Illness as illness
In operatic pathology, diseases are endowed with preposterous mythological properties: they are both an emblem of desire and the punishment for desire. They are crime, confessional, and executioner all rolled into one.
In operatic pathology, diseases are endowed with preposterous mythological properties: they are both an emblem of desire and the punishment for desire. They are crime, confessional, and executioner all rolled into one.
With most of us dug in for the duration, there’s no better time to tuck into a CD box set of neglected treasures. Not that I needed an excuse, mind you.
From the summer of 2018, Rubinstein’s opera performed at Bard SummerScape.
Bus Stop deals with uncomfortable questions of sex and longing, and it also examines a desire for human connection that often comes up short.
Born on this day in 1938 actress Claudia Cardinale.
This Met Live in HD video from October 23, 2010 stars René Pape, conducted by Valery Gergiev.
While isolated opera-lovers intently navigate the deluge of streaming videos being made available, I’ve been listening rather than viewing.
It’s Easter season, and that can mean only one thing for opera: It’s Cavalleria Rusticana time. And I, for one, couldn’t be more excited.
Verdi’s Byronic tragedy, from the Teatro Regio di Parma.
On this day in 1960 the Charles Strouse–Lee Adams musical Bye Bye Birdie opened at the Martin Beck Theatre to run 607 performances.
Renée Fleming as the hapless nymph emerges from her stream for this streaming performance.
The Metropolitan Opera announced plans today to live-stream what it is billing as an “At-Home Gala” on Saturday, April 25, at 1pm EDT, featuring performances by many of the company’s most prominent artists, live from their own quarantines around the world.
It is interesting to consider how strongly Inge focuses on women (mostly single or widowed) and sex, particularly from his position as a (closeted) gay man.
Carlos Kleiber conducts this 1994 performance from Vienna.
Born on this day in 1931 soprano Anita Cerquetti.
Ponchielli’s flamboyant grand opera in a nightmarish staging by Olivier Py.
Janácek’s ode to nature, as presented by the Dutch National Opera.
Born on this day in 1898 soprano Lily Pons.
The Met’s Live in HD video of Donizetti’s comedy with an all-star cast: Anna Netrebko, Matthew Polenzani, Mariusz Kwiecien and John Del Carlo.
A theater-critic friend of my father once said that Laurence Olivier played American like it was a character choice.
A 2013 performance from the Bayerische Staatsoper featuring Johan Botha, Adrianne Pieczonka, Deborah Polaski, Wolfgang Koch and Elena Pankratova.
On this day in 1914, George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion opened at His Majesty’s Theatre in London, starring Mrs. Patrick Campbell.
Diana Damrau and Vittorio Grigolo star in an HD telecast from January 21, 2017.
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