parterre box » our own jj http://parterre.com where opera is king and you, the readers, are queens Sat, 11 Feb 2012 03:14:44 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Boxed seats http://parterre.com/2011/12/22/boxed-seats/ http://parterre.com/2011/12/22/boxed-seats/#comments Thu, 22 Dec 2011 16:25:18 +0000 La Cieca http://parterre.com/?p=24040 Our Own JJ gets into the traditional holiday mood, journalist style, by cobbling together a listicle of last-minute shopping options. [New York Post]

]]> http://parterre.com/2011/12/22/boxed-seats/feed/ 19 Un cor che accende Amore http://parterre.com/2011/12/19/un-cor-che-accende-amore/ http://parterre.com/2011/12/19/un-cor-che-accende-amore/#comments Mon, 19 Dec 2011 15:18:14 +0000 La Cieca http://parterre.com/?p=24025 “In an unlikely venue—a converted gymnasium off Avenue B—one of New York’s newest opera companies is keeping musical tradition alive.” [New York Post]

]]> http://parterre.com/2011/12/19/un-cor-che-accende-amore/feed/ 9 McAnuff is enough http://parterre.com/2011/11/30/mcanuff-is-enough/ http://parterre.com/2011/11/30/mcanuff-is-enough/#comments Wed, 30 Nov 2011 18:54:26 +0000 La Cieca http://parterre.com/?p=23702 “An atomic explosion kicked off the last act of Gounod’s Faust Tuesday at the Met, but the production as a whole was more dud than bomb.” [New York Post]

]]> http://parterre.com/2011/11/30/mcanuff-is-enough/feed/ 37 Twilight of the Machine http://parterre.com/2011/11/18/twilight-of-the-machine/ http://parterre.com/2011/11/18/twilight-of-the-machine/#comments Sat, 19 Nov 2011 00:33:22 +0000 La Cieca http://parterre.com/?p=23510 “Now that it has become apparent that Robert Lepage‘s production of the Ring at the Met is a fiasco (too soon? Nah.)… well, anyway, since arguably the production is a dreary, unworkable, overpriced mess whose primary (perhaps only) virtue is that it actually hasn’t killed anyone yet, and since, let’s face it, the Machinecentric show turned out to be so mind-bogglingly expensive (all those Sunday tech rehearsals with stagehands being paid, no doubt, in solid platinum ingots!), something has to be done. In this article, I intend to propose that ‘something’.” Our Own JJ gets prescriptive at Musical America. (Image based on photos by Ken Howard)

]]> http://parterre.com/2011/11/18/twilight-of-the-machine/feed/ 79 Good evening starshine http://parterre.com/2011/11/09/good-evening-starshine/ http://parterre.com/2011/11/09/good-evening-starshine/#comments Wed, 09 Nov 2011 21:23:16 +0000 La Cieca http://parterre.com/?p=23358 “Now, it seems, OONY is returning to its star-driven roots, opening its season last night at Carnegie Hall with superstars Angela Gheorghiu and Jonas Kaufmann in Cilea’s sentimental diva vehicle Adriana Lecouvreur. The have to be there quotient was boosted to the roof by the fact that this performance would be Gheorghiu’s only New York appearance of the season since she chose not to participate in the Met’s new production of Gounod’s Faust.”  Our Own JJ reflects on last evening’s Sternstunde in Capital New York.  (Photo: Stephanie Berger)

]]> http://parterre.com/2011/11/09/good-evening-starshine/feed/ 88 When we deaf awaken http://parterre.com/2011/11/07/when-we-deaf-awaken/ http://parterre.com/2011/11/07/when-we-deaf-awaken/#comments Mon, 07 Nov 2011 15:23:09 +0000 La Cieca http://parterre.com/?p=23300 Open your eyes, sleepyheads! In the news this morning, our own JJ raves about Satyagraha at the Met (“a masterpiece of musical and visual art”); the ever-articulate Nico Muhly takes aim at the Met’s production values (“Mercedes Bass or Anne Ziff paid for the opera. What do you think is going to happen?”); and NYCO’s orchestra and chorus offer to work for free.

]]> http://parterre.com/2011/11/07/when-we-deaf-awaken/feed/ 51 A distinct odor http://parterre.com/2011/11/04/a-distinct-odor/ http://parterre.com/2011/11/04/a-distinct-odor/#comments Fri, 04 Nov 2011 20:25:58 +0000 La Cieca http://parterre.com/?p=23280 “’I’ve almost come to the conclusion that this Mr. Hitler isn’t a Christian,’ muses merry murderess Abby Brewster early in the first act of Arsenic and Old Lace, and to tell the truth I’m beginning to think I’m almost as far behind the curve as she was. Recent new productions at the Met suggest strongly that Peter Gelb either doesn’t quite know what he’s doing or else, if he does know, has some wildly inappropriate ideas about what music drama is supposed to be.” Our own JJ (not pictured) muses on “Peter’s Principles” at Musical America.

