I can think of no other role that provides the most unique promise of humiliation, and consequently the most opportunity for glory.
STEMdiva status
Ahead of a special boozy, bawdy Valentine’s Day concert, artistic director of Opera Lafayette Patrick Quigley speaks with soprano Maya Kherani about her journey from MIT to rising American Baroque star.
Much like Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde, which launched the Met’s 2016-2017 season, Kaija Saariaho’s L’Amour de Loin is an opera about love and death.
When Sonja Frisell‘s Met production of Aïda was new and starred Oklahoma native Leona Mitchell, the similarly-intialled Latonia Moore was nine years old, singing in the choir of her pastor grandfather’s church.
Anna Netrebko‘s Manon was deeply unforgettable for its wide scope, control, and incredible virtuosity.
Miss Battle was greeted with a thunderous ovation befitting a beloved singer at the end of an illustrious career.
The celebrated ‘Triumph’ scene… borders on homoerotic porn.
Dallas native Roger Kaiser, identified as the guy who sprinkled a mentor’s ashes in the pit of the Met yesterday (and all that came after) is a parterre commenter.
A source close to the Met says tonight’s L’italiana in Algeri has been canceled in the wake of an incident this afternoon when “somebody dumped an unknown white powder into the pit following act 3″ of Guillaume Tell.
The centerpiece of Janácek’s Jenufa was the performance of Karita Mattila as the murderous Kostelnicka.
Thoughtless direction stifled the epic drama.
“He towered over the listless supporting cast like Daniel Day-Lewis guest-starring in a marionette show.”
Jean-Pierre Ponnelle’s production of L’Italiana in Algeri for the Met remains steadfastly ignorant of postcolonial theory.
Mariusz Trelinski unveiled a rather gloomy, though musically satisfying, Tristan und Isolde.
“Paul Appleby will sing the role of Don Ottavio in this season’s September and October performances of Mozart’s Don Giovanni, replacing Rolando Villazón, who has withdrawn due to illness.”
“When you’re really quiet, you can hear the tinkling when they stop.”
The current iteration of that altogether necessary resource the Met Future Wiki currently lists a repertoire of 32(!) programs intended for the Met’s 2017-2018 season, which clearly is absurd.
La Cieca called it, mostly: Yannick Nézet-Séguin will the the Met’s new music director, taking on full official duties in the 2020-2021 season.
I can scarcely remember a performance where so many conflicting thoughts raced through my mind as happened Thursday night during the Met Orchestra’s “bleeding chunks” of Wagner’s Ring at Carnegie Hall.
The Met’s cobranding efforts are really beginning to pay off.
Well, when the New York Times goes into a tizzy, you know times are hard, cher public, but your doyenne is ready to ride to the rescue, hakeo don’t panic.
“The Met: Live in HD concluded its tenth anniversary season Saturday with a live transmission of Patrice Chéreau’s acclaimed production of Elektra, with an estimated attendance of 48,000 in North America earning a gross of $1,037,000.”
The no-star, slapstick revival of John Dexter’s 37-year-old production of Mozart’s Die Entführung aus dem Serail that opened Friday night proved James Levine’s tenure as Music Director of the Met will end in two weeks with neither a whimper nor a bang.
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.
La Cieca will go out on limb and predict that the Met’s new music director will be Yannick Nezet-Seguin.
Tell us: What was the best of 2025?
Parterre Box concludes the thrilling first year of Talk of the Town by inviting your lightning rod opinions on several more categories of operatic argumentation.
A Baroque Valentine’s with Opera Lafayette | Feb | DC & NYC
Celebrate love in all its guises with tender ballads, amorous duets, cheeky verses, and bawdy drinking songs plus food, cocktails and wine.