parterre box

La Cieca (not pictured) is delighted to note that the delightful and learned Nicholas Limansky (also not pictured) will grace the stage of the next Vocal Record Collectors Society meeting to explore the controversial topic of extended or “freak” sopranos. The main topic of his talk will of course be the Peruvian songbird Yma Sumac, but he will include other voices of this controversial Fach.  Details of time and location for the VRCS meeting may be found here. Nick is of course familiar to the cher public for his notable tome Yma Sumac: The Art Behind the Legend.

Speaking of which, here’s an example of the Sumac legend pushing its way in front of the art: a temperament-based walkout on an evening when the “Princess of the Andes” was in terrific voice!

August 30 is the anniversary of the birth of a famous Quickly: Regina Resnik!

And here we have Mme. Resnik in a campy mood, sending up the faux-exoticism of Kismet.

Not Since Nineveh!

In honor of the 158th anniversary of the premiere of Lohengrin, Unnatural Acts of Opera presents a performance of the Wagnerian work from Vienna in 1965 under the baton of Dr. Karl Böhm.

Lohengrin, Act 1

It seems our lovely Shequida was not what the judges were looking for, not that night, anyway.

 

La Cieca about to try one of those 21st century activities all the kids are talking about, and no, it’s not chugging Nyquil. Your doyenne is going to use crowdsourcing (that is, put you cher public to work as reporters) to cover the Met’s Opening Night Gala on September 22, 2008 at 6:30 pm.  Since this once-in-a-lifetime edition of the Fleming Follies is being rolled out as a multmedia visual, auditory and olfactory experience, it is only fitting that parterre.com should cover it in depth, not to mention glory.

So here’s the plan.  We definitely need someone in the theater for the gala beginning at 6:30 equipped with a text-enabled phone or Blackberry-ish device to send us breaking news.  (Volunteers?)  Further,  La Cieca would like to hear from at least a couple of you queens who will be watching the HD Theater Simulcast to fill us in on details of the couture frocks and the backstage mishegas. The spectacle will also be transmitted via Sirius, during which La Cieca promises one of her good old-fashioned home-cooked live chats.

Have you, member of the cher public, a special angle or point of view you’d like to express on this night of nights? Email La Cieca with the idea for your story; the writer of the best pitch selected and published will win a coveted amazon.com gift card!

“I think that there will be an increased desire in the future to hear great singing again. Certain operas rise and fall on having the requisite vocal chops, and no degree of theatrical energy or physical glamor can replace this.” So says is IMG Artists Vice President and Artist Manager Matthew A. Horner (known affectionately around these parts as “Little Matthew”) in an interview just published on the arts marketing blog Life’s a Pitch.

Here’s the solution to the Elfte Brautnacht! vocal ID quiz: Read more »

Opera Chic reports this morning that Gerard Mortier is throwing his hat in the, uh, Ring for the co-directorship of the Bayreuth Festival.  The Belgian intendant is reportedly teaming up with Nike Wagner to apply for the top Bayreuth spot to be vacated as soon as it can be pried from Wolfgang Wagner’s cold dead fingers. (And he’s not even dead yet, so don’t hold your breath.)

The Mortier/Nike partnership is considered a dark horse for the job, with the odds-on favorite the team comprised of Wolfgang’s daughters Katharina Wagner and Eva Wagner-Pasquier.