“I wish I could say I was sorry!”
“James Levine is trying to discredit one of his alleged victims by dredging up a ‘love’ letter his teen accuser once wrote to him.”
new york post
Good evening, ladies and germs
“Renée: ‘It’s a comedy, a farce, and I’ve become addicted to making people laugh’.”
Running, jumping, or burning Gaul
Far be it from me to join the Schadenfreudian chorus of “Bye, Bye, Berti!” you may have been hearing in certain quarters, but the first thing I am duty-bound to report about San Francisco Opera’s Norma (of which three performances remain) is that they’ve hit the jackpot, coverwise.
Golden “Boys”
Who knows what to expect from an opera about the Internet?
The private life of implants
“The queen of tabloid TV arrived at BAM Tuesday night in Anna Nicole, an opera brimming with wit and good taste. In other words, they got Anna Nicole all wrong.”
Blind item
If you’re a hard-core opera buff who finds the Met’s flashy sets and costumes distracting, have I got a show for you!
Monkey do
Opening last night, the most buzzed-about show at the Lincoln Center Festival was inspired by a 16th-century Chinese folk tale of a sassy Monkey, who uses his magic powers and awesome kung fu skills to retrieve holy scriptures from India.
Man in chair
The question on everyone’s lips at Carnegie Hall was, “Is Jimmy back in form?”
Miss Firecracker
Just like the pyrotechnics the heroine of The Firework Maker’s Daughter longs to create, this new opera for children is a delightful, low-tech throwback to a time before CGI took over the world.
Headless nuns in starless cast
The most sensuous sounds at the Met this week come from an opera with nary a love duet.
Fox news
In Leos Janacek’s The Cunning Little Vixen, the heroine is shot and skinned for her fur.
Love is only love
Of the two love stories that unfolded at David et Jonathas Wednesday night, it’s hard to say which was more moving.
The subject was Moses
Like the Israelites who cross the Red Sea in Moses in Egypt, New York City Opera has a long, hard road ahead of it.
Young man with a horn
Ring a ding ding! There’s a new Duke in town, and he’s jolting the Met’s Rigoletto with enough electricity to light up the Las Vegas Strip.
Nel tuo seno, amico sassone
Bollywood dance numbers, kung fu fighting, simulated nudity — and rock-solid musical values — added up to a sterling Giulio Cesare at at the Met.
Mousecapades
Our Own JJ (not pictured) just came running into the parterre offices wild-eyed with excitement.
Faustian, but no bargain
“The spring season at the Met is as changeable as March weather in New York: crisp and brilliant for a day or two, and then suddenly as dismal as Thursday night’s Faust.”
Emperor of the perverse
Short as Roman emperor Eliogabalo’s reign was, the world sighed in relief when it was over.
Bright young thing
Thursday’s Met performance of the Verdi tearjerker featured a major find: Diana Damrau, who, in her first outing as Violetta, mesmerized with her gleaming soprano and ferocious acting.
Excess d’estime
It’s not often operagoers leave humming the scenery, but that was the case Monday, when the Met hauled out Riccardo Zandonai’s Francesca da Rimini from the vault.
The use of wond’rin’
With Wednesday’s stellar staging of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Carousel, the New York Philharmonic joyously put the ‘music’ back into the Broadway musical.
O fatal “Don”
The Met’s performance of Don Carlo Friday night was a tragedy, but not for the reason Verdi intended.
Double digits
Promiscuous — it’s not a pretty word. But when a matron in black underwear cavorts with two dozen naked hunks, what else can you call her?
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).
