On this day in 1883 the Metropolitan Opera House opened with Gounod‘s Faust.
On this day in 1883 the Metropolitan Opera House opened with Gounod‘s Faust.
“Trove Thursday” offers Die Frau ohne Schatten conducted by Georg Solti and also featuring Regina Resnik, Donald McIntyre and the inevitable James King.
On this day in 1975 the Metropolitan Opera completed its first integral Ring cycle since 1962.
“I will never sing the role again. It was frightful. We were a set of madwomen…There is nothing beyond Elektra. We have lived and reached the furthest boundaries in dramatic writing for the voice with Wagner. But Richard Strauss goes beyond him. His singing voices are lost. We have come to a full stop.”
None of my previous Elektra experiences prepared me for this stunning, overwhelming performance from the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence.
The Met has finally released the contents of the James Levine 40th Anniversary box sets separately for those of us who didn’t have $500 lying around.
Richard Strauss’s brilliantly disturbing Elektra was first performed at the Dresden State Opera in 1909, and arrived in America in 1910 at the Manhattan Opera House. A second American premiere, this time in the original German, was in Philadelphia in 1931 with – and this will kill you – Nelson Eddy as Orestes. Along with…
At very long last, the final act of Tristan und Isolde. Act Three Tristan – Spas Wenkoff, Isolde – Catarina Ligendza, Brangaene – Yvonne Minton, Marke – Karl Ridderbusch, Kurwenal – Donald McIntyre, Melot – Heribert Steinbach, Steuermann – Heinz Feldhoff, Hirte – Heinz Zednik. Carlos Kleiber; Bayreuther Festspiele, 30 July 1976.
Tell us: Filth or dementia?
Hasten thee to feed another quarter of conversation for The Talk of the Town!
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