Als wären Sie die Statue auf Ihrer eigenen Gruft
I am certain that we Parterrians are a very literate, even literary, group.
Recent Stories
Numbers game
The Met has released what the press office calls “background financial information” relevant to the company’s ongoing union negotiations.
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).
Wrong by wrong
The board of La Scala voted today to oust incoming general director Alexander Pereira at the end of his first season amid allegations of a conflict of interest.
Final chapter
The mighty Teatro Colón Ring cycle draws to a close, courtesy of Mike Richter‘s superb CD-ROM “El Anillo.”
Lowered expectations
Yes, it’s that time of year again, cher public: the day we follow the trail of votes to find out which artist will win the treasure of a 2014 Pubie Award.
Whippersnappers invade lawn
“A lot seems to be spent on productions that simply aren’t worth it.”
Hothouse flower
To some, Anne Schwanewilms will always be the soprano in the slinky black dress who replaced Deborah Voigt at Covent Garden a decade ago.
Fatal attraction
Benjamin Britten’s final opera Death in Venice, based on Thomas Mann’s 1912 novella, is given a lush and quite beautiful production from stage director Deborah Warner for the English National Opera.
“Ecco la luce…”
That day we all knew eventually would come did come, in the winter of 2001, when the final issue of parterre box, the queer opera zine was mailed out to the cher public, such as they were at the time.
Bess in show
On the occasion of Sondra Radvanovsky‘s role debut in Roberto Devereux, I thought this would ba a good opportunity to put put together a compilation of some of my favorite artists singing the fiendishly difficult final scene of this opera.
Loo! Here the Gentle Lark
“Toilets occupy me a great deal because, well, this is England after all and they matter.”
Supernatural Puccini
Thanks to Jungfer Marianne Leitmetzerin, here are a pair of short Puccini operas, Le villi and Suor Angelica.
The ladies who loge
The Met season may (just) be over, but it’s always the right time for discussion of off-topic and general interest subjects.
Erwartung at Emerson’s Bar and Grill
La Cieca wishes the divine Jessye Norman the very best of luck with her newly-released autobiography
Stand Up Straight and Sing, because—not to put too fine a point on it—it doesn’t look like the diva is going to make much of a go of her second career as a saloon singer.
The ladies in question
There is a truism that there are no small parts, only small singers. Last night’s Così fan tutte has made me consider another possible truism: there are no bad productions, only miscast productions.
Wedding beaux
David Daniels and Whitney Walters will be married on June 21st in Washington, DC by none other than Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
And Hanson is as Hanson did it, too!
Think of it as the anti-Puritani.
The revengening
Legendary Birgit Nilsson heads a spectacular cast in the second act of Götterdämmerung, our latest treasure from Mike Richter‘s trove of CD-ROMs.
Faites vos jeux, Messieurs!
The Met may be missing an angle calculated to appeal to the more adventurous attendee: opera as game of chance.
Putting on the Ritz
Leave it to that savviest of all divas, Jessye Norman, to work a subtle product placement into the very first chapter of her newly-released autobiography, Stand Up Straight and Sing.
War zone
Alan Gordon, embedded journalist, reports from inside the first AGMA/Met negotiation session.
“This is the point of no return!”
“My opera will be the grandest of all!”
Mary Garden is not tall; diets to keep slender
“Her manner is straightforward, even blunt at times, though she is a match for any diplomat.”