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Starring Joyce DiDonato, Daniela Barcellona, Juan Diego Flórez, John Osborn and Oren Gradus; Conducted by Michele Mariotti. Transmitted live on March 14, 2015.
Born on this day in 1755 actress Sarah Siddons.
A 2018 production from Des Moines Opera featuring Sara Gartland, Jill Grove and Zachary James.
Beverly Sills‘ one and only Met telecast: Don Pasquale in the company of Alfredo Kraus, Håkan Hagegård and Gabriel Bacquier. Transmitted live on January 11, 1979.
Soprano Patricia Racette stars in director Michael Cavanagh’s haunting vision of this uniquely American tragedy, with conducting from Karen Kamensek.
Happy Independence Day to all US-based members of the cher public!
As an alternative to the Met’s abysmal production, let’s watch Peter Mattei and Malin Byström star in a socially distanced studio performance from 2020.
The “unjustly neglected late opera by Richard Strauss” (but aren’t they all?) as performed by the American Symphony Orchestra.
Tell us: Filth or dementia?
Hasten thee to feed another quarter of conversation for The Talk of the Town!
Grand Tier Grab Bag
Grand Tier Grab Bag
Kathryn the great
Kathryn the great
Parterre Box previews Kathryn Lewek‘s upcoming Salome with clips of her as another unhinged lady of antiquity.
Parterre Box previews Kathryn Lewek‘s upcoming Salome with clips of her as another unhinged lady of antiquity.
Grand Tier Grab Bag
Count your blessings
Count your blessings
Fast-rising Verdi baritone Ariunbaatar Ganbataar is the subject of this week’s Grand Tier Grab Bag.
Fast-rising Verdi baritone Ariunbaatar Ganbataar is the subject of this week’s 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.
Happy 73rd birthday to Broadway diva Betty Buckley.
Starring Anita Hartig, Anita Rachvelishvili, Aleksandrs Antonenko and Ildar Abdrazakov; conducted by Pablo Heras-Casado. Transmitted live on November 1, 2014.
“Echoing the twilight and melancholy pages of the score, director Tobias Kratzer draws on gothic and contemporary imagery from film and television.”
With the Fourth of July approaching, Trove Thursday turns to a quintessentially American opera with the broadcast of the world premiere—some 60 years after its composition—of Scott Joplin’s Treemonisha with Alpha Floyd, Seth McCoy and Simon Estes conducted by Robert Shaw.
On this day in 1929 impresario Florenz Ziegfeld presented a youngster named Ruby Keeler in the title role of the Gershwins’ musical Show Girl.
Starring Andrey Popov, Alexander Lewis and Paulo Szot; conducted by Pavel Smelkov. Transmitted live on October 26, 2013.
Opening tonight at the Teatro Real in Madrid, a staged but socially distanced version of La traviata.
Lisette Oropesa, Javier Camarena and Artur Rucinski star in this performance from the Teatro Real, Madrid.
Talk of the Town
The Talk of the Town
Maria Kanyova should make it to the Met
Maria Kanyova should make it to the Met
I’m surprised that American soprano Maria Kanyova has never performed at the Met, even though she has loads of high-profile U.S. opera credits.
I’m surprised that American soprano Maria Kanyova has never performed at the Met, even though she has loads of high-profile U.S. opera credits.
The Talk of the Town
Barbara Hannigan should make it to the Met
Barbara Hannigan should make it to the Met
The fact that Barbara Hannigan has never performed at The Metropolitan Opera is just plain dumb.
The fact that Barbara Hannigan has never performed at The Metropolitan Opera is just plain dumb.
The Talk of the Town
Robert Rounseville should have made it to the Met
Robert Rounseville should have made it to the Met
From one Mister Snow to another, I salute him.
From one Mister Snow to another, I salute him.
The Talk of the Town
Denise Duval should have made it to the Met
Denise Duval should have made it to the Met
I decided I’d take ‘never made it to the Met’ as an excuse to submit a post about why French soprano Denise Duval (1921-2015) is special to me.
I decided I’d take ‘never made it to the Met’ as an excuse to submit a post about why French soprano Denise Duval (1921-2015) is special to me.
The Talk of the Town
A favorite Verdi performance from Eli Jacobson
A favorite Verdi performance from Eli Jacobson
The immortal Renata Tebaldi, just about 29 years old as Saint Joan in a RAI broadcast of Giovanna d’Arco from 1951.
The immortal Renata Tebaldi, just about 29 years old as Saint Joan in a RAI broadcast of Giovanna d’Arco from 1951.
June on parterre box was a month of Egyptian sun gods and some very enthusiastic video watching.
Born on this day in 1892 author James M. Cain.
Starring Hildegard Behrens, Jessye Norman, Christa Ludwig, Gary Lakes, James Morris and Kurt Moll; conducted by James Levine. From April 8, 1989 at the Metropolitan Opera.
This video recording of Il trovatore is sensational for all the right and wrong reasons simultaneously.
Born on this day in 1917 songstress and activist Lena Horne.
Starring Pretty Yende, Stephanie Blythe, Kathleen Turner, Javier Camarena, and Maurizio Muraro; conducted by Enrique Mazzola. Transmitted live on March 2, 2019.
One of the greatest pleasures of our continuing Katharine Hepburn series for me has been rediscovering how marvelous she can be.
Mr. Wilson’s production concept, according to his liner notes, has more to do with Paris at the time of the premiere and a “world of memory” than it does with the storytelling of civil war in medieval Spain.
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