whare were u 1 year ago? OC was publishing her very first blog entry, "Mozart + women in pants + bewbs = good times," and the course of online opera blogging was skewed 4evah!
In the course of one full year, we saw the marginally more talented half of the Angelagna Gheorto couple go bananies (as we had predicted) and we saw him get slapped around by all, disappear, and try a hairy comeback. We saw Angela quit Rome and then later Chicago quit her!
We've shared our love for the great forgotten maestri (Toscanin's 50th year of passing), and we have shared our sadness for the passing of the great ones like Menotti, Pavarotti, Rostropovich, and Sills.
We've seen a natural phenomenon take la Scala by storm, and we've had la Scala's lawyers come after our 10 Corso Como clad a$$.
We've had exclusive interviews and statements from guests such as Opera di Roma's GM Francesco Ernani, Juan Diego Florez on Pavarotti's passing, and Elaine Alvarez when she stepped-in for the recently-fired Gheorghiu. We’ve participated in numerous interviews & stories, and have been linked across the globe.
In the past year, we’ve taken in this very abbreviated list (and sadly, OC has left out dozens of performances that she had seen and not reported on...such as Carsen’s La Scala Kata Kabanova, Ferri’s La Scala La Strada/The Cage, etc infinity infinity ): @ La Scala, we’ve brought to you detailed reviews of Ascanio in Alba, a Renée Fleming recital, the Aida la prima, Juan Diego Florez's La Fille (with his record-breaking high C encore), Harding's Salome, Alessandra Ferri's last-ish ballet performance in Milan with Roberto Bolle in La dame aux Camélias, Adriana Lecouvreur with Dessi & Armiliato, Gergiev & Znaider, Jenůfa with Silja, a Jonas Kaufmann recital, a Leo Nucci recital, Barenboim & the West-Eastern Divan, Pretre in Piazza del Duomo, Shostakovich's Lady Macbeth, Carsen's Candide, Gheorghiu in Traviata, and waaaaay too many more to list.
In the rest of Italy, we’ve brought you all reports of Evgeny Kissin, Don Calandrino with Muti in Salzburg, Sokolov @ Conservatorio, Muti’s Ravenna Don Pasquale, Muti w/ the Wiener in Ravenna, Temirkanov's Parma La Traviata, and we’ve covered Milan’s lowliest and loftiest venues from La Scala to Conservatorio G. Verdi to Teatro dal Verme.
In the USA, we’ve brought you to the NYC Maria Callas Swarovski exhibit, Muti with the NY Phil, La Sonnambula @ the Florida Grand Opera, Esa-Pekka Salonen and Yefim Bronfman with the NY Phil, the American premiere of Tan Dun’s Tea in Santa Fe, the Sills tribute in NYC, Glass's Orphée (and Gluck & Monteverdi) @ Glimmerglass, Margaret Garner @ NYCO, and the MET's Lucia season opener with Dessay.
Thank you, thank you, thank you all...all of you readers and commenters that have been with OC from the beginning (and middle, and end). I <3 u. Yes, u.
Strangely, this is still my favorite post of all time (with picture from above): The year was 1981.
wat it do wat it do! dis is OC representin Milan, so hit a shortie up. Dis secksay shortie needs sum luv so holla at ya girl! First 1 2 send OC a nekkid shout-out gets a special sumthin sumthin!
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