
Starring Beverly Sills, Alfredo Kraus, Håkan Hagegård, and Gabriel Bacquier, conducted by Nicola Rescigno. Production by John Dexter. From January 11, 1979.
Expansion and ostentation
February was a month for diva admiration on parterre box.
“Even you, Mrs. Lovett, even I!”
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.