David McVicar’s ravishingly lurid 2008 production of Strauss’s Salome for the Royal Opera House Covent Garden has been issued as an HD-filmed DVD from Opus Arte.  Now, Strauss’s music is ravishingly lurid on its own, so I came to this production, which claims as a visual source reference the Pasolini film Salo, The 120 Days…

on April 23, 2011 at 8:50 PM

“Why is the needlessly naked executioner so coy about showing us his wobbly bits?” [The Telegraph]

on July 09, 2010 at 2:19 PM

La Cieca is surprised to note that with only a day left in the spectacular Which Witch competition, there are only a few official entries, with a tie (10 correct each) between the top two contenders. It may be that your doyenne got a little cocky this time around and made the quiz impossibly difficult…

on October 30, 2008 at 10:53 AM

A bit of Salome from the Royal Opera, with a somewhat less skittish sense of cinematography than what we got from the Met’s HD! [kml_flashembed movie=”http://www.youtube.com/v/nBAbXZptfIk” width=”425″ height=”350″ wmode=”transparent” /] Finally a chance to see Naked Busker Guy Duncan Meadows in action! (And, forgive La Cieca for saying so, but if your leading lady sounds…

on October 28, 2008 at 10:39 PM

La Cieca has just learned more details about the Royal Opera’s Naked Executioner Guy and she’s sure that we all want to stay right on top of the story. Naked Executioner Guys’s real name is Duncan Meadows. He is a busker who, like so many in the busking biz, does the bulk of his bulking…

on February 24, 2008 at 1:31 AM