La Cieca (pictured, left) celebrated her birthday early this year when she unexpectedly received the perfect gift—the following press release:

Tune in to PBS on Friday, April 6, 2012 at 8:00p.m. for Live From Lincoln Center’s telecast of America’s favorite soprano and “the people’s diva” Renée Fleming in a special intimate concert from the Stanley H. Kaplan Penthouse. Featuring the rarely-performed American masterpiece, Knoxville Summer of 1915 by Samuel Barber, the program also marks the first New York concert performance of songs from Ms. Fleming’s acclaimed new pop and indie-rock album, Dark Hope. A favorite of this Emmy Award-winning series as both performer and host, Ms. Fleming will also perform Broadway favorites and duets with popular vocalist Josh Groban.

Relative newcomers to parterre who may be wondering what the hell La Cieca is babbling about are invited to view a snippet of La Scoopenda’s previous Kaplan Penthouse foray, from 1999:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nuGjMoqnE7s

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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