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Born on this day in 1868 playwright Edmond Rostand.
Leos Janacek composed Adventures of Vixen Sharp-Ears, with its singing forest creatures of many species, in 1922-23.
Incoming Met music director Yannick Nézet-Séguin “plans to open his first season with a new production of Verdi’s Aida starring Anna Netrebko and to start the following season with Ms. Netrebko as Strauss’s Salome.”
On this day in 1889 the Eiffel Tower officially opened in Paris.
The cher public (pictured) will surely all gather this evening to discuss the broadcast of the Met’s season premiere of Eugene Onegin.
Massenet’s La Navarraise in a live performance featuring Rita Gorr as Anita and George Shirley as Araquil.
Opera Philadelphia announced today that Lawrence Brownlee has joined the company as an Artistic Advisor.
On this day in 1966 Barbra Streisand starred on the Color Me Barbra special on CBS.
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
Goodnight, Irene
Goodnight, Irene
Grand Tier Grab Bag features the American Zwischenfach mezzo Irene Roberts ahead of an eclectic season of Wagner.
Grand Tier Grab Bag features the American Zwischenfach mezzo Irene Roberts ahead of an eclectic season of Wagner.
Grand Tier Grab Bag
Poetic license
Poetic license
Parterre Box shines a light on Liparit Avetisyan, who made his Met debut as Alfredo earlier this spring.
Parterre Box shines a light on Liparit Avetisyan, who made his Met debut as Alfredo earlier this spring.
Grand Tier Grab Bag
Frau Miina-Liisa will es werde Nacht
Frau Miina-Liisa will es werde Nacht
Parterre Box features soprano Miina-Liisa Värelä, making her title role debut in Die Walküre in Munich next week, in a performance of Tristan und Isolde from 2021.
Parterre Box features soprano Miina-Liisa Värelä, making her title role debut in Die Walküre in Munich next week, in a performance of Tristan und Isolde from 2021.
Grand Tier Grab Bag
Lux aeterna luceat eis
Lux aeterna luceat eis
Grand Tier Grab Bag this week honors the late Limmie Pulliam with a bit of his Verdi Requiem.
Grand Tier Grab Bag this week honors the late Limmie Pulliam with a bit of his Verdi Requiem.
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.
The Dallas Opera is delighted to announce that applications are now being accepted for a unique residential program designed to provide training and career support for distinctively talented women conductors.
Born on this day in 1936 composer Richard Rodney Bennett.
Happy 75th birthday bass Samuel Ramey.
This week brings another opera about which we’ve heard a lot but have had few opportunities to see onstage: The Fiery Angel by Sergei Prokofiev.
The New Amsterdam Opera Company presented a concert Forza (orchestra and chorus, yes; sets and costumes, no) at $35 a ticket.
Jacques Offenbach’s Les contes d’Hoffmann has had a bumpy ride to its pride of position in the current French repertoire.
In her debut solo album, Jamie Barton surrounds Gustav Mahler’s staples of the song repertoire, Rückert Lieder, with the less familiar Gypsy Songs of Antonin Dvorák and select songs by Jean Sibelius.
Born on this day in 1822 novelist Henry Murger.
Talk of the Town
The Talk of the Town
Rafael Kubelik was a great opera conductor
Rafael Kubelik was a great opera conductor
Opera conductors … my favorite subject!
Opera conductors … my favorite subject!
The Talk of the Town
Herbert von Karajan was a great opera conductor
Herbert von Karajan was a great opera conductor
He has conducted some of my favorite opera recordings.
He has conducted some of my favorite opera recordings.
The Talk of the Town
Ernest Ansermet was a great opera conductor
Ernest Ansermet was a great opera conductor
Although Ernest Ansermet is most often associated with orchestral music, his 1964 recording of Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande is still my favorite.
Although Ernest Ansermet is most often associated with orchestral music, his 1964 recording of Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande is still my favorite.
The Talk of the Town
Yannick Nézet-Séguin is a great opera conductor
Yannick Nézet-Séguin is a great opera conductor
Historically, conductors were often viewed as rigid, authoritarian figures. Yannick Nézet-Séguin completely subverts this stereotype.
Historically, conductors were often viewed as rigid, authoritarian figures. Yannick Nézet-Séguin completely subverts this stereotype.
The Talk of the Town
Patrizia Ciofi should have made it to the Met
Patrizia Ciofi should have made it to the Met
The artist who I feel should have made it to the Met is Patrizia Ciofi.
The artist who I feel should have made it to the Met is Patrizia Ciofi.
The Talk of the Town
Giannina Arangi-Lombardi never made it to the Met
Giannina Arangi-Lombardi never made it to the Met
Giannina Arangi-Lombardi never sang at the Met.
Giannina Arangi-Lombardi never sang at the Met.
Born on this day in 1894 soprano Viorica Ursuleac.
Settle in for an afternoon of opera seria, cher public, and chat as you will in the comments section of this post.
Our friends at Opera Depot are in a Wagnerian mood.
Born on this day in 1904 or thereabouts actress Joan Crawford.
Born on this day in 1808 soprano Maria Malibran.
Though none of the three performances of Anna Netrebko’s Traviata at La Scala was broadcast, an in-house in decent sound has surfaced.
“James Jorden always wanted to direct, but when he first moved to New York the closest he could get to the stage was in a low-paying job sweeping up bobby pins.”
Anna Caterina Antonacci delivered a tour de force of French diction, subtlety of phrasing, variation of vocal timbre, and white-hot stage acting.
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