Such a fame whore is La Cieca that she delights in seeing any mainstream media mention of herself even when the item in question a) is less than complimentary and b) doesn’t even mention her by name. But she has little doubt to whom David Patrick Stearns refers when he writes:

The odds – and some vehement bloggers – were against the success of Cyrano, the new operatic version of Edmund Rostand’s play given its East Coast premiere Friday by Opera Company of Philadelphia.

However, credit must be given where credit is due. The “vehement” (and no doubt humpy) one here is L’Inconnu, who tipped off La Cieca to the “musically tedious” nature of the new opera.

And even Le Petit Stearns hardly mustered what you might call violent enthusiasm for the show. The nicest thing he could think of to say was “… lowered expectations carried through a lumpy opening scene, after which DiChiera’s Cyrano proved as good as Alfano’s.” As praise goes, that’s about on the same level as “no, really, it doesn’t taste so bad; kind of like nutria, actually.”