Denise Duval should have made it to the Met Denise Duval should have made it to the Met

I decided I’d take ‘never made it to the Met’ as an excuse to submit a post about why French soprano Denise Duval (1921-2015) is special to me.

By June 01, 2026 at 6:00 AM
153 comments
Exactly the kind of boy he had always wanted to be Exactly the kind of boy he had always wanted to be

UrbanArias’ recording of Paul’s Case is an antidote to the intellectual pretensions that regularly drag contemporary opera performance toward tediousness and boredom.

By February 09, 2019 at 11:03 AM
20 comments
Angel of the mourning Angel of the mourning

The most distinct pleasure of The Merry Widow at the Metropolitan Opera was the polished, yet warm, performance of Susan Graham as Hanna Glawari.

By December 16, 2017 at 10:20 AM
19 comments
Head space Head space

The best part of Paul Appleby’s recital for the Philadelphia Chamber Society came in his last two groups.

By March 13, 2017 at 4:30 PM
2 comments
Mode and moderne

Wednesday afternoon, Pocket Orchestra New York’s new PONYmobile presented a guerrilla performance of sorts in a most unlikely space, the XES Lounge in Manhattan, where designer Joel Yapching‘s BOOK homme debuted its Spring/Summer 2012 collection to the strains of Monteverdi’s Il Ritorno d’Ulisse in patria. 

By September 15, 2011 at 7:12 PM
6 comments
I hear American singing

Since an early appearance as Schaunard in Baz Luhrmann’s Broadway La bohème, barihunk Daniel Okulitch has been steadily building a substantial career. Along with noteworthy performances as Don Giovanni in New York and Figaro in Le nozze di Figaro in Los Angeles, much of his career has been centered on contemporary work. He has leading…

By August 21, 2011 at 11:14 AM
5 comments