Hina Spani should have made it to the Met Hina Spani should have made it to the Met

A full century after her heyday, Argentine soprano Hina Spani still moves us thanks to her vivid recordings and the savants who have cherished and shared them.

“I don’t play a wilting flower very well” “I don’t play a wilting flower very well”

Jennifer Holloway, star of Salome at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, talks with Christina Colanduoni about re-launching her career as a soprano and how her Salome is “just trying not to disappear under everybody else’s rule.”

The servant of two last names The servant of two last names

“In over nine years you’ve never posted an opera by Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari,” no one has ever said.

Reminiscences of Mozart Reminiscences of Mozart

The great Spanish mezzo soprano Teresa Berganza died on May 13 at the age of 89, so Trove Thursday salutes one of its favorites with a pair of dazzling rare live Mozart performances.

Tauride zone Tauride zone

This week Trove Thursday presents Gluck’s Iphigénie en Tauride in three stirring broadcasts starring Rita Gorr, Gré Brouwenstijn and Sena Jurinac

Two by two Two by two

Were Joan Sutherland and Marilyn Horne 20th century opera’s ultimate same-sex pairing?

Mad and madder Mad and madder

With La Scala’s plan to open on December 7 with a new Lucia di Lammermoor thwarted, Trove Thursday sets its Wayback Machine to nearly 50 years ago to present two of the 20th century’s greatest madwomen—Joan Sutherland and Beverly Sills—denounced by Plàcido Domingo and Alfredo Kraus respectively, with the former pair consoled by Kurt Moll‘s luxurious Raimundo.

Down Argentine way Down Argentine way

“Trove Thursday” drafts a 1960s All-Star team for Verdi’s Il Trovatore broadcast from the Teatro Colón.

Once in love with Amy Once in love with Amy

“Trove Thursday” leaps to the end of the cycle with a slightly abridged Götterdämmerung featuring Amy Shuard as Brünnhilde.

The good shepherd The good shepherd

L’Arlesiana in a vibrant live performance from a dozen years ago with Giuseppe Filianoti, Latonia Moore and Marianne Cornetti.

Double exposure Double exposure

San Francisco Opera opened their 2018-19 Season Friday with a double bill of Italian verismo operas, Cavalleria rusticana and Pagliacci, which made a welcome return to War Memorial Opera House after 15 years.

Horne in the morning and June at night Horne in the morning and June at night

Semiramide produced at Carnegie Hall by Matthew Epstein in 1983 with June Anderson, Marilyn Horne, Samuel Ramey and Douglas Ahlstedt with Henry Lewis conducting.

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.

Devil’s advocate Devil’s advocate

Just 85 years ago, four of Italy’s greatest opera stars gathered at Teatro all Scala for an historic event: the first-ever recording of Arrigo Boito’s sole complete opera, Mefistofele.

It happened one knight It happened one knight

Falstaff, Verdi’s totally unexpected, final, great comedic roar.

Castaway Castaway

The wonderful Spanish mezzo Teresa Berganza celebrates her 81st birthday next week and “Trove Thursday” gets the party started.

Moor than a feeling Moor than a feeling

For those of you who can’t make it to the Met’s opening night, I am happy to provide you the opportunity to experience another Otello with a cast that was unmatchable for 1981.

The best is yet to come The best is yet to come

The CD explosion coincided with an enormous increase in interest in HIP (historically informed performance) so now there were lots of commercial recordings of the sort of operas I had turned to pirates to find.

Bows and arias Bows and arias

Whenever opera-lovers are canvassed about what neglected operas they hunger to see revived, the resulting lists inevitably feature a goodly number of grand operas, those once wildly popular monstrosities–particularly by Meyerbeer–written primarily for Paris in the mid-19th century.

The revengening The revengening

Legendary Birgit Nilsson heads a spectacular cast in the second act of Götterdämmerung, our latest treasure from Mike Richter‘s trove of CD-ROMs.

Goodness had everything to do with it Goodness had everything to do with it

The Met stage was filled with considerable magic Monday night when its dizzily effervescent revival of La Cenerentola starring Joyce DiDonato and Javier Camarena stirred a bewitched audience to some of the most ecstatic ovations heard this season.

Semi: Colon Semi: Colon

The abrupt withdrawal of Katharina Wagner from an abridged seven-hour Ring cycle she was to direct at the Teatro Colon last year prompted no shortage of scorn and Schadenfreude.

In memoriam Mike Richter In memoriam Mike Richter

Serious opera fan and internet pioneer Mike Richter died earlier this week.