]]> http://parterre.com/2011/11/04/a-distinct-odor/feed/ 72 Wunderkinder in mirror are larger than they appear http://parterre.com/2011/11/02/wunderkinder-in-mirror-are-larger-than-they-appear/ http://parterre.com/2011/11/02/wunderkinder-in-mirror-are-larger-than-they-appear/#comments Wed, 02 Nov 2011 14:40:17 +0000 La Cieca http://parterre.com/?p=23245 Composer Nico Muhly took a break between operatic world premieres to order a daiquiri and talk to our own JJ about height, haters and flight path. [Capital New York] (Photo: Peter Ross)

]]> http://parterre.com/2011/11/02/wunderkinder-in-mirror-are-larger-than-they-appear/feed/ 30 None so blond http://parterre.com/2011/10/28/none-so-blond/ http://parterre.com/2011/10/28/none-so-blond/#comments Fri, 28 Oct 2011 17:32:42 +0000 La Cieca http://parterre.com/?p=23154 “It’s the understudy’s job to save the show, and that’s just what Jay Hunter Morris did Thursday at the Met in the daunting title role of Wagner’s Siegfried.” [New York Post]

]]> http://parterre.com/2011/10/28/none-so-blond/feed/ 17 Strange bedfellows http://parterre.com/2011/10/28/23145/ http://parterre.com/2011/10/28/23145/#comments Fri, 28 Oct 2011 15:44:46 +0000 La Cieca http://parterre.com/?p=23145 So, tell me this, what do Anthony Tommasini, Zachary Woolfe and James Jorden (not pictured) have in common? Well, according to John M. Olin Fellow at the Manhattan Institute Heather MacDonald, these three “trendy” critics constitute “a press corps determined to push Met general manager Peter Gelb into conformity with European opera houses, where narcissistic updatings of opera plots are now de rigueur.” [City Journal]

]]> http://parterre.com/2011/10/28/23145/feed/ 149 Done Giovanni http://parterre.com/2011/10/18/done-giovanni/ http://parterre.com/2011/10/18/done-giovanni/#comments Tue, 18 Oct 2011 12:23:14 +0000 La Cieca http://parterre.com/?p=23039 “An eagerly awaited production of Mozart’s masterpiece Don Giovanni —staged by Tony winner Michael Grandage (Red)—limped into the Met Thursday dead on arrival.”  [New York Post]

]]> http://parterre.com/2011/10/18/done-giovanni/feed/ 236 I glam what I am http://parterre.com/2011/10/08/i-glam-what-i-am/ http://parterre.com/2011/10/08/i-glam-what-i-am/#comments Sat, 08 Oct 2011 19:02:47 +0000 La Cieca http://parterre.com/?p=22910 “Since Zeffirelli took his official leave from the Met in 2008, the company has experienced—some would say suffered—a backlash against glamour, or at least against those qualities that, thanks in part to Zeffirelli, are wrongly perceived as the synonyms of glamour: triviality and meretriciousness.” [Rough and Regie] (Photo: Ken Howard)

]]> http://parterre.com/2011/10/08/i-glam-what-i-am/feed/ 44 Blonde ambition http://parterre.com/2011/10/04/blonde-ambition-2/ http://parterre.com/2011/10/04/blonde-ambition-2/#comments Tue, 04 Oct 2011 13:59:33 +0000 La Cieca http://parterre.com/?p=22840 “Her catfight with another princess over the emperor’s crown might have been an outtake from The Real Housewives of Babylon.” [New York Post] (Photo: Marty Sohl/Metropolitan Opera)

]]> http://parterre.com/2011/10/04/blonde-ambition-2/feed/ 93 Running out of adjectives http://parterre.com/2011/09/27/running-out-of-adjectives/ http://parterre.com/2011/09/27/running-out-of-adjectives/#comments Tue, 27 Sep 2011 20:11:02 +0000 La Cieca http://parterre.com/?p=22751 “Queen Anna is dead — long live Queen Anna! The late royal lady is Anna Bolena in Donizetti’s 1830 opera, based on the final days of Anne Boleyn, second wife of Henry VIII. The new monarch — ruling not over England but the Met — is Anna Netrebko, whose radiant performance at the company’s opening night Monday catapulted her to ‘prima donna assoluta’: undisputed superstar.” [New York Post]

]]> http://parterre.com/2011/09/27/running-out-of-adjectives/feed/ 103 He’s still here! http://parterre.com/2011/09/23/hes-still-here/ http://parterre.com/2011/09/23/hes-still-here/#comments Fri, 23 Sep 2011 20:48:03 +0000 La Cieca http://parterre.com/?p=22673 La Cieca is delighted to announce that after a long absence Our Own JJ (not pictured) has returned to the pages of Musical America with another entry in his “Rough and Regie” blog— this time comparing Atys with Follies.

