Though, really, the young artists of the Merola Opera Program were more than alright in their annual showcase.
Based on exactly one recording, Maurice Abravanel is my favorite opera conductor.
While refined, Lisa della Casa sings “Four Last Songs” deeply alert to the text and with effortless vocalization that sounds fresh and spontaneous.
Kevin Ng sits down with PEN/Faulkner Award-winning novelist and critic Garth Greenwell to talk about sex, queerness, and the “promise of opera.”
Well, I had a favorite—Sabine Kalter. But 15 years later, I changed my mind. It was Sabine Kalter.
It’s Norma, darling. We know.
Eli Jacobson inaugurates parterre box’s new “Perspectives on the Aria” feature with a deep dive into Leonore’s “Abscheulicher!” from Beethoven’s Fidelio which returns to the Metropolitan Opera tomorrow with the Met’s current dramatic soprano star Lise Davidsen as Leonore.
Quite simply, the singers are not around today who are steeped in the tradition of verismo, or for that matter the later part of the 19th century.
Swiss soprano Regula Mühlemann made her New York recital debut at Weill Hall on May 8.
On this day in 1936 the Metropolitan Opera opened its season with a revival of Die Walküre featuring the debut of contralto Kerstin Thorborg.
On this day in 1956 the Metropolitan Opera opened its season with Maria Callas in Norma.
This sterling revival shows the Metropolitan to be surviving well and in good shape.
Though the formal recorded aria recital is the ultimate calling card of an artist, the invitation to the spectator to receive, listen, and critically behold of the offerings (on fire or burnt), they are but a souvenir and there are a few drawbacks inherent with the presentation.
Quarantining during COVID dramatically increased my compulsion to collect and compare interpretations.
On this day in 1956 Maria Callas made her Met debut as Norma.
We are in the midst of a titanic Beethoven onslaught prompted by the unstoppable need to commemorate the composer’s upcoming 250th birthday.
Lise Davidsen, the young Norwegian soprano who won the Operalia competition in 2015, makes her debut as a recording artist with the Decca label in a new recital of Wagner and Strauss arias and orchestral songs.
Wagner’s Ring is an artistic masterpiece that is peerless in its ability to continually reveal layers of musical, theatrical, and philosophical insight
Well here we are, beloveds, still swathed in the warm glow of the Leonard Bernstein centennial. Box sets abound like bunnies in a hutch.
I had a panic attack, that’s how moved you made me.
“Semiramide—a better opera than this dude expected!”
Let’s call this meeting to order. My name is Patrick and I’m a boxset-aholic.
Mariusz Trelinski unveiled a rather gloomy, though musically satisfying, Tristan und Isolde.
With February 14th falling on a Sunday, there will be no Valentine’s Day Met performance this year.
Tell us: Filth or dementia?
Hasten thee to feed another quarter of conversation for The Talk of the Town!
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