La Cieca is always delighted to hear the merest whisper of a rumor that her old, old, old friend Madame Vera Galupe-Borszkh has been encouraged to grace the lyric stage yet once more.  Therefore it is with the almost unutterable joy that your doynne notes that “La Dementia” will sing again in 2009 as a fitting finale to what may be the last musical season ever in New York City. A reliable source has revealed that the quasi-mythical traumatic soprano will tread the boards of the Thalia the last week of May 2009 in the company of erstwhile colleages Maestro Sergio Zawa and Carmelita della Vaca Browne.

Those of you who desire enlightenment as to the process by which a Galupe-Borszkh is born will be interested to know that the Man Behind the Legend, Ira Siff, will offer a master class on “Vocal Ease” under the auspices of the Metropolitan Opera Guild on December 9.