Trick mirror
A recent conversation with a friend who has loved Die Frau ohne Schatten for twice as long as I have been alive revealed that we both had some unresolved questions about the plot.
Nina Stemme
68 pieces since 2010 — in 19 roles, at 20 companies, most often at Metropolitan Opera.
68
pieces
19
roles
20
companies
17
years
By role
By company
Metropolitan Opera 13
Wiener Staatsoper 4
Lyric Opera of Chicago 4
San Francisco Opera 3
Cleveland Orchestra 2
Vienna State Opera 2
Los Angeles Philharmonic 1
Mariinsky Theatre 1
Königliches Opernhaus Stockholm 1
New York Philharmonic 1
Opernhaus Zürich 1
Philadelphia Orchestra 1
Royal Opera House 1
Royal Swedish Opera 1
Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin 1
Gothenberg Opera 1
The Cleveland Orchestra 1
Festival d'Aix-en-Provence 1
Washington National Opera 1
Bregenzer Festspiele 1
13 pieces as Metropolitan Opera — stats above show all coverage for Nina Stemme.
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Twisted sisters
Nina Stemme’s Elektra always seemed the sanest individual onstage never quite giving over to obsession or hysteria with a good line in mordant sarcasm and contempt.
To the night
Minutes into “An die Nacht,” the first song Friday night, I realized how much I’d missed being enveloped in that seductive Straussian combination of a soprano (or two or three) rising higher and higher over a surging orchestra.
No view from the bridge
Mariusz Trelinski unveiled a rather gloomy, though musically satisfying, Tristan und Isolde.
Bleeding love
I have always wanted to see a production of Strauss’ Elektra that made my ears bleed.
Bleak house
The haunted Mycenae of Patrice Chéreau’s enthralling production of Richard Strauss’s Elektra had seized its viewers in an unrelenting vise that never relaxed even at its quietly shattering conclusion.
Ice storm
Two months after my last visit to this season’s sixteen-performance run of Puccini’s Turandot, I returned eager to witness the latest chapter in the sporadic Met career of Nina Stemme. Rising stars Anita Hartig and Alexander Tsymbalyuk also appeared in their roles for the first time at the Met, so Monday evening turned into a […]
Enigma variation
On Thursday evening Jennifer Wilson “finally” made a belated, disappointing Met debut as Turandot.
Aged in blood
Simply put, Christine Goerke is a stupendous Elektra.
The unanswered question
Would exciting American dramatic soprano Christine Goerke be the next great ice-princess we have been waiting for?
Side Partitur
Take a Wild Ride with a Valkyrie!! Yes, that’s what all the signs say around Old Baghdad-by-the-Bay…. So, fasten your seatbelts, y’all, it’s going to be a bumpy night! As it turned out, Die Walküre was an unexpectedly wonderful ride, marking the debut of someone who could be a very important new Brünnhilde, Nina Stemme. […]
Some day her prince will come
I checked back in on the Met’s revival of Ariadne auf Naxos yesterday, after a messy first night one week ago that left much to the imagination. Tenor Lance Ryan had been sick that night, and the cover who took his place was not much healthier, throwing the whole cast into a panic mode that […]
I would like a waffle
La Cieca preens proudly to present a peerless pair of protégés (left to right) Squirrel and Maury D’Annato. The bromancers attended (or one should say “took in”) last night’s Ariadne auf Naxos at the Met, and as of early this afternoon they were still deconstructing.
Win a Free Ticket to Opening Night at the Met!
Quinn Kelsey and Lise Davidsen star in the Met's new Macbeth. We're giving away one ticket, so screw your courage to the sticking place and enter now!
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).
