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On this day in 1973 the film Day for Night premiered at Cannes.
Nina Stemme’s program guided her audience through a period of musical history that explores themes of love and mortality with texts that traverse emotional extremes.
On this day in 1981 Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music opened at the Nederlander Theatre to run 333 performances.
On this day in 1965 the Kander-Ebb musical Flora, the Red Menace opened at the Alvin Theatre, to run 87 performances.
Born on this day in 1922 actress (and, somewhat less frequently, director) Nancy Walker.
“One consistent feature was a tendency across the cast to tip from recitative into aria with no pause for breath or thought. The effect was almost naturalistic—if such a thing were possible in opera—and was just one example of the many ways in which the night’s music felt fresh, even urgent.”
After attending three Met Lohengrins I’ve gone into Wagner withdrawal waiting for the upcoming Der Fliegende Holländer.
Tell us: What’s your favorite Verdi performance?
Hasten thee to feed another quarter of conversation for The Talk of the Town!
Grand Tier Grab Bag
Grand Tier Grab Bag
Tra voi belle
Tra voi belle
Following the announcement that she’ll make her Met debut next season, Grand Tier Grab Bag brings Italian soprano Erika Grimaldi to your attention with a duet from Manon Lescaut.
Following the announcement that she’ll make her Met debut next season, Grand Tier Grab Bag brings Italian soprano Erika Grimaldi to your attention with a duet from Manon Lescaut.
Grand Tier Grab Bag
León in winter
León in winter
Ahead of his performance in Les pêcheurs de perles with Washington Concert Opera, Parterre Box features the unusually elegant Anthony León performing Mozart.
Ahead of his performance in Les pêcheurs de perles with Washington Concert Opera, Parterre Box features the unusually elegant Anthony León performing Mozart.
Grand Tier Grab Bag
Assai più vale il soglio
che un genitor perduto
Assai più vale il soglio
che un genitor perduto
Parterre Box highlights a busy few months of Verdi performances for Marina Rebeka and Ludovic Tézier with an exciting sample of their debuts in Nabucco.
Parterre Box highlights a busy few months of Verdi performances for Marina Rebeka and Ludovic Tézier with an exciting sample of their debuts in Nabucco.
Grand Tier Grab Bag
Women’s liberation
Women’s liberation
Parterre Box highlights two recent Verdi Requiems of interest with a pair of Libera mes from Asmik Grigorian and Anna Netrebko.
Parterre Box highlights two recent Verdi Requiems of interest with a pair of Libera mes from Asmik Grigorian and Anna Netrebko.
Grand Tier Grab Bag
Ash and you shall receive
Ash and you shall receive
Bellini and Donizetti may be top of mind these days, so Parterre Box offers two budding belcantisti, Beth Taylor and Dave Monaco, in a duet from Rossini’s La cenerentola.
Bellini and Donizetti may be top of mind these days, so Parterre Box offers two budding belcantisti, Beth Taylor and Dave Monaco, in a duet from Rossini’s La cenerentola.
Grand Tier Grab Bag
When her ship comes in
When her ship comes in
Anticipating the titanic arrival of Lise Davidsen‘s Isolde in New York in March, Parterre Box is thrilled to share a bit of her debut opposite Clay Hilley recorded in Barcelona last week.
Anticipating the titanic arrival of Lise Davidsen‘s Isolde in New York in March, Parterre Box is thrilled to share a bit of her debut opposite Clay Hilley recorded in Barcelona last week.
On this day in 1958 the psychological thriller Vertigo was released.
In voice, artistic sensibility and glamour, the singer was every inch a diva.
Like a sommelier of male entitlement, Peter Mattei paired with precision moves from a wide-ranging vocabulary of gesture.
On this day in 1946 the Metropolitan Opera presented La Gioconda on tour in Chicago.
Giacomo Meyerbeer’s Singspiel in three acts, as broadcast from Bonn Opera.
On this day in 2017 the Metropolitan Opera celebrated 50 years at Lincoln Center.
Gilbert and Sullivan’s Iolanthe, presented at Carnegie Hall this past Wednesday by MasterVoices, is a charming rom-com that pits the feminine world of nature against masculine government with unabashedly silly and utterly delightful results.
Talk of the Town
The Talk of the Town
A favorite bass performance from CKurwenal
A favorite bass performance from CKurwenal
I wanted to make sure Paata Burchuladze gets celebrated in this series.
I wanted to make sure Paata Burchuladze gets celebrated in this series.
The Talk of the Town
The René Jacobs Giulio Cesare is so overrated
The René Jacobs Giulio Cesare is so overrated
George Frideric Handel (born 341 years ago on Monday) composed over 40 operas including many masterpieces, but his Giulio Cesare is the one that everyone knows best.
George Frideric Handel (born 341 years ago on Monday) composed over 40 operas including many masterpieces, but his Giulio Cesare is the one that everyone knows best.
The Talk of the Town
The 1946 La traviata is so overrated
The 1946 La traviata is so overrated
For all his undeniable precision and discipline, I still find Toscanini’s tempi rushed and unyielding and his lack of rubato a chilly turnoff.
For all his undeniable precision and discipline, I still find Toscanini’s tempi rushed and unyielding and his lack of rubato a chilly turnoff.
The Talk of the Town
The 1957 Anna Bolena is so overrated
The 1957 Anna Bolena is so overrated
While the three leads do sing the material well, there has been a glut of recordings since then which are more complete and at least as well sung.
While the three leads do sing the material well, there has been a glut of recordings since then which are more complete and at least as well sung.
The Talk of the Town
The Solti Ring Cycle is so overrated
The Solti Ring Cycle is so overrated
It was many decades ago that I first listened to the Solti Ring Cycle.
It was many decades ago that I first listened to the Solti Ring Cycle.
The Talk of the Town
The 1959 Aïda is so overrated
The 1959 Aïda is so overrated
Karajan’s 1959 Aïda was once treated like gospel, a wall of plush Vienna Philharmonic sound and star power that critics dutifully genuflected before.
Karajan’s 1959 Aïda was once treated like gospel, a wall of plush Vienna Philharmonic sound and star power that critics dutifully genuflected before.
Born on this day in 1895 actor Rudolph Valentino.
Peter Mattei heads a luxe cast conducted by Nathalie Stutzmann.
On this day in 1927 the Metropolitan Opera presented La forza del destino on tour in Cleveland, Ohio.
If April is the cruelest month, it may be that spring’s arrival brings far too many things to do and see.
On this day in 1944 MGM released the melodrama Gaslight.
La Cieca was most gratified to see that the cher public kept visiting parterre.com and commenting on every topic under the sun during her mid-April bout of illness!
On this day in 2006 tenor Klaus Florian Vogt made his Metropolitan Opera debut as Lohengrin.
Old opera productions at the end of their performing life can be sad affairs.