]]> http://parterre.com/2011/09/23/hes-still-here/feed/ 9 The folly of fidelity http://parterre.com/2011/09/15/the-folly-of-fidelity/ http://parterre.com/2011/09/15/the-folly-of-fidelity/#comments Thu, 15 Sep 2011 15:12:11 +0000 La Cieca http://parterre.com/?p=22451 Our Own JJ returns to the pages of Capital New York to reflect on the current Broadway revival of the Sondheim-Goldman musical Follies: “one gorgeous zombie.” (Photo: Joan Marcus)

]]> http://parterre.com/2011/09/15/the-folly-of-fidelity/feed/ 20 The important thing is to be nominated http://parterre.com/2011/07/11/the-important-thing-is-to-be-nominated/ http://parterre.com/2011/07/11/the-important-thing-is-to-be-nominated/#comments Mon, 11 Jul 2011 15:03:26 +0000 La Cieca http://parterre.com/?p=21591 La Cieca (left) is delighted to congratulate dear Alex Ross (right), whose little column The Rest is Noise has been named #1 among Classical Music blogs, according to blogrank.  In other family news, Our Own JJ (not pictured) reviews Caramoor’s Guillaume Tell in today’s New York Post.

]]> http://parterre.com/2011/07/11/the-important-thing-is-to-be-nominated/feed/ 25 Fluteless http://parterre.com/2011/07/07/fluteless/ http://parterre.com/2011/07/07/fluteless/#comments Thu, 07 Jul 2011 13:49:17 +0000 La Cieca http://parterre.com/?p=21536 “Subtract the magic and the flute from Mozart’s The Magic Flute, and you’d think there’d be nothing. But an adaptation of this opera at the Lincoln Center Festival on Wednesday conjured a quiet enchantment.” [New York Post]

]]> http://parterre.com/2011/07/07/fluteless/feed/ 8 21st century fox http://parterre.com/2011/06/23/21st-century-fox/ http://parterre.com/2011/06/23/21st-century-fox/#comments Thu, 23 Jun 2011 18:09:40 +0000 La Cieca http://parterre.com/?p=21348 “A singing crossbreed—a fox with human intelligence—stars in Leos Janacek’s opera, The Cunning Little Vixen. If only the New York Philharmonic’s semistaged performance Wednesday night were as successful a hybrid.” [New York Post]

]]> http://parterre.com/2011/06/23/21st-century-fox/feed/ 44 The gospel truth http://parterre.com/2011/05/19/the-gospel-truth/ http://parterre.com/2011/05/19/the-gospel-truth/#comments Thu, 19 May 2011 23:48:43 +0000 La Cieca http://parterre.com/?p=20776 “The critical reaction to the Robert Lepage’s new production of Die Walküre at the Met leaves this contrarian reviewer in something of a quandary. Not only was pretty much everybody underwhelmed, but there was a consensus about what (they thought) was wrong: the clunkiness of The Machine, the lack of poetry in the latter part of the first act, the clumsy path to the final tableau.  No one doesn’t want to just heap on the contempt, but at the same time it’s not easy to build a case for Lepage’s invention thus far in the Ring.”

]]> http://parterre.com/2011/05/19/the-gospel-truth/feed/ 69 Bringing upbeat baby http://parterre.com/2011/05/09/bringing-upbeat-baby/ http://parterre.com/2011/05/09/bringing-upbeat-baby/#comments Mon, 09 May 2011 12:03:26 +0000 La Cieca http://parterre.com/?p=20657 “If, as rumor has it, conductor Fabio Luisi is poised to succeed the ailing James Levine as music director of the Met, Saturday afternoon’s elegant performance of Ariadne auf Naxos showed he’s the right man for the job.” [New York Post]

]]> http://parterre.com/2011/05/09/bringing-upbeat-baby/feed/ 32 Orpheus deconstructing http://parterre.com/2011/05/02/orpheus-deconstructing/ http://parterre.com/2011/05/02/orpheus-deconstructing/#comments Mon, 02 May 2011 15:02:14 +0000 La Cieca http://parterre.com/?p=20511 Morris dancing returns to the Met for a revival of Orfeo, and our own JJ is there to review it. [New York Post]

