Angela Gheorghiu sings “La vie en rose” at the Paris Garnier Gala conducted by Ion Marin, New Year’s Eve 2006.
The final act of Loreley is hardly the only attraction on the current episode of Unnatural Acts of Opera. La Cieca also salutes the birthdays of three of the greatest sopranos of all time, and, can you believe it, presides over the return of one of your all-time favorite features, “The Enigmas of La Cieca.” Once more, cher public, you can play “opera quiz” from the comfort and safety of your own lovely homes, without the difficultly of slogging through the snow to List Hall, or, for that matter, the difficulty of slugging Anthony Laciura once you get there. (Who knew it was possible to channel Eddie Cantor? Who knew anyone wanted to?) But anyway, as La Cieca was saying, do lend an ear to the new Unnatural Acts of Opera, listen to La Cieca’s enigma, and (if you dare) send you answer to the question to lacieca@parterre.com. The first correct response received will win a tantalizing gift from handelmania.com.
YouTube starlet William Zauscher has returned, this time in a more divacentric mood.
A quick perusal of the website of Giuseppe Filianoti suggests that the honey-toned tenor might well be dubbed “the Nathan Gunn of Italy.” Well, that’s not completely accurate, because Filianoti doesn’t take off his shirt in every operatic role. But even without singing, he does make something utterly poetic of the dying Werther:
The legendary French soprano celebrates her 80th birthday today.
Currently on Unnatural Acts of Opera, the ravishing Loreley by Alfredo Catalani in a performance from La Scala in 1968. Heading the cast is perhaps the definitive “meteoric” diva, Elena Suliotis. La Cieca remembers as a tiny child seeing this late ’60s photo of La Suliotis and thinking that she had to be the most glamorous star ever, with her frosted bouffant, nude lips and Barbara Parkins eyeshadow. And in this Loreley she sounds utterly glamorous as well! Unnatural Acts of Opera
On Tuesday, in the criminal courthouse in lower Manhattan, Jerry Hadley was cleared of the DUI charge for which he was arraigned on May 10 of last year. After months of procedural appearances in court, the tenor was exonerated when the District Attorney’s office moved for dismissal.
Now who, of all people, do you think spent all day today in a hush-hush meeting with George Manahan over at the New York City Opera? (Do you remember the New York City Opera? It’s that other company in Lincoln Center, the one people used to pay a lot of attention to before Peter Gelb took over the Met.) But back to the subject at hand. Manahan’s all-day tête-à-tête partner was Gérard Mortier, so La Cieca hears. And so La Cieca repeats, though for the life of her she can’t figure out what this is all about. Unless it’s the [...]
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