Last night, the Met opened the 2013-14 season with a handsome, fairly conservative new production of Eugene Onegin by Deborah Warner that replaces the handsome, fairly conservative one by Robert Carsen. (The trend is clear.) The major singers were good, the lesser ones could have been better, the applause at evening’s end was polite and nobody carried on (aside from a brief, pre-opera gay rights demo in the Family Circle). All was serene as the Neva in midwinter between storms. Storms are undesirable to management. Read more »
Tonight at long last brings us to our first Met livechat of the season, cher public, in connection with tonight’s livestream of Eugene Onegin, with the preshow starting at 6:00 and the opera proper a half hour later.
La Cieca predicts you will be seeing more of the same old puritans at the Met next season, and she’s not just talking about the ones who slouch around during intermission hissing, “You call that a trill?” But uou will also see six new productions (including a Met premiere of a 21st century work) and the local debut of one of opera’s most controversial stage directors. Read more »
La Cieca has been sniffing around her generally reliable (and fragrant) sources, and she thinks she has pieced together a list of the dozen operas to be featured in the 2013-2014 season of “The Met: Live in HD.”
Karol Szymanowski’s 1926 King Roger was the sleeper hit of SFO’s season, not so much for its weird, mystical theme and feeble libretto but because the music is powerfully effective.
“Juan Diego Flórez made an untraditional Nemorino, his small but diamond-bright tenor unlike the luscious lyric voice usually heard in this part.”
Not only has physical therapy healed Mariusz Kwiecien‘s shapely back, it’s apparently added a third to the top of his range. [New York Times]
Good news, barihunk lovers! According to a press release from the Met, Mariusz Kwiecien will return to the stage for the title role of Don Giovanni on October 25, in time for the HD telecast October 29 as well as remaining scheduled performances through November 11.
Barihunk Mariusz Kwiecien injured his handsome back during today’s dress rehearsal of Don Giovanni at the Met and was taken to the hospital, tweets Dan Wakin. As La Cieca writes this, Kwiecien’s cover Dwayne Croft is at the Met rehearsing the opera’s first act swordfight.
UPDATE, Tuesday, 7:45 AM: The Met sent out a press release at 1:27 AM New York time today announcing major changes to its roster for the tour of Japan this month. La Cieca has revised the following gossip item (which appeared at 11 PM last night) to reflect the Met’s confirmations.
Cher Public