Fireworks
As I leaned forward the woman in front of me turned to her seatmate and very quietly, in a voice thick with emotion and not a few tears, said, “it’s so beautiful.”
Guanqun Yu
12 pieces since 2012 — in 8 roles, at 5 companies, most often at Metropolitan Opera.
12
pieces
8
roles
5
companies
15
years
Role Countess Almaviva
Drop dead diva
My first experience with John Corigliano’s music was in high school with the ear and mind blowing score he wrote for Ken Russell’s film Altered States.
Role Donna Anna
The replacements
Second casts in Don Giovanni and Turandot at the Metropolitan Opera offer mixed blessings.
They’re projecting
I love it, truly, just not that much.
Strangers in the night
One needs liberty in order to be a libertine.
Role Fiordiligi
The ladies in question
There is a truism that there are no small parts, only small singers. Last night’s Così fan tutte has made me consider another possible truism: there are no bad productions, only miscast productions.
Role Leonora
Uncloistered
Let’s all cast our minds back to March of 2020. Or, better, let’s not.
Tales of the unexpected
Saturday matinee’s prima Trovatore brought an exciting and compelling show to the Met’s stage in the revival of David McVicar’s dark, Goya-esque production.
Role Liu
Gli enigmi sono due
Giacomo Puccini’s final opus interruptus is and shall always remain my favorite opera. The reasons for this preference are so varied and numerous that if they were printed and bound the volume would most assuredly require its own stand.
Role Micaëla
Fleur du mal
Too bad, then, that this season’s tossed flower was a bit of a wilted one.
Role Rosina
Stop me if you’ve heard this one
Louis XVI, Marie-Antoinette, and a slew of their members of court are hanging out in the afterlife…
Role Vitellia
Take the long way Rome
Russell Thomas’s opening aria, “Del piu sublime soglio” displayed an intense attention to the text and some surprisingly beautiful piano phrasing that I’ve never heard risked before and it brought wonder and gooseflesh.
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).