On this day in 1980 baritone Leo Nucci made his Metropolitan Opera debut as Renato
Born on this day in 1907 librettist and poet W. H. Auden
On this day the Metropolitan Opera premiered triple bill of Satie‘s Parade, and Poulenc‘s Les Mamelles de Tirésias and Ravel‘s L’Enfant et les Sortilèges
On this day in 1914 Zandonai‘s Francesca da Rimini premiered in Turin
Born on this day in 1926 mezzo-soprano Rita Gorr
On this day in 1904 Puccini’s Madama Butterfly had its disastrous premiere in Milan
Happy 86th birthday composer John Corigliano
Happy 77th birthday composer John Adams
Happy 65th birthday soprano Renée Fleming
Happy 55th birthday mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato
Born on this day in 1923 director and designer Franco Zeffirelli
Happy 86th birthday soprano Edith Mathis
Happy 97th birthday soprano Leontyne Price
On this day in 1974 soprano Kiri Te Kanawa made an “emergency” Met debut as Desdemona and her broadcast debut
Happy 37th birthday soprano Lise Davidsen
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 1887 Verdi‘s Otello premiered in Milan
On this day in 2006 tenor Jonas Kaufmann made his Metropolitan Opera debut as Alfredo.
Born on this day in 1887 poet and expatriate Gertrude Stein
Happy 87th birthday soprano Martina Arroyo
Born on this day in 1922 soprano Renata Tebaldi
On this day in 1974 Verdi‘s I Vespri Siciliani had its first Metropolitan Opera performance.
On this day in 1957 soprano Martha Mödl made her Metropolitan Opera debut as the Siegfried Brunnhilde.
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.
