parterre box

It took the Metropolitan Opera decades to catch up with the rest of the world and finally stage La Cenerentola. Gioachino Rossini’s opera buffa, one of his most beloved and accomplished works, received its belated Met debut in 1997, amidst legitimate suspicions that the new production was less a genuine desire to add a belcanto masterpiece to the company’s repertoire than a concession to Cecilia Bartoli’s demands.

Since then the production has been revived several times with galaxy of international mezzo-sopranos such as Jennifer Larmore, Sonia Ganassi, Olga Borodina and, just this past season, superstar Elina Garanca. Read more »

Gotham Chamber Opera presented Haydn’s Il Mondo della Luna on Tuesday evening at the Museum of Natural History’s Hayden Planetarium, in a production that took advantage of the museum’s NASA constellations and a multitude of other more economical yet impressive stage and lighting effects. Despite cramped quarters and inhospitable acoustics, the company made a strong case for the viability of this venue.

Read more »

I was still warming frigid fingers Friday night, when before me unfolded something like a history of the world viewed from a small café: an enchanted journey from the gaslights of Berlin to the crowded alleys of Buenos Aires.  Read more »

La Cieca received this letter yesterday. If you have reviews, opinion pieces, appreciations, or (as in this case) a Letter to the Doyenne, please email to lacieca@parterre.com. 

Saving New York City Opera? Read more »

New Kid on the Plaza Drammy writes:

April 9, 2009. A traditional Otto Schenk production featuring Diana Damrau as Gilda and who cares but.. Frizza conducting, Viktoria Vizin as Maddalena, Calleja as the Duke, Frontali as Rigoletto, Aceto as Sparafucile.

Stellar performances from the entire cast, excepting poor Mr Frontali. The set was phenomenal – this coming from someone who has now seen 3 operas live to date…i.e. I’ve low standards and I can’t stomach Regie – yet. The first set change – from Duke’s court to shady courtyard – took a whopping 5 minutes and people were getting frisky. I wondered when Gelb would be coming out to announce the death of a certain principal and her replacement.  Read more »

Those of you who may be toying with the idea of a trip to the city this fall to check out the New and Improved York City Opera may be interested to hear the performance schedule for the company’s fall season. Remember these dates are provisional they should give you an idea of how the repertory sorts out.

November 5  Gala
November 7  Esther 
November 8  Don Giovanni 
November 10  Don Giovanni 
November 12  Don Giovanni 
November 13  Esther 
November 14  Don Giovanni 
November 15  Esther 
November 19  Esther 
November 20  Don Giovanni
November 22  Don Giovanni

This vastly superior caption replaces La Cieca’s original, “Rebecca Glasscock back on the pipe?”

[Danielle de Niese in Acis e and Galatea at The Royal Opera, photo by Bill Cooper.]

And people say that in olden days singers used more chest! Ha, says La Cieca. Ha! Read more »