The holiday season is upon us once again. To get you in the spirit Larry offers selections sung by quite a diverse group of artists including Juan Diego Florez, Joan Sutherland, Angela Lansbury, Judy Garland and more!

The ax falls once again on Henry VIII’s wife number two in Lyric Opera’s Anna Bolena by Donizetti. Hear the highly dramatic final scene sung by one of the doomed Queens’s greatest interpreters, Beverly Sills.

No need to mention the last names of these superb artists who defined the art of opera for the second half of the twentieth century. Two singers, three duets, who can ask for more?

Lyric Opera takes us for a visit to the inhabitants of Catfish Row. Larry will offer recordings from this much loved Gershwin work which will include members of the original 1935 cast.

This photo of an original 1954 program says it all. Lyric Theatre, soon to be called Lyric Opera of Chicago, opened its doors with a production of Mozart’s Don Giovanni. Today’s program notes that original production but will also emphasize the sensational American debut that year of Maria Callas in Bellini’s Norma.   Playlist:   […]

Solving the mysteries of the universe, Rubik’s Cube or finding Amelia Earhart pale in comparison to understanding the convoluted plot of Verdi’s Il Trovatore. Larry will make an attempt with arias that will be heard in Lyric Opera’s upcoming production.   Playlist: Giuseppe Verdi: Il Trovatore, “Ah Si, Ben Mio . . . Di Quella […]

Called the last of the verismo singers, Magda Olivero passed away recently at age 104. A career that began in 1932, then retirement in 1941, a second career beginning in 1951, a MET debut in 1975 as Tosca at age 65, recitals well into the 1970s and recordings made in 1993 at age 83 are only a few highlights in the life of this superb artist well worth remembering.

Two men debate whether the music or the words is more important. What is the answer? Which man will the Countess choose as her lover? How will the opera end? If we hear the Closing Scene from Capriccio as sung by Elisabeth Schwarzkopf we might find out. Or will we?

Lock your doors and windows as that infamous libertine and Bad Boy, Don Giovanno is on the loose once again. Highlights from Mozart's masterpiece will be sung by Leontyne Price, John McCormack, Ezio Pinza, Bidu Sayao, and Dimitri Hvorostovsky.

We will recall the recorded legacy of one of the finest of the post war tenors who easily holds his place with such colleagues as Corelli, Del Monaco, Wunderlich, Bjoerling, and Tucker. Arias and Songs honors this superb artist who passed away at 90 in July.