“Style, not sincerity, is the vital thing”
By
La Cieca
Now, don’t you go thinking that Peter Gelb doesn’t listen to his public, which intersects quite steeply, of course, with the cher public. For instance, just the other day La Cieca and a couple of others were lamenting that opera has lost some of it mad silly gay folie lately. Lo and behold, today it appears that Met is putting together what looks to be the mad silly gay camp highlight of the 2011-2012 season, a baroque pastiche called The Enchanted Island.
This frou-frou is to be contrived of snips and snails and oddments of Handel and Vivaldi, and it features, well, everyone actually: Joyce DiDonato, Danielle de Niese, Luca Pisaroni, Lisette Oropesa, Anthony Roth Costanzo, David Daniels, and Placido Domingo as “The Skipper,” uh, check that — ah, as “Neptune.” (Avid Bette Midler fans will not be surprised to hear that legendary tenor “will make an entrance on a giant seashell.”)
Kudos to Mr. Gelb, who doubtless will go down in history as “the James Bidgood of opera!” [NYT]
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.
