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And people say that in olden days singers used more chest! Ha, says La Cieca. Ha! Read more »
Sempiternal Magda Olivero celebrated her 99th birthday earlier this week.
La Cieca never knows quite how far to go in repeating what she “is told,” but since some of it seems to be leaking out anyway, well, she’ll try to be tactful. Apparently sometimes opera companies choose to use terminology like “laryngitis” and “knee injury” in order to avoid having to say “exhibited bizarre behavior at rehearsals” or “arrived obviously unprepared.”
La Cieca really, really doesn’t like to say this, but the truth seems to be staring us in the face, so here goes. We have seen the last of Rolando Villazón at the Met. Even though he’s announced as having canceled only the first two performances of Elisir, it’s pretty clear that he’s just not able or willing (or both?) to get his voice and confidence into solid enough shape to appear in New York. Nemorino is (as tenor roles go) not a particularly difficult sing, and it’s a role that’s always been central to his repertoire. But now it [...]
UPDATED YET ONCE MORE (March 26 at 5:00 pm): Per the Met’s press office, “Massimo Giordano will sing the role of Nemorino in L’Elisir d’Amore on March 31 and April 4 matinee, replacing Rolando Villazón, who is suffering from laryngitis.” UPDATED AGAIN (March 26 at 3:55 pm): Iréne Theorin will sing the first two matinees of the Met’s first Ring cycle this spring. The updated “Brünnhilde schedule” follows:
“Salvatore, viens, j’ai trouvé une étoile!” [kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/5xXf8mh81dg" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /] Wenarto, watch your back!
La Cieca realizes she hasn’t devised a contest for you competitive members of the cher public in, oh, ages. So she’s going to direct you to the Omniscient Mussel blog, where the game is to offer an opera plot synopsis via Twitter.
Cher Public