Our Own CruzSF has devised a delightful new pastime, which consists of posing in a parterre box t-shirt “in front of the great and not-so-great opera houses of the world.”
First up: the Napa Valley Opera House.
That’s after the jump.
In an unexpected bonus round of “This Diva Looks Like That Diva,” conspiracy theorists will surely puzzle over the eerily similar headshots of these two New York Post columnists. Read more »
La Cieca is happy to note that Our Own Squirrel will be on-site at Symphony Space this afternoon with live breaking coverage of the triumphs and/or scandales associated with the prima of Carmen from La Scala, as seen on HD. Coverage starts here at parterre.com at 11:45 AM.
They want it. The career. They want it really bad. So we learn from Susan Froemke’s Metropolitan Opera-commissioned documentary about the participants in the final round of the 2007 MetNational Council Auditions, which is out on DVD this month. Our own doyenne reviewed the film when it was screened as an HD theatrical event, and by now many of us know the winners and their work. Since you are all wondering whether to rush out with $20 in your hands, perhaps a few remarks on the DVD release are in order. Read more »
The world needs a lot of things: health care, happiness, homo marriages, peace, prosperity and butterflies. What it doesn't need is a mediocre "budget" recording of a contemporary opera already satisfactorily recorded with the original cast. Read more »
Cecilia Bartoli’s latest vanity release bucks protocol to present an album heavy on historical concept.
The classical recording industry has long feasted on the popularity of operatic solo records, especially during the last few years of industry-wide decline in CD sales. Incidentally, as record companies run out of ways to sell the standard repertoire to collectors who already own it five times, baroque and early opera are also selling well. Read more »
The Random Number Generator has spoken, and from the whopping 442 comments offered during the Turandot Chat, the randomly chosen winner of the Cecilia Bartoli Sacrificium
Four of the cher public caught yesterday’s HD presentation of Tosca and have agreed to share their impressions with La Cieca and the rest:
“The death of Puccini’s Tosca was much exaggerated, in fact it did not take place.”
“After about 34 years of going to the opera, I don’t think I’ve ever left a performance more infuriated than I did after the performance today.”
“‘Vulgar’ ‘Totally out of place’ and ‘It had nothing whatever to do with the opera!’ were phrases which constituted a regular refrain.”
“I will say this, Mr. Gagnidze looked like one sexy bear in that opera.”
Complete reviews after the jump.
Cher Public