Parable of the prodigious son
I’m old enough to remember when Yannick Nézet-Séguin could do no wrong.
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Paris holds the key to your heart
Born on this day in 1819 composer Jacques Offenbach
What’s natural comes hard
Chris’s Cache offers two live recordings of Sondheim’s first two solo (as both composer and lyricist) Broadway shows: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum and Anyone Can Whistle
It may not have been echt, but it was fun!
On June 11th, the Met Orchestra returned to Carnegie Hall with a diverse program led by music director Yannick Nézet-Séguin.
Schwing dich auf zum Sternenkreise
Happy 81st birthday soprano Eva Marton
Four frightened people
As an opera fanatic who was baptized by the blood of Leontyne Price, the Messa da Requiem by Giuseppe Verdi appeared on my radar fairly soon after I started delving into the operatic canon.
Organized chaos
Born on this day in 1882 composer Igor Stravinsky
There is a sweetness in every woe
Born on this day in 1952 tenor Jerry Hadley
Lucia di Lammermoor
Giacomo Sagripanti conducts Nadine Sierra, Xabier Anduaga, Artur Rucinski, and Insung Sin in a performance from London recorded this spring
An artist with Peer
Born on this day in 1843 composer Edvard Grieg
Thoughts on Andrea Chénier: the others
There were, of course, other Chénier recordings beyond the truly great ones…
Ich nannte sie Eva
Happy 58th birthday soprano Eva Lind
Psychological projections
“The distance between dreams and reality is called action.” – Brian Tracy
For whom the bell tolls
On this day in 1855 Verdi‘s Les vêpres siciliennes premiered in Paris
Véronique, with fiery pride
Witnessing William Christie guide his orchestra and singers was truly one of this performance’s greatest highlights.
The secret seven
Chris’s Cache offers four iterations of Bartók’s one-act masterpiece with Evelyn Lear & Thomas Stewart; Tatiana Troyanos & Siegmund Nimsgern; Agnes Baltsa& Samuel Ramey; and Nina Stemme & Gerald Finley
Voice leading
On this day in 1917 Hans Pfitzner‘s Palestrina premiered in Munich
Playing in the rafters
Opera took center stage on the final weekend of the Philadelphia Orchestra season.
Birth and transfiguration
Born on this day in 1864 composer Richard Strauss httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGAevS9l8yc Born on this day in 1913 mezzo-soprano Risë Stevens httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrln63yGpx4 Born on this day in 1926 composer Carlisle Floyd httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hl_Hs4PNT-c Happy 82nd birthday soprano Marina Krilovici httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYL07geWbdQ
Woman’s lib
A work that skimps on profundity need not be devoid of entertainment value, and Madrid’s charismatic soloists and musicians more than capably deliver on this front.
Werther
A live opening night broadcast from Milan featuring Benjamin Bernheim in the title role alongside Victoria Karkacheva, Jean Sébastien Bou, and Francesca Pia Vitale conducted by Alain Altinonglu
The greatest entertainer
Born on this day in 1922 entertainer Judy Garland
What a swell night this is for romance
Happy 85th birthday soprano Ileana Cotrubas