In a week that includes the news of the release
Congratulations to tenor Stephen Costello, who today was officially awarded the ceremonial title of Villazóneinspringer at the Vienna State Opera.
No, actually, he’s jumping into two performances of La boheme, replacing Rolando Villazón, on September 6 and 9. Read more »
La Cieca hears that Renée Fleming will yet again grace the stage of the Metropolitan with a new role in 2015. The production will be staged by Susan Stroman.
"Parade" is defined simply by the Merriam-Webster Dictionary as "a pompous show." Fitting enough, then, that the triple bill titled Parade: An Evening of French Music Theatre recorded at the Met on March 16, 2002 consists of Erik Satie’s ballet Parade, Francis Poulenc’s Les Mamelles de Tirésias, and Maurice Ravel’s L'Enfant et les Sortilèges. These three short works showcase some of the most pompous, magical, absurd and beautiful music and drama in early 20th century French writing. Fitting, also, that this CD will be included in the pompously large James Levine 40th anniversary box set to be released in September. Read more »
The James Levine 40th Anniversary set includes not only unreleased video performances on DVD but also live radio broadcasts on CD. This performance is one of the latter, originally heard April 19, 2003. The Rake’s Progress has one of the greatest operatic pedigrees of all time. It was inspired by a series of William Hogarth engravings that Igor Stravinsky saw in 1947. The libretto was written by W. H. Auden and Chester Kallman. The opera premiered in Venice in 1951 with Elisabeth Schwarzkopf singing Anne Truelove and Robert Rounseville (“His name is Mr. Snow…”) as Tom Rakewell. The US premiere was at the Metropolitan Opera with Fritz Reiner conducting a George Balanchine production starring the great Hilde Gueden as Anne Truelove. Read more »
La Cieca is told that at least three productions at the Met this year will be shorn of an accustomed intermission: Simon Boccanegra, The Queen of Spades and La traviata will all be done in "two-act" versions, each with but a single interval.
Of course opera fans all owe Agnes Varis a lot, what with the Met rush tickets and all that, plus La Cieca, being a lady of a certain age herself, should be the last one to talk. But she can't help hearing this quote from Varis in the foghorn rasp of Miss Blankenship: "The opera's like Broadway but better. It's got sex, it's got incest, it's got rape.... You introduce young people to music, you've got them for life." [Wall Street Journal]
Three-time Met régisseuse Mary Zimmerman is taking it to the Windy City, helming a "newly adapted" Candide for Chicago's Goodman Theatre. "Danny Pelzig choreographs the cataclysmic events that ensue." [broadwayworld.com]
Cher Public