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  • La Cieca: The problem with this position is that it assumes that the "...
  • pasavant: A well chosen expletive can add emphasis . This is not an e...
  • The Wistful Pelleastrian: Opera -- Where Does It Fit Quote Of The Day:...
  • louannd: Kyle says on on FB that he is on the Met calendar 3 times th...
  • Gualtier M: 'Twas not always so. Over ten years ago, Relyea was not onl...
  • Regina delle fate: Please, someone, explain to me why Relyea is deemed a star. ...
  • pyramus: I am a couple of days behind because the RSS feed isn't work...
  • Regina delle fate: Joyce El-K is about to open as Violetta with Welsh National ...
  • grimoaldo: I have been watching and listening to those clips from I Due...
  • Lindoro Almaviva: I am confused here. Unless there is another Carmen with Alag...

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An option that should be dropped

castafiore_thumbDimitra Theodossiou “takes” a high E-flat at the end of Odabella’s cabaletta.

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Wake me up before you catalog

wham_thumbYou know, La Cieca lived through the 1980s, just barely, and then imagine her surprise when, midway through the 2000s, there was a revival of all that 80s stuff — shoulder pads, leggings, big hair, glitter. All of it. Well, no, not quite all of it. There was one trend of the 1980s whose revival we were mercifully spared. Until just now.

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Turandon’t

carryoutcontainersLa Cieca listened to Sirius for a while tonight, but then her ears began to bleed. When the best singing comes from Margaret Juntwait… but I gotta tell ya, folks. Read more »

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The words “ao vivo” are thrown around a lot these days…

Long before there was Miranda, there was “La Perle Noire du Brésil,” Natalia De Andrade. 

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To boldly go where too many regies have gone before

Okay, La Cieca is finally ready to add another hard and fast “don’t” to her Rules for Stage Directors. To wit: Even if a scene calls for something fantastical, and even if the mezzo doesn’t actually walk out of the production when she first sees the costume… if your imagery immediately and inevitably screams “Star Trek,” well… just don’t!

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Mara Zampieri: the Cabaret Years!

Or is La Cieca mistaken: could this rather be Alfred Deller‘s “after hours” show? 

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Dat woice which calls to me

Remember Dragana Jugovic del Monaco? Oh, come on, who could ever forget? Well, she’s back (or was back, anyway, as of 1999) for the following crossover effort with a pop singer who La Cieca supposes must be billed as something like “The Ozzy Osbourne of the Republic of Serbia.”

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Chest nut

¡Mira! Mean, moody magnificent Manuela Trasobares! 

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