

Life is tacky. Deal with it!
It will be a year on Thanksgiving day. We remember it for the loss of three critically important people. John F. Kennedy C. S.
My obsessive love affair with opera began on the afternoon of May 6, 1978 when Sherrill Milnes walked onto the stage in Atlanta, where
I was going to bombast about something, but then I realized I just didn’t want to be that way as I write this, in
If you are an opera freak like I am, tomorrow is Christmas, New Year’s Eve, Fourth of July, and a birthday all wrapped up
Thomas Hampson had a birthday on June 28. The man should be sainted for his Cole Porter! The man’s greatest contribution is to American
Yesterday was the first time I’ve been able to listen to opera, or the Met since our great loss. It was very difficult, and
You may have noticed I’ve been on autopilot the past week or so. There are reasons. Things were so iffy last night I was
October is a big month for operatic birthdays, with three big ones all within a few days of one another. Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi
Yesterday, I created a list of the most chivalrous men in history. What better way to celebrate chivalry than with opera? One of the
Read MoreWe opera fans are a strange bunch of fanatical and very insane individuals. We’re as bad as baseball fanatics. Quite often we are one
Read More“…There are standing ovations, and there are standing ovations. Those looking for one of the superlative kind would have witnessed an example last
Read MoreThis evening the Metropolitan Opera will celebrate 50 years at Lincoln Center. When it opened, the NY Times gushed: “…On September 16, 1966, the
Read MoreA few weeks ago it was announced that Harriet Tubman was going to be featured on the new twenty dollar bill. It received a
Read MoreThis is my favorite duet. Don Giovanni: There I’ll give you my hand, There you’ll say yes: See, it is not far, my love,
Read MoreBeginning at midnight on January 10, I’ll be tweeting 24 hours of music honoring the greatest baritone there ever was. There is a classic
Read MoreTomorrow is the birthday of the greatest baritone of them all, the one who put the hunk in the word baritone and the rest
Read MoreTwo things are going on this week. First, it is National Opera Week. Secondly, today is annual Richard Tucker Foundation Gala. The more I
Read MoreLike I told my cousin last night, I’m frantic. I’m terribly upset about losing my home, when it is so very simple. What has
Read MoreI’ve had a rough week. I think everyone has. At times like these, we all need a little bit of Tosca.
Read MoreThere are two constant themes in opera – sex and politics. They are almost always in the same opera. There are times when it
Read MoreTranslated via Microsoft from Classical Music News, Russia “…Opera singer Dmitri Hvorostovsky begins tour of North America, which will give three solo performances together
Read MoreYes, it is a registered trade mark, but I think it is highly permissible here, considering the fact that Jonathan Estabrooks is an official
Read MoreRule of thumb: Real men and Vulcans do not show emotion in public. It is acceptable, though for them to like cats. We were
Read MoreAccording to various and sundry operatic ‘critics’ one of the greatest moments of the year was Dmitri Hvorostovsky’s return to the Met. There is
Read MoreJonathan Estabrooks has the distinction of being a pin-up model for Barihunks. Not only that, but he has a voice. He aspires to opera
Read MoreOn this day in 1965 the greatest baritone ever – debuted at the Metropolitan Opera I cannot find a recording from Faust, done by
Read MoreOn December 22, 1965, the greatest Baritone there ever was and ever will be walked onto the stage of the Metropolitan Opera (at the
Read MoreOn Friday, Dmitri Hvorostovsky’s Facebook account had a play list called Viva Verdi. Works for me. Verdi was a baritone. His best roles were
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