]]> http://parterre.com/2011/05/02/orpheus-deconstructing/feed/ 22 Look after Lulu http://parterre.com/2011/04/28/look-after-lulu/ http://parterre.com/2011/04/28/look-after-lulu/#comments Thu, 28 Apr 2011 16:17:55 +0000 La Cieca http://parterre.com/?p=20412 “It’s fortunate that Lulu at Den Norske Opera was the last stop on the ‘Regietournee,’ because honestly anything after that would have amounted to an anticlimax. If there is a more brilliant director working in opera today than Stefan Herheim, well, maybe I shouldn’t see any of his work, because it might be too much for the human brain to absorb.” [Rough and Regie]

]]> http://parterre.com/2011/04/28/look-after-lulu/feed/ 52 Put a “Ring” on it http://parterre.com/2011/04/24/put-a-ring-on-it-3/ http://parterre.com/2011/04/24/put-a-ring-on-it-3/#comments Sun, 24 Apr 2011 20:15:40 +0000 La Cieca http://parterre.com/?p=20353 “Director Robert Lepage’s obsession with eye-popping visuals showed little concern for the work’s complex intellectual and moral dimensions.” [New York Post]

]]> http://parterre.com/2011/04/24/put-a-ring-on-it-3/feed/ 73 Ghost of a chance http://parterre.com/2011/04/20/ghost-of-a-chance/ http://parterre.com/2011/04/20/ghost-of-a-chance/#comments Wed, 20 Apr 2011 17:36:51 +0000 La Cieca http://parterre.com/?p=20316 “First witches, now ghosts. But while Broadway’s Wicked proved golden for Stephen Schwartz, his Séance on a Wet Afternoon came up lifeless and damp Tuesday night at its City Opera premiere.” [New York Post] (Photo: Carol Rosegg)

]]> http://parterre.com/2011/04/20/ghost-of-a-chance/feed/ 32 Parole parole parole http://parterre.com/2011/04/19/parole-parole-parole/ http://parterre.com/2011/04/19/parole-parole-parole/#comments Tue, 19 Apr 2011 21:33:59 +0000 La Cieca http://parterre.com/?p=20305 Our Own JJ (not pictured) gets the Staatsoper Stuttgart experience off his chest, to the tune of about 4,000 words, in his new blog post at Musical America.

Included is a massive and (one hopes) final deconstruction of the Calixto Bieito Parsifal.

]]> http://parterre.com/2011/04/19/parole-parole-parole/feed/ 22 Hard gore http://parterre.com/2011/04/18/hard-gore/ http://parterre.com/2011/04/18/hard-gore/#comments Mon, 18 Apr 2011 15:07:16 +0000 La Cieca http://parterre.com/?p=20278 “In New York… opera directors don’t matter so much. In Europe, it’s another story: There, the director’s curtain call provokes the wildest excitement of the night.”

The long-awaited “Regie” piece by Our Own JJ appears in the New York Post.

]]> http://parterre.com/2011/04/18/hard-gore/feed/ 95 A Multitude of Roberts http://parterre.com/2011/04/12/a-multitude-of-roberts/ http://parterre.com/2011/04/12/a-multitude-of-roberts/#comments Tue, 12 Apr 2011 19:09:38 +0000 La Cieca http://parterre.com/?p=20195 “What prevents Company from being the greatest musical ever written (which, given the talents going into it, it certainly could have been) is that there is something central to the work that is false, a cheat.”

Our Own JJ (not pictured) reveals his theater queen side in Capital New York.

]]> http://parterre.com/2011/04/12/a-multitude-of-roberts/feed/ 35 First installment http://parterre.com/2011/04/09/first-installment/ http://parterre.com/2011/04/09/first-installment/#comments Sun, 10 Apr 2011 02:16:45 +0000 La Cieca http://parterre.com/?p=20167 Our own JJ (not pictured) has finally begun to unburden himself on the subject of the recent, much-discussed “Regietournee.” For reviews of Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Rusalka and Cosi fan tutte in Berlin, please go to Musical America‘s Rough and Regie. (Photo: Monkia Rittershaus)

]]> http://parterre.com/2011/04/09/first-installment/feed/ 26 The joy of tragedy http://parterre.com/2011/04/07/the-joy-of-tragedy/ http://parterre.com/2011/04/07/the-joy-of-tragedy/#comments Thu, 07 Apr 2011 16:17:47 +0000 La Cieca http://parterre.com/?p=20135 “Alban Berg’s Wozzeck, about a bullied soldier’s descent into madness, is one of the grimmer operas around. Yet it was cause for jubilation Wednesday night when Met music director James Levine finally returned to the podium.” [New York Post]

]]> http://parterre.com/2011/04/07/the-joy-of-tragedy/feed/ 57