Gloomy Thursday
On this day of Thanksgiving, there are so many things for which La Cieca would like to give thanks. But enough about that. Here’s one thing for which La Cieca would like to say, “Thanks, but no thanks.”
Among the participants in this year’s Macy’s Thanksgiving parade: none other than The Beautiful Voice, or, as she is identified on NBC.com, “Renee Fleming, Grandma from the Big Apple Circus.” Fleming will lip-synch “America the Beautiful,” backed by an Army chorus and band. Also on hand will be Super Grover, SpongeBob SquarePants and Healthy Mr. Potato Head, who will perform scenes from Massenet’s Cleopatre.
I’m not really sure if I follow all the jokes, Cieca…but if someone with a decent voice is going to perform anything from Massenet’s Cleopatre, I really want to know who and where because it is one of my FAVORITE operas.
Dear Tenore,
Take another big bite of pecan pie and laugh. (Don’t choke.) Just be thankful on this day that we have a site like this where there is so much deLISHous humor at play.
As an exile in rural Flyoverville, I am sooo grateful for the Internet, for operacast.com, for the Met on Sirius, for the Audacity software that allows me to download and burn CDs of whatever I want. (And for my Aunt Dainty’s pecan pies.)
j’ai froid… j’ai froid…
Poor Renee – unlike the Thanksgiving turkey, she gets stuffed and roasted all year round here.
Let’s be positive and give thanks for the wonderful Met rebroadcasts that we are now getting.
I’m surprised I haven’t seen many comments here about them. What a stupendous Verdi soprano the young Leontyne Price was! And the Verdi baritones that we had around in the 50′s and 60′s: Warren, MacNeil, Merrill. Wow.
I’ll take Colzani’s Tonio anyday over any I’ve heard since Milnes. Albanese sure enjoyed those high notes, didn’t she? Can anyone come up with the right adjetive for Verrett’s big scene in L’Assedio? And what can be said about the Sonnambula of the young Sutherland? Or Caballe and Cossotto in Norma? Did anyone notice that Farrell skipped the high C at the end of Cavalleria?
Happy Thanksgiving to all.
Unforunately La Couric is no longer with NBC, so we didn’t get a chance to see Renaaay and Kateee on the split-screen, a la Bette in “A Stolen Life.”
even gloomier news … Betty Comden is dead. So sad. One of the true greats.
Renee was a thankfully short blight on one of my favorite activities – cooking Thanksgiving dinner while watching the parade. She sounded like crap. OTOH, Julie Andrews can now sustain some tones in her chest voice, and was her captivating self in her small segment. I’ll take the vestiges of Julie over Renee any day.
verrett is sensational in L’assedio, for sure. too bad they didn’t use the extended scena as in the one horne recorded. it was so short!
how could Cleopatre be your favorite opera? there’s only one recording of the damn thing…