“il est toujours bon, sur ma foi, / d’avoir les femmes avec soi”

I’ve been putting it out there for *years* that I wanted to sing Carmen. Not only is it finally happening, but <full gay gasp> I’M SINGING IT OPPOSITE STEPHANIE F'ING BLYTHE AS JOSÉ!!! @ChicagoOpera is making my queer 💜 so happy…and Blythely Oratonio won't know what hit him.😘 pic.twitter.com/at49nU6kAf

— Jamie Barton (@jbartonmezzo) June 22, 2021

Production Alert: Lamb Chops

[Arms to slay the bad cop? Check. – Laurent Naouri (Scarpia) and Myrtò Papatanasiu (Tosca) in rehearsal for La Monnaie’s new production of Puccini’s “Tosca”, Brussels 2021. – Photo Credit: Hugo Segers for La Monnaie]

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“Ich folg’ dem innern Triebe…”

[Same, Marzelline. Same. – Lise Davidsen (Leonora) and Amanda Forsythe (Marzelline) in Beethoven’s (no, I do so not just accidentially time Betthoven) “Fidelio”, London/ROH 2020. – Photo Credit: Bill Coooper (I assume) for ROH]

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Likeliness that the Pollione outfit would look better on Haller than on Puente (not his fault): 12/10.

In adjacent “Norma” mezzo news, Diana Haller sang a fabulous Adalgisa in yesterday’s opening of the new Hamburg staging by Yona Kim (which does, unsusal as it it, not look like a Xena episode, but might qualifiy as a Xena AU episode?) and we may all have to haul ourselves to Hamburg with a package of tissues in tow.

 

 

White Skirt Wednesday: O don(na) fatale

[#Formative. Maria Agresta (Elisabetta) and Veronica Simeoni (Eboli) in the Robert Carsen staging of Verdi’s “Don Carlo”.  Venice/La Fenice 2019 – Photo Credit: Michele Crosera]

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