Matt Baume, whose indispensable podcast The Sewers of Paris has been noted here before, also plays video games online while people watch and comment, which is apparently a thing. (Don’t ask your doyenne, who is still working on the first level of Asteroids.)

So, anyway, last week we game in question was The Beast Within: A Gabriel Knight Mystery, in which the plot hinges on the discovery and premiere of a previously unknown Wagner opera about werewolves. So here’s Matt enjoying the gripping final scene of Der Fluch des Engelhart, the music for which is not in fact by the Meister, but rather by Robert Holmes.

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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