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On this day in 1791 Mozart‘s Die Zauberflöte premiered in Vienna
On this day in 1965 soprano Mirella Freni and tenor Gianni Raimondi made their Metropolitan Opera debuts in La bohème
Federico Maria Sardelli conducts a performance of Vivaldi‘s opera with Renato Dolcini, Sonia Prina, Loriana Castellano, Raffaele Pe, and Lucia Cirillo from earlier this summer at Venice’s Teatro Malibran
Julia Jones conducts a broadcast from this season in London featuring Luca Micheletti, Ying Fang, Huw Montague Rendall, Maria Bengtsson, Ginger Costa-Jackson, Peter Kálmán, and Rebecca Evans
On this day in 1968 tenor Placido Domingo made his Metropolitan Opera debut as Maurizio
Lyric Opera of Chicago has opened its new season with a revival of its tried and true 2006 production of Verdi’s sixteenth opera, Rigoletto, one of his most tuneful and dramatic works (I attended the Sunday matinée performance).
Les Contes d’Hoffmann is something of a puzzle in which some of the pieces are missing and others been altered to fit since Offenbach died before he could complete and revise the work.
Grand Tier Grab Bag
Don’t cry because it’s over
Grand Tier Grab Bag hearkens back to the days when Sondra Radvanovsky — who is singing no Verdi at all next season — seemed like the Verdi soprano of reference.
Grand Tier Grab Bag hearkens back to the days when Sondra Radvanovsky — who is singing no Verdi at all next season — seemed like the Verdi soprano of reference.
Rizzin’ to the occasion
Parterre Box features the Met’s current Eugene Onegin, Iurii Samoilov, in a performance of Rossini ahead of a return to Pesaro this summer.
Parterre Box features the Met’s current Eugene Onegin, Iurii Samoilov, in a performance of Rossini ahead of a return to Pesaro this summer.
When they go low
Nostalgic for bass month, Parterre Box offers excerpts from two young basses to watch: Giorgi Manoshvili and Patrick Guetti.
Nostalgic for bass month, Parterre Box offers excerpts from two young basses to watch: Giorgi Manoshvili and Patrick Guetti.
Nailin’ the coughin’
Rosa Feola, still scheduled for a run of performances as Violetta in New York this spring, is the subject of this week’s Grand Tier Grab Bag.
Rosa Feola, still scheduled for a run of performances as Violetta in New York this spring, is the subject of this week’s Grand Tier Grab Bag.
Landing the plane
With Nixon, Klinghoffer, and Andris Nelsons on the mind, Parterre Box offers a recording of the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s recent John Adams outing.
With Nixon, Klinghoffer, and Andris Nelsons on the mind, Parterre Box offers a recording of the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s recent John Adams outing.
Le galant tireur
American tenor Charles Castronovo performs a bit of Weber’s Der Freischütz ahead of the opportunity to hear Berlioz‘s take on the score at Carnegie Hall next week.
American tenor Charles Castronovo performs a bit of Weber’s Der Freischütz ahead of the opportunity to hear Berlioz‘s take on the score at Carnegie Hall next week.
Happy 67th birthday opera director Peter Sellars
Needing a Mozart palate-cleanser after the recent misbegotten Marriage of Figaro, I went back more than two decades for a Houston Così fan Tutte featuring then-rising Americans Christine Goerke, Joyce Di Donato, Richard Croft, and Nathan Gunn as the confused lovers.
On this day in 1835 Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor premiered in Naples
My vision may have been slightly blurry at the end.
On this day in 1985 baritone Giuseppe Taddei made his belated Metropolitan Opera debut as Falstaff
Marco Armiliato conducts Benjamin Bernheim, Erin Morley, Pretty Yende, Clémentine Margaine, Vasilisa Berzhanskaya, and Christian Van Horn in a live opening night broadcast from New York
One moral is that Eugene O’Neill may just not be opera fodder.
Baritone day!
Talk of the Town
A favorite Verdi performance from Leyla Gender-Bender
Stiffelio has always been the dark horse of early Verdi operas.
Stiffelio has always been the dark horse of early Verdi operas.
A favorite Verdi performance from Lou Ann Darras
I have very few opportunities to see real-life opera divas, but when Natalie Dessay chose to debut her first Traviata at Santa Fe, there was no way I was going to miss it.
I have very few opportunities to see real-life opera divas, but when Natalie Dessay chose to debut her first Traviata at Santa Fe, there was no way I was going to miss it.
A favorite Verdi performance from Astyanax
The air held a real charge that night in SF’s War Memorial Opera House.
The air held a real charge that night in SF’s War Memorial Opera House.
A favorite Verdi performance from Ivy Lin
This is one of those rare performances that makes you believe that everything Verdi was greater Way Back When.
This is one of those rare performances that makes you believe that everything Verdi was greater Way Back When.
A favorite Verdi performance from Mister Snow
Nothing prepared me for the Soviero experience
Nothing prepared me for the Soviero experience
A favorite Verdi performance from Tildy Diva
A well-known Met Aïda with a starry cast from 1967 is TildyDiva’s Favorite Verdi Performance
A well-known Met Aïda with a starry cast from 1967 is TildyDiva’s Favorite Verdi Performance
Sylvia Korman previews The Listeners, the latest and most ambitious opera by Missy Mazzoli and Royce Vavrek that opens this week at Opera Philadelphia with tickets for just $11
Born on this day in 1907 bass Nicola Moscona…
Happy 83rd birthday soprano Anna Tomowa-Sintow
James Conlon conducts a raved about performance from Los Angeles earlier this spring featuring Angela Meade, Russell Thomas, Guanqun Yu, and Morris Robinson
Happy 73rd birthday baritone Alessandro Corbelli
Andrew Lokay discusses the real world of warfare behind Jeanine Tesori and George Brant‘s Grounded, which opens the Met season on Monday.
Boston Lyric Opera’s shows, of late, are often going to war with their texts.
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