Moby-Dick
Jake Heggie and Gene Scheer‘s whale of an opera live from New York
New York
This magic moment
Look, for one of the most-staged operas in the repertoire, Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte seems awfully difficult to stage.
New world coming
This week, Chris’s Cache highlights Bernarda Fink and Inga Kalna in an opera by Johann Gottlieb Naumann
Violent delights
Some people were introduced to the art form listening to the Met’s NBC broadcasts on a glowing tube radio or watching acid-trip animated adaptations on the BBC or seeing Elmer Fudd sing, “Kill the Wabbit.” I came to opera through simulated drive-by shootings soundtracked by The Marriage of Figaro.
L’enfant et les sortilèges and Les mamelles de Tirésias
Hilda Harris and Catherine Malfitano in an 1981 broadcast to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Ravel‘s opera
Nilsson ratings
Christina Nilsson‘s debut enlivens the Met’s new Aïda.
Proud ladies
Karen Slack is downright magisterial in her recital African Queens.
Laffont Grand Finals Concert
The conclusion of the Metropolitan Opera’s annual competition, live from New York
More people should listen to Joyce Guyer
Joyce Guyer’s silvery soprano, impeccable musicianship and beguiling stage presence made her an invaluable member of the Met roster in the late 1990s and early 2000s, appearing most frequently in harmony with others in such assignments as Najade in Ariadne auf Naxos, Woglinde in Wagner’s Ring Cycle and as a Parsifal Flower Maiden.
By Peter Russell
57 comments
From California to the New York island
The new musical starring Idina Menzel, ostensibly a paean to back-to-naturism, could hardly feel more manufactured and synthetic.
Act out, Luisa
Prompted by Washington Concert Opera’s upcoming Luisa Miller, Chris Cache’s misbehaves five times by offering just the opera’s final act with sopranos from the 1970s, some of whom might be considered “under-appreciated”: Gabriella Tucci, Adriana Maliponte, Renata Scotto, Gilda Cruz-Romo, and Katia Ricciarelli.
Brutal Desire
David Fox and Cameron Kelsall review Rebecca Frecknall’s new staging of A Streetcar Named Desire at BAM, “a gripping realization that makes new a play many of us feel we know inside out.”
Bridges and tunnel
John Yohalem reports on a serendipitous recital from J’Nai Bridges and Joshua Mhoon in Montclair, New Jersey
Semper Fidelio
Fidelio, which opened last week at the Metropolitan Opera, will always be relevant, I fear.
Third leg
The term “narrative prosthesis” refers to the tendency for works of literature to use disability as the conflict upon which the whole narrative hinges. Herman Melville’s Moby-Dick is a quintessential example of “narrative prosthesis.”
Avant de quitter la scène
As of late, the Bay Area has been blessed with a few high-wattage, high-profile recitals as if to compensate for the chilly temperatures and gloomy weather. Roughly a month after Lise Davidsen made an ebullient debut at Cal Performances, the Bay Area welcomed French soprano Natalie Dessay last Saturday.
More people should listen to Patrizia Ciofi
I first heard Patrizia Ciofi in a production of La traviata from Venice. It was a very modern production set in present day, but still she shown through her performance was just incredible.
By George Vallo
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Think of the children
One of the highlights, if not the highlight, of No-Met-February was an all-Ravel evening presented by the Juilliard Orchestra.
Sea glass
“Baritone Thomas Glass will sing the role of Starbuck in tonight’s performance of Jake Heggie’s Moby-Dick, replacing Peter Mattei, who has withdrawn due to illness.”
Wishin’ and hopin’ and thinkin’ and prayin’
Eli Jacobson inaugurates parterre box’s new “Perspectives on the Aria” feature with a deep dive into Leonore’s “Abscheulicher!” from Beethoven’s Fidelio which returns to the Metropolitan Opera tomorrow with the Met’s current dramatic soprano star Lise Davidsen as Leonore.
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).