Headshot of La Cieca

Cher Public

  • Buster: We get Edith Haller in L’Upupa soon, with John Mark Ainsley ...
  • La Valkyrietta: Of course that was Eileen Farrell singing for Eleanor Parker...
  • Indiana Loiterer III: I don't know whether she deserves another award, but no doub...
  • Quanto Painy Fakor: If course people who sing at the MET pay for private coachin...
  • La Valkyrietta: There does not seem to be her Ernani Involami in youtube. ...
  • kashania: Oh, I'm leaving for a week's vacation today. Sorry to miss ...
  • That Guy: "Heard" is an overstatement, at least based on the one perfo...
  • grimoaldo: I noticed a couple of comments expressing surprise that toni...
  • kashania: Does that mean that Fleming will be semi-fake-acting?
  • grimoaldo: Siegfried will be Jay Hunter Morris who replaced the replace...

blog advertising is good for you

Happy Birthday Fiorenza Cossotto

cossotto_thumbThe legendary mezzo-soprano is 75 today.

Read more »

Shadow of a doubt

blinds_thumbLa 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!

Joie de mourir

carmelites_juilliardJuilliard 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. Read more »

Read more »

Here comes the Jonas!

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 this year’s #Operaplot 2010. Serving as adjudicator of the winning entries is none other than His Jummyness Jonas Kaufmann!

Read more »

Read more »

The littlest angel

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.  

Read more »

Read more »

It’s all about Muti

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 moment of relief. The raw energy emanating from his orchestra is simply overwhelming, often brutal. There is no denying that such an aggressive approach to the opera can be electrifying and breathtaking.

Read more »

Read more »

Laureate

La Cieca hears that two spectacular events crowned last night’s performance of La sonnambula at the Vienna State Opera.

Read more »

Read more »

The Answer to the Great Question

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.”

Read more »