The beautiful and damned The beautiful and damned

On this day in 1965 Montserrat Caballé and Sherrill Milnes made their Metropolitan Opera debuts in Faust.

Devil in disguise Devil in disguise

On this day in 1953 the Metropolitan Opera opened its season with a new production of Gounod’s Faust.

Back to the future Back to the future

After putting a hiatus on their awards in 2020 and 2021 (for reasons that are all too well-known to all of us), the Richard Tucker Foundation Gala returned on Sunday evening November 13 honoring soprano Angel Blue the 2022 Award winner.

Romantic hero Romantic hero

The main reason to see this revival is Benjamin Bernheim’s Duca.

Tour de force Tour de force

On this day in 1973 the Metropolitan Opera presented the company premiere of Les Troyens.

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!

French kiss French kiss

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

Rachel, Rachel Rachel, Rachel

It’s nice to see Sony Classical backing a serious operatic soprano and not some crossover refugee from Britain’s Got Talent or another syrupy Christmas album from the world’s reigning Heldentenor.

No sex please, we’re German No sex please, we’re German

Why is so twinkling, tuneful a score so little known?

Are you there, God? It’s me, Margared Are you there, God? It’s me, Margared

Trove Thursday offers a nearly forgotten 19th  century opera with a most marvelous name: Le Roi d’Ys by Éduoard Lalo featuring a superb French cast led by Alain Vanzo, Andrea Guiot, Jane Rhodes and Robert Massard.

Anyone can puzzle Anyone can puzzle

Steve adored puzzles, solving them and creating them, so it makes you wonder that this one continued to fester—was that so few of his songs attained the rank of “standard.”

Reorientation Reorientation

Concerts at Wolf Trap, mixed bags in more ways than one, provided fleeting glimpses of the old normal as moments of frisson mingled with more familiar monotony.

The curious case of Benjamin Bernheim The curious case of Benjamin Bernheim

Who’s been hiding tenor Benjamin Bernheim from me all this time?

I have a song to sing, O! I have a song to sing, O!

The lovely English soprano Valerie Masterson turns 84 today, prompting Trove Thursday to present her in a pair of her specialties.

“A vocal artist out of the ordinary” “A vocal artist out of the ordinary”

On this day in 1951 soprano Victoria de los Angeles made her Metropolitan Opera debut as Marguerite.

Kaleidoscopic maestro Kaleidoscopic maestro

Saturday marks the centenary of Julius Rudel’s birth which Trove Thursday celebrates with Le Coq d’or, Faust and Ariodante, a triple-bill showcasing his impressive versatility, featuring Beverly Sills and Norman Treigle, two of the most important artists he nurtured during his leadership of the New York City Opera.

Leyla and the pirates Leyla and the pirates

Next month in Bergamo Plácido Domingo takes on his zillionth—and possibly final—new role, so Trove Thursday previews it by returning to the same venue 50 years earlier for Donizetti’s Belisario with Leyla Gencer and Renato Bruson, a real baritone as its titular hero.

Out of the ordinary Out of the ordinary

On this day in 1951 soprano Victoria de los Angeles made her Metropolitan Opera debut as Marguerite.

In memoriam Mirella Freni In memoriam Mirella Freni

Today’s Trove Thursday was originally scheduled for February 27, which would have been Mirella Freni’s 85th birthday, but instead we remember today the beloved soprano who passed away this past weekend in Puccini.

Suddenly spinto Suddenly spinto

When soprano Yihan Duan started to sing her aria, you could feel an almost electric charge that something special was happening.

The bad and the beautiful The bad and the beautiful

“Trove Thursday” offers Offenbach’s irreverent La Belle Hélène featuring the beauteous Véronique Gens.

Dream a little dream of me Dream a little dream of me

“Who are you? Who do you want to be?” The search for one’s identity is explored in American composer Jake Heggie and librettist Gene Scheer’s brand new opera If I Were You.

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

Erich Wolfgang Korngold’s Die Tote Stadt in a 1967 Vienna broadcast appropriately featuring three American stars: John Alexander, Marilyn Zschau, and George London.

Et voila l’histoire Et voila l’histoire

To mark Beverly Sills’s 90th birthday (May 25, 1929) “Trove Thursday” offers the late diva’s acclaimed Massenet heroine opposite her ideal Des Grieux, Alain Vanzo.