August 2007
La Cieca hears that Rolando Villazón, who recently canceled his Salzburg Festival appearances citing “long-term illness” (“einer längerfristigen Erkrankung”), may pull out of the Met’s fall revival of Roméo et Juliette as well. The tenor is scheduled for five performances of the Gounod opera between September 25 and October 11, followed by another four in…
In what La Cieca chooses to believe is a warmup for the title role of Simon Boccanegra, Plácido Domingo will appear as “Himself” on an episode of The Simpsons to air in the fall of 2007. According to PlaybillArts, the tenor/maestro/intendant will figure into a storyline concerning Homer Simpson‘s midlife career change to singing opera.…
Which one of these things is not like the others? [Nathan] Gunn is part of a new generation of performers, including Russian soprano Anna Netrebko, British soprano Kate Royal and Peruvian tenor Juan Diego Florez, who have helped fuel a debate about the physical attributes of opera singers. Once again, La Cieca’s Rule of Journalistic…
The latest participant in the “Am I the Casta Diva Type?” competition is the lovely Anna Netrebko. Here, from a concert on July 28, is her first public performance of the Bellini aria. Anna Netrebko sings “Casta diva” Comments?
It’s the Roberto Alagna workout! (Via Parsifal’s)
Update: beginning tonight on Unnatural Acts of Opera (2007 edition), a return to Italian opera, with one of today’s most controversial cult divas starring as (what else) a conflicted queen. Nelly Miricioiu sings the role of Elisabetta I in Donizetti’s Roberto Devereux, in a 2002 performance from the Royal Opera, Covent Garden. La Cieca has…
In response to overwhelming listener demand, La Cieca is making the older Unnatural Acts podcasts available through RSS subscription. We begin with the first season, 2005. The RSS address for this season’s podcasts is http://parterre.com/podcast/2005_archive.rss. La Cieca will update the iTunes podcast directory later this evening so you can subscribe to the archive there —…
Tell us: Filth or dementia?
Hasten thee to feed another quarter of conversation for The Talk of the Town!
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