Long before Matthias Goerne got all girly on us, popera megastar Andrea Bocelli (remember him?) dipped his wick into Wagner chick-lit. This is according to our colleague Nick Scholl at trrill.com, who goes on to snark re crossover and trannies. A link to Kirsten Flagstad showing us How It Should Be Done ensues.
That classic Mozart/da Ponte warning against the dangers of the heterosexual lifestyle, Don Giovanni, is the basis for La Cieca’s next podcast. It’s an example of what is called “big house Mozart” — in other words, Mozart performed in a grand opera house, with full-voiced Verdian and Wagnerian singers, and in general overlaid with a Romantic sensibility. The venue is the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, and the date is February 19, 1962. Georg Solti wields the baton, and the lavish casting includes Cesare Siepi, Geraint Evans, and what must be both the most starry and the best-contrasted trio of leading ladies ever assembled: Leyla Gencer, Sena Jurinac and Mirella Freni. Unnatural Acts of Opera.
Rolando Villazon says he’s willing to do nudity, but only if it’s called for in the story of the opera. Might La Cieca hope that such a plot-driven rationale be found to get budding hunkentenor Stephen Costello to strip off during OONY’s Guglielmo Tell this Sunday? Well, perhaps not. But (so La Cieca heard at the recent Liciathon) Costello sounds perfectly spectacular even when fully clothed, and surely, nudity or no nudity, will be a standout in the cameo role of the Fisherman. So La Cieca is willing to compromise: how about jeans and a ripped wifebeater? All right, with wading boots, that’s something a fisherman might wear. . .
UPDATE: He talks, too!
La Cieca is feeling more and more doyenne-y by the day as she sees so many young bloggers sprouting up like so many tender little, uh, sprouts. Off to a rousing start is wellsung.blogspot.com, written by two little gay boys (or gay-vague boys) named Jonathan and Alex. La Cieca assumes they’re gay because they write like this: I like to keep [my opera tickets] in a little pile and re-sort them now and then by date. I’ll even flip through them on occasion and look up the seat locations on that terrific flash w/pdf detail seating chart on the Met [...]
La Cieca works from time to time with (as dear Zinka would say) “young sinkers,” i.e., aspiring operatic talent. The harsh truth is that the average young artist has about as much chance of winning King Kong Millions as she (the group is overwhelmingly female) does of building a major career. With such an insane level of competition, even getting an audition is considered a coup. In order to improve their chances, singers network obsessively, tweak headshots and repertoire lists, and even attend (expensive) workshops on how to “position” themselves in the market. Once in a while, an artist comes [...]
La Cieca’s latest episode of Unnatural Acts of Opera features Aprile Millo. The occasion is her upcoming appearance at Alice Tully Hall here in New York on November 12 — a concert performance of Leoncavallo’s verismo gem Zaza with the Teatro Grattacielo. The podcast features selections from two previous concert opera performances by Miss Millo: Verdi’s I Lombardi (1986) and Ponchielli’s La Gioconda (2004).
A reliable source informs La Cieca that Jossie Perez will now sing no performances of the Met’s Romeo et Juliette. At the moment, she’s still listed on the Met’s web site for seven of the season’s scheduled 11 performances, but that may be just until her sub has signed on the dotted line. As reported here previously, Joyce DiDonato gets the prima of this new production. UPDATE: As of Sunday night, Perez is now out of all fall performances; she’s still skedded for the spring revival including the broadcast. And La Cieca is now officially going to stop obsessing about [...]
La Cieca hears that Patti Lupone will make her role debut as Mama Rose in Gypsy next summer at the Ravinia Festival. La Lupone has previously graced the festival’s Sondheim series with her performances of Desiree Armfelt, Fosca, Mrs. Lovett and Cora Hoover Hoople. In the future — perhaps Joanne in Company?UPDATE: La Lupone muses on the definition of diva in an interview with Newsweek.
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