But Old Man River, he just keeps coming up roses
Blackhurst replaces Christine Ebersole, whose commitments have changed this summer due to professional reasons.
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Lace misérables
“Carmencita Gets Caught in a Sudden Summer Rainstorm.”
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).
In a deep vaulted cell
We convoke for Dido and Aeneas in an arched tunnel a city block long, lit by candles in the many recesses.
Maid that way
Happy 54th birthday soprano Sandrine Piau.
Si ridesta in ciel l’aurora e n’è forza di partire
As La Cieca has said so often, there is nothing tackier than a low-budget regional production of Traviata.
What we do in the shadows
The Wiener Staatsoper commemorated its 150th anniversary with a musically sensational presentation of Richard Strauss’ Die Frau Ohne Schatten.
Paris in the springtime
La Traviata offered a cast of fresh debutantes and an uncommonly strong musical performance that could hardly be bettered.
When in Rome
Happy 53rd birthday mezzo-soprano Cecilia Bartoli.
“To be natural is such a very difficult pose to keep up”
Tosca, as it exists now, can’t be real, spontaneous drama-it’s just Camp.
Juan more time
Happy 54th birthday baritone Peter Mattei.
Tales of the Golden Motel
The gods get their kicks on Route 66.
Upon arrival
Lise Davidsen, the young Norwegian soprano who won the Operalia competition in 2015, makes her debut as a recording artist with the Decca label in a new recital of Wagner and Strauss arias and orchestral songs.
Nerve center
Happy 70th birthday tenor Neil Shicoff.
All I mask of you
Amore Opera, an old-fashioned, adventurous little company that performs ambitious and sometimes delectably obscure but worthy repertory at the Riverside Theatre, is now (through Sunday) presenting Un ballo in maschera.
Broadcast: Alceste
Live from the Bayerische Staatsoper, Gluck’s “reform opera” stars Charles Castronovo and Dorothea Röschmann.
Isn’t it bliss? Don’t you approve?
Happy 74th birthday mezzo-soprano Frederica von Stade.
A little bit more
On this day in 1979 distinguished film actress Liv Ullmann made her Broadway song-and-dance bow.
Revolution blues
The opera proved somewhat puzzling—the score representing more a collage of fragmented and incidental musical ideas, and the libretto a turgid, slow-moving mass of purple prose.
She’s a rebel, she’s a saint
Verdi’s Giovanna d’Arco in a rare NYC concert performance with Margaret Price, Carlo Bergonzi and Sherrill Milnes.
She is music
Galas, Charles Ludlam‘s legendary “modern tragedy” about a larger-than-life Greek opera diva with a tumultuous offstage life, opens Sunday, June 16.
Portrait of a lady
Born on this day in 1931 mezzo-soprano/soprano Shirley Verrett.
Never darken my Dior again!
Born on this day in 1894 actress, comedienne and diseuse Beatrice Lillie.