By La Cieca 
“The soup is hot; the soup is cold; Norman Lebrecht got it wrong again.”
Though it’s hardly worth noting every time the blog Slippedisc publishes a gross error of fact, La Cieca would like to point out that, contrary to what Lebrecht spewed earlier today, the Met did not “leak” any financial statements to the New York Times. A spokesman for the Met has confirmed to La Cieca that “The Times got the same release [other journalists] did – no one got the financial statement.”
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.
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.
