On this day in 1724 Handel’s Giulio Cesare in Egitto premiered in London.
On this day in 1967 the Marc Chagall production of Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte was unveiled at the Met. Soprano Lucia Popp made her Met debut as the Queen of the Night.
Happy 85th birthday soprano Elly Ameling.
On this day in 1904 Puccini’s Madama Butterfly had its disastrous premiere in Milan.
On this day in 1966, the Metropolitan Opera debut of tenor Alfredo Kraus as the Duke of Mantua.
Happy 71st birthday composer John Adams.
Happy Valentine’s Day! Happy Ash Wednesday! And happy 59th birthday soprano Renée Fleming!
Happy 49th birthday mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato.
Happy 95th birthday director and designer Franco Zeffirelli.
Happy 91st birthday soprano Leontyne Price.
On this day in 1974 soprano Kiri Te Kanawa made an “emergency” Met debut and broadcast debut as Desdemona.
On this day in 1996 mezzo-soprano Cecilia Bartoli made her Metropolitan Opera stage debut as Despina.
On this day in 1928 soprano Grace Moore made her Metropolitan Opera debut as Mimi.
On this day in 1968 mezzo-soprano Fiorenza Cossotto made her Metropolitan Opera debut as Amneris.
On this day in 1959 soprano Leonie Rysanek made her Metropolitan Opera debut as Lady Macbeth.
On this day in 2006 tenor Jonas Kaufmann made his Metropolitan Opera debut as Alfredo.
Born on this day in 1887 writer and librettist Gertrude Stein.
Happy 81st birthday soprano Martina Arroyo!
On this day in 1896, the premiere in Turin of Puccini’s La bohème; on this day in 1922, the birth of one of this work’s greatest interpreters, Renata Tebaldi.
On this day in 1974 Verdi”s I vespri siciliani was first staged at the Metropolitan Opera.
On this day in 1957 soprano Martha Mödl made her Metropolitan Opera debut as the Siegfried Brunnhilde.
On this day in 1973 baritone Ingvar Wixell made his Metropolitan Opera debut as Rigoletto.
On this day in 1916 Granados’ Goyescas premiered at the Met.
On this day in 1961 Leontyne Price and Franco Corelli made their historic Metropolitan Opera debuts in Verdi’s Il trovatore.
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.
