Sweet and low: Orlinski’s Orfeo
My impression was of a very fine singer performing a role that was slightly too large for him.
paris
We are all enfants de la Patrie
La Cieca hears that the Metropolitan Opera will perform “La Marseillaise” before this afternoon’s performance of Tosca.
Il existe une cité au séjour enchanté
Always look for the helpers.
Capitol gains
Clemency tends to get a bad rap these days, as polities demand swift action by leaders whose mandates to govern are violently threatened by “terrorists.”
The coast of Bohemia
What would you do if I asked you to take a old, faded version of Puccini’s score for La Bohème and fill in the unreadable parts with a mélange of disco, kabarett, and Alban Berg?
Oh ciel! Che intendo!
Heaven temporarily relocated to the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées Sunday evening for a concert performance of Rossini’s revered but rarely heard Semiramide.
All mysteries
And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith… I am nothing.”
Golden apple
Paris can be a lot to handle, but this week it was a lot to Handel.
No place like Rome
“There it is! The Castel Sant’ Angelo!”
Fox and friends
Cecilia Bartoli, the revered, ebullient, and unique mezzo-soprano, does not like to fly in airplanes. Yet she managed to journey to St. Petersburg, Russia.
Ottoman and woman
“With radiant looks, we shall depart this world,” sing Konstanze and Belmonte near the end of Mozart’s exotic yet charming opera Singspiel Die Entführung aus dem Serail.
Bach to Bach
Three nights, three concert halls, and three incredibly diverse programmes.
The lady’s a star
I just arrived back from Stella di Napoli’s.
Infinite variety
Having completed her season of Giulio Cesare in Paris, Natalie Dessay next takes on Lucia di Lammermoor in New York. A glimpse of the soprano’s Handelian chops and perhaps a hint of her current vocal estate, after the jump.
Que personne ne dorme!
UPDATE: Dessay has “just now” confirmed she will go on for tonight’s performance, which begins in about 15 minutes.
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).