Headshot of La Cieca

Cher Public

  • Regina delle fate: It’s not her first staged Cleo. That was in Zurich two or three seasons ago, I think. 6:59 PM
  • phoenix: Of course it is – and with the latest Salzburg Pfingstfestspiele Carbon-fiber Heating Technology!... 6:41 PM
  • PushedUpMezzo: That is not an option, ROH. Lance Ryan, Skelton, Begley, O’Neill, Daszak,perhaps a... 6:33 PM
  • PushedUpMezzo: Cecilia is certainly more viable than Natalie. But over both I favour Karina Gauvin or Carolyn... 6:26 PM
  • bobsnsane: Is that a crotch rocket? 6:19 PM
  • mrmyster: Point taken, Monty, but Voigt in FDW? Ouch! I think that is an exception to your generalization,... 6:17 PM
  • MontyNostry: Maybe she can take over as Cleopatra if Dessay cancels at the Met next season. With Jonathan Miller... 6:15 PM
  • phoenix: Ha! Do you really think that overblown warhouse Bartoli singing that even more overblown old warhorse of... 6:07 PM

a regie, a bone and a hank of hair

Guesses poured in for our most recent Regie quiz, but correct reponses were few and far between. The opera is in fact Martin’s Una cosa rara, and (credit where credit is due) the handsome though bewildering photographs were by Ken Howard.

A more familiar title graces the quiz this time around. The imagery, however, is among the most obscure thus far.  Reminder: if you recognize the production, please DO NOT blurt it out. The point of the quiz is guessing!

new doyenne in town

Members of the cher public indigenous to the District of Columbia and its environs will welcome Anne Midgette as music critic for the Washington Post, as leaked this morning on Ionarts.  In fact, Midgett’s full-time appointment is good news on a national scale, given the media’s current scary cutbacks in arts coverage.

The scribe’s current less than cheerful assignment is to write the obituary of legendary press representative Edgar Vincent, whom Midgette describes as the “antithesis of the stereotypical loud-mouth, attention-hungry PR rep.”

defying gravidity

Pregnancy certainly seems to agree with Anna Netrebko!

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a summer place

While your doyenne is busy this weekend with “Viva la Diva!” you, cher public, may want to spend a few suspenseful moments perusing the latest iteration of Brad Wilber‘s MetFutures, hosted for the summer at Sieglinde’s Diaries.

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bellini as a series of ones and zeroes

What looks to be the Next Big Thing coming from the Met: offering their audio and video content for download a la iTunes. La Cieca is not clear on the details of this new program, but a job listing has just gone up on metopera.org for a Digital Producer who will be responsible for the web interface for “Met Digital subscription and rental sales.”

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szot out

According to the blog AfterElton.com, Tony Award-winning barihunk Paulo Szot “is an out gay man.” Writer Brian Juergens says the blog “contacted his publicist and were told that yes, he is gay, and we’re welcome to say as much.”

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golden guy

Happy birthday to indefatigable maestro James Levine, who is 65 today!

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boy meets girl

Two superstars of the 21st century, Diana Damrau and Juan Diego Flórez, bring exciting new life to a classic of the 19th century, Verdi’s Rigoletto. This new production of the warhorse was heard Saturday night in Dresden. Regie is by Nikolaus Lehnhoff and musical direction is by Fabio Luisi. [kml_flashembed movie="http://youtube.com/v/PiyaNoNxOYY" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]

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