Opera has always been a place for audiences to see gender confusion, androgynous sidekicks, and friendships that test the boundaries of the platonic ideal. This week, Oliver surveys some of opera’s queerest moments.
Opera Through a Queer Lens
Pylades and Orestes, by François Bouchot, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Playlist
Giuseppe Verdi: “O Carlo, ascolta” from Don Carlos
Dmitri Hvorostovsky, baritone
Philharmonia of Russia
Constantine Orbelian, conductor
Verdi Opera Scenes
Delos DE-3403
Francesco Cavalli: La Calisto
Act I, Scene 4 & 5
Maria Bayo, soprano
Simon Keenlyside, baritone
Marcello Lippi, baritone
Concerto Vocale
René Jacobs, conductor
Cavalli: La Calisto
Harmonia Mundi HMC 901515.17
George Frideric Handel: “Ricordati, mio ben” from Flavio, Re de’Longobardi, HWV 16
Renata Pokupić, mezzo-soprano
Hilary Summers, contralto
Early Opera Company
Christian Curnyn, conductor
Handel: Flavio
Chandos CHAN-0773
Handel: “O fatal day!” from Saul, HWV 53
Lawrence Zazzo, countertenor
RIAS-Kammerchor
Concerto Köln
René Jacobs, conductor
Handel: Saul
Harmonia Mundi HMC 901877.78
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: “Deh per questo istante solo” from La clemenza di Tito, K. 621
Tatiana Troyanos, mezzo-soprano
New York City Opera Orchestra
Julius Rudel, conductor
Handel and Mozart Arias & Duets
MusicMasters 01612-67080-2
Christoph Willibald Gluck: Iphigénie en Tauride
Act III, Scenes 3 & 4
Mireille Delunsch, soprano
Yann Beuron, tenor
Simon Keenlyside, baritone
Les Musiciens du Louvre
Marc Minkowski, conductor
Gluck: Iphigénie en Tauride
Archiv Produktion 471 133-2
Jacques Offenbach: “Voici sous l’archet frémissant” from Les Contes d’Hoffmann
Anne Sofie von Otter, mezzo-soprano
Staatskapelle Dresden
Jeffrey Tate, conductor
Offenbach: Les Contes d’Hoffmann
Philips 422 374-2
Georges Bizet: “Au fond du temple saint” from Les pêcheurs de perles
Jerry Hadley, tenor
Thomas Hampson, baritone
Orchestra of Welsh National Opera
Carlo Rizzi, conductor
Hadley & Hampson
Teldec 9031-73283-2
