(La Boheme is my example this evening, because it is the first opera I ever loved) 1. Because I love La Boheme. 2. Because I’ve been a subscriber for thirty years. 3. Because my girlfriend just broke up with me, and La Boheme always makes me cry, and I need a good cry. 4. Because [...]
I had the great pleasure this evening of attending the Mirvish-produced Evening with Stephen Sondheim, featuring the man himself being interviewed by critic Robert Cushman. Because I was raised on American musicals and continue to love them to this day, the works of Rogers & Hammerstein, Lerner & Lowe, Cole Porter, Gershwin and the rest [...]
I’ve been meaning to post this particular item for several weeks, and since I can’t permit this hiatus to continue any longer, now is the perfect time. This youtube clip comes via a Parterre Box comment thread, one of the epic youtube contests that have yielded up a bounty of treasures from the bowels of [...]
I will soon be the owner of a shiny new smartphone, from which I will be able to (but will most likely refrain from) broadcasting various details of my life and activities. Announcing one’s activities, no matter what they might be, is growing more commonplace, and the opera is no exception. Take, for example, this [...]
Here’s a small operatic tidbit from internet/publishing phenomenon PostSecret: I’m sure most opera-lovers can identify scores of operatic moments that remind them of this particular biological event. I know that I discovered opera and boys at roughly the same time.
I will shortly be beginning a new job, and in seeking out a thematically appropriate opera, was struck by how few operas deal with the question of work and vocation. I suppose this is a function of many opera plots featuring characters who are either divine beings or members of the nobility – none of [...]
Like a lot of people, I learned to love opera by listening to Puccini. There’s a reason why people who rarely go to the opera will buy a ticket to La Boheme and bawl their eyes out at the end – Puccini was a master of isolating the “good parts” (i.e. immediately, popularly appealing) of [...]
So, back in January, I finally started an opera blog after many years of thinking about it. I was a bit insecure about this endeavour, and wasn’t quite sure how I’d fit into the online opera world, but went ahead with it anyway. I wasn’t really sure what would come of it, but I thought [...]
When I was first getting into opera, Ruggero Raimondi was my guide, at first without my really realizing it. In the beginning I wasn’t paying much attention to the names on the CD covers, but once I started paying attention I realized he was on all my favourite recordings. I started off with Puccini, and [...]
Many of us are familiar with the vinyl fetishism that is gaining ground among rock, pop, & jazz enthusiasts. These days every self-respecting Brooklynite mp3 blogger owns a suitcase turntable (which can now be purchased from Urban Outfitters), and a lot of new indie releases include a vinyl option. Deep into the iPod age, it [...]
