Recent Stories
The frequently-omniscient Future Met Wiki has recently vouchsafed a few morsels about upcoming Met seasons.
Happy 75th birthday soprano Eva Marton.
“James Levine is trying to discredit one of his alleged victims by dredging up a ‘love’ letter his teen accuser once wrote to him.”
Siegfried is, in a sense, The Ring’s odd one out.
Today at 2:00 PM, Our Own JJ presents the “other” great Maria Callas Traviata from 1958, the glorious performance of June 20, 1958 at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.
In less than 10 days two outstanding countertenors, Franco Fagioli and Jakub Józef Orlinski, visited London.
Tomorrow (Sunday) a staged reading of The Lisbon Traviata will be performed at New York’s LGBT Community Center.
Born on this day in 1952 tenor Jerry Hadley.
Grand Tier Grab Bag
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
New York City Opera apparently plans to fund its commission of the opera Stonewall via Patreon.
If Das Rheingold is an opera about infinitude, the illusory idea that the world is large enough to satisfy all of our desires, passions, and lusts, Die Walküre is an opera about scarcity.
Happy 88th birthday stage designer and director Pier Luigi Pizzi.
Trove Thursday wades into the murky musicological waters of Offenbach’s Les Contes d’Hoffmann..
Norman Lebrecht, as is increasingly his wont, emitted a vicious racially-charged dog whistle this morning.
Born on this day in 1763 composer Simon Mayr.
Casting the Ring as a parable for the state of the current world, seen through the eyes of a progressive urban opera lover (and not an early German nationalist), offers us soothing self-justification.
On this day in 1855 Verdi’s Les Vêpres siciliennes premiered in Paris.
Talk of the Town
A favorite Verdi performance from Mister Snow
Nothing prepared me for the Soviero experience
Nothing prepared me for the Soviero experience
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
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.
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
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.
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.
Composer/librettist David Hertzberg’s The Rose Elf, which gave its world premiere in the Green-Wood Cemetery Catacombs last weekend, is indeed a marvel of elfin proportions.
Born on this day in 1919 actress and theatre practitioner Uta Hagen.
Warmth, humor, and joyful out-and-proud-ness dominate the mood, yet there is considerable darkness in Taylor Mac’s view of both past and present.
Born on this day in 1864 composer Richard Strauss and in 1913 mezzo-soprano Risë Stevens.
La Cieca is delighted to remind her cher public that the parterre YouTube page (called operazine) has been newly refurbished and updated.
Born on this day in 1922 Miss Show Business.
Today on parterre saturday afternoon: a live recording of Strauss’s Salome featuring the very starry quartet of Gwyneth Jones, Hans Hopf, Bernd Weikl and Martha Mödl!
Born on this day in 1891 composer Cole Porter.
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