By La Cieca 
“Thousands of beaming New Yorkers, having heard the Pelléas et Mélisande broadcast, had come out into that fine spring evening. . . . They stood massed in a cordon that stretched from the Plaza fountain, down Fifth Avenue, and west across Fifty-seventh Street all the way to Carnegie Hall, then around Seventh Avenue to the Fifty-sixth Street artists’ entrance.” — Mawrdew Czgowchwz
Photo © Opéra de Dijon – Gilles Abegg
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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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.
Celebrate love in all its guises with tender ballads, amorous duets, cheeky verses, and bawdy drinking songs plus food, cocktails and wine.
