Delos Diary

The Metropolitan Opera Ticket Service Calendar for season 2003–2004 arrived in the mail a few days ago. For the opera fan or fanatic, it's as much fun to browse through the brochure's 24 pages as it must have been years ago to leaf through a new Sears & Roebuck catalog. Here before your own eyes, all performances from September '03 through early May '04 (over 200!) are fully detailed — dates, times, complete casts — all you need to know to make your plans. Of course there's no mention of possible cancellations, unexplained cast changes, or all the terrible things that can ruin an evening in the world of live opera.
As your Delos Insider, I have scanned the entire schedule for the inclusion of Delos artists. Here are the ones to remember:
Dmitri Hvorostovsky, our stellar baritone (DE 3290, DS 3290, DE 3292, DS 3292, DE 3289, DS 3289) will sing Giorgio Germont in ten performances of La Traviata and will be featured in the Saturday matinee broadcast of March 6, 2004.

Sergei Larin, Hermann in the Delos Queen of Spades (DE 3289, DS 3289) has two roles. Dimitri in Boris Godunov in seven performances, with a Saturday matinee broadcast on January 31, 2004; and The Prince in three performances of Rusalka with Renée Fleming, Saturday broadcast on May 8, 2004.

Beautiful Marina Domashenko (DE 3285, DS 3285), Delos mezzo assoluta, escapes from sunny Seville and endless Carmens to gloomy Mantua. She will sing Maddalena (another vamp!) in the Met's Rigoletto six times with a Saturday matinee broadcast on February 7, 2004.

It's all there, folks, on paper. With luck, these performances will happen, as predicted. Of course, in the world of opera there are always colds, flu, throat problems, late visas, and temperaments, so be prepared and keep tuned!