When a Met loves a woman
The Met recently submitted another eye-roll inducing entry for the Woke Olympics with their Women’s History Month slate.
Gaetano Donizetti
79 pieces since 2006.
79
pieces
21
years
Friend me a tenor
A particularly heartbreaking aspect of the pandemic shutdown has, of course, been helplessly watching rising artists have their careers plunged into indefinite silence. But for a few bold souls who are willing to try new things, the moment has also opened doors.
Sextet education
My first exposure to Lucia di Lammermoor came under the auspices of The Three Stooges.
Bel canto: Is it a bop?
I need to get something off my chest. I love bel canto.
Roberto dangerously
For those of you keeping track at home that’s four substitutions for three roles and the curtain hasn’t even gone up yet.
Revelation
Beg. Borrow. Steal. Bargain. Cajole. Seduce. Threaten. Extort.
Bloody Mary, Hold the Pepper
Come ye addicts of melody! After long eclipse, Bel Canto shines again!
A life for the zarzuela
In El Barbero de Sevilla, as given through the weekend by the New Camerata Opera, there is far too much comic dialogue, all of it in English and none of it sparkling.
“I am finding my way as I go”
The musical director of the Opera Royal de Wallonie at Liege is currently experiencing the early phase of a promising international career in music.
Drama is real
Teatro Nuovo put on a perfectly delightful show on Thursday night.
Gladiator tidings
The finals on Sunday seemed a bit like the modern-day operatic equivalent of the Roman colosseum.
Grazie Millo
There are, on rare occasions, moments in a live performance where some intangible symbiotic relationship between audience and performer creates an instant that borders on the sublime.
Social Medea
Simone Mayr’s Medea in Corinto, a curious work of 1813, has been revived by Will Crutchfield’s new enterprise, Teatro Nuovo.
Italian dressing
Lucia di Lammermoor, a bloody story of a young woman’s mental degeneracy amidst feuding families, remains Donizetti’s most popular exploration of the landscape and culture of Britain.
The fire of artifice
My mother leaned in and quietly whispered,”Is that Leontyne Price?” to which I replied,”Shhhh!”
What women want
Psychology is encoded in the composer’s vocal lines more than his librettist’s words.
Arrivederci, Romany!
In the same season that Manhattan School of Music revived The Gypsy Baron, Riverside Theater around the corner is the site of Amore Opera’s “Season of Gypsy Operas.”
Das Süsses Mädel and the Boy from Berlin
Diana Damrau has chosen for her new Erato recital disc Grand Opera 11 high-flying showpieces from ten operas by Giacomo Meyerbeer.
Woman on the verge of a repertoire breakthrough
Revive is a manifesto of sorts, declaring Elina Garanca’s intentions for the new direction in her career.
Gold rush
Now we find Mariella Devia, a diva held in near mythic regard due to her vocal longevity, with competing videos of two of her performances that were released, literally, on the same day.
You can’t hide your lion eyes
The UK’s first-ever production of Poliuto, now available from Opus Arte on DVD, set the lions of Rome among the lambs of Glyndebourne.
Opera Syria
“The music’s fun, but doesn’t Rossini repeat himself?”
Live and empoisoned
In how many operas does the heroine drink poison and then go lengthily mad?
Roberto Devereux: Tragedy Mirrored
By the time Roberto Devereux saw its premiere at Napoli’s Teatro San Carlo on 29 October, 1837, Gaetano Donizetti had lost, in an 18-month time frame, both his parents, two still-born children, and his beloved wife Virginia.
I’ll take the fall
The days are getting shorter, but you can keep the prattle going this fall’s Talk of the Town! You will, you can, you must join in the discussion about: Great mezzo soprano performances (October),
Gained in translation (November), Teleport me back to… (December).