Headshot of La Cieca

Cher Public

  • 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...
  • Matthew: I'm just enjoying imagining the parallel universe where "hon...
  • Camille: "FIFTY DOLLARS?!?!?!!!!" - for an opera ticket. What an out...
  • Camille: The great Giorgio Tozzi, a paragon of virtues, siinging my h...
  • papopera: who is the SIEGFRIED tonight is voiceless Voigt confirmed ??...

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The stuff that dreams are made of

With his new CD release for Decca, The Maltese Tenor, Joseph Calleja clearly declares his ascension to the top level of the world’s lyric tenors.  The 15-selection program shows that his plaintive voice has matured and clarified, his emotional understanding of the music has deepened significantly, and his artistry has moved to a higher level.  Calleja has reached the height of his powers, and that height is indeed formidable.  Read more »

Passaggio/fail basis

Not only has physical therapy healed Mariusz Kwiecien‘s shapely back, it’s apparently added a third to the top of his range. [New York Times] Read more »

I get the regie when it rains

Nothing pleases La Cieca better than stumping the panel. As such, she will turn all the cards over and reveal that our most recent Regie quiz depicts Chabrier’s L’étoile, as presented by Oper Frankfurt, directed by Our (Occasionally) Own David Alden. A snippet of Alden’s show follows the jump; then you can mull over yet another set of production photos. Read more »

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Intermission feature

La Cieca (missing from photo) invites you, the cher public, to discuss events otherwise not specified during the week of October 23.

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Oud’s that woman?

Ever wonder why a free press is the cornerstone of any representative democracy? Wonder no more: “MUSCAT: Renée Fleming is called the People’s Diva for a reason. She doesn’t have any airs, and her engaging charm works its way into the hearts of anyone who sees her sing.” And it only gets more fulsome. [Times of Oman]

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Chat, Gabriel, Chat!

It is with great disappointment that Betsy Ann Bobolink (second from right) must cancel this week’s listing of Saturday opera performances, however, after listening to seven performances of the extremely taxing title role in Donizetti’s Anna Bolena at The Metropolitan Opera, she has been ordered to go on 10 days of vocal rest by her doctor. In the meantime, La Cieca suggests you consult Operacast and then go as usual to La Casa della Cieca.

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Downbeat in the dark

Which maestro, a former music director of an American opera company, is now in the running for that title at the Met—assuming the company indeed has done a radical about-face in its plans?

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Nothung to see here

As is so bloody typical when La Cieca leaves town for even a few days, news breaks all over the damn place. As you have no doubt already heard by now, Jay Hunter Morris will sing all this fall’s Met performances of Siegfried, replacing Gary Lehman who has canceled (all together now) “because of illness.” Lehman, remember, was the replacement for Ben Heppner. Who remembers him?

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