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Mascagni’s bizarre japonaiserie opera features Sonya Yoncheva.
Born on this day in 1910 soprano Magda Olivero.
Revisit our old friend The Machine from the Met’s early teens Ring cycle, beginning tonight with Das Rheingold.
My introduction to the work was the Angel LP from 1964 with Elisabeth Schwarzkopf and George Szell… and yes, I’m aware that it’s a performance that tends to divide rooms.
A midcentury Met-adjacent cast belts out Ponchielli.
Born on this day in 1808 soprano Maria Malibran.
Wagner’s music drama in the Met’s 2016 production.
When La Cieca reached out asking for content, I resurrected a hoary standby—the vocal ID quiz.
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.
This afternoon, a 2019 Puccini performance featuring Sondra Radvanovsky, Piotr Beczala and Thomas Hampson.
What we see here from Strasberg is frustratingly literal and drably conventional—it looks to me like he’s channeling a lot of received wisdom about how Chekhov should be staged and bringing almost nothing of his own to the process.
On this day in 1977 soprano Ileana Cotrubas made her Metropolitan Opera debut as Mimì.
Another classic Met Live in HD performance, starring Renée Fleming, Ramón Vargas, and Dmitri Hvorostovsky, conducted by Valery Gergiev.
A 1983 concert performance at Carnegie Hall with June Anderson, Marilyn Horne and Samuel Ramey; Henry Lewis conducting.
Today is Stephen Sondheim’s 90th birthday, and it’s not going as planned.
Born on this day in 1912 soprano Martha Mödl.
Anna Netrebko and Piotr Beczala head the cast in this 2009 performance.
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.
On this day in 2003 the legendary Chita Rivera celebrated 50 years as a Broadway performer playing the role of Liliane LeFleur in a Broadway revival of the musical Nine.
A leap back in time to 2014 for a Met broadcast of La Cenerentola.
It was love at first hearing. The music was glorious, the conducting bouncy and pointed, and the singers sure sounded terrific to me.
Cherubini’s tragedy as performed at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden.
I need to get something off my chest. I love bel canto.
On this day in 1967, model, singer and entrepreneur Twiggy arrived in New York City.
Tonight’s subject for discussion: Verdi’s La Traviata, starring Diana Damrau and Juan Diego Flórez, with Yannick Nézet-Séguin (not pictured) on the podium.
Because of the coronavirus pandemic, the Metropolitan Opera announced today that the company has canceled the remainder of the 2019–20 season, which was to have ended on May 9, 2020.
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