La Cieca is delighted to announce the 2009-2010 Saturday afternoon broadcast season brought to you by the Toll Brothers-Metropolitan Opera Radio Network, beginning December 12. For each of these broadcasts, La Cieca will host (or at least leave the doors open for) a chat amongst the cher public.  

So, while you’re getting your radio tubes revarnished or whatever it is you do, put your mind on this, my dears. Shall the chat format this season be the comment-based one we have followed recently (which allows for archiving of the comment thread, and helps out parterre.com’s circulation numbers) or the “instant message” form we used in previous seasons?

Your comments and discussions on this issue will help guide La Cieca in her continued service to her cher public.  The complete broadcast schedule follows.

December 12 (12:30 PM) Puccini: Il Trittico.  Ranzani; Racette, Murphy, Blythe, Licitra, Pirgu, Lucic, Corbelli

December 19.  Offenbach: Les Contes d’Hoffmann .  Levine; Kim, Netrebko, Gubanova, Lindsey, Calleja, Held

December 26.  Strauss: Elektra.  Luisi; Bullock, Voigt, Palmer, Schmidt, Nikitin

January 2 Humperdinck: Hansel and Gretel.  Davis; Persson, Kirchschlager, Plowright, Langridge, Croft

January 9 Strauss: Der Rosenkavalier .  De Waart; Fleming, Graham, Schäfer, Cutler, Allen, Sigmundsson

January 16 Bizet: Carmen .  Nézet-Séguin; Frittoli, Garanca, Alagna, Kwiecien

January 23 Barber: Vanessa (Archive Broadcast from February 1, 1958).  Mitropoulos; Steber, Elias, Resnik, Gedda, Tozzi

January 30 Verdi: Stiffelio.  Domingo; Radvanovsky, Cura, Dobber, Ens

February 6 Verdi: Simon Boccanegra.  Levine; Pieczonka, Giordani, Domingo, Morris

February 13 Donizetti: La Fille du Régiment .  Armiliato; Damrau, Palmer, Te Kanawa, Flórez, Muraro

February 20 Strauss: Ariadne auf Naxos.  Petrenko; Stemme, Kurzak, Connolly, Ryan, Schmeckenbecher

February 27 Puccini: La Bohème .  Armiliato; Netrebko, Cabell, Beczala, Finley, Cavalletti, Gradus, Plishka

March 6 TBA

March 13 Shostakovich: The Nose .  Gergiev; Popov, Gietz, Szot

March 20 Janácek:: From the House of the Dead (performance from Fall 2009).  Salonen; Margita, Streit, Hoare, Mattei, White

March 27 Thomas: Hamlet.  Langrée; Dessay, Larmore, Spence, Keenlyside, Morris

April 3 Verdi: Aida.  Carignani; Papian, Zajick, Licitra, Guelfi, Colombara, Kocán

April 10 Mozart: Die Zauberflöte .  Fischer; Kleiter, Shagimuratova, Polenzani, Gunn, Pittsinger, König

April 17 Verdi: La Traviata .  Slatkin; Gheorghiu, Valenti, Hampson

April 24 Puccini: Tosca .  Levine; Mattila, Kaufmann, Terfel, Del Carlo

May 1 Rossini: Armida .  Frizza; Fleming, Brownlee, Ford, Zapata, Banks, van Rensburg

May 8 Berg: Lulu .  Levine; Petersen, von Otter, Lehman, Schade, Pittsinger, Morris.