Every snarl and shimmer
Yannick Nézet-Séguin and the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra reigned supreme at the opening night of Wozzeck on Friday evening, rendering every snarl and shimmer of Berg’s score with gripping intensity.
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Wozzeck
Tonight’s listening experience: the premiere of a new Met production of Wozzeck.
“I am at heart a gentleman”
Born on this day in 1901 actress and diseuse Marlene Dietrich.
Heaven is a place in Perth
Trove Thursday bids adieu to 2019 with Bizet’s rare La Jolie Fille de Perth with the enchanting Christiane Eda-Pierre as the heroine who survives her madness.
Drama queen
On this day in 1830 Donizetti’s Anna Bolena premiered in Milan.
Teen titans
Of the hundreds of opera performances Our Own JJ (not pictured) attended in the 2010s he narrows it down to the ten most glittering highlights.
Win a Free Ticket to Opening Night at the Met!
Quinn Kelsey and Lise Davidsen star in the Met's new Macbeth. We're giving away one ticket, so screw your courage to the sticking place and enter now!
Grail, be seeing you
On this day in 1903, the Metropolitan Opera presented the first staged performance of Parsifal outside Bayreuth.
For unto us a child is born
Each year, when I take in a performance of Messiah by the Philadelphia Orchestra as part of my own holiday tradition, I hope it will spark some new and exciting feeling inside of me, or offer a new way of looking at the musical drama as a whole.
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).
Art is a kind of illness
Born on this day in 1858 composer Giacomo Puccini.
Macbeth
A blast from the (recent) past on this afternoon’s Met broadcast.
Global warning
Happy 82nd birthday to activist and actor Jane Fonda.
Roaring 20s
The entire Metropolitan Opera schedule for 2020-2021, in what looks like a fairly plausible form, has been leaked.
Crazy about the Navy
On this day in 1968, the musical spoof Dames at Sea opened at the Bouwerie Lane Theatre, starring Bernadette Peters.
Wir arme Leut!
Trove Thursday presents that perennial holiday favorite Berg’s Wozzeck.
Sandy
Born on this day in 1953 baritone and teacher Sanford Sylvan.
“Stunning impact”
Sixty years ago today soprano Birgit Nilssson made her Metropolitan Opera debut as Isolde.
Speaking to a missed opportunity
Greater Clements provokes more genuine poignancy than the whole of The Inheritance in half the running time. There’s hardly a moment that isn’t painfully true to life.
Distant ‘Light’
Whether Lyric Opera of Chicago is an appropriate venue for such an intimate, gentle show as The Light in the Piazza is a subject of much critical debate.
”I love applause!”
On this day in 1937 soprano Zinka Milanov made her Metropolitan Opera debut in Il trovatore.
