parterre box

La Cieca has just heard that Jossie Perez has been canned from the prima of the Met’s new production of Romeo et Juliette. A source at the company says that the mezzo was protested by maestro Bertrand de Billy. The plum of singing the trouser role of Stephano on the opening night goes to Joyce DiDonato, who saved the Met’s bacon earlier this month when she agreed on short notice to stand by for the ailing Olga Borodina in La Cenerentola.

DiDonato reportedly will take home an extra-fat paycheck for learning Stephano on short notice and singing the first two performances. Romeo opens two weeks from Monday, and Perez rejoins the cast on November 21. No word yet who will jump into DiDonato’s Cherubino performances between now and then.

“Newcomers to opera sometimes don’t get the appeal of a dramatic form with so few surprises. Audiences know how Tosca ends before the performance even begins. Earlier this month, though, two operas provided some measure of suspense.” JJ’s latest reviews in Gay City News.

So it seems Opera Ireland was shipping sets and costumes for a borrowed Traviata production from Germany to Dublin. A routine customs check of the hoopskirts and chaises longues turned up an interesting if non-traditional prop: a 6 kilo bag of cocaine worth about half a million Euros. Since this was not a Christopher Alden production, the customs officials concluded that the drugs didn’t belong in Traviata and so must be evidence of smuggling. According to Ireland On-Line, Director of Opera Ireland David Calopy complained that his troupe, in residence at the aptly-named Gaiety Theatre, “were now in a very difficult position because the theatre company needs the goods that remain impounded for their upcoming season.” Believe me, Mr. Calopy, La Cieca feels your pain.

The only thing better than knowing that a singer has had the greatest Sternstunde of her career is having that performance documented. Montserrat Caballe’s Norma at Orange, for example, which is one of truly must-have DVDs for any true opera fanatic. Now, Dame Gwyneth Jones has had many great nights in her amazing career, but it’s hard to imagine she (or anyone else!) could ever top her performance as the Dyer’s Wife in this 1980 Frau ohne Schatten from the Paris Opera. Voice, commitment, acting, and La Jones’s remarkable physical beauty are at their peak: this is a definitive Faerberin. And it’s not as if Jones is carrying the whole show. The luxurious cast includes Hildegard Behrens (Kaiserin), Rene Kollo (Kaiser), Walter Berry (Barak), Mignon Dunn (Amme) and Franz Grundheber (Geisterbote), under the baton of Christoph von Dohnanyi. Unnatural Acts of Opera.

La Cieca has found her new theme song.

DEAD RINGER
“Loved? You’ve never loved anyone but yourself!”

UPDATE: Not only are Gli Alagni scheduled for Aida at La Scala in 2006 (as noted yesterday), La Cieca has just heard that Peter Gelb has promised them a new production of Carmen at the Met in 2009-10. And, yes, Gheorghiu is the Carmen, not the Micaela. This is all at least four years in the future, so don’t book your tickets yet. Actually, this tidbit could have waited a few days (or years) but La Cieca wanted an excuse to post the scrummy photo of Bobby as Radames. Doesn’t he look like he’s about to say, “My father rules many lands and peoples, and that is why they call me Prince?”

La Cieca has just heard that the honor of opening the 2006 La Scala season will go to Angela Gheorghiu and Roberto Alagna, who will grace a new production of Aida. Please let La Cieca be the first to congratulate maestro Riccardo Chailly for persuading these two megastars to take on the roles of the Priestess and the Messenger — now, who do you think he will get for the leads?

The most reliable source of all (i.e., himself) states that a long-term career goal for Rolando Villazon is … Wagner. Don’t panic yet; he’s talking Lohengrin sometime around 2015, as reported at Mouvement Nouveau.

parterre box fave Aprile Millo is on WQXR tonight at 9:05 PM EDT in a broadcast of a concert given for the George London Foundation. Sharing the bill are tenor Garrett Sorenson and Ken Noda on the 88s. You can listen in to the excitement here.