Irresistible
On this day in 1965 soprano Mirella Freni and tenor Gianni Raimondi made their Metropolitan Opera debuts in La bohème.
Recent Stories
Something in the hair tonight
La Cieca has just heard that Kristian Benedikt is singing the role of Samson at the Met this evening.
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).
A meaty part for a tenor
On this day in 1968 tenor Placido Domingo made his Metropolitan Opera debut as Maurizio.
Schubert theater
“Trove Thursday” features a great composer who had little success on the stage—Franz Schubert.
Go away from my window
Hunger was the note of the night, a sentiment shared between the audience and Proving Up, a lean and hungry one-act telling a story of drought and desperation on the post-Civil War Western frontier.
Mortal raises veil from before goddess’s face
Anna Netrebko is the greatest performing artist singing opera today. Nobody else comes close; she makes me love her in a way that verges on the erotic.
Art as moral action
Happy 61st birthday opera director Peter Sellars.
“Divinités du Styx, Can You Hear Me?”
How Glucky can you get?
Take me out to the bull game
I braved the alarming and majestically colorful wall-graffiti-art of Bushwick to attend Bullfight Boylesque, which runs to October 28.
Must the winter come so soon?
On Tuesday we got one of the Met’s inveterate classics, which meant yet another opportunity to gaze upon the old accessories: Donkey cart! Teal shawl! Fugly plaid slacks!
Embraceable
Born on this day in 1898 composer George Gershwin.
Shorn yesterday
For opening night 2018, the Met offered the creaky but appealing biblical epic Samson et Dalila, presumably as a vehicle for Elina Garanca and Roberto Alagna.
He who laughs last
On this day in 1985 baritone Giuseppe Taddei made his belated Metropolitan Opera debut as Falstaff.
Broadcast: Samson et Dalila
Where will the elite meet? Why, at the Met for the opening night premiere of Samson et Dalila, of course!
Je viens célébrer la victoire
What do the cher public want to hear this fall? According to last week’s polls, Samson et Dalila and Jonas Kaufmann.
Djinn and tonic
Odyssey Opera in Boston, which loves to open its season with a concert performance of some forgotten work, gave La Reine de Saba in Jordan Hall Saturday night.
Dramatic A.R.C.
Imagine you are at Disneyland, and there’s an Anthony Roth Costanzo ride.
Marquis name
For opening night of the new LA Opera season Placido Domingo decided to return to one of his best Verdi showcases, Don Carlo, only this time as the baritone, Rodrigo the Marquis di Posa, instead of the title character.
Dark shadows
Those who want a rethought Lucia to allow the heroine more sense of agency will be especially confounded at Laurent Pelly’s reading.
The rivals
Born on this day Cornell MacNeil and Ettore Bastianini (both in 1922) and Pablo Elvira (in 1938).
The art of the steel
This Sony Classical set of live performances covers a golden quarter century in the singing and staging of Wagner. Birgit Nilsson shared it with many other legends, and many of them appear on these discs.
Elle is other people
Soprano Patricia Racette is superb in La Voix Humaine, a work that she makes absolutely her own.