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headlines_of_the_airLa Cieca is delighted to announce the 2009-2010 Saturday afternoon broadcast season brought to you by the Toll Brothers-Metropolitan Opera Radio Network, beginning December 12. For each of these broadcasts, La Cieca will host (or at least leave the doors open for) a chat amongst the cher public.  

So, while you’re getting your radio tubes revarnished or whatever it is you do, put your mind on this, my dears. Shall the chat format this season be the comment-based one we have followed recently (which allows for archiving of the comment thread, and helps out parterre.com’s circulation numbers) or the “instant message” form we used in previous seasons?

Your comments and discussions on this issue will help guide La Cieca in her continued service to her cher public.  The complete broadcast schedule follows.

December 12 (12:30 PM) Puccini: Il Trittico.  Ranzani; Racette, Murphy, Blythe, Licitra, Pirgu, Lucic, Corbelli

December 19.  Offenbach: Les Contes d’Hoffmann .  Levine; Kim, Netrebko, Gubanova, Lindsey, Calleja, Held

December 26.  Strauss: Elektra.  Luisi; Bullock, Voigt, Palmer, Schmidt, Nikitin

January 2 Humperdinck: Hansel and Gretel.  Davis; Persson, Kirchschlager, Plowright, Langridge, Croft

January 9 Strauss: Der Rosenkavalier .  De Waart; Fleming, Graham, Schäfer, Cutler, Allen, Sigmundsson

January 16 Bizet: Carmen .  Nézet-Séguin; Frittoli, Garanca, Alagna, Kwiecien

January 23 Barber: Vanessa (Archive Broadcast from February 1, 1958).  Mitropoulos; Steber, Elias, Resnik, Gedda, Tozzi

January 30 Verdi: Stiffelio.  Domingo; Radvanovsky, Cura, Dobber, Ens

February 6 Verdi: Simon Boccanegra.  Levine; Pieczonka, Giordani, Domingo, Morris

February 13 Donizetti: La Fille du Régiment .  Armiliato; Damrau, Palmer, Te Kanawa, Flórez, Muraro

February 20 Strauss: Ariadne auf Naxos.  Petrenko; Stemme, Kurzak, Connolly, Ryan, Schmeckenbecher

February 27 Puccini: La Bohème .  Armiliato; Netrebko, Cabell, Beczala, Finley, Cavalletti, Gradus, Plishka

March 6 TBA

March 13 Shostakovich: The Nose .  Gergiev; Popov, Gietz, Szot

March 20 Janácek:: From the House of the Dead (performance from Fall 2009).  Salonen; Margita, Streit, Hoare, Mattei, White

March 27 Thomas: Hamlet.  Langrée; Dessay, Larmore, Spence, Keenlyside, Morris

April 3 Verdi: Aida.  Carignani; Papian, Zajick, Licitra, Guelfi, Colombara, Kocán

April 10 Mozart: Die Zauberflöte .  Fischer; Kleiter, Shagimuratova, Polenzani, Gunn, Pittsinger, König

April 17 Verdi: La Traviata .  Slatkin; Gheorghiu, Valenti, Hampson

April 24 Puccini: Tosca .  Levine; Mattila, Kaufmann, Terfel, Del Carlo

May 1 Rossini: Armida .  Frizza; Fleming, Brownlee, Ford, Zapata, Banks, van Rensburg

May 8 Berg: Lulu .  Levine; Petersen, von Otter, Lehman, Schade, Pittsinger, Morris.

26 comments

  • I say let’s have both. Some people like the instant Messaging, some the comments. The only draw back I see with leaving a comment is the fact that the new comment threats could get extremely confusing. I would suggest that it is turned off for the chats. It is really helpful when you are reading a threat that is on going, but for a chat that happens in real time the task could get pretty impossible if you are still on comment 15.2.1.1 and there are still another 25 comments and we are still on Act 1 scene 1.

    Just my thoughts.

  • pavel says:

    I vote for the comment-based format.

    I see they have TBA on March 6, when Attila is playing in the house. Did we ever definitively determine why there are no broadcasts of that particular production this season?

  • CruzSF says:

    I prefer the commenting version of “chat.” I think the ability to archive the discussion outweighs the inconvenience of having to refresh the screen.

  • rysanekfreak says:

    I prefer the current way, where everything is archived, so a late-comer can start at the beginning and see how people are denouncing the entire performance based on the orchestral opening.

    But I agree that the function for replying to a specific comment should be turned off because if there are 200 comments, it is difficult to overlook the ones you’ve already read (during the first intermission) while searching for those inevitable gleams of gold that will be hidden therein.

    • Maury says:

      “so a late-comer can start at the beginning and see how people are denouncing the entire performance based on the orchestral opening.”–>lulz

    • rapt says:

      I agree with rysanekfreak on both counts–and am, myself, not a fan of the sub-thread responding (or whatever is its true technical name), which makes it more difficult for me to find new comments.

      • Sanford says:

        I still miss the days when we got email notifications of all posts. And I miss the live chats. I could barely keep up with all of the comments, they were so fast, but it seemed a lot more spontaneous.

  • kashania says:

    I prefer the comment version of the chat. The “real-time” chat format has two problems. One is that there is a lot more casual dissing. There are always a few people who dominate the chat by skewering every note that comes out fo the singers’ throats. I don’t mind negative comments but I don’t like it when a few people hijack a chat and trash everything. It’s just unpleasant.

    The second problem with the live chat format is that it can’t be kept for prosperity. When I miss a chat, I like to catch up on the comments to get an idea how the performance went.

    But I agree with Lindoro that the new threaded comments format doesn’t work as well for the chats. I don’t know if there’s a way to turn it off and on…

  • sfmike says:

    I don’t IM, so here’s another vote for chat, with or without the threads.

  • Zerbinetta says:

    What’s with the 3/6 TBA? No broadcast for “Attila”?

    I like the comments chat method. It’s easier to jump in.

  • squirrel says:

    Chat method. Cieca bellissimi, can you just advise participants not to do lots of direct reply messages unless they don’t care whether the rest of the group ever sees them, perhaps?

  • flamingopera says:

    I vote for the comment-based chat

  • enzo says:

    I vote for comments. The other is chaotic and you’re at a disadvantage if you don’t type well.