It took Bridget Jones practically no time at all to guess the correct answer to our most recent Regie quiz: the opera depicted was indeed Die Walküre.
So now can you tell La Cieca which opera is being performed here?
And do remember, everyone: guesses only! If you know the production, sit this one out!
Your doyenne continues to marvel at the riches preserved on YouTube. A random browse this evening turned up a particularly rare gem: a snippet of Aïda as performed by legendary Romanian divas Virginia Zeani and Elena Cernei.
[kml_flashembed movie="http://youtube.com/v/NyzITAvcuAk" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]
Those muckraking scamps over at Opera News are at it again, quoting a in their June issue a particularly inflammatory passage from the mad gay diaries of mad gay Cecil Beaton. Dear Cecil, you will recall, designed the Met’s celebrated 1961 production of Turandot that starred Birgit Nilsson. It seems that mere critical and popular success left Beaton still rather tetchy, because he wrote:
I knew that Nilsson was an ugly tasteless Lesbian, but I was to learn of her stupidity. I had designed a wash-like make-up for her to assume an imperious impervious impersonality. At the first dress rehearsal when photographers were present, I was amazed that such an ugly woman could be transformed into an impassive object…
Well, now comes the outrage over at opera-l, though La Cieca wonder a bit at the specific complaint of the outragees. Apparently it’s okay to call La Nilsson “ugly,” “tasteless” or stupid, but “Lesbian,” well, that’s beyond the pale. (Or even beyond the paleness of the “wash-like makeup,” whatever that might be. La Cieca doesn’t think Martha Wash was around at that time, so that’s probably not it.)
Anyway, who knows if Nilsson was gay, and, more to the point, why should we care one way or the other? Were solid evidence to appear that the great Wagnerian led a closeted double life, well, that might be important for the sake of historical accuracy if nothing else. But La Cieca is at best reticent to take Cecil Beaton’s word on who was a lesbian (with or without the capital “L”) and who was not. The man dated Greta Garbo, after all, so his gaydar could probably have used some calibrating.
Cher public, La Cieca can hardly believe that the musical event of the season has slipped her mind until just this very minute. She is talking, of course, about the concert tonight in Prospect Park by (in alphabetical order) Roberto Alagna and Angela Gheorghiu. The Thirteen/WNET website helpfully notes that “Gheorghiu and Alagna aren’t strangers to each other. The pair performed together in Charles François Gounod’s ‘Romeo & Juliette,’ which appeared on GREAT PERFORMANCES.” (La Cieca knew she’d seem them together somewhere!) The site also features a charming photo of the pair modeling their fashion choices for the concert. As you [...]
Following a performance of Lucia in San Francisco, Our Own “sassy bald” High C’s models the notorious blood-stained t-shirt for none other than Natalie Dessay.
Our Own JJ chats with pal Dorothy Bishop about her upcoming cabaret “Viva la Diva.” [kml_flashembed movie="http://youtube.com/v/o_NYvOYmpoI" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /] “Viva la Diva” graces the stage of the Zipper Factory Theater on June 29 at 3:00 PM. Online booking is available through OvationTix.
“Even though opera is an anachronism, a centuries-old art form replete with some of the creakiest plots imaginable, in 2008 opera – at least the Met Opera– is where the action is.” An alternative (or perhaps a response) to the Wall Street Journal‘s dire prognostications may be found in an analysis of the Met’s current financial position by Ben Rosen at The Huffington Post.
In celebration of the recent Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical, the New York Times puts their best man on the case, with exactly the adjective-engorged result you might predict: Out of Opera’s Cradle, Hunky Broadway Babies. “Back then, audiences were willing to lean forward and pay attention.”
Cher Public