La Cieca has managed to obtain a few minutes of video, pirated at great personal risk, from a dress rehearsal of the Met’s new production of Das Rheingold.
That archetypical Leo, Mae West, was born 117 (or so) years ago today, on August 17, 1893. Read more »
La Cieca is always delighted when a legendary lady of the lyric stage reinvents herself. For example, who ever would have expected Montserrat Caballe to make a comeback as Radames? Read more »
The dramatic soprano (and soon to be belter!) celebrates her golden birthday today. Read more »
Awesome Anna Netrebko wraps her considerable talent around a the Europop hit "La Voix." Note the correct use of hair extensions (without those ridiculous "rocker chick" bangs) and the plain but striking red gown. Read more »
You know how La Cieca gets when one of her darling Regie productions gets dissed sight unseen, as happened on these shores with last Sunday's unveiling of the Hans Neuenfels Lohengrin at Bayreuth. (Not so much on this site, because La Cieca is happy to report that here at dear parterre.com all schools of opinion—even stupid ones—are given a full measure of respect.) Read more »
We may have a contender in the category of Most Overdone Camp Diva Crossover Hair Extension. Read more »
What a concept, or La Cieca should say what a concept! This is Regie at its finest and most boldly satirical, genius that makes Graham Vick look like two-day-old steak frites. For this production of Puccini's Manon Lescaut, the director (unnamed, alas in the YouTube clip below) utilizes the cinematic convention of the flash-forward in a postmodern epoch-bending variation. What if, this staging asks, Manon were to survive her various torments and travails? What would her life be like at, say, age 60? And what if, instead of hanging around mosquito-ridden Louisiana, she invested in a condo in Miami Beach (circa 1975)? Read more »
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