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On this day in 1862 Gustave Flaubert completed Salammbô.
“Why did they concur? I was shocked to see children in the audience.”
In an unprecedented move, the Bayreuth Festival has named conductor Christian Thielemann official “Music Director.”
Harry Lawrence Freeman’s Voodoo, begun sometime before 1914, was completed and first heard on radio in May, 1928, then staged on Broadway later that year—seven years before Porgy and Bess, please note.
This week I am sending you something a bit more bucolic than usual: a traversal of the Golden Age of the Canadian Parlor Song by Canadian diva Mary Lou Fallis.
On this day in 1613 Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre burned down.
A first hint of what Anna Netrebko‘s latest Verdi role will sound like.
“La couleur dramatique l’emporte irrésistiblement.”
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.
On this day in 1841 the Théâtre de l’Académie Royale de Musique in Paris premiered the ballet Giselle.
Well done all of you for guessing almost all the correct identities of the mysterious Ortruden.
On this day in 1966 Dark Shadows premiered on ABC-TV.
On this day the Supreme Court ruled that the Constitution guarantees a right to same-sex marriage.
On this day in 1906, architect Stanford White was shot dead atop Madison Square Garden by Harry Thaw, jealous husband of Evelyn Nesbit, White’s former mistress.
On this day in 1374 a sudden outbreak of St. John’s Dance causeed people in the streets of Aachen, Germany, to jump and twitch uncontrollably until they collapsed from exhaustion.
On this day in 1868 Christopher Latham Sholes received a patent for an invention he called the “Type-Writer.”
Three blocks from the opera house is a terrible time to realize there was homework.
Talk of the Town
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.
The Talk of the Town
Andrée Esposito and Alain Vanzo should have made it to the Met
Andrée Esposito and Alain Vanzo should have made it to the Met
This Mireille duet unites Andrée Esposito and Alain Vanzo and shows the timbral and stylistic qualities that made them exemplary.
This Mireille duet unites Andrée Esposito and Alain Vanzo and shows the timbral and stylistic qualities that made them exemplary.
The Talk of the Town
Ebe Stignani and Anita Cerquetti should have made it to the Met
Ebe Stignani and Anita Cerquetti should have made it to the Met
Subtlety is for cowards, say the blazing Anita Cerquetti and the blaring Ebe Stignani.
Subtlety is for cowards, say the blazing Anita Cerquetti and the blaring Ebe Stignani.
The Talk of the Town
Sena Jurinac should have made it to the Met
Sena Jurinac should have made it to the Met
Sena Jurinac, a celebrated Mozart and Strauss singer here as the Composer, a signature role.
Sena Jurinac, a celebrated Mozart and Strauss singer here as the Composer, a signature role.
When John Adams’ A Flowering Tree had its world premiere in Vienna in 2006, critical reaction from the Austrian and German press was mixed-to-negative.
n this day in 1985 Dallas actress Victoria Principal (“35”) wedded plastic surgeon Harry Glassman (43).
On this day in 1791, the fleeing French King Louis XVI and his family were captured at Varennes-en-Argonne.
On this day in 1893 Lizzie Borden was acquitted of the murders of her father and stepmother in Fall River, Massachusetts.
On this day in 1825 Gioacchino Rossini‘s Il viaggio a Reims premiered.
On this day in 1821 Der_Freischütz premiered at the Schauspielhaus Berlin.
Your task: name the Ortruds, all unlucky 13 of them.
On this day in 1971 President Richard Nixon declared the “War on Drugs.”
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