Recent Stories
Grounded
Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts Emily D’Angelo, Ellie Dehn, Ben Bliss, and Greer Grimsley in an opening night broadcast of Jeanine Tesori and George Brant‘s new opera from the Met
Cult classic
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
You interest me
Born on this day in 1907 bass Nicola Moscona…
Seedlings turn overnight to sunflowers
Happy 83rd birthday soprano Anna Tomowa-Sintow
Turandot
James Conlon conducts a raved about performance from Los Angeles earlier this spring featuring Angela Meade, Russell Thomas, Guanqun Yu, and Morris Robinson
Baron life
Happy 73rd birthday baritone Alessandro Corbelli
Chair force 1
Andrew Lokay discusses the real world of warfare behind Jeanine Tesori and George Brant‘s Grounded, which opens the Met season on Monday.
Acting is rè acting
Boston Lyric Opera’s shows, of late, are often going to war with their texts.
O donna fatale
Happy 90th birthday actress Sophia Loren
Stella, Stella for star!
Ahead of its September 24 Metropolitan Opera premiere, Chris’s Cache provides three Les Contes d’Hoffmann each with just one soprano as its heroines, as well as unusually interesting Antonia acts.
Plus Blanche que la blanche hermine
Born on this day in 1918 mezzo-soprano Blanche Thebom (some sources say 1915)
Lucine Amara 1925-2024
The dependable American soprano, a fixture of the midcentury Metropolitan Opera, died on September 6
Take the A415 train
They used to say of the island of Crete that it produces more history than can be consumed locally.
Non son l’umile ancella
“[W]omen are interesting and important in real life. They are not an afterthought of nature, they are not secondary players in human destiny, and every society has always known that.” — Margaret Atwood, February 2017
Sola e lontana
Happy 53rd birthday soprano Anna Netrebko
La fabbrica illuminata & Erwartung
Jérémie Rhorer conducts Sarah Maria Sun in Nono and Heidi Melton in Schoenberg in an 20th century soprano-centric double bill live from Venice.
Elucidate and complicate
It takes a lot to stop a show with a few minutes of music—and that is exactly what Leah Hawkins did during the 2019 run of Porgy and Bess at The Metropolitan Opera.
A little knowledge can mar a lot of pleasure
Born on this day in 1904 choreographer Frederick Ashton
The disaster artists
It was an unexpected tone for the cold stone and moody ambiance of the catacombs—an odd juxtaposition that I’m not sure really worked.
Twin flares
Happy 75th birthdays directors Christopher and David Alden
Ifigenia in Aulide
Christophe Rousset conducts Les Talens Lyriques and Max Emanuel Cencic, Jasmin Delfs, Dennis Orellana, Olena Leser, Nicolò Balducci, and Daniel Giulianini in a broadcast of Porpora‘s opera from the 2024 Bayreuth Baroque Festival
Jessye has maturity and plenty of security
Born on this day in 1945 soprano Jessye Norman
Highway 1, USA & The Dwarf
James Conlon conducts an eclectic double bill of William Grant Still and Alexander Zemlinsky featuring Nicole Heaston, Norman Garrett, Chaz’men Williams-Ali, Rodrick Dixon, Erica Petrocelli, Kristinn Sigmundsson, and Emily Magee recorded in Los Angeles last spring