With 144 roles and nearly 3,700 performances under his belt in repertoire ranging from Mozart to Berlioz to Wagner to Ginastera, there's little that 73-year-old Spanish tenor Plácido Domingo can't do--and hasn't done already in his illustrious 57-year professional singing career. Add one more thing to that long list. Domingo announced this week he will sing his … Continue reading Domingo To Take It Up A Notch
Do Not Give a Dollar to the Opera: A Takedown
This week, Gawker--the website that has brought us such gems as "The Top Nine Videos Of Babies Farting And/Or Laughing With Kittens" and "I Can’t Stop Looking at This Weird Chinese Goat"--published an article with the headline "Do Not Give a Dollar to the Opera." I have copied and pasted the "meat" (read: three-day-old cafeteria … Continue reading Do Not Give a Dollar to the Opera: A Takedown
7 Operas that Make the VMAs Seem Chaste
On Sunday evening, millions of Americans tuned in to the MTV Video Music Awards. They were treated to a show that included, among other things, Lady Gaga's butt and Miley Cyrus twerking on Beetlejuice. Freakout ensued. Then came this pseudo-defense of Miley. I was fortunate enough to miss the broadcast--I was at the Hollywood Bowl … Continue reading 7 Operas that Make the VMAs Seem Chaste
Happy 200th, Richard Wagner
"I write music with an exclamation point!" -Richard Wagner There's no middle ground on Richard Wagner. You either love him or hate him. Correction: there is a kind of middle ground that most people, including me, dwell in. To oversimplify, it is this: love the art; hate the artist. Wagner was a despicable man. He … Continue reading Happy 200th, Richard Wagner
Ah, mes amis [Goat Edition]
http://youtu.be/6EQgsWNXBUo It's entirely possible I made a goat video. This is it.
Got $86? Want Wagner?
With the Fiscal Cliff™ negotiations behind us and the payroll tax holiday officially over, households making $75,000 a year will see their taxes increase by about $70-$80 per month. As our dollars seem to get us less and less each year, we have to look for better and better bargains. Thankfully, for fans of the … Continue reading Got $86? Want Wagner?
Happy Birthday, Luciano Pavarotti
The "King of the High C's" would have been 77 years old today. Hard to believe it's been five years already since he passed away. Here are some of my favorites from Pavarotti, including duets with Sting and Jon Bon Jovi. (Side note: I'm not responsible for the misspelling of Puccini's Turandot.)
Wrong, Alex
"Achievements, seldom credited to their source, are the result of unspeakable drudgery and worries." -Richard Wagner Yesterday on Jeopardy!, this happened: Wrong, Alex. While the character of Jochanaan IS John the Baptist, the opera in which he appears is most definitely NOT by Richard Wagner. The opera is Salome, which of course is the work … Continue reading Wrong, Alex
Peter’s Denial
Almost as quickly as it arrived, the ban on reviews of the Metropolitan Opera in Opera News has vanished. Chalk this up as a victory for free speech. Peter Gelb's recent attempted censorship of negative reviews both at WQXR and at Opera News prompted vicious, nearly unanimous backlash from critics and bloggers around the world … Continue reading Peter’s Denial
Brian Lauritzen 