March 2011
La Cieca will next post from the dear old Deutschland, cher public!
“[J]udging singers in their 20s is truly difficult, especially with so much at stake for the finalists, including a $15,000 cash prize for each winner. Comparably gifted pianists in their 20s are much more likely to be technically assured and finished performers. Operatic voices, though, need long nurturing. Most young singers are still working out…
While La Cieca (not pictured) is nosing about the Old World, she fully expects the rest of you to keep on chatting as necessary. A list of chat-appropriate broadcasts follows the jump.
Or, for those of you who don’t take pleasure as La Cieca does in inventing totally bogus German compound words, Itinerary for the Regie Tour. Your doyenne and faithful sidekick Dawn Fatale (also pictured) will be hitting the continent later this week for a taste of productions done in the German style. Any European members…
“The first rule of gambling is: You win some, you lose some. Still, it’s heartbreaking that on Friday at the Met, an opera about a compulsive gambler, The Queen of Spades, barely broke even.” Our own JJ (not pictured) knows when to fold them in the New York Post. (Photo: Marty Sohl / Metropolitan Opera)
La Cieca (not pictured) invites the cher public to gather around for a chat tonight during the Met’s season premiere of Pikovaya dama, beginning at 8:00 pm.
Some interesting turns of phrase in the Met press office’s announcement that Valery Gergiev will not (shockeroo!) show up tomorrow to conduct a single performance of Boris Godunov:
Among symbolic classical tropes, one of my favorites (perhaps because only another classicist will understand it) is Nessus’ Shirt, an emblem of glory (a promotion, say, or an expensive luxury) that destroys you.
Which recently disgraced genius is tingling with excitement at an offer to help a fellow artist achieve redemption?
The moral of Lohengrin is clearly set out: Don’t talk on your wedding night. Even more important, don’t sing. Happily, at Lyric Opera of Chicago, Johan Botha in the title role and Amber Wagner as Elsa of Brabant ignored this advice.
Pencils down! We have a solution; please see below.
UPDATE: La Cieca now has audio evidence of Micaela Carosi‘s dress rehearsal of Aïda. PREVIOUSLY: La Cieca has heard of sweeping changes of cast in important Verdi revivals across the pond: Elisabete Matos has suddenly been dropped from Rome Opera’s Riccardo Muti-helmed Nabucco, with Csilla Boross jumping in as Abigaille.
La Cieca was just sent an announcement about “James Levine: 40 Years at The Metropolitan Opera, an extraordinary insider’s view of the legendary conductor’s Met career, illustrated with vivid historic photographs…. Marking the 40th anniversary of Met Music Director James Levine’s company debut on June 5, 1971, the book celebrates his unparalleled artistic achievements through…
Three Juliettes, three different seasons of the Met’s Roméo et Juliette: Natalie Dessay in 2005, Anna Netrebko in 2007, Hei-Kyung Hong in 2011. At this rate, La Cieca predicts that the role will be performed in the nude sometime around 2025. (Photos: Dessay and Hong by Marty Sohl, Netrebko by Ken Howard.)
Usually the idea of the Regie quiz is: you know the music, but the visuals are unfamiliar. Now let’s try it a different way.
UPDATE: “Alan Held will sing the title role in the revival of Wozzeck for all performances this season, replacing Matthias Goerne, who will undergo knee surgery in April,” says the Met press office. EARLER: La Cieca has been alerted that “wir arme Publikum” should be ready for a major cancellation/casting change announcement from the Met…
“The first installment of Crain’s Business of Arts & Culture series will explore how competition for strong and deep-pocketed trustees has never been steeper as more potential board members are choosing to support fewer organizations. We will also look at how to find new board members, keep them, and use their expertise to help grow…
Our own JJ reflects on a pair of French operas, Roméo et Juliette and L’africaine, neither of which you could exactly call “grand.” [New York Post]
Though semi ramide got there first, kudos as well to Indiana Loiterer III for pinpointing the exact scenes of Rusalka depicted in this Barrie Kosky production for the Komische Oper Berlin—a staging, by the way, that your own doyenne will witness a couple of weeks from now during her Regietournee. After the jump, video of…
La Cieca (pictured, left) invites all the single cher public to join in circa 1:00 pm for a discussion of this afternoon’s absolutely last and final performance of Armida. Ever.
“Renee Fleming and Timothy Jessell arrive for the formal artist’s dinner for the Kennedy Center Honors at the United States Department of State December 4, 2010 in Washington, D.C.” More (circumstantial) proof after the jump.
Mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard has been named the recipient of the sixth annual Beverly Sills Artist Award for young singers at the Metropolitan Opera. She receives a $50,000 prize and is married to Teddy Tahu Rhodes, which frankly strikes La Cieca as overkill. (Photo: Marty Sohl/Metropolitan Opera)
Which diva—whose recordings, though popular, are sometimes obscure—anticipates becoming a bride as well as a mother? The lady’s beau, we’re told, is a tax attorney in our nation’s capital.
“Margaret, what is it Big Daddy always says when he’s disgusted?” asks the immortal Big Momma in dear Tennessee Williams‘ Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, which Maggie answers, “He says bull when he’s disgusted.” Well, your own Big Momma (i.e., La Cieca has been speaking to a Met insider (pictured) about certain recent headline-grabbing…
Tell us: Filth or dementia?
Hasten thee to feed another quarter of conversation for The Talk of the Town!
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