parterre box

In an article in the LA Times focused mainly on Placido Domingo‘s renewal of his contract as general director of Los Angeles Opera, the tenor blames his current bout of tracheitis on his participation in Robert Wilson‘s production of Parsifal last fall. Domingo has already nixed his participation in a Wilson Walkuere skedded for Paris in April, but he’s planning on performing Cyrano at the Met on March 8 — barring a fresh attack of Wilsonoma, presumably.

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According to Gay City News, our editor JJ loved Angela Gheorghiu‘s Violetta, and he was more than a little enthused about Herr Jonas Kaufmann. Le public have spoken, and they want their video to stream quickly and reliably. So save this bookmark and visit frequently: it’s the parterre box page at Google Video. Here’s a sample of the new content:

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So now Google offers a video sharing service too — a little more trouble to upload, but the playback seems to be somewhat smoother than YouTube. This is a Google video; let La Cieca know what you think.

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This week on “Unnatural Acts of Opera,” La Cieca presents what you might call an “ultragala” performance of La traviata — the four acts performed by four different celebrated interpreters of the role of Violetta. For the first act, Anna Moffo is the courtesan, in a 1964 performance from La Scala. Gianni Raimondi is her Alfredo, and Herbert von Karajan conducts. Before the act, La Cieca welcomes into the studio a legendary lady of the American legitimate theater, Miss Tallulah Bankhead, who favors us with a reading of a scene from the play Camille. Unnatural Acts of Opera

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The performance of Angela Gheorghiu as Violetta has attracted the attention of another Violetta of the present (Anna Netrebko), who will likely be a future interpreter of the role here in New York. And at least one Violetta of a past generation is expected to pay a courtesy call: Virginia Zeani has accepted an invitation to one of Gheorghiu’s performances later this month. La Cieca has succumbed to Gheorghiu fever as well, posting clips of her Marguerite on YouTube.

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Mike Richter is at it again, this time producing some very polished DVD presentations of operatic productions that are not available commerically. At only $15 a disc, Image Mogul is practically giving them away. Here’s a clip from one of the more mainstream offerings, a 1978 Don Carlo from La Scala with Placido Domingo and Margaret Price.

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Not that La Cieca begrudges Jessye Norman her Grammy Award (she’s pictured celebrating in Tokyo after the ceremonies), but, honestly, what all has La Jess achieved in her lifetime that she should be given a Lifetime Achievement award? Certainly Norman’s has been a very visible and well-publicized career, but when La Cieca talks about a lifetime of achievement (not to mention “monstres sacrés”), she tends to mean performers like Dame Gwyneth Jones and Leonie Rysanek. And talk about them La Cieca does, on this week’s “Unnatural Acts of Opera.” The featured opera is Elektra with Mmes. Jones and Rysanek as [...]

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