October 2006
Ewa Podles shows how it’s done.
UPDATE: Per Robert Tuggle of the Met archives, the “cancellation” of Millo’s Gioconda broadcast was actually a clerical error in the database. The show (and the Sirius) go on as planned on Wednesday night! Now, this is puzzling. As we all know, next Wednesday’s Met performance of La Gioconda (featuring Aprile Millo in the title…
Not to poach on Bill Phair‘s territory, but… Ready or not, here comes Patti!
JJ’s take on the Met’s current productions of Faust and La Gioconda is now on the web at Gay City News.
As if the season were not glamorous enough, it’s already time for “The Second Annual F. Paul Driscoll Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Excellence,” or, as some insist on calling the prize, “The Opera News Awards.” (No zing, no zazz, no punch…) Anyway, the lucky honorees this year are “Wagnerian tenor Ben…
… isn’t all bad, La Cieca hears. Scheduled for Toulouse in 2008, Anna Caterina Antonacci as Norma, opposite Sophie Koch as Adalgisa.
The legendary Florence Foster Jenkins, who until recently held the title “America’s Most Delusional Diva,” has gone bicoastal. The delightful play with music Souvenir, a “fantasia” on the life and exploits of La Jenkins, opens October 12 at the Brentwood Theater in Los Angeles for a month-long stint. Recreating her Tony-nominated turn as FFJ is…
To paraphrase only slightly La Cieca’s dear friend Mrs. Lloyd Richards, “This beats all world’s records for running, standing and jumping Gaul!” Yes, cher public, that day we have all dreaded will soon arrive, because, so La Cieca hears, the contracts have been signed for a new production of Norma in Zurich, to be televised…
Okay, maybe not all that mysterious, but it’s a very cool skin design for Unnatural Acts of Opera, plus what La Cieca hopes will be a more user-friendly interface. You can try out the new podcast player here, or skip on over to Unnatural Acts of Opera for the new player’s debut presentation, a 1969…
Our own JJ reacts to his recent “maple syrup enema” in Gay City News.
Ethel Merman as Hanna Glawari?
Which young diva’s career ascent has been (if not completely, certainly a lot) via her alleged willingness to let the intendant of a certain European opera house into her trousers? Her star turns under his regime have not been well reviewed (as a whole) and her detractors whisper that even her upcoming U.S. engagements would…
The Deutsche Oper, which last week cancelled a production for fear of protests by Muslims, announced Wednesday it was reinstating their Hans Neuenfels production of Idomeneo, but set no date. Opera house spokesman Alexander Busche said, “The earliest slot for the production is in December, but first we need an okay about security from the…
“Super Drag Diva” Shequida (pictured here with unidentified gogomeat) will make all kinds of history on December 16 and 17 when she sings her first Komponist in performances of Ariadne auf Naxos at Merkin Concert Hall. This co-production by Ensemble du Monde, Opera Noire of New York and Pegasus Opera of London will also feature…
It looks like La Cieca spoke too soon. Dr. Jonathan Miller‘s 2004 announcement of his farewell to opera direction has turned out to be, like so much the good doctor says, a load of bullshit. “England is obsessed with the cutting edge, the new thing, and if you’re as old as I am, you’re assumed…
The Sirius Metropolitan Opera Radio website now includes a schedule of performances for the upcoming week. For details on who sings what in the archival offerings, you can turn to the Metopera Database.
This just in: the Met will offer $20 “rush” tickets to selected Monday – Thursday performances beginning with the tomorrow’s season premiere of Faust. According to a release from the Met’s press department, 200 Orchestra seats — regularly priced at $100 — will be offered at $20 per ticket at the Met box office beginning…
Now playing on Sirius Satellite Radio, the January 17, 1973 performance of Norma with the following stellar cast … Norma: Montserrat Caballé; Pollione: Carlo Cossutta; Adalgisa: Fiorenza Cossotto; Oroveso: Giorgio Tozzi; Flavio: Charles Anthony; Clotilde: Carlotta Ordassy. Conductor: Carlo Felice Cillario. (So, don’t you think now is a good time to check out the Free…
In the current issue of the New Yorker, Alex Ross offers a thoughtful response to the Met’s Butterfly and related Gelberei.
Unnatural Acts of Opera salutes bass-baritone Thomas Stewart with selections from Der Fliegende Hollaender, Die Meistersinger, Die Walkuere, Arabella, and American songs.
Tell us: Filth or dementia?
Hasten thee to feed another quarter of conversation for The Talk of the Town!
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