La Cieca would never leave the cher public without something to gossip about, even in the middle of June. So here’s  Betsy Ann Bobolink with the weekly dish: “A couple of things are on the ‘Net for the first time. Just to make book on how they might stack up as Chat Room fodder. The best bet would be…” 

2:00-6:00 KLARA: IL TROVATORE from the Monnaie, in the production featured in the “Huis Clos” thread. The provocative staging doesn’t count for much on radio, but it does have (gasp) Poplavskaya, who just might cause numerous kidneys to fail.

The cast is rather spotty in: 1:00-4:30 BBC 3 DON GIOVANNI from ROH, so it depends on your personal feelings about Schrott, Esposito, Breslik, Donose et al. Conducted by Charybdis, who seems to have escaped Scylla for the occasion.

From this point, we’re on the other side of the mountain.: 1:00-4:00 NPR World of Opera. IL TRITTICO. Hanover is not known for being a hotbed of excellence, but that could change. (Yeah, sure, and the woods are just crawling with politicians with integrity.)

1:00-3:30 DWOJKA POLSKIE: LA MER and CARMINA BURANA. Before you start yawning, the soprano in the Orff is Olga Peretyatko. (Okay, now you can yawn.)

1:00-4:00 MDR FIGARO: A Choral Concert from Magdeburg. Have we really reached the bottom of the barrel already?

There’s also a broadcast of a relative rarity for those who are able to roust themselves out of bed at an ungodly hour. 10:00-12:15 CATALUNYA MUSICA: Salieri’s LES DANAIDES from Stuttgart.

For those who are feeling particularly contentious, there’s at least one broadcast that qualifies as a 4 F.K. :12:00-4:00 ESPACE MUSIQUE: FAUST from ROH with Gheorghiu, Pape, Hvorostovsky, and Grigolo (Damn, there went my other kidney.)

You’ll find more to like than to hate in these 3 F.K. beauties

11:00-2:00 LRT KLASIKA: DIE FLEDERMAUS from Vienna with Kaune, Streit, and others

1:00-4:30 WFMT AMERICAN OPERA NETWORK: RINALDO from Chicago. I’m tellin’ ya, give a listen to van den Heever.

1:00-4:00 NRK KLASSISK and P2: FALSTAFF from ROH. Ana Maria Martinez is the big draw.

1:00-5:00 KBYU: ARIADNE AUF NAXOS from Chicago. If you haven’t heard Amber Wagner’s Ariadne yet, you owe it to yourself, unless you are terminally besotted by Voigt.

1:00-5:00 RTP ANTENA 2: LE NOZZE DI FIGARO from Salzburg, 2011. Can one truly be bored by a star-studded “Nozze”? Yes, one can.

1:30-5:00 SVERIGES P2; BARTERED BRIDE. Kurt Streit, Dorothea Roschmann — you could do worse.

1:30-4:00 BARTOK RADIO: OBERON. Those needing a Kaufmann fix will have to be satisfied with this commercial release, featuring the added bonus of Hillevi Martinpelto trying to say “Huon.”

2:00-6:00 RADIO STEPHANSDOM: DIE MEISTERSINGER. With all the broadcasts at their disposal, The Met chose to release this. Pilar Lorengar is typically silvery, but there’s difficult listening elsewhere.

There’s a lot that’s good about these 2 F.K. offerings, but you have to pay too much attention to chat (in)coherently.

1:00-4:00 CBC TWO and other sites: L’ORACOLO IN MESSENIA. Not truly a pasticcio; more like a patch-itsio.

1:00-3:00 DEUTSCHLANDRADIO KULTUR: IOLANTHE and FRANCESCA DA RIMINI. Good performances. If only the voices were an eentsy bit better.

1:00-5:00 WCNY, WQXR, WQED: SHOWBOAT. This damned thing is a masterpiece! So why the hell doesn’t it sound like it?

2:00-5:30 CESKY ROZHLAS VLTAVA: DER FLIEGENDE HOLLANDER from ROH. Stalled on the runway at Heathrow.

2:00-6:00 ESPACE 2: MIGNON. Geneva really tried to make a case for this opera, but it falls curiously flat.

3:00-4:30 RADIO TRE: PEER GYNT. The best reason to turn this on is if your Aunt Hattie comes to visit and you want to give her something she’ll recognize. Also good for reviving Norwegian Blues.

Best bet – second week running — virtually a perfect performance.: 1:00-6:00 LYRIC FM: ORLANDO from The Monnaie.

You’re expected at La Casa della Cieca as usual!