Sweeping down the plains
Within minutes, something wonderful happened. None of my reservations mattered.
Mary Testa
11 pieces since 2015 — in 7 roles, at 5 companies, most often at San Francisco Opera.
11
pieces
7
roles
5
companies
12
years
Role Aunt Eller
Role Bruna
Self-made woman
In the pursuit of clowning, Anthony Roth Costanzo’s Galas may have lost sight of “the seriousness of the theme.”
Role Cunegonde
A mouth so fair it must be kissed
“What a day, what a day for an Auto-da-fe!” and it’s also always a good day for Candide, so Chris’s Cache presents a pirate recording of a 1971 staging starring Mary Costa, Frank Porretta, and William Lewis.
Role Giulietta
Come, young waverers
Too young to be in love. But not too young to go to war or to die.
Role Marenka
Bored to death
Trove Thursday offers Shostakovich’s 1962 Katerina Izmailova with Australian soprano Marie Collier as its anti-heroine and Jon Vickers as her lover.
Role Marie
Die Hochzeit des Figaro
It was love at first hearing. The music was glorious, the conducting bouncy and pointed, and the singers sure sounded terrific to me.
Role Musetta
Act two
Chris’s Cache sends Renata Scotto a valentine ahead of her 89th birthday next week with rare in-house recordings of eight (!) mid-career performances spanning 1971-1977.
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).