Which suave singer, perhaps distracted by his not-so-noble legal problems, suffered a meltdown at a public master class this weekend, repeatedly snarling “motherfucker” at his startled students? Shocked witnesses swore that the event should have been retitled “I hear America swearing!”
… down at Carnegie Hall. Or will be, on October 14, when the soprano performs a solo recital at the venerated venue. Details are sketchy at the moment, but La Millo is always good for golden-age tone and demeanor. Diva-fanciers should find themselves either run ragged or in heaven that week (depending on the quality of their disco naps), since Carnegie also plays host to Renee Fleming (singing Daphne October 15) and Cecilia Bartoli (an all-baroque chamber music program on the 19th).
The notorious 1969 Met broadcast of Lucia di Lammermoor, featuring Anna Moffo in, uh, unusual voice, will be webcast by Concertzender this afternoon beginning at 1 PM EDT. Sorry for the late notice, but this is worth at least a partial listen. For those of you who keep up with these things, Nicolai Gedda and Renato Bruson are also featured, in their usual excellent form. (This information gleaned from the indispensable Operacast site.)
Gold, Silver and Bronze Medalistsin the Helen Traubel lookalike contest Goetterdaemmullet!
La Cieca has to think of a new term that means “information I didn’t previously know, but at the same time is not at all surprising.” For example, Jane Eaglen belches backstage and wears peculiar shoes — per Trrill.
Vivaldi’s Motezuma, the opera that refuses to die, will grace the boards after all, says an article by Paul Moor at Musicalamerica.com. A court in Duesseldorf has held that the Altstadtherbst Festival in that city may stage the piece, regardless of a previous injunction against performances filed by the “copyright owner,” the Berliner Sing-Akademie. (The court apparently regarded the case as rather urgent, since it took the unusual step of calling an Eilverfahren, a type of expedited hearing, to settle the matter.) This is an interesting legal problem. The Sing-Akademie claims copyright under a German law that an ancient work [...]
La Cieca has just heard that Carol Vaness has canceled her performances of Ariane et Barbe-Bleu at the New York City Opera this fall due to “injury.” The opening night of this Dukas production is scheduled for October 6, less than six weeks from now, and the word is that NYCO is scrambling rather intensely to find someone, anyone who knows this long, heavy and (above all) obscure role. (The only two names that La Cieca can think of are Geraldine Farrar and Grace Bumbry, and rumor has it neither of them is really enthusiastic about working with Leon Botstein.) [...]
“While humor and story telling can warm any occasion, a good scoop spreads through a room like an illicit and irresistible drug, passed along in nods and crooked smiles, in discreet walks out to the balcony, the corridor, the powder room.” La Cieca is delighted to learn that gossip is the new meth, at least according to the New York Times. (The article goes on to explain why gossip is also sort of like being at a military academy, which frankly is just getting a little too stimulating for poor La Cieca on a sultry day like today.)
Cher Public