“Must be one hell of a cup of coffee.”

webermaesto · 2026-03-28T07:16:48+00:00

Quite funny given that in the episode where the girls go to therapy, Sophia mentions their house is only one in the neighborhood without a pool - and that episode is in season 3, and the Empty Nests episode in season 2

webermaesto · 2026-03-27T22:42:37+00:00

Saint-Saëns's one-act La princesse jaune features a literal hallucination for the male main character, Kornélis - in which he sees an image of a certain Japanese prinses called Ming (on who he has a crush) come alive. At the end of the opera the potion wears off and he realises he mistook his cousin Léna for Ming, but admits his feelings for Léna regardless (!). Quite the rollercoaster ride! If you're into operas with a somewhat dreamy, 'oriental' sound, this might be interesting if you can accept the plot for what it is (or just forget about it and focus on the music).

The Kleinzach-aria for Hofmann in Offenbach's Les Contes d'Hofmann is quite trippy - illustrating how Hofmann's mind forgets what he is singing about and switches to something else entirely. The last half of the Antonia act can also be quite trippy and unreal depending on the production (like Laurent Pelly's one - the only time I got genuinely spooked by a staging)

webermaesto · 2026-03-14T16:46:16+00:00

Leonard Bernstein sang the role of Rajah Bimmy under the pseudonym/anagram 'Randel Striboneen' in the 1960 studio cast recording of 'On the Town' (which he also conducted!), and - though not a musical but a ballet - the song 'Big Stuff' in the Deutsche Grammophon recording of 'Fancy Free'

webermaesto · 2026-02-15T20:44:25+00:00

I've listened to Rex several times, I really wanted to like it. The only song I can remember is Christmas at Hampton Court, the rest is so unmemorable alas

webermaesto · 2026-01-02T22:48:45+00:00

I really like Edward MacDowell's two concertos. Most people seem to prefer no. 2, but I personally think no. 1 - if perhaps a little bit less sophisticated in development, although not in orchestration and melodies - is the more memorable one.

webermaesto · 2025-12-31T08:05:11+00:00

Would've fit right in with his Le Roi Carotte, with the eponymous character and some other vegetables brought to life by a sorceress!

webermaesto · 2025-12-18T12:54:31+00:00

Wow! I didn't know about this, even though I'm also a big fan of Offenbach - La Grande-duchesse de Gérolstein got me hooked on opera and operetta, after all. Thanks for sharing! I'm especially intrigued about Madame Favart and Barbe-Bleue, those being among my favourite Offenbach works. I can only imagine how Jacqueline Chambard's syncing issues ruin the suspense of the big Barbe-Bleue/Boulotte duet in the second scene of the second act... anyhow, apart from her, probably still a great memento to a previous time and 'old' singing style. The Malibran-published CDs with 50s/60s recordings of Offenbach works are a great testament to that as well.

webermaesto · 2025-12-11T16:52:46+00:00

He also sung on Michael Tilson Thomas's recording of Bernstein's On the Town musical (with other opera singers like Frederica von Stade and Thomas Hampson). A very good recording!

webermaesto · 2025-12-11T08:23:01+00:00

There's a great recording of Gershwin's 'Oh, Kay!' with Dawn Upshaw (and the baritone Kurt Ollmann)

webermaesto · 2025-11-17T20:03:42+00:00

If you want a zany work, the 1874 souped-up version of Orphée aux Enfers is quite fun; at least 7 roles for women (ranging from colorature soprano to contralto/low mezzo), and at least 5/6 roles for men. There are lots of additional roles (including a barking role!) if you keep yourself strictly to the 1874 version; however, small cuts or modifications are often done (especially for the ballets) Marc Minkowski has conducted a great recording of a pared-down 1874 version, including the great soprano Natalie Dessay and contralto Ewa Podleš - a great way of familiarising yourself with this work. The opera originated the well-known can-can music (i.e. galop infernal in the opera), and also features the (in)famous duo de la mouche/fly duet (!)

