A drama/trauma-tic soprano in the model of Gencer and Olivero, Martile Rowland sang a brilliant Elisabetta in Roberto Devereux (a last minute replacement for Zampieri, another controversial pick) at a concert, did half a Puritani at the Met, and sang the other “Gencer” roles such as Paolina in I Martiri, the title roles in Caterina Cornaro and Linda di Chamounix, and then retired to teach in the midwest somewhere(?).
Opera San José (OSJ) is continuing the second half of its 41st season with a company premiere of Béla Bartók’s Symbolist opera Bluebeard’s Castle (A kékszakállú herceg vára), with a libretto by his friend and poet Béla Balázs, and OSJ truly spared no effort to make the occasion a memorable one.
For the season opener, Opera San José decided to explore the class conflict central to Le nozze di Figaro by transporting the opera to India, specifically during the British Raj.
A Birnam Wood of Macbeths and Ladys has come traipsing through New York this year.
A great man has passed and our consolation is that so much of his art has been preserved for us on recordings.
Tell us: Filth or dementia?
Hasten thee to feed another quarter of conversation for The Talk of the Town!
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