Neither is opera-related, but La Cieca just can’t help herself.
Nothing really changes.
A little bird high in the rarefied air of the Rockies informs La Cieca that James Robinson “will be named come September as the new Artistic Director of Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, a post held until this Spring by the late and laudable Colin Graham.”
Robinson is perhaps best remembered here in New York as the guy who knocked up Lucia di Lammermoor.
UPDATE: In a press release embargoed until 5 p.m. Thursday, Opera Colorado announced Robinson’s resignation as Artistic Director to assume “a new position at another American opera company but [he] declined to discuss the specifics as a courtesy to that company until their official announcement next month.”
Opera Colorado’s President and General Director, Peter Russell is also resigning. Stepping up to the plate will be Greg Carpenter, currently Director of Development, as the company’s Executive Director.
In fact, the opera is anything but obscure. But the performance has been seen only rarely since 1956.
Roberto Alagna will jump — no, not into the swimming pool, but rather into the first two performances (September 25 and 29) of the Met’s fall revival of Roméo et Juliette, replacing Rolando Villazón who has withdrawn due to illness. The Met’s press office officially announced Villazón’s cancellation today, though regular parterre.com readers knew all about it last week. The role of Roméo remains TBA for the performances on October 3, 6 and 11; Villazón remains on the roster for the winter stint of performances including the HD simulcast.
The delightful and greatly missed Madeline Kahn explains how she almost became an opera singer. The complete version of this 1985 Opera Quiz, also featuring Kitty Carlisle Hart and Charles Nelson Reilly, can be found on Veoh. com.
As La Cieca whispered earlier this week, Rolando Villazón is going to cancel at least the fall portion of his Met Roméo engagement. This morning PlaybillArts.com says the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette is reporting a statement from the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra that the tenor is “ill and has been instructed by his doctor to cancel all performances for the next two to three months in order to make a complete recovery.” In happier news, Anna Netrebko‘s lissome larynx seems to be healing nicely, thank you. The diva (reports PlaybillArts) plans to go ahead with a four-city German tour this month, albeit minus [...]
Nelly Miricioiu sings the second act of Roberto Devereux plus the finale of Rossini’s Ermione in the current episode of Unnatural Acts of Opera. Representing the German wing, Martha Moedl is seen in a rare television appearance, performing Lieder by Wagner and Wolf, discussing her career, and performing a scene from Mahagonny. It’s all at Unnatural Acts of Opera.
From the 1983 public access TV show “Stairway to Stardom,” a singer with a fabulous name, Giuseppe Taormina. You know, a name like that is very hard to live up to, and, what do you know, live up to it he doesn’t.
Cher Public