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Cher Public

  • armerjacquino: Actually, that’s not true about Vickers- I have the Solti AIDA somewhere. 10:14 AM
  • armerjacquino: I don’t have any Crespin (just an accident) or any Vickers (who I consciously avoid). 10:13 AM
  • Clita del Toro: Dumb, off-topic topic: Singers whose recordings you have never, ever bought. Mine are: Domingo,... 9:07 AM
  • Cocky Kurwenal: They did it in Seattle after Vancouver and before the recording, so it looks like they’ve... 8:50 AM
  • Cocky Kurwenal: Quite surprised the Vicar hasn’t chimed in with your enthusiasm for Carolyn Sampson. Come... 8:42 AM
  • phoenix: On this inaugural festive weekend: very best wishes to Bobensane (and all parterrianensane comrades) for... 8:18 AM
  • rysanekfreak: In addition to our regular features at Parterre (Guess the Regie and Intermission and Criticize the... 7:43 AM
  • Feldmarschallin: sz first I thought this was a joke until I went on the website and saw it myself. She is also... 7:25 AM

And the lorgnette goes to…

lorgnette_dorThe results are in for the first annual Pubie Awards, nominated and voted upon by you, the Cher Public. Turnout this year was spectacular, with some categories racking up as many as 2,647 votes. A few of the races were close, and La Cieca thinks you’ll see an upset or two among the winners, after the jump.  Read more »

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

La 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.

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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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