Recent Stories
Well done, littoraldrift!
Another season opens this weekend, the much-admired series of livestreams from the Bayerische Staatsoper.
“Director Christopher Alden destroys everything Strauss’s operetta stands for”
Our Own JJ surveys the first week of the Met’s season (Eugene Onegin, Cosi fan tutte, The Nose, Norma) for the New York Observer.
Those dear, dear people over The Greene Space at WQXR would like you, cher public, to join them this Friday for a concert saluting this year’s winner of the Richard Tucker Award, mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard.
“It was Thais, Massenet’s marvelously dexterous lyric drama of passion, opera of writhings, opera that repels in its most tremendous moment, yet allures and conquers, that swept grand opera to a new night of triumph.”
“New York City Opera, created 70 years ago as the ‘people’s opera,’ expects to file for bankruptcy protection on Oct. 2 and either liquidate in court or be sold to another institution, its lawyer said.”
Two rising young sopranos will make their Met debuts earlier than originally scheduled when they share the role of Gilda in Verdi’s Rigoletto later this fall, replacing Aleksandra Kurzak, who has withdrawn due to pregnancy.
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
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.
Grand Tier Grab Bag
One man’s Junker
One man’s Junker
Handel’s Deidamia — and one of its current champions, soprano Sophie Junker — are the subject of this week’s Grand Tier Grab Bag.
Handel’s Deidamia — and one of its current champions, soprano Sophie Junker — are the subject of this week’s Grand Tier Grab Bag.
“Today, an email from General Manager and Artistic Director notes… ‘We have just finished our successful run of Anna Nicole, and raised $2 million towards our target of $7 million, however there is only one day left to make a difference and help keep NYC Opera in business’.”
It’s hard to come up with any sensible reason to dislike Joyce DiDonato.
“Absent the kind of deus ex machina that has saved the day in so many of the convoluted opera plots the troupe has performed over the years, City Opera will start shutting itself down next week if it fails to raise $7 million.”
Even those of us who cannot aspire to haute couture can still discuss off-topic and general interest subjects, cher public.
“City Opera had waited too long to reinvent itself, Mr. Steel said. ‘I wish we had gotten to the business at hand faster’.” [Wall Street Journal]
The opening of Calixto Bieto‘s production of Fidelio at the English National Opera provides yet one more opportunity for the fraternity of British critics to flaunt their credentials as a passel of overeducated prats.
A nice long read for your weekend perusal, cher public, on that early 20th century diva Frieda Hempel, with special emphasis on her series of “Jenny Lind” recitals, all the musical rage in the 1920s.
“Steel’s 2011 compensation, $340,000, while down 10 percent from the previous year, amounted to a third of ticket sales.”
Talk of the Town
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.
The Talk of the Town
Janet Baker should have made it to the Met
Janet Baker should have made it to the Met
The divine Dame Janet Baker never sang at the Metropolitan, sadly for American audiences.
The divine Dame Janet Baker never sang at the Metropolitan, sadly for American audiences.
The Talk of the Town
Dorothy Maynor should have made it to the Met
Dorothy Maynor should have made it to the Met
We had to wait for Marian Anderson to break the color barrier at the Met and many great Black opera singers never had a chance there.
We had to wait for Marian Anderson to break the color barrier at the Met and many great Black opera singers never had a chance there.
[Opera is] “an exotic and irrational entertainment.”
“New York City Opera… says it likely will fail in its goal to raise $7 million by Monday, the deadline it set for suspending the bulk of its 2013-14 season.”
Pledged since yesterday: $935.
La Cieca has just heard from a reliable snitch that the NYCO board meets tomorrow to make a very big decision that will take effect within two weeks.
While James Levine’s name might not immediately spring to mind when pondering the great Mozart conductors, he does have a long and distinguished career leading operas by the Austrian master.
Last night, the Met opened the 2013-14 season with a handsome, fairly conservative new production of Eugene Onegin by Deborah Warner that replaces the handsome, fairly conservative one by Robert Carsen. (The trend is clear.)
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