Marina/Esther – sneak preview 1×11 (with videos)

[Clothes and Closets. And smiles.]

“La Calisto”, both tubed and live

[all clips thanks to OedipusColoneus]

In case you like your soprano (or mezzo) with another soprano, your tenors in skirts, your queens evil and your counters all in white, search no more for your Thursday evening program.

Mezzo Alert: Drinks with Connolly

[Photo Credit: Glyndebourne Festival/Mike Hoban]

The 75th anniversary of the world’s classiest opera picnic – the breaks at Glyndebourne – comes with a gift for mezzo lovers that is the doubled presence of Sarah Connolly.

Mezzo Alert: DiDonato. Cast. Rosina.

It’s been all over the opera blogosphere this weekend (La Cieca’s, Prima la musica, Intermezzo (with photos)) and deserves to be recounted countless more times. We already know that it’s going to be legend: “mezzo sets new standard for work ethics”.

Marina Esther – sneak preview 1×10

[Gossip Central is back - See all! Know all! Tell all!]

From Anik’s Kitchen: Focaccia ripiena

A few weeks ago, Ngf and I had a focaccia for dinner that turned out a little dry. Not even the onion and cheese toping helped. In fact, the only thing that helped was the bottle of Nero d’Avola on the side.

But I really liked the onion and cheese topping, so I tried to come up with a focaccia that would be a little less on the dry side and decided – purists, please cover your eyes! – to fill it (of course, after the fact, I realized that many, many people and many, many food bloggers had already come up with the same idea). Voilà, problem solved – Ngf gave me official permission to add the recipe to the dinner collection.

CGMP: White Shirts

[Photo Credit: Die ZEIT/Komische Oper Berlin]

Mezzo Stella Doufexis as Hamlet in the World Premiere of Christian Jost’s “Hamlet” opera at Komische Oper Berlin, staged by Andreas Homoki. June 2009