Z to A Z to A

Today’s offering is an electric performance of Verdi’s early potboiler Attila conducted by Giuseppe Sinopoli.

Abendstern Abendstern

“Trove Thursday” celebrates the thrilling Finnish soprano Karita Matilla in the ultimate diva role.

Simultaneous transformation Simultaneous transformation

For those who thought opera to be a rare enough commodity that there shouldn’t be duels, Saturday night in the Berkshires offered the odd rebuttal.

For me and my Gaul For me and my Gaul

I first went bonkers for Bellini’s masterpiece during the previous century when the Met remounted it for Joan Sutherland.

And the villain still pursued her And the villain still pursued her

Bard College presented a semi-staged concert of Halka on Saturday evening as part of its impressively wide-ranging two-week “Chopin and his World” festival.

My new philosophy My new philosophy

A rollicking performance of his delightful comic opera Der geduldige Sokrates featuring a fine cast and the magnificent Akademie für Alte Musik conducted by René Jacobs.

The green hills of home The green hills of home

The principal cast members for the week’s Aida are all Wagnerians: Birgit Nilsson, Sándor Kónya, Rita Gorr and Cornell MacNeil.

A midnight girl in a nine o’clock town A midnight girl in a nine o’clock town

Samantha Hankey, so impressive as Diana and Giove-in-Diana in Juilliard’s recent run of Cavalli’s La Calisto, was the perfect Cenerentola.

Three sisters who are not sisters Three sisters who are not sisters

Due to bandwidth limits “Trove Thursday” must post some more modest offerings in months with five Thursdays.

Catch a falling tsar Catch a falling tsar

You’d think by now I’d know better than to make snap judgments about an opera or a singer—but apparently not.

Goodbye, gorgeous! Goodbye, gorgeous!

Can a surfeit of pleasure become—in the end—unsatisfying?

Woman on the Vergy Woman on the Vergy

“Trove Thursday” offers Gemma di Vergy with the lovely, largely now forgotten Adriana Maliponte in the title role.

Mostly Mozart in the Jungle Mostly Mozart in the Jungle

Tack on a little symphonic Beethoven and some particularly zany hosting patter from Bernadette Peters, and you start to lose focus, or at least some sense of, um, what matters mostly.

Wine coolers are the first thing, morals follow on Wine coolers are the first thing, morals follow on

Skirting the leafy, patrician Berkshires of Western Mass, and flush with wine coolers and white people, pastoral Tanglewood doesn’t much resemble the dark Nibelung settings of Norse myth.

Tree for the show Tree for the show

The late-mid 1730s were transitional years for Handel, to put it nicely.

Deine Divadienste will die Frau Deine Divadienste will die Frau

I wish to introduce our younger Parterrians to the magical Martha Mödl to commemorate the opening of the Bayreuther Festspiele which opens tomorrow afternoon. 

Drunk in both head and heart Drunk in both head and heart

This week’s “Trove Thursday” offers Benjamin Britten’s Death in Venice featuring Anthony Rolfe Johnson.

Tragedy tonight Tragedy tonight

In May of last year tenor Piotr Beczala and soprano Anna Netrebko sang in Lohengrin for the first time under the baton of Christian Thielemann in his home house at the Staatskapelle Dresden.

Dramatic ARC Dramatic ARC

Wednesday brought Christopher Alden’s grimly dark and violent take on Handel’s Aci, Galatea e Polifemo at National Sawdust.

Imogenary beings Imogenary beings

Will Crutchfield’s Bel Canto at Caramoor program of concert operas concluded with a bang on Saturday with Bellini’s first success, Il Pirata.

‘Mawrdew,’ he wrote ‘Mawrdew,’ he wrote

Published in 1975, James McCourt’s novel Mawrdew Czgowchwz is engaged with a longing for the divine.

Iris, hence away Iris, hence away

Endlessly extricating her from existing contracts then negotiating new ones must make being Sonya Yoncheva’s manager the hardest job in the music business.

The zoo story The zoo story

A week from Saturday Will Crutchfield’s “Bel Canto at Caramoor” ends a 20-year run with Il Pirata.

Back to the beach Back to the beach

Now it’s time to grab Albert Einstein for a lengthy swim.