Boxing day
On this day in 1883 the Metropolitan Opera House opened with Gounod‘s Faust.
Gounod
7 pieces since 2011.
7
pieces
16
years
Tour de force
On this day in 1973 the Metropolitan Opera presented the company premiere of Les Troyens.
Reframing
The production is at all times visually arresting, but it’s also extremely distracting.
Dames and divas
The Eloquence label of Australia, the down under-arm of Decca and now by extension Deutsche Grammophon, seems to specialize in the re-release of “Auld Lang Syne” treats.
Crazy in love
I am, perhaps instinctively, skeptical of those who commit suicide.
Six flags over Verona
Those of you who have longed to see a theme-park production of Gounod’s simple, romantic opera Romeo et Juliette, rejoice!
Experiment in error
It is, as Noel Coward remarked, astonishing how potent cheap music is. According to Brockway and Weinstock’s World of Opera, Gounod’s Faust was performed, after a rather lackluster debut in 1859, a thousand times inParis at the Opera between 1869 and 1894—a gobsmacking average of once every nine days.
Win a Free Ticket to Opening Night at the Met!
Quinn Kelsey and Lise Davidsen star in the Met's new Macbeth. We're giving away one ticket, so screw your courage to the sticking place and enter now!
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).
