Headshot of La Cieca

Cher Public

  • Lindoro Almaviva: I am confused here. Unless there is another Carmen with Alag...
  • OpinionatedNeophyte: Thanks for the expressions of Whitney love y'all. If one is ...
  • roseducor: Ljuba Welitsch would often gallop ahead. But it wasn't consi...
  • La Valkyrietta: Yes.httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OL6it9COAK4
  • MontyNostry: Interesting observation! I can't believe that Maazel would h...
  • RobNYNY1957: It's interesting that she sings consistently ahead of the be...
  • manou: Merci oedipe - like every year, we shall be in Orange. If yo...
  • ianw2: Manou- heh.HH's getting into dangerous waters. A survey ...
  • oedipe: Perhaps when Agresta and Giannattasio get an exclusive re...
  • MontyNostry: I saw Borsi in recital about three years ago, and I have to ...

blog advertising is good for you

Scotto sings again

scotto_thumbThe tutelary goddess of parterre.com performs a few phrases of La bohème — in 2010.

Read more »

“Live” at last!

met_dvds

La Cieca is delighted to note that two of the best-remembered and most-coveted “Live from the Met” telecasts have at last been made available on DVD. Otello (25 September 1978) and Cavalleria rusticana/Pagliacci (5 April 1978) are now available at the Met Opera Shop and online at www.metoperashop.org, “as well as through other outlets.”

La Cieca’s cher public will be happy to know that both these releases may be purchased at amazon.com:

Otello

Cavalleria Rusticana / Pagliacci

Otello really is a gem, with Jon Vickers in excellent form (a stray high note or two notwithstanding), a superb balance of passion and intelligence. The vocal and physical dignity he brings to the role firmly places the work on the plane of high tragedy. The Desdemona is (as you all know) Renata Scotto, in a part that is not a natural fit vocally — her timbre is narrow and steely where one would want a more plush sound. But to hear her phrasing a line like “Oh! come è dolce il mormorare insieme” or “Guarda le prime lagrime” is to remember just how specific and committed an artist she always was. (More, including previews, after the jump.) Read more »

the art of the doyenne

La Cieca continues her salute to the diamond birthday of Renata Scotto with a new episode of Unnatural Acts of Opera. The podcast features the first act of La sonnambula as performed at the Teatro la Fenice on May 26, 1961.

La sonnambula, act 1

Renata Scotto (Amina), Alfredo Kraus (Elivino), Ivo Vinco (Rodolfo), Rosa Laghezza (Lisa), Marisa Zotti (Teresa). Teatro La Fenice, Venezia, Nello Santi, conductor.

Read more »

happy 75th birthday, renata scotto

Excerpt from Madama Butterfly, 18 October 1974, San Francisco, CA. Cio-Cio-San: Renata Scotto; Suzuki: Judith Forst.

Read more »

Read more »

snow job?

As commenter paddypig points out, something fishy seems to be going on with the Puccini 150th Anniversary Gala presented by Dicapo Opera Theatre, scheduled for this Monday night. As of this evening, the company’s website still advertises “Daniela Dessi, Fabio Armiliato, Francisco Casanova, Aprile Millo, Francesca Patané and others” even though certainly Millo is not appearing (she says she never agreed) and, per paddypig, all singers’ names have disappeared from the advertising for the gala on the Jazz at Lincoln Center site except for Renata Scotto as hostess. So what’s the deal with the sudden shift in personnel: snow emergency [...]

Read more »

Read more »

once more she opens the door

Three-time World’s Best-selling Canadian Female Recording Artist of the Year Céline Dion apparently has not come to her senses in the eight months that have passed since her Las Vegas farewell. As La Cieca warned you last year, the québécoise canary is planning a crossover into the cinema, specifically a biopic in which she, Céline Dion, will portray her idol Maria Callas. 

Read more »

Read more »

we’ll always have paris

The legendary “Tokyo Traviata,” one of the most often pirated opera videos, has finally been released in an authorized version by VAI. Featuring the golden-age cast of Renata Scotto, Jose Carreras and Sesto Bruscantini, the DVD boasts beautifully restored video and broadcast-quality audio — by far the cleanest version of this telecast La Cieca has ever seen. Here’s a sample from this performance of September 19, 1973:

The DVD, which includes subtitles in English, French, Italian, Spanish and (embedded) Japanese, is available through all the usual sources including amazon.com.

Read more »

Read more »

mud will be flung…

… well, not tonight, actually, but on Saturday afternoon, when La Cieca once more will convene the faithful for a live chat on the topic of the Met broadcast of Manon Lescaut. Now, honestly cher public, how was La Cieca to resist? You’ve already read Our Own JJ‘s reaction to the performances of Karita Mattila and Marcello Giordani in this production, so here’s a chance to find out whether you agree or disagree with his appraisal. And the intermissions should be, if anything, even more exciting than the main event. We are promised roving reporter Renée Fleming doing the backstage [...]

Read more »