That archetypical Leo, Mae West, was born 117 (or so) years ago today, on August 17, 1893. Read more »
La Cieca just heard that Stephen Costello goes on tonight (i.e., in just a few hours) in Roméo et Juliette at the Salzburg Festival opposite Anna Netrebko. He’s jumping in for Piotr Beczala, who, if you ask Norman Lebrecht, is probably malingering with a South Seas cutie.
Every time La Cieca says she’s through once and for all reading Norman Lebrecht, that middlebrow minstrel of the maestro myth soars to new heights of noisomeness. This time (yet again) it’s about how utterly callous those silly opera singers are for canceling (imagine!) when they’re too sick to sing. Read more »
Blazing Jupiter, the Jovial Star, my personal magical azimuth, plus Perseid meteors wafting about, burning out as do our souls, as we arrived home from Seattle Opera’s new production of Tristan und Isolde.
La Cieca must say that, for a chick, Katharina Wagner sure doesn’t talk much. But perhaps her reticence is something of a blessing, since it prevents her from spouting such facile generalizations as “…’Die Meistersinger,’ Hitler’s favorite Wagner opera.”
Martin Bernheimer, who was wise long before most of the rest of us were on solid food, writes what is likely to be remembered as the definitive essay on the Donald Rosenberg/Plain Dealer situation.
Our Own Dear Betsy reports: Right this way, ladies and gentlemen, for The Greatest Show on Earth, the world-famous La Cieca Chat. Feted (“Fated”? “Fetid”?) artistes from the far corners of the planet demolish reputations with a single mot. SEE — dainty Mam’zelle Manou soar high above the heads of the crowd in flights of aerial fantasy. WONDER — at the legerdemain of Harry who changes subjects !!! SIX TIMES !!! in a single ten-word sentence. THRILL — at the duel to the death between ferocious beasts Operacat and Clita_del_Toro. GASP — as Mighty CruzSF lifts the Napa Opera House [...]
Christof Loy’s highly controversial 2009 production of Berg’s Lulu for The Royal Opera House has been released on DVD (Opus Arte), with beautifully realized film direction by Robin Lough. Antonio Pappano and the Orchestra of The Royal Opera House lead an extraordinary cast of singing actors in plumbing the musical and psychological depths of this modern masterpiece.
Cher Public