Simple, complex, generous, selfish, unattractive, beautiful, lazy and driven
Happy 75th birthday Barbra Joan Streisand.
Recent Stories
You know what Venus did to Adonis
Born on this day (assumed) in 1564 playwright and poet William Shakespeare.
Win a Free Ticket to Opening Night at the Met!
Quinn Kelsey and Lise Davidsen star in the Met's new Macbeth. We're giving away one ticket, so screw your courage to the sticking place and enter now!
Say yes to the dress
Gather, cher public, for discussion of today’s broadcast and HD of Eugene Onegin, live from the Met at 1:00 PM.
Only the good die young
Happy 82nd birthday mezzo-soprano Fiorenza Cossotto.
Just a little touch of war quality
Happy 68th birthday Broadway diva Patti LuPone.
Haydn in plain sight
Although his operas don’t get much love, Haydn often wrote beautifully for the voice.
Asking the musical question ‘Harbor Lights’
On this day in 1935 Your Hit Parade began broadcasting.
The last time i saw Aluis
On this day in 1774 Christoph Wilibald von Gluck‘s Iphigénie en Aulide premiered in Paris.
Same steppes, different dancers
Is there a more gorgeous male voice before the public today than Peter Mattei’s? Has Anna Netrebko ever sounded better?
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).
An American soprano
Happy 69th birthday soprano Catherine Malfitano.
Lady With a Repertoire
“If you’ve overdosed on Der Rosenkavalier in the past week, let’s go back a few years to Richard Strauss’ first operatic hit: Salome.
Quick bright things
Born on this day in 1927 soprano Marie Collier.
Broadcast: Aida
Today’s broadcast of Aida from the Met begins at 12:30 PM, as does the traditional chat.
Plane and fancy
On this day in 1738 Handel’s Serse premiered in London.
Charfreitagzauber
parterre box revives a classic Good Friday tradition.
Through a glass vaguely
Any production of Der Rosenkavalier that can transform the usually excruciating first half of the third act into a hilarious romp already has my vote.
Il suon de nova voce lusinghiera
Happy 59th birthday soprano Aprile Millo.
“Nicht heut, nicht morgen!”
But enough about Renée Fleming‘s farewell.
Mountain high, valley low
Be wary of operas that are famous for just one aria or just one famous opinion.
Their sound is gone out into all lands
“Trove Maundy Thursday” offers a recent un-HIP version of Handel’s Messiah.
We are all born mad. Some remain so
Born on this day in 1906 playwright Samuel Beckett.
How do you solve a problem like Medea?
I was puzzled by my initial exposure to the Medea of Aribert Reimann, a work of 2010.
