The rich are different from you and me The rich are different from you and me

Whether you love the 2018 Berlin Staatsoper Tristan and Isolde depends on what you think the opera is about.

on December 15, 2018 at 10:00 AM
The naked truth The naked truth

Highlights of the Metropolitan Opera’s 2019-2020 season, according the always intriguing Met Future Wiki.

on December 06, 2016 at 8:29 AM
Nunsense Nunsense

A Court of Appeals in Paris has ordered BelAir Classiques to remove from its catalog a video recording of Dialogues des carmélites as staged by Dmitri Tcherniakov for the Bayerische Staatsoper.

on October 21, 2015 at 8:26 AM
Battle of the network tsars Battle of the network tsars

For all their orchestral and vocal attractions, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s 15 operas are rarities in the West.

on October 05, 2015 at 11:00 AM
The Met: What is to be done? The Met: What is to be done?

Coming as Peter Gelb did from the music industry, opera lovers hoped that he would display a more distinctive knack for casting and an improved talent pipeline than Joe Volpe offered during the waning years of his tenure.

on April 15, 2014 at 1:24 AM
Slavas of New York Slavas of New York

Even when the opera performed is a masterpiece, a truly superb opera performance is exceedingly rare.

on February 10, 2014 at 2:02 PM
No one will be seated during the controversial “Rolling on Molly” sequence No one will be seated during the controversial “Rolling on Molly” sequence

First video snippets of the new Prince Igor are now live on the Met’s website.

on February 05, 2014 at 12:55 AM
Come to the unstable Come to the unstable

How, then, to explain the perplexing performance last Friday night of Falstaff, Mr. Levine’s first new production since his return?

on December 11, 2013 at 8:13 PM
Blonde, bombshell Blonde, bombshell

So we may all be on the same page as we discuss, following the jump is the video of the December 7 Traviata from La Scala.

on December 09, 2013 at 3:47 PM
Bo, concept Bo, concept

The surprises, and puzzles, of Dmitri Tcherniakov‘s production of Don Giovanni in this DVD of a performance at the Aix-en-Provence festival begin before a note has been played or the curtain has risen.

on October 14, 2013 at 11:13 PM
We’ll settle that tonight! We’ll settle that tonight!

La Cieca has been wining, dining and otherwise wooing her Met connection (pictured above) and he (or is it she?) has come across with some tidbits about upcoming seasons at Casa Gelb.

on August 14, 2013 at 3:59 PM
Book club Book club

La Cieca hears that the opening night of La Scala’s 2013 season will feature a new production of La traviata starring Diana Damrau and Piotr Beczala, directed by… no, not Franco Zeffirelli, but Dmitri Tcherniakov.

on April 06, 2013 at 3:32 AM
Our retrospection will now be all to the future Our retrospection will now be all to the future

La Cieca predicts you won’t be seeing any puritans at the Met next season, except of course for the ones who slouch around during intermission hissing, “You call that a trill?”

on October 22, 2012 at 2:18 PM
Scent of mystery Scent of mystery

La Cieca has been sniffing around her generally reliable (and fragrant) sources, and she thinks she has pieced together a list of the dozen operas to be featured in the 2013-2014 season of “The Met: Live in HD.”

on October 07, 2012 at 2:17 PM
Out of the cradle endlessly rocking Out of the cradle endlessly rocking

No, not a Regie quiz—though that feature will return soon enough now that the season is up and running—but rather an image from the new Dmitri Tcherniakov production of Jenufa for the Opernhaus Zürich.

on September 27, 2012 at 2:34 AM
I’ll see you in my streams I’ll see you in my streams

Coming up over the next two weekends: a pair of streamed video performances sure to provide plenty of chat fodder.

on July 05, 2012 at 12:25 PM
Huis Clos Huis Clos

That most operatic of all operas, Il trovatore, has been done many ways, but here’s a first: the warhorse as bottle episode.

on June 21, 2012 at 12:29 AM