Anita hero
“Rachvelishvili sang Carmen, the role of her 2009 breakthrough, hundreds of times, and was scheduled to ring in 2024 as Bizet’s classic antiheroine in the splashy premiere of a new production at the Met.”
zachary woolfe
Filth and dementia
Zachary Woolfe reflects on the legacy of parterre box founder James Jorden and three decades of “remembering when opera was queer and dangerous and exciting and making it that way again”
By Zachary Woolfe
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Queer and dangerous and exciting
Zack Woolfe of The New York Times remembers James Jorden
Hour of the Woolfe
New York Times Classical Music Editor Zachary Woolfe (pictured) joins #KikiKonversations with Karen Slack.
“Operatic whitewashing”
On the day of the Super Bowl, I attended a near-sold-out screening of the Paris Opéra’s recent production of Rameau’s 1735 opéra-ballet Les Indes galantes at New York’s Alliance Française.
Welcome to the Machine
Robert Lepage promises a more “urban” take on the work.
A very Millo sequel
“Can the Diva Who Once Ruled the Met Make a Comeback?”
Keep it gay
Our Own Joel Rozen in Slate ponders the good gay vs. bad gay politics of Zachary Woolfe‘s New York Times celebration of Yannick Nézet-Séguin.
Out of sight, out of mind
Now, you would think nothing could please gaycentric La Cieca more than yesterday’s New York Times profile of the Met’s new music director…
Bernstein’s Mess
“I think that if it’s not [Bernstein’s] worst, it surely reflects his worst tendencies…”
Not nobody, not nohow!
“Mr. Luisi won praise replacing Mr. Levine time after time, particularly in a costly version of Wagner’s Ring cycle—though, perhaps in a sign of the situation’s delicacy, the two conductors have never met in person.”
“Venez-vous me mettre en bustier, cher auteur de mes maux?”
“Few operas better represent a moment such as ours, when stability and long-held certainties are hard to come by, particularly in regard to sexuality.”
Woolfe at the door
Longtime Friend of the Box Zachary Woolfe (left) climbs onto the masthead of the New York Times as their new classical music editor, starting Monday.
Je sens une pure flamme
Our Own JJ‘s take on the Massenet will not appear until next week, but for now you are invited to make do with Zachary Woolfe‘s rave in the New York Times.
The incomplete idiot
Intendant Alexander Pereira halts the merry-go-round briefly to discuss Salzburg and La Scala with Zachary Woolfe of the New York Times.
Man of the future
Javier Camerena, “as close to a rock star as the Met has produced from its male roster this season,” has big plans with the company, with at least four roles planned for future seasons.
Happy February 1!
To celebrate the birthday of Renata Tebaldi, our friends at Opera Depot are offering a free download of live performances by this great diva.
Ancien regie
“But like any production left out in the sun a few decades, it gradually faded into mere decoration.”
The mystery of Stefan’s “Vêpres”
The much-anticipated Stefan Herheim production of Les Vêpres Siciliennes opened last night at the Royal Opera, and the New York Times‘ Zachary Woolfe was something less than completely bowled over.
Pushkin comes to shove
Onegin, which opens the Met’s season on Monday, has taken an unusually precipitous tumble…
Annagnorsis
Our Own JJ debuts in the pages of the New York Observer.
Mavra, don’t ask!
And then she was all like, “Nuh-uh! Igor was so not gay,” and I was all like…
Zach talk
Longtime Friend of the Box Zachary Woolfe (pictured) sits down with Marc Scorca of Opera America for a “Conversation about Opera in America,” implausibly enough.
A series of ones and zeroes
“I’m analytical, not wild,” Ms. Garanca told an interviewer in 2009.
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).
