February 2007
This is Felix.
You know those times when you look at your watch, and it’s only about 8:15, and you say to yourself, “Oh, man, this is going to be a long, long, long evening!” This is one of them.
A highly-placed source for Opera Orchestra of New York has expressed the hope that all is not quite lost for the company. In an email sent to a long-time supporter of OONY this morning, the source concedes “big problems because of the dramatic drop in box office” and admits the board is “hard pressed to…
UPDATE: Opera Orchestra of New York music director Eve Queler has confided the sad news that the company is closing its doors permanently at the end of the current season to cast members of the upcoming L’arlesiana, La Cieca has just heard. Queler has reportedly spilled the beans to at least one other OONY mainstay,…
“I could not have been alone in the audience in responding with something like parental concern when [pianist Till] Fellner appeared onstage. Lanky, rail-thin, wholesome-looking and still boyish at 34, he seemed as shy and awkward as ever . . . . A regimen of free weights at a gym in Vienna, where Mr. Fellner…
In observance of the 100th anniversary of the Metropolitan Opera premiere of Madama Butterfly, La Cieca presents a podcast featuring the original cast of that production: Geraldine Farrar, Enrico Caruso and Antonio Scotti. The three superstars are heard in ten selections from Puccini’s score. Unnatural Acts of Opera
“At ‘Connect at the Met for Gay and Lesbian Singles,’ a social mixer at the Metropolitan Opera on February 2, prospective hookups sipped Champagne in between acts of Leos Janácek’s ‘Jenufa.’ This grim tragedy might seem unlikely to kindle thoughts of romance, but even those participants who failed to launch a relationship had the satisfaction…
La Cieca has just heard the delightful news that her #1 favorite singer of all time, Renata Scotto, will grace the airwaves as Quizmistress during the Met broadcast of Il trittico on April 28.
In the latest episode of Unnatural Act of Opera, deluxe diva Grace Bumbry wails in a lesser-known corner of her vast repertoire, two operas by Richard Strauss. In performances two decades apart, she takes on the title role of Salome (1978) and Klytemnestra in Elektra (1997). La Cieca’s generosity extends even farther, though. As bonus,…
The promotional trailer from Los Angeles Opera’s production of Mahagonny, starring the one-two punch of Audra MacDonald and Patti LuPone. (And Anthony Griffey makes three!)
Sad, sad, sad. When you do a Google News search for “paris and opera,” this is what you get.
Which diva has been secretly married for over a year to a male model barely half her age? Which diva (not the same one) is in talks to return to the Met in the same fach she “abandoned” over a decade ago? Which diva (neither of the above) seems to be inching her way out…
… is over, you can hear a performance of the winning entry in the Madlib challenge, devised and written by the lovely and talented Le Cerf Agile and performed by the Apocryphal Opera Anecdote Theater of the Air Players. The actors have informed La Cieca that they are honored to be performing such top-notch material,…
Our fourth and final runner-up in the Madlib competition. Do check back at Unnatural Acts of Opera later this evening when the Grand Prize winner’s creation will be performed as the latest episode of Apocryphal Opera Anecdote Theatre of the Air. Margaret Junktrunk Hello there and welcome to the Sirius Metropolitan Opera broadcast of Krzysztof…
Gian Carlo Menotti and Anja Silja, a match made in heaven.
Margaret Junktrunk Hello there, I’m your announcer Margaret Junktrunk. Welcome to the Sirius Metropolitan Opera broadcast of Benjamin Britten‘s beloved masterpiece Bangers and Mash, a work that illustrates the idea, first expressed by Julia Child, “Eat, drink and be Mary,” or, as the libretto puts it, “Mangia, mangia!” In today’s performance we will hear tenor…
Tenor Hugues Cuenod will get married early this year, La Cieca hears. Under a a new law legalizing same-sex unions in Switzerland, the veteran artist (age 104) and his long-time partner, a retired diplomat, have decided to tie the knot. Date and location are undisclosed at the moment.
Meet William Zauscher, a 21 year old student and web designer, who describes himself as “somewhat eccentric … artistically sensitive … a natural sense of musicality … creative.” La Cieca thinks William just might be her long lost son. (Thanks to AM for sending this link!)
Future plans for ur-diva Ewa Podles include Azucena in Il trovatore at Caramoor (July 2007) with Julianna D’Giacomo, Simon Neill, Daniel Sutin and Daniel Mobbs; then Orsini in Lucrezia Borgia in the spring of 2008 opposite Edita Gruberoba, Jose Bros and Ildebrando D’Arcangelo. A company debuts in Manhattan when Ottocento Opera presents a concert of…
Margaret Junktrunk Hello there! I’m your announcer Margaret Junktrunk. Welcome to the Sirius Metropolitan Opera broadcast of Ligeti‘s beloved masterpiece Tosca, a work that illustrates the idea, first expressed by Hegel, “A stitch in time saves nine,” or, as the libretto puts it, “Basta!” In today’s performance we will hear tenor Ian Bostridge, baritone Thomas…
Goya, a later (and lesser) work by Gian Carlo Menotti (1911-2007).
La Cieca is [adjective] to announce that over [number] of her cher public were moved to [blank] the “MadLibs” competition. The [adjective] five entries will win an [adjective] DVD for their authors. The first-among-equals grand prize winner’s composition will be performed on Unnatural Acts of Opera as the next installment of the “Apocryphal Opera Anecdote…
Tell us: Filth or dementia?
Hasten thee to feed another quarter of conversation for The Talk of the Town!
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