From today's Newsday, a review by vilaine fille alter ego Marion Lignana Rosenberg of Opera Orchestra of New York's Mignon:
Once upon a time, Freedom Fries didn't exist, no one made apologies for charm and grace, and operas like Ambroise Thomas' Mignon (1866, revised 1870) ruled the boards…
Stephanie Blythe is a vocal miracle. I thought that she stole the show in the Met's Rodelinda, and her Alice Tully Hall recital and Brahms/Wagner/Mahler disc (Virgin) wowed me. I don't know what she has coming up at the Met besides Quickly (Falstaff) and Zia Principessa (Suor Angelica); I do know that I'd like to hear her in Le Prophète, Alceste, Cavalleria, Tristan (Brangäne), Parsifal, Tancredi, Samson et Dalila, Trovatore…
No less than Renée Fleming, Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, and other distinguished artists of today, Blythe deserves her own showcase projects.
I couldn't attend yesterday's opening of Bizet's Les Pêcheurs de perles at NYCO, but reports from my sources are good. Here is my essay on Pêcheurs from New York City Opera's souvenir program.
Peppino alert: The annual benefit concert for the American Institute for Verdi Studies, an organization of which I am proud to be a member, takes place on 24 April. Information here.
Note, too, that starting 15 April, NYU's Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimò hosts the exhibit Parma: The City of Opera. Exhibit hours are Monday through Friday, 9h00 to 17h00 (grazie, signori, di aver pensato a noialtri plebei). The Verdi-themed lecture and video offerings feature Martin Chusid, Francesco Izzo, Carlo Bergonzi's 80th birthday concert, and more.
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