Lovely, legendary, litigious Dame Kiri te Kanawa is among the distinguished divas and dudes of the lyric stage to be honored at the 2011 edition of The F. Paul Driscoll Awards for Outstanding Achivement in the Field of Excellence. Also tapped: maestro Riccardo Muti, soprano Patricia Racette, bass-baritone Bryn Terfel and tenor Jonas Kaufmann. The gala dinner (sometimes known as the Opera News Awards) on April 17 promises to be (as always) one of the season’s premier meet-and-greets. [AP]
Laureate
By La Cieca 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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Tell us: What was the best of 2025?
Parterre Box concludes the thrilling first year of Talk of the Town by inviting your lightning rod opinions on several more categories of operatic argumentation.
