thebirdsUPDATE: The results are in, and the topic for this afternoon’s chat session will be Maria Stuarda.  Please look after the jump for details.maria_stuardaLa Cieca (left) invites you to listen to the broadcast beginning at 1:00 pm EDT on the BBCiPlayer or else check the Operacast page for more options.

Mary Stuart: Sarah Connolly (mezzo-soprano)
Queen Elizabeth: Antonia Cifrone (soprano)
Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester: Bülent Bezdüz (tenor)
Sir William Cecil: David Kempster (baritone)
George Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury: Frédéric Bourreau (bass)
Hannah Kennedy: Michelle Walton (soprano)

Orchestra and Chorus of Opera North conducted by Guido Johannes Rumstadt.

The live chat will be, as always, at La Casa della Cieca.

The libretto.

PREVIOUSLY: It was the perhaps aptly named Cleveland Bent (1866-1954) who described the song of the bobolink as “a bubbling delirium of ecstatic music that flows from the gifted throat of the bird like sparkling champagne.” La Cieca could not improve upon that description as it applies to the latest outpouring of the gifted throat of our own drunken songbird, BETSY_ANN_BOBOLINK. For it is she (pictured above, just over Tippi Hedren‘s left shoulder) who has nominated the operas for this week’s vote on our Saturday chat.

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For more information on casting, times, etc. please see the invaluable Operacast.

La Cieca

James Jorden (who wrote under the names "La Cieca" and "Our Own JJ") was the founder and editor of parterre box. During his 20 year career as an opera critic he wrote for the New York Times, Opera, Gay City News, Opera Now, Musical America and the New York Post. He also raised his voice in punditry on National Public Radio. From time to time he directed opera, including three unsuccessful productions of Don Giovanni. He also contributed a regular column on opera for the New York Observer. James died in October 2023.

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