Pasticcio, une revue musicale
Lea Desandre and Jakub Józef Orlinski sing Jean-Philippe Rameau, Giulio Caccini, Henry Purcell, Georg Friedrich Haendel, Thomas Dunford, Reynaldo Hahn, Cole Porter and more.
Recent Stories
Monsters don’t die early
Sweet Bird of Youth closes out an undeniably successful decade for Tennessee Williams, on stage and screen, and bisects his body of work, with his mature hits on one side and his experimental, often lambasted later plays on the other.
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).
Behind the mask
Born on this day in 1911 soprano Elisabeth Grümmer.
Capriccio
Starring Renée Fleming, Sarah Connolly, Joseph Kaiser, Russell Braun, Morten Frank Larsen, and Peter Rose, conducted by Sir Andrew Davis. Production by John Cox. From April 23, 2011.
Rotten, yet covered with roses
On this day day in 1970, the Betty Comden / Adolph Green / Charles Strouse / Lee Adams musical Applause opened at the Palace Theatre, to run 896 performances. Lauren Bacall starred as Margo Channing.
Lois Kirschenbaum 1933-2021
We all lost a great champion of the arts as news arrived that Lois Kirschenbaum passed away on 27 March at the Beth Israel hospital.
Jessye Norman, Live from Lincoln Center
From 1994, the legendary Jessye Norman portrays an evening of operatic heroines, with pioneering conductor Dame Jane Glover and the Orchestra of St. Luke’s.
I can hold my head up high
Born on this day in 1918 actress and singer Pearl Bailey.
Der Fliegende Holländer
Starring Anja Kampe, Mihoko Fujimura, Sergey Skorokhodov, David Portillo, Evgeny Nikitin, and Franz-Josef Selig, conducted by Valery Gergiev. Production by François Girard. From March 10, 2020.
Something here inside cannot be denied
Born on this day in 1921 actor Dirk Bogarde.
Don Giovanni
Starring Renée Fleming, Solveig Kringelborn, Hei-Kyung Hong, Paul Groves, Bryn Terfel, Ferruccio Furlanetto, and Sergei Koptchak, conducted by James Levine. Production by Franco Zeffirelli. From October 14, 2000.
Götterdämmerung
Tenor Daniel Brenna reprises his portrayal of Siegfried opposite a luminous Iréne Theorin as Brünnhilde and alongside bass-baritone Greer Grimsley, bass Andrea Silvestrelli, soprano Melissa Citro, baritone Brian Mulligan, and bass-baritone Falk Struckmann.
Beauty and the ‘Bis’
Maria José Siri gives a historic encore performance of the aria “Io son l’umile ancella” during the March 25 performance of Adriana Lecouvreur at the Ópera de Las Palmas in Gran Canaria.
The lion’s bride
Born on this day in 1899 actress, producer and entrepreneuse Gloria Swanson.
Idomeneo
Starring Hildegard Behrens, Ileana Cotrubas, Frederica von Stade, Luciano Pavarotti, and John Alexander, conducted by James Levine. Production by Jean-Pierre Ponnelle. From November 6, 1982.
The greatest star
On this day in 1964 the Jule Styne–Bob Merrill musical Funny Girl opened on Broadway.
Elektra
Starring Nina Stemme, Adrianne Pieczonka, Waltraud Meier, and Eric Owens, conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen. Production by Patrice Chéreau. From April 30, 2016.
Grand design
Trove Thursday offers Offenbach’s delightful La Grande-duchesse de Gérolstein featuring Jennie Tourel, Laurel Hurley and Martial Singher, led by Arnold Gamson.
Iphigénie en Tauride
Starring Susan Graham, Plácido Domingo, Paul Groves, and Gordon Hawkins, conducted by Patrick Summers. Production by Stephen Wadsworth. From February 26, 2011.
Ariane et Barbe-Bleue
The Paul Dukas rarity, performed by the Opéra de Lyon.
High ‘Society’
Off-and-on since last fall my PPP (Personal Pandemic Project) has been assembling a chronology of the American Opera Society. For 19 years beginning in 1951 it presented a remarkable series of concert performances of works unperformed by either the Met or New York City Opera.
Things that are just a little more glamorous
Happy 82nd birthday to designer Bob Mackie.