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The legendary 2005 Willy Decker production of La traviata at the Salzburg Festival.
On this day in 1937 soprano Zinka Milanov made her Metropolitan Opera debut as Leonora in Il trovatore.
At Friday’s opening of Otello, there was a good deal of interesting going on, though not all of it necessarily onstage.
“Non mi dispiace” seemed to be the general consensus in the loggione December 7 when Verdi’s Attila came roaring into La Scala to open the 2018-19 season.
Joining Anna Netrebko in this 2004 performance of the first act duet from Lucia di Lammermoor is tenor Marcelo Álvarez.
Born on this day in 1770 composer Ludwig van Beethoven.
La Cieca invites the cher public (not pictured) to hear and discuss this afternoon’s broadcast of La traviata from the Met.
The long evening didn’t achieve the degree of celebration it should have.
Tell us: What’s your favorite Verdi performance?
Hasten thee to feed another quarter of conversation for The Talk of the Town!
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.
Grand Tier Grab Bag
Nailin’ the coughin’
Nailin’ the coughin’
Rosa Feola, still scheduled for a run of performances as Violetta in New York this spring, is the subject of this week’s Grand Tier Grab Bag.
Rosa Feola, still scheduled for a run of performances as Violetta in New York this spring, is the subject of this week’s Grand Tier Grab Bag.
Grand Tier Grab Bag
Landing the plane
Landing the plane
With Nixon, Klinghoffer, and Andris Nelsons on the mind, Parterre Box offers a recording of the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s recent John Adams outing.
With Nixon, Klinghoffer, and Andris Nelsons on the mind, Parterre Box offers a recording of the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s recent John Adams outing.
Grand Tier Grab Bag
Le galant tireur
Le galant tireur
American tenor Charles Castronovo performs a bit of Weber’s Der Freischütz ahead of the opportunity to hear Berlioz‘s take on the score at Carnegie Hall next week.
American tenor Charles Castronovo performs a bit of Weber’s Der Freischütz ahead of the opportunity to hear Berlioz‘s take on the score at Carnegie Hall next week.
At one point I spent a couple of months on the dole and dollar record shopping had a number of obvious virtues as a pastime.
Whether you love the 2018 Berlin Staatsoper Tristan and Isolde depends on what you think the opera is about.
Anna Netrebko sings the first movement of Gliere’s Concerto for Coloratura Soprano and Orchestra in 2003.
On this day in 1952 Bette Davis returned to Broadway in Two’s Company.
Conductor Gustavo Dudamel makes his long-awaited Met debut tonight at 8:00 PM.
“Carl Tanner will sing the title role in Verdi’s Otello in tonight’s season premiere performance, replacing Stuart Skelton, who is ill.”
And all this time we’ve thought it was only Thomas Hampson‘s elevated opinion of his talent that led him to call himself “Mr. Fantastic.”
Here’s a quick sprint through some recent (and a few maybe not-so-very-recent) Handel CDs that have been stacking up.
Talk of the Town
The Talk of the Town
A favorite Verdi performance from Tildy Diva
A favorite Verdi performance from Tildy Diva
A well-known Met Aïda with a starry cast from 1967 is TildyDiva’s Favorite Verdi Performance
A well-known Met Aïda with a starry cast from 1967 is TildyDiva’s Favorite Verdi Performance
The Talk of the Town
A favorite Verdi performance from Arrigo
A favorite Verdi performance from Arrigo
My favorite Verdi performance is Claudio Abbado Don Carlo opening of the Scala.
My favorite Verdi performance is Claudio Abbado Don Carlo opening of the Scala.
The Talk of the Town
A favorite Verdi performance from Peter Russell
A favorite Verdi performance from Peter Russell
The purely musical performance preserved here is thrilling, ratcheted to a higher intensity than the Deutsche Grammophon studio recording
The purely musical performance preserved here is thrilling, ratcheted to a higher intensity than the Deutsche Grammophon studio recording
The Talk of the Town
A favorite Verdi performance from TC
A favorite Verdi performance from TC
Victoria de los Ángeles has always been my Violetta of choice, a portrayal that never ceases to move me.
Victoria de los Ángeles has always been my Violetta of choice, a portrayal that never ceases to move me.
The Talk of the Town
A favorite Verdi performance from Anna Netrebko
A favorite Verdi performance from Anna Netrebko
I feel that the best years of Maria Callas’s vocalità, when we hear such a unique freedom and generosity in her singing, were captured in her early recordings.
I feel that the best years of Maria Callas’s vocalità, when we hear such a unique freedom and generosity in her singing, were captured in her early recordings.
The Talk of the Town
A favorite Verdi performance from Armerjacquino
A favorite Verdi performance from Armerjacquino
Before the screams of horror begin, it says ‘favorite’, not best.
Before the screams of horror begin, it says ‘favorite’, not best.
“These two dynamic artists will participate in a conversation onstage concerning activism, philanthropy, entrepreneurship, and the future of education.”
On February 14, 2002, Anna Netrebko made her Metropolitan Opera debut in Prokofiev’s War and Peace.
On this day in 1918 Puccini’s Il trittico premiered at the Metropolitan Opera.
How is it possible that no one has ever done a production of Hänsel und Gretel with the Witch played as Fanny Cradock?
Four fine Handel-centric concerts from the Morgan Library to Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center proved a bracing antidote to pervasive Messiah-mania.
Your doyenne’s origin myth must always be understood to begin with the bite of a radioactive soprano way back in 1976.
L’Arlesiana in a vibrant live performance from a dozen years ago with Giuseppe Filianoti, Latonia Moore and Marianne Cornetti.
In crafting his musicals, Sondheim’s focus, regardless of genre, tends towards the processive.
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