Yes indeed, cher public, there will be a chat (or, given the length of the work, perhaps a symposium) tonight during the premiere of Götterdämmerung from the Met. Read more »
Which soprano, whose honeyed voice has been heard at the Met as a cover and in second casts, is about to receive the Beverly Sills Artist Award just as she sings her first official performance of a starring Verdi role?

Performing Die Meistersinger in concert is a little like doing Shakespeare on the radio. The opera’s portrayals of human foibles and its palpable sense of community can leach away in a format that restricts the interplay between characters and is focused entirely on the music. There also are logistical and acoustic challenges cramming such a large cast on a stage with a Wagner orchestra and sizable chorus. Read more »
The season brochure for Carnegie Hall 2012-2013 features as its cover a photo of La Scoopenda that appears to be an outtake from a Self magazine shoot.
Giordano’s opera Andrea Chénier is an absurdity. Its story, a ferociously fictionalized account of the life of the aforementioned French poet during the Reign of Terror following the Revolution, beggars credulity at almost every plot point.
“I remember thinking, ‘Do these people know that some of that good singing and good acting they just saw came from hours and hours of introducing somebody to the part, or to confronting contradictory ideas with people who had been doing it for a long time?’”
La Cieca hopes she hasn’t disturbed the cher public with her delayed arrival for this week’s off-topic and general conversation post.
La Forza del Destino is unlucky indeed to find itself the subject of David Pountney’s 2008 production for the Wiener Staatsoper, now available on DVD from Unitel Classics.
Cher Public