Sweet Thursday Sweet Thursday

Here are another half-dozen past Trove Thursday highlights ahead of my new parterre box live-recording series launching a week from now.

A voice from the past A voice from the past

After several grueling negotiating sessions, La Cieca and I have agreed that I will continue to periodically share live opera recordings here.

C’est une chanson qui nous ressemble C’est une chanson qui nous ressemble

Trove Thursday, which began on 10 September 2015, is ending today, seven years and 346 installments later.

Hate is a bottomless cup Hate is a bottomless cup

Four looks at Medea.

I had too much to dream last night I had too much to dream last night

Trove Thursday previews next week’s BBC Proms presentation of Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius with a 2008 broadcast conducted by Colin Davis with Sarah Connolly, Ben Heppner and Gerald Finley.

Reunion in France Reunion in France

Trove Thursday teases Michael Spyres’s North American recital debut at the Park Avenue Armory early next month.

Immortal longings Immortal longings

From three centuries, three Cleopatras (not to mention Claudette!) grace today’s Trove Thursday podcast.

Sweet home Ithaca Sweet home Ithaca

Monteverdi’s late Homeric masterpiece Il Ritorno d’Ulisse in Patria isn’t often performed in the United States.

Nothing to sneeze at Nothing to sneeze at

This week’s Trove Thursday—Kodály’s Háry János in a 1955 RAI broadcast in Italian led by famed Hungarian conductor Ferenc Fricsay—may be a bit brief as C-19 finally arrived last week chez CC.

“Be as a bird” “Be as a bird”

Lyric Opera of Chicago opens its new season on September 9 with an all-American Ernani, prompting a Trove Thursday preview with three versions of my favorite early Verdi opera featuring as its unlucky heroine: Leontyne Price, Martina Arroyo and Aprile Millo.

Behold the happy pair Behold the happy pair

Beverly Sills and Renée Fleming perform 30 years apart the same work with the same orchestra in the same venue!

Back to baroque Back to baroque

The always elegant Véronique Gens has recently returned often to her earliest roots in the French baroque.

Can’t get you out of my head Can’t get you out of my head

Trove Thursday presents its own “White Nights Festival” Glinka double bill.

The sound of silence The sound of silence

Die Schweigsame Frau, in a Munich performance featuring Kurt Moll, Julie Kaufmann, Francisco Araiza and Wolfgang Rauch conducted by Wolfgang Sawallisch.

The Italian job The Italian job

Trove Thursday presents a delightful pirate recording from the 1983 Pesaro Festival of Rossini’s Il Turco in Italia with a cast headed by three Americans—Trove fav Lella Cuberli, Samuel Ramey and David Kuebler—along with Alessandro Corbelli and Luigi De Corato, conducted by Donato Renzetti.

Queen’s evidence Queen’s evidence

Trove Thursday’s belated contribution to last weekend’s Platinum Jubilee is a broadcast from Aldeburgh of Benjamin Britten’s Gloriana with Christine Brewer and Tom Randle as Elizabeth and Essex, an opera which premiered 69 years ago yesterday.

French kiss French kiss

To celebrate Valerie Masterson‘s turning 85 tomorrow, Trove Thursday offers a second annual birthday salute to the English soprano.

The Multiverse of Morley The Multiverse of Morley

A Trove Thursday Mega-Post © featuring the wonderful American soprano Erin Morley in Orff’s Carmina Burana and Richard Strauss’s Brentano Lieder, plus extended live excerpts from Handel’s Orlando, Mozart’s Die Entführung aus dem Serail, and Meyerbeer’s Les Huguenots.

A deed without a name A deed without a name

Trove Thursday offers Ernst Bloch’s 1910 Macbeth featuring Inge Borkh and Nicola Rossi-Lemeni and Hamlet by Ambroise Thomas starring Thomas Allen with Christine Barbaux and Josephine Veasey as the women in his life.

Everyone’s gone to the moon Everyone’s gone to the moon

The Met’s recent Ariadne auf Naxos and Elektra combo left me wanting more and more Richard Strauss, so Trove Thursday offers a complete Capriccio with Jonas Kaufmann (his one-and-only Flamand) and Christopher Maltman vying for Soile Isokoski.

The slave who would be queen The slave who would be queen

The Met’s Nabucco revival was an early pandemic casualty and it’s unlikely to be rescheduled anytime soon as its raison d’être has been (at least temporarily) banished, so Trove Thursday programs Verdi’s early success with Rita Hunter, Kostas Paskalis and Ferruccio Furlanetto, plus a cabaletta-quiz in which 15 sopranos tackle “Salgo già!”

Lise with a Z(emlinsky) Lise with a Z(emlinsky)

Recent discussion about soprano Lise Davidsen has included much speculation about music she might undertake in the future.

Rhymes of Passion Rhymes of Passion

Though several other versions have recently been performed and recorded, Handel’s remains the best-known Brockes Passion.

Sir John in Munich Sir John in Munich

Otto Nicolai’s Die Lustigen Weiber von Windsor makes a rare and welcome reappearance next month thanks to Juilliard Opera.