Senza nube e senza vel Senza nube e senza vel

I attended the Sunday, May 13, performance with bittersweet anticipation.

A touch of the stone A touch of the stone

“Trove Thursday” turns its Rossini-150 series to one of the composer’s least known but tastiest comic gems La Pietra del Paragone with Julia Hamari, Justino Diaz, Alessandro Corbelli, Claudio Desderi and Paolo Barbacini conducted by Roberto Abbado. 

The help The help

As Despina in the Metropolitan Opera’s new production of Così fan tutte, Kelli O’Hara injects much needed vitality into an otherwise lethargic evening.

Women on the verge Women on the verge

“Trove Thursday” offers Così fan tutte with Pilar Lorengar, Josephine Veasey, Lucia Popp, Luigi Alva and Kieth Engen with Georg Solti conducting.

The fire of artifice The fire of artifice

My mother leaned in and quietly whispered,”Is that Leontyne Price?” to which I replied,”Shhhh!”

Transient worker Transient worker

On this day in 1996 mezzo-soprano Cecilia Bartoli made her Metropolitan Opera stage debut as Despina.

Over the garden wall Over the garden wall

Renée Fleming makes her belated “Trove Thursday” debut as Sandrina in a rare early performance of Mozart’s La Finta Giardiniera.

Debuts and farewells Debuts and farewells

Arabella with Wolfgang Sawallisch conducting a prime-time 1980s Munich cast.

And the villain still pursued her And the villain still pursued her

Bard College presented a semi-staged concert of Halka on Saturday evening as part of its impressively wide-ranging two-week “Chopin and his World” festival.

Midsummer gladness Midsummer gladness

Gone are the halcyon days of tradition and ritual.

Out of the depths Out of the depths

“Trove Thursday” provides a live broadcast of Mozart’s rarely performed cantata Davide Penitente by Les Arts Florissants conducted by William Christie.

For a few dolors more For a few dolors more

LoftOpera’s accurately but unpromisingly named Pergolesi & Vivaldi stumbled rather than soared.

Triple header Triple header

I reckon marketing a sex-themed opera in Brooklyn should be like selling bacon-flavored froyo in Vermont.

Midcentury modern Midcentury modern

This week’s feature is a classic Salzburger Festspiele performance from 1959 with the all-star cast of Leopold Simoneau, Lisa Della Casa, Kurt Böhme, Erika Köth, Walter Berry, Hans Hotter, Graziella Sciutti and Karl Dönch conducted by George Szell.

Teeny furniture Teeny furniture

Sony Classical has now released “Leontyne Price Prima Donna Assoluta” containing nearly her entire operatic oeuvre in a box set.

Strike up the banned Strike up the banned

Jonny spielt auf, the second opera by 26-year-old composer Ernest K?enek, was such a huge success after its 1927 Leipzig premiere that in the following season it was performed 491 times in Germany alone. 

Wunderbare Träume Wunderbare Träume

Patrice Chéreau, the humanist in provocateur’s clothing, returned to Wagner in 2007 at La Scala with Daniel Barenboim and Waltraud Meier.

Guilt and pleasure Guilt and pleasure

Ambivalent is how I feel about Cosí fan tutte.

That’s how they did it That’s how they did it

Idomeneo proved enormously moving while a much more complicated Così fan Tutte went for shallow romantic hijinks stripping that work of its darkly ambiguous disturbing view of love.

With honor With honor

Puccini’s Madama Butterfly with an unexpected heroine: the electrifying Julia Varady, seduced and abandoned by the suavely ardent Giacomo Aragall.

A very little night music A very little night music

The unevenly-beating Heart unfortunately proved less than the sum of its deluxe parts.

Think pink Think pink

LoftOpera offered an unusually satisfying, immensely entertaining production of Rossini’s scintillating portrait of an inveterate seducer.

Stop me if you’ve heard this one Stop me if you’ve heard this one

Louis XVI, Marie-Antoinette, and a slew of their members of court are hanging out in the afterlife…

For the birds For the birds

A “lone voice in the wilderness” booed Barbara Frittoli’s calamitous Nedda.