By La Cieca 
“It appears that 12.5 million Italians watched the liver relay of the original version of Madam Butterfly from La Scala,” claims Norman Lebrecht, which is perfectly accurate except that there was no organ meat involved in the telecast, and it was seen by 2.6 million Italians, not 12.5 million. Oh, and one other factoid escaped the notoriously slipshod “journalist’s” attention.
La Scala was very clever indeed to obtain the services of Tracy Turnblad to sing the title role in this production.
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.
Get our free weekly newsletter delivered to your email.
Celebrate love in all its guises with tender ballads, amorous duets, cheeky verses, and bawdy drinking songs plus food, cocktails and wine.
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.
