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On this day in 1967 the Metropolitan Opera debuts of mezzo Teresa Berganza as Cherubino and baritone Tom Krause as Count Almaviva.
Recent Stories
“Only one is a wanderer; two together are always going somewhere”
I mean, maybe I’ve just seen Vertigo too many times, but it really creeps me out how much Aleksandra Kurzak is styled to look like Angela Gheorghiu.
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).
Old friends
Now, if there’s one thing I know about authorial intentions, it is that Verdi totally wanted the first act of La traviata to look like a dinner dance reunion for the class of 1988.
A night at the museum
“Due to previous commitments, the corpse of Licia Albanese has withdrawn from the jury.”
Green energy
Born on this day composer Giuseppe Verdi (1813) and soprano Leyla Gencer (circa 1924).
Job action in Chicago
The Chicago Federation of Musicians (CFM) Local #10-208 is striking against Lyric Opera of Chicago.
Vicious hack defiles corpse
Venomous fishwife Norman Lebrecht has gleefully seized upon the death of beloved diva Montserrat Caballé to use her scarcely-cold cadaver as a club to attack (who else) Peter Gelb.
The young and the restless
On this day in 1986 baritone Thomas Hampson made his Metropolitan Opera debut as Count Almaviva.
Trouble in paradise
Although Leonard Bernstein’s Trouble in Tahiti is always categorized as an opera, the piece certainly has one foot planted firmly in his jazzy musical-theater style.
Magnificent seven
Even for a medium that often trades in high-impact visuals, The Mile-Long Opera is dazzling to look at.
Another Hun bites the dust
Verdi’s Attila is hardly a rarity in Italy the way it is in the United States.
The unusual suspects
Mad Scenes and Exit Arias: The Death of the New York City Opera and the Future of Opera in America provides ample fodder for the legions of amateur opera sleuths seeking to confirm their theory of “Who Killed City Opera?”
Meine Liebe ist croon
As opera’s reigning tenor-superstar, Jonas Kaufmann can pretty much do whatever he wants and a sizable adoring public will lap it up.
Final chorus
The news of Nicholas McGegan’s retirement came as quite a shock to me.
Every little thing she does is Zajick
Thirty years ago today Dolora Zajick made her Metropolitan Opera debut as Azucena.
The gift of temperament
On this day in 1965 mezzo-soprano Grace Bumbry made her Metropolitan Opera debut as Eboli.
parterre saturday afternoon: Montserrat Caballé
Today’s sad news has prompted a change of program in parterre saturday afternoon. Our Own JJ is putting together a program in tribute to Montserrat Caballé, to begin at our regular time of 2:00 PM.
“The Moravian Thunderbolt”
Born on this day in 1887 soprano Maria Jeritza.
Montserrat Caballé 1933-2018
The prodigiously gifted and widely beloved Catalan soprano has died. She was 85.
American beauty
It’s surprising to read that, as of this writing, La fanciulla del west has only had 105 performances at the Metropolitan Opera.
Burning woman
I count myself as privileged to have witnessed Götterdämmerungat the Royal Opera House during this season’s revival of Keith Warner’s Ring.
Underdressed
For this revisiting of Tosca, San Francisco Opera decided to highlight the glamorous lifestyle of the Italian soprano Carmen Giannattasio.
A glamorous life
Happy 95th birthday actress Glynis Johns.