Always front and center with a vote of confidence, Peter Gelb told the New York Times, “Natalie is one of the great artists, but she also is somewhat fragile.” (The kicker on the story goes like this: ”Ms. De Niese, Mr. Gelb added, will again be available, just in case.”) So: does it begin to look to you, cher public, like this Giulio Cesare production may resemble in some ways a ride on the montagnes russes? Should Danielle de Niese just go ahead and sublet a flat at The Bel Canto? It’s up to you, parterrians, to turn your crowdsourcing skills to the task of predicting the possibly messy course of the next few weeks. Read more »
Well, that didn’t take long: “Danielle de Niese will sing the role of Cleopatra in this evening’s performance of Handel’s Giulio Cesare, replacing Natalie Dessay, who is ill.” (So says the Met press office.) Read more »
“Bollywood dance numbers, kung fu fighting, simulated nudity — and rock-solid musical values — added up to a sterling Giulio Cesare at at the Met.” [New York Post]
“I’m analytical, not wild,” Ms. Garanca told an interviewer in 2009.
Giulio Cesare at the Met proved an evening that added up to much more than the sum of its uneven parts.
Last night, La Cieca finally got around to watching that documentary about the rocky road to the new Ring at the Met, and she has a thought or two about this whole brouhaha.
Tenor Bryan Hymel has been named the recipient of the eighth annual Beverly Sills Artist Award for young singers at the Metropolitan Opera.
“The spring season at the Met is as changeable as March weather in New York: crisp and brilliant for a day or two, and then suddenly as dismal as Thursday night’s Faust.”
Cher Public