Headshot of La Cieca

Cher Public

  • papopera: thank you. looking forward to six o'clock
  • Will: I think the reasoning here is that these productions of what...
  • Nerva Nelli: Apparently Billingsgate has Ingrid Steger and Carol Yahr sta...
  • grimoaldo: Good lord. I find that somewhat sad. Why are they having ope...
  • oedipe: Well, I have -at last- seen the infamous Paris Opera Mano...
  • Donna Anna: Anna Russell, thou shouldst be living at this hour but since...
  • Batty Masetto: Oh. I thought Croche was calling dibs on Agathon in a comple...
  • Will: Casting note: Glimmerglass has announced that opposite Dwayn...
  • Straussmonster: I want to be Alcibiades, especially if I can come in late, a...
  • Superconductor: Considering that the Metropolitan Opera press office is noto...

blog advertising is good for you

Pina Bausch 1940-2009

The choreographer and opera director died earlier today. She was 68.  Read more »

work in progress?

photo by Terrence McCarthy

Is it for the sake of gay pride in San Francisco, or it is the relief of getting that massive whonking tiara off her pretty noggin? Either way, Anna Netrebko is singing Traviata better now than she was in April. (Sound clip after the jump.) Read more »

alla cantata ancor manca la diva gossip?

According to Musical Criticism, Deborah Voigt has canceled her run of Tosca performances at the Royal Opera “due to ‘acute colitis’.” As it happens, your doyenne had a tip on that cancellation late last week and for whatever reason (Michael Jackson fatigue?) she didn’t share that gossip with you.

So, cher public, here’s a chance for you to sound off on this journalistic lacuna and (by extension) on the mission of parterre.com in general. Take the poll after the jump. Comments are welcome as well. Read more »

Read more »

vows

Denyce Graves — whatever happened to her? Well, for one thing, she has apparently married well. Yesterday the mezzo-soprano wed Robert Montgomery — not the 1940s film star, but rather the chief of transplant surgery at Johns Hopkins. (He’s the surgeon whose team pioneered the transplant technique of removing a donor’s kidney through her vagina.) [Washington Post]

Read more »

Read more »

happy “birthday”

“Opera singer” Katherine Jenkins is “29 years old” today.

Read more »

Read more »

eyes on the prize

La Cieca hears that Renée Fleming is going to be a Mastersinger. In related news, veteran “marker” Sixtus Beckmesser has announced his retirement. Elsewhere, Susan Graham and Thomas Hampson will be hosts of the fifth annual F. Paul Driscoll Awards for Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Excellence. The November 19 festivities will be held at Gotham Hall. Chairing the committee will be wealthy philanthropist Bruce Wayne. [NYT]

Read more »

Read more »

ritmo de mambo

Yma Sumac sings Queen of the Night, her way.

Read more »

Read more »

park and bark

Our Own JJ braved the elements for New York City Opera’s outdoor concert of Magic Flute. [NYP]

Read more »