parterre box

More bad news for Alberto Vilar. The Royal Opera House has given him 60 days to pony up the 10 million pounds he promised in return for their naming a reception area of the theater “The Vilar Floral Hall.” (Is this guy the Gladys Glover of opera or what?)

Says Dame Judith Mayhew Jonas (chair of the ROH board of trustees, and, La Cieca likes to imagine, looking and sounding very like Dame Maggie Smith‘s character in Godford Park), “It is our intention to give notice to Mr Vilar according to the terms of the agreement, and indicate that if no further payments within the 60-day period are forthcoming we will absolve him of his liability to make his outstanding payments.” Which, translated into American, means, “Start sharpening your chisels, boys, we’ve got a plaque to remove!” More details on the Beeb’s website.

In other news, La Cieca has fixed the glitch that prevented iTunes from downloading the latest episodes of “Unnatural Acts of Opera.” If there are any shows you have missed, please email La Cieca and she’ll send you a direct link for download.