Dialogues des Carmélites
Starring Maria Ewing, Jessye Norman, Betsy Norden, Régine Crespin, and Florence Quivar, conducted by Manuel Rosenthal. Production by John Dexter. From April 4, 1987.
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Idomeneo
From the Vienna State Opera, Christoph Eschenbach conducts Michael Schade, Margarita Gritskova, Maria Bengtsson and Chen Reiss.
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).
Wild things leave skins behind them
We shared a feeling that writing about The Fugitive Kind was a date with destiny.
Half indoors and half out of doors
Born on this day in 1887 poet and expatriate Gertrude Stein.
La forza del destino
Starring Leontyne Price, Isola Jones, Giuseppe Giacomini, Leo Nucci, and Bonaldo Giaiotti, conducted by James Levine. Production by John Dexter. From March 24, 1984.
Jenufa
Lise Davidsen‘s role debut in Janacek’s opera with the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Patrick Lange.
Celestial voice
Happy 84th birthday soprano Martina Arroyo.
Porgy and Bess
Starring Angel Blue, Golda Schultz, Latonia Moore, Denyce Graves, Frederick Ballentine, Eric Owens, Alfred Walker, and Donovan Singletary, conducted by David Robertson. Production by James Robinson. From February 1, 2020.
High notes and high drama
That Beczala/Radvanovsky online recital, viewed and reviewed, really caught the eye of the cher public in the month of January.
Der Rosenkavalier
Update: The previously announced Nozze performance has been canceled. In its place the VSO will stream Der Rosenkavalier.
On the side of the angels
Born on this day in 1922 soprano Renata Tebaldi.
La traviata
The 2014 SFO presentation of John Copley’s production stars Nicole Cabell as the courtesan Violetta Valéry and Stephen Costello as Alfredo Germont. The cast also includes Vladimir Stoyanov as Alfredo’s father, Giorgio Germont.
Rigoletto
Starring Diana Damrau, Oksana Volkova, Piotr Beczala, Željko Lucic, and Štefan Kocán, conducted by Michele Mariotti. From February 16, 2013.
Il palazzo incantato
A filmed performance of “the last Roman opera,” the lavish first opera by Luigi Rossi.
Metro-Goldwyn wants me to star
On this day in 1936 Billie Burke presented Ziegfeld Follies of 1936 with (among others) Fanny Brice, Bob Hope, Josephine Baker, Eve Arden, Judy Canova, Harriet Hoctor, Gertrude Niesen and The Nicholas Brothers. (Did I mention that the choreographer was George Balanchine and the sets and costumes were designed by Vincente Minnelli?)
Der Fliegende Holländer
Starring Anja Kampe, Mihoko Fujimura, Sergey Skorokhodov, David Portillo, Evgeny Nikitin, and Franz-Josef Selig, conducted by Valery Gergiev. From March 10, 2020.
Falstaff
Starring Lisette Oropesa, Angela Meade, Stephanie Blythe, Jennifer Johnson Cano, Paolo Fanale, Ambrogio Maestri, and Franco Vassallo, conducted by James Levine. From December 14, 2013.
Undead of the night
For those pining for Puccini with the Met out of commission. Trove Thursday steps up with the composer’s brief first opera Le Villi with Krassimira Stoyanova, José Cura and Franz Grundheber, led by Simone Young.
L’amour, l’amour!
Born on this day in 1882 actress Mary Boland.
Faust
Starring Marina Poplavskaya, Jonas Kaufmann, and René Pape, conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin. From December 10, 2011.
Blonde rage
On this day in 1974 Carol Channing opened on Broadway in Lorelei, a revision of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, in which she had headlined a quarter of a century earlier.
Le Comte Ory
Starring Diana Damrau, Joyce DiDonato, Susanne Resmark, Juan Diego Flórez, Stéphane Degout, and Michele Pertusi, conducted by Maurizio Benini. From April 9, 2011.