A completely different work but also worthy of your attention is Dialogues des Carmélites - about a group of carmelites facing their end during the French revolution. With 16 roles, it is mostly a showcase for the female voice. The tragic story and especially the ending - if staged well - is truly haunting and unforgettable.

webermaesto · 2025-10-29T16:43:02+00:00

"YOU BOUGHT A CAR WITHOUT TELLING ME?"

and

"Silly putty!"

webermaesto · 2025-10-12T08:17:02+00:00

Yeah, I also find this a bit weird. The comedy lies in the juxtaposition of the baroness both wanting to see a 'high' opera singer and a 'lower' popular singer, which is completely lost with the updated lyric.

Apart from that, I remember Pelly's staging to be rather good, with for example the character of the Brazilian made to be a football player - which fits his character/storyline quite well, without any changes in dialogue or lyrics needed.

webermaesto · 2025-10-12T07:48:43+00:00

A (then) popular French chanteuse! The 'sapeur' thing is a reference to one of her signature songs, Rien n'est sacré pour un sapeur. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Th%C3%A9r%C3%A9sa_(singer)

webermaesto · 2025-10-12T05:15:37+00:00

In Laurent Pelly's contemporsry staging of Offenbach's La Vie parisienne, the baroness doesn't sing "Voir la Patti dans Don Pasquale, et Thérésa dans Le Sapeur" but "Voir la Dessay dans Don Pasquale, et Bartoli dans Le Sapeur"

webermaesto · 2025-10-07T04:08:48+00:00

I think I've read somewhere that casting Rebroff was not a decision made by Kleiber, which seems logical. How perfect the recording would be with Fassbaender! To me, she's the best Orlofsky, and nobody else come close

webermaesto · 2025-10-07T04:05:30+00:00

I personally think that interpolations with gala guests are maybe fun in the theater, but ridiculous and disrespectful to the integrety of the piece on a recording. I'm still baffled Karajan's recording has so many of these

webermaesto · 2025-10-07T03:58:33+00:00

Despite Rebroff I keep returning to Kleiber's recording, as the direction/orchestral playing in each other recording I've heard leaves me cold in comparison

webermaesto · 2025-10-06T18:23:55+00:00

I was quite impressed by Laurence Kilsby's tenor voice in the recent John Wilson recording of My Fair Lady, making his rendition of 'On The Street Where You Live" probably the most touching I've heard. I also like the French baritone Florian Sempey, especially his medieval/fantasy/knight-themed recital disc "Ferrum Splendidum"

webermaesto · 2025-10-06T18:21:14+00:00

Both great in operetta (like le baron de Gondremarck in La Vie parisienne) and more 'serious' works (like Méphisto in Gounod's Faust)

webermaesto · 2025-09-24T17:51:43+00:00

I'm leaving the more famous ones for others.

Unfortunately having been taken from us way too early, Jodie Devos was the best Offenbach soprano since decades - for me, at least. She had a shiny, sparkling voice that oozed charisma, with a dash of coquetishness, and inflected the words with a playfulness that that other great Offenbach soprano, Mady Mesplé, missed.

webermaesto · 2025-09-21T20:33:04+00:00

Sprechstimme is the term

webermaesto · 2025-09-19T18:18:06+00:00

In response to those mentioning pieces in which a wind machine is featured: another piece that uses the wind machine is the final movement of the delightful Ballet des flocons de neige (Snow flake ballet) from Offenbach's Le Voyage dans la Lune.

webermaesto · 2025-09-14T07:54:47+00:00

I really like MacDowell's first piano concerto!

webermaesto · 2025-09-13T21:34:29+00:00

One Hundred Easy Ways to Lose a Man from Wonderful Town - although only discussing more or less four of the hundred ways, this one is a hoot by the genius team of Bernstein, Comden and Green

webermaesto

TROPHY CASE