Remember, darling?
During the 1970s, Stephen Sondheim composed Company, Follies, A Little Night Music, Pacific Overtures and Sweeney Todd–five richly varied masterpieces of musical theater in a nearly miraculous burst of creativity.
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His curls are hurly-burly
Happy 55th birthday tenor Jonas Kaufmann
Pelleas et Mélisande
Ben Bliss, Sabine Devieilhe, Franz-Josef Selig, Sophie Koch, and Christian Gerhaher are conducted in a live broadcast from the Munich Opera Festival by Hannu Lintu
Anabaptism by fire
As revivals of the composer’s sprawling works represent a daunting expense for many opera houses, exceptionally cast recordings of such concert performances serve as valuable documents that foster appreciation for his achievements.
A bigger splash
Happy 87th birthday painter and designer David Hockney
Samson
Raphaël Pichon conducts the Pygmalion ensemble and Jarrett Ott, Jacquelyn Stucker, Lea Desandre, and Nahuel Di Pierro in Claus Guth‘s revivification of Rameau and Voltaire‘s lost opera from Aix-en-Provence
Christmas in July
Not too long ago, Benjamin Bernheim gave an interview to Opéra Magazine in which he stated “Je ne suis pas un top model.”
Christel clear
Born on this day in 1912 soprano Christel Goltz
Iphigénie en Aulide et en Tauride
A broadcast of this summer’s Gluckathon from Aix-en-Provence featuring Corinne Winters, Russell Braun, Véronique Gens, Florian Sempey, Stanislas de Barbeyrac, and Alexandre Duhamel with Le Concert d’Astrée conducted by Emmanuelle Haïm
Transmission of the fire
Born on this day in 1860 composer Gustav Mahler
L’incoronazione di Poppea
Julie Fuchs, David Hansen, Magdalena Kozená, Xavier Sabata, and Nahuel Di Pierro are conducted by Jordi Savall in a performance recorded last summer in Barcelona
Madama Butterfly
Daniele Rustioni conducts Ermonela Jaho, Adam Smith, Mihoko Fujimura, and Lionel Lhote in a performance from Aix-en-Provence
Dotted rhythm
Born on this day in 1907 (1910?) soprano Dorothy Kirsten
Silver minings playbook
Some operas carry around the shadow of their most famous interpreters more than others.
Theater of the absurd
Born on this day in 1889 writer, filmmaker and designer Jean Cocteau
Turandot
Michele Gamba conducts a performance of Davide Livermore‘s new production featuring Anna Netrebko, Yusif Eyvazov, Rosa Feola, and Vitalij Kowaljow live from La Scala
Starlight and dewdrops are waiting for thee
Happy Independence Day to all U.S. Parterrians!
I would they had changed voices too!
Chris’s Cache follows up its Gounod R&J installment with a widely varied quintet of additional Romeos and Juliets
Born on the third of July
Born on this day in 1878 composer and performer George M Cohan
Il trittico
Philippe Jordan conducts Michael Volle, Joshua Guerrero, Anja Kampe, Eleonora Burrato, Michaela Schuster, Ambrogio Maestri, and Serena Sáenz in a performance from Vienna last fall
New man river
Mixing the historical with the personal in strikingly original ways, Davóne Tines and Zack Winokur’s Robeson sent sparks out over the Hudson.
Dancing in the great beyond
Born on this day in 1714 composer Christoph Willibald von Gluck
A happening in Central Park
The outdoor recitals that the Metropolitan Opera presents in New York City Parks every summer are a wonderful way to showcase rising young stars and promising beginners from the Met’s Lindemann Program.
Water, water everywhere and not a glass to drink
On this day in 1933 Richard Strauss‘s Arabella premiered in Dresden