April 2010
The chat for today’s much-anticipated broadcast of Tosca chat will begin at 12:30, in preparation for the 1:00 start time.
The real problem with opera today, according to Marcelo “Mouth of the South” Àlvarez? Could it be tubby tenors with teeny voices? Actually, no. The problem is… blogs.
Live chat at for tonight’s Fliegende Holländer at the usual place.
Those among the cher public inclined toward philanthropy and/or star-gazing will want to check out the details on a gala fundraising dinner and concert for the Marcello Giordani Foundation on May 7. The evening will feature performances from young singers and a litotic “Lifetime Achievement Award” presented to Magda Olivero (in virtual attendance via videoconferencing…
The very first clip was uploaded to the revolutionary video-sharing site only five years ago today!
“I agree that Gelb has had problems actually identifying what’s going to make a successful production. But I submit that the real problem is exactly the same problem the Met had under Gelb’s predecessor, Joe Volpe: not that the company engages unusual directors, but that it doesn’t let them actually do what they’re good at.…
Is anyone else as amazed as I am by the following remark in the New Yorker‘s capsule item on Armida: “…an exquisite ballet fetchingly choreographed by Graciela Daniele“?
The legendary mezzo-soprano is 75 today.
La Cieca has no word on this yet, but she is sure that reliable baritone is going to get a lot of stage time at the Met the last few weeks of the season — probably as much as he’s had since the 20th century!
Juilliard Opera presented an under-ripe yet moving performance of Poulenc’s masterpiece Dialogues des Carmelites on Wednesday. Promising young singers surmounted a dodgy production and stiff musical direction with intelligent singing and contagious enthusiasm.
La Cieca’s delight at the success of her colleague The Omniscient Mussel is equaled only by her bitter envy for the success of her colleague The Omniscient Mussel. TOM, you see, has built upon the success of last year’s #operaplot competition by signing up a slew of new opera houses to offer prize packages for…
A member of the cher public who attended yesterday’s Met Guild luncheon honoring Frederica von Stade reports: “Evelyn Lear went so far as to call [Flicka] ‘Mother Teresa — a saint.’ As part of his homage, Thomas Hampson sang one of the Cherubino arias — it was really sweet.
A dramatic symphony with incidental voices: that’s how Riccardo Muti’s Otello, which inaugurated the 2008 Salzburg Festival, could be aptly described. Beginning with the initial allegro agitato with its piercing lashes, it instantly appears obvious that Muti’s intention is to go for the jugular, nail the audience to their seats and never give them a…
La Cieca hears that two spectacular events crowned last night’s performance of La sonnambula at the Vienna State Opera.
Robert Tuggle, Director of Archives for the Metropolitan Opera, has announced a migration of the company’s supremely useful online database to a new software system. He’s looking for ideas for “new features that might improve on a system that we are already pleased with.”
It’s the return of the Twitter Operaplot Competition! [The Omniscient Mussel]
“An article in Arts incorrectly identified the opera Madame Butterfly as a spin-off of the musical Miss Saigon. Miss Saigon is actually a spin-off of Madame Butterfly. (Apr. 13, p. 19)” [The Justice]
As we approach the end of the first all-Peter Gelb season at the Met, there’s already a certain amount of editorial judgment on the General Manager’s “aesthetic agenda.” That’s only fair, of course: judgement is what critics do.
La Cieca has just heard that James Morris and Hei-Kyung Hong have withdrawn from Cincinnati Opera’s upcoming production of Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, due to “recuperation from surgery” and “family issues,” respectively.
Enthusiastic Met intermission commentator Blythe Danner and her Oscar-winning daughter/blogger Gwyneth Paltrow are on the short list…
“La Ritalina” is 45 today!
Which Brit of medium height has been added to the short list for a prestigious post that (paradoxically) would represent a homecoming?
On Friday, April 16th, American Opera Projects and Opera on Tap presented a triple bill of new works at Galapagos Art Space in DUMBO, including what is essentially a pastiche, a collection of songs, and a one act opera. There were highs, there were lows; there was booze and opera in the same room. I…
Our operatic riddle of the day: what is due to be seen in New York in September, assuming the enormous weight doesn’t rupture another disc?
Tell us: Filth or dementia?
Hasten thee to feed another quarter of conversation for The Talk of the Town!
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