Far Better Than Turks and Croatians: Der Rosenkavalier at the Metropolitan Opera

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Elizabeth – This weekend we won rushtickets to the Met’s Rosenkavalier.  I didn’t know the story of Rosenkavalier, but I had heard that this was essentially a Strauss version of Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro, a favorite of mine, and so I was excited to see the performance.  When we arrived, I discovered Alice Coote was singing… [Read More]

Just in Time for Chanukah: Did Jew Know? A Handy Primer on the Customs, Culture and Practice of the Chosen People

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Did Jew Know? Ida Rosenthal, a Soviet-born dressmaker, is credited as the inventor of the bust-enhancing brassiere, the Maidenform Bra. Maidenform was also the first company to sell maternity bras as well the first to invent and use cup sizes: A, B and Dead Sea! Just in time for Chanukah, we sat down with Emily Stone,… [Read More]

Ariadne auf Naxos in Hamburg: A Case FOR Modern Opera Productions

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Guest Commentator and Schleppy Nabucco Field Agent Mimi Zeffirelli sounds off about Hamburg Staatsoper’s production of Ariadne auf Naxos. Mimi – As a devotee of opera, a working singer, and an admitted fan of Facebook’s Against Modern Opera Productions, I have been scarred by Regietheater before. Therefore it was with a mix of apprehension and excitement… [Read More]

Mirrored Cubes and Dancing Periods: Die Frau ohne Schatten at the Metropolitan Opera

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Elizabeth – I was a bit surprised at how empty the Met was for this season’s first performance of Die Frau ohne Schatten.  At first I thought it was just that I had arrived rather early and not many people were there yet, but as the lights dimmed I looked around and huge chunks of the… [Read More]

Choral Excellence, Free Ricola and Eric Owens as the Devil: Mefistofele at Carnegie Hall

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As my lovely fiancée had an engagement doing good deeds, I asked my friend, Bryce, to Guest Commentate for the evening.  Shawn – First off, Carnegie Hall has huge dispensers with free Ricola at every lobby entrance to the theatre.  Met take note!  Would help the endless cacophony of coughing and hacking that plagues every… [Read More]

Minimalist Druids and Shiny Druid Queens: Norma at the Metropolitan Opera

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Elizabeth – Last night we saw the wonderful Sondra Radvanovsky as Norma.  I had seen her before at the Met in Un Ballo in Maschera, but Bellini’s Norma was really written as a vehicle for great female singers. Radvanovsky was great, I particularly liked her first Act aria, “Casta Diva”.  The sustained notes she held and… [Read More]

Six Characters in Search of a Murder: Two Boys at the Metropolitan Opera

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Elizabeth – Settling in to our seats for Two Boys, the first night of OPERA America’s National Opera Week, Shawn and I were playing with our iPhones when an older usher came over and told us politely, yet firmly, that we were not allowed to use our iPhones in the theater, only the lobby.  I… [Read More]

Runny Noses, Russian and Otherwise: The Nose at the Metropolitan Opera

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Elizabeth – One of the more bizarre, frustrating and yet comical operas I have seen this year, William Kentridge’s production of The Nose is not to be missed.  For those not familiar with Shostakovich’s opera based on Gogol’s story, The Nose is a short three act opera (no intermission) during which time a bureaucrat, Kovalyov, discovers… [Read More]

NYCO in the Rearview Mirror: Carlisle Floyd and Sherrill Milnes on New York City Opera

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Sherrill Milnes and Carlisle Floyd share with us their memories of New York City Opera, thoughts on NYCO’s closing and advice for opera companies moving forward. Sherrill Milnes – “I did three years (at NYCO) 1964-5 and ’66 and then I came back a couple of times as a guest, sang in Beverly’s farewell, I did… [Read More]

Scorned Love Letters and Snowy Duels: Eugene Onegin at the Metropolitan Opera

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Elizabeth – Before seeing Eugene Onegin I did not read the libretto nor a synopsis.  Normally I do, but a conductor friend suggested that I avoid the libretto or any analysis of operas new to me.  As he put it, there is only one time in my life that this opera will be completely new to… [Read More]