Gad, sir!
“The British like good tunes, not pretentious noise.”
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I couldn’t aspire to anything higher
On this day in 1930 Betty Boop first appeared in Max Fleischer‘s animated cartoon “Dizzy Dishes.”
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).
We gotta go
On this day in in 1963, the Kingsmen released “Louie, Louie”, later the subject of a two-year investigation by the FBI on the charge of obscenity.
Long ago and Farrar away
Geraldine Farrar has gone and the Gerry-flappers are disconsolate.
Ne plus ultra
When LaCieca asked me to choose my favorite live recording, I had to think… and think.
Helen is always willing
On this day in 1954 the musical The Golden Apple closed at the Alvin Theater after 125 performances.
The best is yet to come
The CD explosion coincided with an enormous increase in interest in HIP (historically informed performance) so now there were lots of commercial recordings of the sort of operas I had turned to pirates to find.
My next exclusive
Born on this day in 1881 gossip columnist Louella Parsons, and in 1911 actress Lucille Ball.
A passel of pirates
Many live treasures (and some duds) began to take up more and more space—first in my dorm room, then in my first little studio apartment thanks to a group of quite special men, none of whom I ever met face to face.
Speak low when you speak love
On this day in 1926 the first Vitaphone “talkie” movie, Don Juan premiered at the Warner Theatre in New York City.
Less is Moor
It’s official: in the Met’s new production of Otello, Aleksandrs Antonenko “will not use blackface makeup… breaking with a performance tradition of more than a century.”
The reel world
It never occurred to me that each tape had to be individually dubbed or that others, maybe many, many others, might also be ordering tapes at the same time.
The night they invented Champagne
This day in 1693 is the date traditionally ascribed to Dom Perignon‘s invention of Champagne.
When monarchs unite, how happy their state
Tony Award winners Kelli O’Hara (The King and I) and Victoria Clark (Gigi) will reunite onstage in a new production of the opera Dido and Aeneas.
“Venez-vous me mettre en bustier, cher auteur de mes maux?”
“Few operas better represent a moment such as ours, when stability and long-held certainties are hard to come by, particularly in regard to sexuality.”
Chris and the pirates
Back when I was a good boy, I told my parents that my goal in getting my first job was to earn money for college; however, my real motive was to make my secret wish come true—to be able to consort with “pirates.”
Tony, “Danza”
Exclusively for you, the loyal parterriani, here’s a sneak preview video from Joyce and Tony: Live at Wigmore Hall.
Un Eden di delizia!
Let’s all listen to the American debut of Ghena Dimitrova in this 1981 performance of Ernani from Dallas.
Insieme, perduta, abbandonata
La Cieca hears that Anna Netrebko‘s forthcoming Verismo CD will include the complete Act Four of Manon Lescaut.
Palcopalooza
On this day in 1778 the Teatro alla Scala opened in Milan.
The little things she used to do
Born on this day in 1900 actress and singer Helen Morgan.
Written on blog
Let’s hear it for our parterre advertisers for the month of August: Lincoln Center’s Mostly Mozart presents Written on Skin and Bard SummerScape presents The Wreckers!
They say we’re young and we don’t know
On this day in 1971 The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour debuted on CBS-TV.