La Cieca hears that soprano Angela Meade has been named the winner of the 2011 Richard Tucker Award. (Photo: Marty Sohl, Metropolitan Opera)
By La Cieca
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La Scala will announce its 2011-2012 season perhaps as early as tomorrow, but in the meantime La Cieca has discovered that the Milan season will open with a gala new production of Don Giovanni, conducted by Daniel Barenboim and directed by Robert Carsen. The delectable cast is scheduled to include Anna Netrebko (Donna Anna), Elina…
By La Cieca
A faithful reader points La Cieca to a New York Times article noting that “…the triple disaster has jolted the Japanese into a new reality, sapping the materialist, feel-good spirit and replacing it with a focus on helping others and a mood of back to basics.”
By La Cieca
A faithful spy reports from the Met: “Today’s final dress of Wozzeck went very well, to say the least…. The small ‘closed’ audience cheered at the end. Waltraud Meier turned toward the wings when it was time for the maestro to take his curtain calll, but returned to her place without him. Suddenly, there [James…
By La Cieca
Those of you who have been wondering why the announcement of the New York City Opera’s 2011-2012 seems to be almost a month overdue may not take much consolation in the rumor La Cieca has just heard. According to a reliable source, the company will “probably” not offer a fall season (“due to no money,…
By La Cieca
La Cieca has heard from a reliable source that two Met divas have already privately announced they “are not taking their young children to Japan and are not going themselves.”
By La Cieca
UPDATE: La Cieca now has audio evidence of Micaela Carosi‘s dress rehearsal of Aïda. PREVIOUSLY: La Cieca has heard of sweeping changes of cast in important Verdi revivals across the pond: Elisabete Matos has suddenly been dropped from Rome Opera’s Riccardo Muti-helmed Nabucco, with Csilla Boross jumping in as Abigaille.
By La Cieca
“Margaret, what is it Big Daddy always says when he’s disgusted?” asks the immortal Big Momma in dear Tennessee Williams‘ Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, which Maggie answers, “He says bull when he’s disgusted.” Well, your own Big Momma (i.e., La Cieca has been speaking to a Met insider (pictured) about certain recent headline-grabbing…
By La Cieca
UPDATE: It’s official. EARLIER: La Cieca hears from a generally reliable source that James Levine has resigned from his post as music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Expect an official announcement later today.
By La Cieca
As perhaps you may have heard hinted hereabouts, “Gary Lehman and Stephen Gould will sing the role of Siegfried in the Met’s 2011-12 season performances of Wagner’s Siegfried and Götterdämmerung, replacing Ben Heppner who has retired the role from his repertory.” That’s according to a release from the Met’s press office less than an hour…
By La Cieca
There were a disproportionate number of young people at the Met today—even younger than me, which is really young. That made me happy and smile while filing in line to enter the auditorium. Hopefully this is the next generation of undying fans and queens about to plunge into a “new” world of opera spearheaded by…
By rommie
La Cieca (pictured) is going to go out on a limb here, cher public, based on bits and pieces of gossip, a hard fact or two, and her own occasionally flawed powers of ratiocination. Her prediction: James Levine will retire as Music Director of the Metropolitan Opera, effective at the end of the 2011-2012 season.…
By La Cieca
Not to scoop Brad Wilber (if such a thing were possible!) but La Cieca has just heard that the much-discussed opening night of the Met’s 2012-13 season has been settled. Starring in a new Bartlett Sher production of L’elisir d’amore will be Anna Netrebko, Matthew Polenzani and Mariusz Kwiecien, with Dulcamara and conductor TBA.
By La Cieca
La Cieca’s spy wriggled into last night’s Met dress rehearsal of La traviata and reports: “One has to be careful about making too many judgments or drawing too many conclusions from a rehearsal, but last night’s final dress was indeed very promising.”
By La Cieca
La Cieca has been alerted to be on the lookout later this afternoon for an announcement that Renée Fleming will take on an important administrative position at Lyric Opera of Chicago. It’s not precisely “directa,” but something more comparable to Placido Domingo‘s erstwhile post at Washington National Opera. Anyway, by this afternoon we’ll have a clearer…
By La Cieca
“Drama at the dress rehearsal of Tosca at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino! This is an open rehearsal because it is a Telethon benefit performance. Ruggero Raimondi, indisposed, is replaced by Giovanni Meoni. Adina Nitescu, the second cast Tosca, is voiceless. The first cast Tosca, Violeta Urmana, cannot go on stage because she doesn’t want to get…
By La Cieca
After a rather long afternoon at the Met, a member of the cher public writes: “The Don Carlo final dress was worth catching.” Our spy has more to say after the jump.
By La Cieca
On the way to the OONY comeback concert at Carnegie Hall last night, La Cieca ran into an old, old, old and utterly anonymous friend who had recently had a tête-à-tête with an associate of that publicist who recently parted ways with that celebrated Opera MILF. Well!
By La Cieca
La Cieca hears that Placido (“Simon Boccanegra is the only baritone role I’m interested in singing”) Domingo is going to expand his repertoire yet again, to Athanaël in Thaïs, sometime in 2012. The role after that, La Cieca hears, will be eponymous, but as of now the title is known to only a few chosen…
By La Cieca
There is no peace for Verdi in Parma. As a second production of its Verdi Festival the Teatro Regio presented I vespri siciliani on October 10, starring Giacomo Prestia as Procida, Leo Nucci as Monforte, and the lovebirds Daniela Dessì and Fabio Armiliato as Elena and Arrigo.
Kirill Petrenko will be the new General Music Director of the Bayerische Staatsoper, succeeding Kent Nagano on September 1, 2013 for a five-year contract. [Bayerische Staatsoper]
By La Cieca
“Das neue Traumpaar” offer a duet from a their recent joint role debuts.
By La Cieca
La Cieca has just been informed that Anita Rachvelishvili will make her Met debut in the title role of Carmen on January 5, 2011, replacing Kate Aldrich, who has withdrawn preggers. La Rachvelishvili also sings Carmen on January 8 and 13. Wait, there’s more!
By La Cieca
The fact: the rainbow bridge worked tonight in Rheingold at the Met, and the effect was “spectacular.” (All right, that last part was an opinion. But, moving on.) The rumor: “everyone” at the Met knew “well in advance” that the rainbow bridge would not be attempted at Monday night’s opening performance.
By La Cieca
