By the beautiful sea
On Sunday afternoon, husband-and-wife duo Roberto Alagna and Aleksandra Kurzak presented a charming program of operatic favorites from the patio of the Château de la Chèvre d’Or in Èze, France.
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Two sisters
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane is, of course, the founding document behind the concept—itself almost a piece of Grand Guignol theatrics—of horror as the genre to which female stars are left once they’ve hit 50.
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).
“I’ve been in more laps than a napkin”
Born on this day in 1893 actress, playwright and screenwriter Mae West.
Luisa Miller
Starring Renata Scotto, Plácido Domingo, Sherrill Milnes, Bonaldo Giaiotti and James Morris, conducted by James Levine. From January 20, 1979.
Roberto Alagna and Aleksandra Kurzak
“The dynamic husband-and-wife duo of tenor Roberto Alagna and soprano Aleksandra Kurzak give a concert of arias and duets, accompanied by string quintet, from an outdoor terrace in Èze, France, with a spectacular view of the Mediterranean.”
Nooks and crannies
Nathan Hull was an operatic Quixote who did not go it alone, but inspired bands of optimists, giving proper employment to the many worthy New Yorkers mad enough to study voice and pleasure rare elsewhere to those of us thrilled to take it in.
La bohème
Starring Kristine Opolais, Susanna Phillips, Vittorio Grigolo, Massimo Cavalletti, Patrick Carfizzi and Oren Gradus, conducted by Stefano Ranzani. From April 5, 2014.
“The great actors are the luminous ones”
Born on this day in 1879 actress Ethel Barrymore.
It was a magical night
Born on this day in 1923 actress and singer Alice Ghostley.
Turandot
Starring Nina Stemme, Anita Hartig, Marco Berti and Alexander Tsymbalyuk, conducted by Paolo Carignani. From January 30, 2016.
NYCO, yet again?
New York City Opera (remember them?) have announced a program for spring 2021, with repertoire consistent with the company’s recent policy of equal-opportunity pandering.
A woman under the influence
Born this day in 1899 director and producer Alfred Hitchcock.
American woman
Trove Thursday presents Alzira—derided by some as Verdi’s worst opera—in a 1968 Carnegie Hall concert with Gianfranco Cecchele, Louis Quilico (star of last night’s Met Rigoletto stream) and Elinor Ross, who died in March at age 93.
Rigoletto
Starring Christiane Eda-Pierre, Isola Jones, Luciano Pavarotti, Louis Quilico and Ara Berberian, conducted by James Levine. From December 15, 1981.
Future indefinite
Are plans for reopening America’s opera houses in the winter of 2020-2021 unrealistic?
“It’s the giant squid!”
Born on this day in 1881 filmmaker Cecil B. DeMille.
Carmen
Starring Aleksandra Kurzak, Clémentine Margaine, Roberto Alagna and Alexander Vinogradov, conducted by Louis Langrée. From February 2, 2019.
Manon Lescaut
Starring Karita Mattila, Marcello Giordani and Dwayne Croft, conducted by James Levine. From February 16, 2008.
They took the idols and smashed them
On this day in 1950, the film Sunset Blvd. opened at Radio City Music Hall.
Hadrian
“With its blend of history, political intrigue, and fantastical invention, all woven into a heartbreaking love story, Hadrian gives one of history’s greatest queer romances the full, grand opera treatment.”
Going south
By the end, we have rolling heads, a lot of screaming, and cheap horror too often overwhelms the better instincts of the screenwriters.
“An unusual display of jewels”
Another point of etiquette is that a gentleman must never leave the ladies of his own box alone.