One of the objectives of this website is to honor masterpieces of the standard operatic repertory. To further this objective, I will devote special attention to operas during the year of the 50th anniversary of my first performance of each opera. I attended four operas in 1956 presented by the San Francisco Opera on its [...]
Entries from January 2006
Year of the Butterfly: More Robert Wilson in L. A.
January 30th, 2006
Tags: Tom's Reviews
Happy Birthday, Wolfgang: We Miss Your “Falstaff”
January 28th, 2006
Happy birthday, Wolfgang. Today is the 250th anniversary of your birth, and October 25th of this year is the 50th anniversary of my first time experiencing a live performance of one of your operas (Cosi Fan Tutte) with a wonderful Mozartean cast of Elizabeth Schwarzkopf, Nell Rankin, Patrice Munsel, Sir Richard Lewis, Frank Guarrera and [...]
Tags: 2005-2008: William's Commentaries
The Standard Repertory’s 140-Year Bracket: Critiques of the Concept on Other Websites
January 24th, 2006
In November, 2005 I posted my description of the Standard Opera Repertory as a group of frequently produced operas, bound in time by Mozart’s “Nozze di Figaro” and Puccini’s “Turandot”. I was pleased to read the vigorous discussions of this premise that occurred over ensuing weeks on Jonathan’s and Alex’s “Wellsung” website and Lisa’s “Iron [...]