advice_cieca_collins_thumbOur Own Dear Betsy reports: Right this way, ladies and gentlemen, for The Greatest Show on Earth, the world-famous La Cieca Chat. Feted (“Fated”? “Fetid”?) artistes from the far corners of the planet demolish reputations with a single mot. SEE — dainty Mam’zelle Manou soar high above the heads of the crowd in flights of aerial fantasy. WONDER — at the legerdemain of Harry who changes subjects !!! SIX TIMES !!! in a single ten-word sentence. THRILL — at the duel to the death between ferocious beasts Operacat and Clita_del_Toro. GASP — as Mighty CruzSF lifts the Napa Opera House using only his . . . . using only . . . his . . . Excuse me, I’ll be on the verandah.

(some time later) Postings are skimpy, but possibilities present themselves.

11:00-2:00 LRT KLASIKA: Martin Y Soler’s DIANA’S ARBOR. — An interesting piece, to be sure, and like much of the music from that period it will play nicely while the audience does something else.

12:00- 4:30 DEUTSCHLANDRADIO KULTUR: LOHENGRIN from Bayreuth. — Jonas Kaufmann, rats and foeti. We’ve done this one.

12:00-5:00 WRTI: SIEGFRIED from Los Angeles. That’s the problem with repeat broadcasts; they DON’T improve.

1:00-5:00 CBC TWO: Chabrier’s L’ETOILE. If you don’t know this opera, you really should. I mean, after all, it has been performed in NEW YORK !

1:00-5:00 NPR World of Opera: SIMON BOCCANEGRA from Covent Garden — The Grand Farewell Placido Domingo Simon Boccanegra Dog and Pony Show continues to wend its way around the world.  Next stop, Reykiavik.

1:00-5:00 RTP ANTENA 2: Purcell’s FAIRY QUEEN from Vancouver — Oh listen, Jake, they’re playing our song.
1:00-5:00 VPR CLASSICAL: IL TURCO IN ITALIA — They don’t announce which performance but there are strong odds that it’s commercial.

1:00-5:15 DR P2: DON GIOVANNI from Drottningholm. I haven’t heard this one, so I can’t comment. Certainly it will be stylistically correct, and possibly enjoyable.

1:00-5:30 ESPACE MUSIQUE: LES TROYENS from Amsterdam. Eva-Marie Westbroek as Cassandra, but Yvonne Naef may be hitting Dido too late, and Markus Haddock is a bit light for Aeneas. (BTW, I heard he was “ill”; anyone know anything?)

1:00-5:30 RADIO CLASICA DE ESPANA: An Isaac Albeniz Gala from Santander, Spain.   Certainly not what you might call hackneyed programming.
1:00-5:30 WETA: OTELLO from Bucharest — Franco Farina lays claim to the throne vacated by Jose Cura, but there’s no lock on the door and no paper.

1:00-6:00 WFMT: GOTTERDAMMERUNG from Los Angeles. When Treleaven dies, everyone applauds. I can only wonder why.

1:00-6:00 KBYU: DIE WALKURE  — A friend said she had never heard a better Siegmund and Sieglinde than in this performance.  She is no longer a friend.

1:30-4:30 BARTOK RADIO: DON CARLO. — This would be my pick as the best snark opera of the day. We can cringe at Elena Nicolai, compare Mario Fillipeschi to such great Carlos of the past as Cesare Cinciabutti, Helmut Scheiss-Manifold, and Vicar favorite Wimple Donat. Then we can collapse in orgiastic puddles at the feet of Boris Christoff and Tito Gobbi.

2:00-7:00 HR2 KULTUR: SIEGFRIED from Bayreuth. Lance Ryan is not half-bad, a lot better than he was at The Met last season.

You know where to go: La Casa della Cieca.

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