My vision may have been slightly blurry at the end.
Puccini’s schmaltziest, most melodic, most dramatically limp, most cynical, most obscure mature work
On this day in 2008 the Metropolitan Opera presented a gala new production of Puccini’s La rondine.
The winners of the evening were the composer Riccardo Zandonai and Teatro Grattacielo which pulled off a near-impossible feat with success.
Giuseppe Verdi was so unhappy with the first production of his Giovanna d’Arco at La Scala in 1845 that he swore an oath to himself that he would never entrust that theatre with a prima again.
“I didn’t think anything could be campier than Adriana. But this is nothing but camp. Adriana at least has tunes.”
If the Arthaus Musik release of Le nozze di Figaro from La Scala feels like a slouchy revival pulled haphazardly from the video vault, the singers are certainly not at fault. Ildebrando D’Arcangelo and Diana Damrau, starring as Figaro and Susanna, are bankable stars who live up to the hype. At the podium, Gérard Korsten…
Tell us: Filth or dementia?
Hasten thee to feed another quarter of conversation for The Talk of the Town!
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