Gray lady Gray lady

Denigrating myths about opera abound.

on October 31, 2017 at 10:04 AM
If it quacks like a Lebrecht If it quacks like a Lebrecht

Peter Gelb says opera in the United States is having trouble finding an audience.”

on July 18, 2014 at 12:52 PM
Gee, our old Chagalls hang great Gee, our old Chagalls hang great

It’s time to bring out the canard again, this time a whole row of them in fact.

on June 06, 2014 at 11:16 AM
Enough with the whirling! Enough with the whirling!

It’s time for lazy stage directors and lazy sopranos to find some other gesture besides the chain of clumsy pique turns (AKA “whirling”) that is the cliché go-to shorthand for “joy.”

on April 04, 2014 at 12:50 PM
Bridge over troubled writer Bridge over troubled writer

Ineffable Igor Toronyi-Lalic (pictured, right) either spouts a novel canard or perhaps just froths incoherently. La Cieca will let you be the judge.

on March 28, 2014 at 9:36 PM
Getting our canards in a row Getting our canards in a row

“Masterpieces are not there to subvert; they are there to explore.”

on February 21, 2014 at 12:29 PM
Le droit du canard Le droit du canard

Oh, we’ve a veritable stew of canards to feast upon this week, cher public, courtesy of our old friend Rupert Christiansen.

on January 17, 2014 at 3:26 AM
Not canard, more loon Not canard, more loon

“More telephone ring tones come from Bizet’s Carmen that any other opera.”

on January 10, 2014 at 4:12 PM
The Life and Death of Colonel Canard The Life and Death of Colonel Canard

La Cieca can’t even

on January 03, 2014 at 11:47 AM
The tutti frutti canard The tutti frutti canard

“An opera production should look the way the music sounds.” — Lady Valerie Solti

on December 27, 2013 at 11:13 AM
Indeed a great chance to be a canard Indeed a great chance to be a canard

“Verdi revered Shakespeare and would turn over in his grave.”

on December 21, 2013 at 9:18 AM
The opposite of canard is truth The opposite of canard is truth

“Is Parsifal, then, a religious artwork, or is it a work ‘about’ religion?”

on December 13, 2013 at 8:00 AM
The canards begin at Calais The canards begin at Calais

Nicholas Hytner‘s ENO production of Xerxes, unveiled on the 300th anniversary of Handel’s birth and packed with visual conceits, might be seen as marking the beginning of the modern Handel renaissance on stage.”

on November 30, 2013 at 12:53 PM
Les trois canards Les trois canards

“It’s often said that Verdi wrote [Violetta’s] music with three different voices in mind: a light, leggero soprano for the first act, a lyric voice for the second and a dramatic for the third.”

on November 22, 2013 at 8:00 AM
Canard en retard Canard en retard

Please forgive the lateness of this week’s howler, which in any event is something more of a squeaker anyway.

on November 16, 2013 at 1:28 PM
Canard als Gast Canard als Gast

This week’s canard is contributed in by the artistic director of Gotham Chamber Opera, Neal Goren.

on November 08, 2013 at 10:47 AM
Ceci n’est pas un canard Ceci n’est pas un canard

“Perfection and beauty are identical.”

on October 25, 2013 at 8:00 AM
Ugly and small Ugly and small

“Modern opera studiously avoids anything so old-fashioned as melody or emotion, which seems to me a contradiction of what music is all about.”

on October 11, 2013 at 1:09 PM
Deductible canard Deductible canard

This week’s canard is inspired by recent sad news here in New York, and it goes something like this…

on October 04, 2013 at 11:53 AM
Definitive canard Definitive canard

[Opera is] “an exotic and irrational entertainment.”

on September 27, 2013 at 7:00 AM
Queer canard Queer canard

“That [Tchaikovsky] committed suicide cannot be doubted, but what precipitated this suicide has not been conclusively established…”

on September 20, 2013 at 11:01 AM
Canard of the “decade” Canard of the “decade”

“Women are lucky if they get a good 10-year run with these big parts like Brünnhilde and Isolde.”

on September 13, 2013 at 7:00 AM
Vanderducken Vanderducken

Here’s a canard proceeding from a clearly truthful premise.

on September 06, 2013 at 7:02 AM
Flame off Flame off

First things first: working from the limited evidence of half or less than half of Frank Castorf’s production of the Ring, I don’t see any evidence of contempt for the audience or whatever you want to call it.

on August 24, 2013 at 2:39 AM