Semiramide Semiramide

A 1983 concert performance at Carnegie Hall with June Anderson, Marilyn Horne and Samuel Ramey; Henry Lewis conducting.

on March 22, 2020 at 12:47 PM
Bel canto: Is it a bop? Bel canto: Is it a bop?

I need to get something off my chest. I love bel canto.

on March 20, 2020 at 9:00 AM
Bloody Mary, Hold the Pepper Bloody Mary, Hold the Pepper

Come ye addicts of melody! After long eclipse, Bel Canto shines again!

on November 05, 2019 at 9:00 AM
There is no spoon There is no spoon

Can a work with indisputably great music fail to add up to a successful opera? I puzzled over that Sunday during Teatro Nuovo’s essential concert staging of Rossini’s La Gazza Ladra at SUNY Purchase.

on July 16, 2019 at 9:12 AM
Terror in the aisles Terror in the aisles

“To be fair I think it was only on one screen. . . . And more importantly I’ve seen it and it’s terrible.”

on September 21, 2018 at 6:01 PM
Elements of style Elements of style

Edita Gruberova essentially revived and propagated the bel canto repertoire in central Europe, specifically in the German-speaking countries.

on April 05, 2018 at 9:00 AM
Imogenary beings Imogenary beings

Will Crutchfield’s Bel Canto at Caramoor program of concert operas concluded with a bang on Saturday with Bellini’s first success, Il Pirata.

on July 10, 2017 at 8:30 AM
Pièce de résistance Pièce de résistance

I was hopeful that my next operatic engagement would offer greater rewards: Norma at the Edinburgh Festival.

on August 17, 2016 at 10:13 AM
Live and empoisoned Live and empoisoned

In how many operas does the heroine drink poison and then go lengthily mad?

on May 13, 2016 at 8:49 AM
Roberto Devereux: Tragedy Mirrored Roberto Devereux: Tragedy Mirrored

By the time Roberto Devereux saw its premiere at Napoli’s Teatro San Carlo on 29 October, 1837, Gaetano Donizetti had lost, in an 18-month time frame, both his parents, two still-born children, and his beloved wife Virginia.

on March 23, 2016 at 9:00 AM
I don’t sleep, I dream I don’t sleep, I dream

Bellini blossomed over us like a love fest.

on February 10, 2016 at 12:42 PM
Dangerous liaisons Dangerous liaisons

There was a certain frisson in the air entering Chicago Lyric Opera last night, and not just in anticipation of attending the world premiere of a new work by Jimmy Lopez (music) and Nilo Cruz (libretto), Bel Canto

on December 09, 2015 at 9:00 AM
“Let her go!” “Let her go!”

In this new work, entitled Can Belto, a group of terrorists kidnap and hold hostage Broadway diva Idina Menzel.

on October 18, 2015 at 1:20 PM
Don’t axe me why Don’t axe me why

The Metropolitan Opera’s much vaunted so-called “Tudor Ring” of three royal operas by Donizetti got off to a bumpy start Saturday afternoon with a revival of Anna Bolena that stubbornly refused to cohere either musically or dramatically.

on September 28, 2015 at 2:20 PM
Liebestraum Liebestraum

“Opera can, in fact, be something beautiful and moving even when all a performance has going for it is some really excellent singing.”

on March 18, 2014 at 2:20 PM
You don’t have to be Druids to love it You don’t have to be Druids to love it

“The Met’s production, originally directed by John Copley, is still a hideous, confusing mess. But with Ms. Meade and Ms. Barton acting with moving subtlety, singing generously and feeling deeply, it was hard to care.”

on October 25, 2013 at 6:17 PM
Normative Normative

La Cieca is sort of out of words trying to describe what makes a great performance of the role of Norma, as opposed to the conscientious traversal of the notes.

on October 15, 2013 at 2:30 PM
Sediziose voci Sediziose voci

La Cieca (not pictured) returns to the chat room tonight, cher public, on the occasion of the broadcast of Norma from the Met starting at 7:25 PM.

on October 14, 2013 at 2:44 PM
Racing with the moon Racing with the moon

For better or worse, Decca’s new Norma recording will ultimately be embraced—or dismissed—by those reacting directly to Cecilia Bartoli’s controversial portrayal.

on May 16, 2013 at 12:23 PM
Bea in the bonnet Bea in the bonnet

Everyone who revives Bellini’s Beatrice di Tenda, as the Collegiate Chorale did at Carnegie Hall on Wednesday night, calls the piece an “overlooked masterpiece.”

on December 06, 2012 at 11:54 AM
The Beatrice generation The Beatrice generation

Beatrice di Tenda was a problem child, Vincenzo Bellini an alternately protective and disparaging parent.

on December 04, 2012 at 12:25 PM
Thirds and music Thirds and music

Richard Wagner told Cosima he first got the idea of composing an opera about Tristan and Isolde while he was conducting Bellini’s I Capuleti e i Montecchi starring his muse, Wilhelmine Schröder-Devrient, in the trouser role of Romeo.

on July 23, 2012 at 2:38 PM
Conquering Ciro Conquering Ciro

By the time Rossini was 20, he had produced six operas, most of them brief, comic and slight. He admitted to admiring Mozart (not then well known south of the Alps), but the melodies of his early works show more of the influence of Paisiello.

on July 09, 2012 at 10:25 PM
Over the moon Over the moon

Mariella Devia will augment her already vast bel canto repertoire next year with the role of roles: Bellini’s Norma.

on February 17, 2012 at 3:04 PM