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Anna trills herself to death in Les Contes d’Hoffmann, 2009.
On this day in 1920 Jerome Kern‘s Sally, produced by Florenz Ziegfeld, opened at the New Amsterdam Theatre to run 561 performances.
Heretofore I’d avoided the Met’s abridged, English-language holiday presentations.
Humperdinck’s Hänsel und Gretel in an unusual broadcast conducted by Herbert von Karajan featuring Sena Jurinac and Elisabeth Schwarzkopf as the mischievous pair—performing in Italian!
A scene from a 2008 film of La bohéme, starring Anna Netrebko and Rolando Villazón.
On this day in 1999 John Harbison‘s The Great Gatsby premiered at the Met.
Hear and discuss the condensed-for-kids version tonight at 7:30.
Mark Morris’ saucy, psychedelic The Hard Nut has returned to the Brooklyn Academy of Music yet again this week for its 27th Christmas since the ballet premiered in Brussels.
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.
Anna Netrebko opens the 2007-2008 season of The Met: Live in HD in Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette.
Happy 65th birthday to baritone and teacher Sanford Sylvan!
“New York City Opera will present, in a rare New York appearance, beloved soprano Aprile Millo in concert.”
Philadelphia is a city famous for its musical institutions—so, of course, at this time of year Messiah performances abound.
French early music group Ensemble Correspondances offered two of the year’s very best concerts.
An interview during rehearsals for Le nozze di Figaro at the Salzburg Festival, 2006.
On this day in 1959 soprano Birgit Nilsson made her Metropolitan Opera debut as Isolde.
“This guy stood up and asked the diva what it felt like getting trapped inside the stage pyramid during the Met’s premiere of Antony and Cleopatra.”
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.
“Give the gift of Renée!”
Assembling casts for three works: Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde for Karita Mattila, Mussorgsky’s Boris Godunov, and Aribert Reimann’s Troades.
Norman Lebrecht is repeating gossip Conrad Osborne heard from Stephen Blier.
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.
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