John Yohalem

1 week ago | parterre.com | John Yohalem

Chekhov’s Law has it that if a gun is shown in Act I, it must be fired by the end of the play. By an operatic corollary, if the opening scene presents a cake on a cake stand, and the pastry is divided (or tossed, or smeared) during the first scenes of the show, somebody’s head must replace it by the finale. Catapult Opera’s production of Stradella’s San Giovanni Battista does not disappoint.

3 weeks ago | parterre.com | John Yohalem

The Uncle from Rome, by Joseph CaldwellHow often do you read the final chapter of a novel with ever gathering dread, not knowing what catastrophe will befall characters you have genuinely begun to care about – only to read the final brief paragraph in fits of laughter? But perhaps I’m getting ahead of myself. Joseph Caldwell produced this charming tale from a year spent in Italy on the Rome Prize from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

1 month ago | parterre.com | John Yohalem

Twenty-six—I think. Or has it been twenty-eight? The number of different Donizetti operas I’ve seen in live performance. Not sure. But then, no one is quite sure how many he composed. Sixty-five or eighty. Something like that. He was a speed demon from his earliest years—it was a joke among the other boys studying under the renowned Giovanni Simone Mayr in Bergamo in the 1810s. You haven’t finished your overture yet? Donizetti’s reached his finale.

Mar 12, 2025 | parterre.com | John Yohalem |James Jorden

Several years ago I sent a review to parterre that, in passing, mentioned a performance that had starred Kate Lindsay when actually it had been Kate Aldrich. The two mezzos have a similar vocal range, very different musical focus, and are both delightful to encounter in any cast. Luckily our intrepid La Cieca, James Jorden, caught me in the act and altered the copy.

Jan 30, 2025 | parterre.com | John Yohalem

Boris Goldovsky used to give the most fascinating intermission features on the old Met broadcasts. Wish they’d rerun them. One of my favorites was his musical analysis of the Valkyrie scenes from Act III of Die Walküre, how Wagner paired and tripled and quadrupled the counterpoint to keep it interesting, both on their initial entrance and their entreaties to Brünnhilde (not to disobey Daddy) and to Wotan (not to punish big sister).