July 2005
This week it seems Tony Tommasini can’t do anything right. First he cooed over Renee Fleming‘s impossibly arch performance at a Mostly Mozart concert. Well, subjectivity and all that; still, you have to wonder where bad taste ends and starfucking begins. Then, in this morning’s paper, ironically in a piece about the Met’s archives, Tony…
By La Cieca
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The ineffable Leyla Gencer gives a master class in grandezza in the latest episode of Unnatural Acts of Opera. The diva stars as La Gioconda in a live 1971 performance of Ponchielli’s opera.
By La Cieca
Placido Domingo wants to conduct at Bayreuth: Domingo will in Bayreuth den Taktstock schwingen. (And is La Cieca the only one who thinks that headline sounds like the first line of a Lieder text?) One presumes that on the dark night between Siegfried and Goetterdaemmerung, Domingo will jet to Los Angeles to sing a quick…
By La Cieca
Something for the weekend: La Cieca presents Act 3 of Die Walkuere as the latest Unnatural Act. The performance is a classic: Bayreuth 1951, Varnay, Rysanek, Bjoerling, Karajan.
By La Cieca
Piero Cappuccilli, considered one of the finest Italian baritones of his generation, lies in an advanced state of putrefaction today. He died July 12, but for reasons best known to Anthony Tommasini of the Times, that passing was not noted until today, i.e., nine days after the fact. Perhaps if Cappuccilli had achieved “international stardom”…
By La Cieca
La Cieca wants to let you in on the ground floor of what looks to be the tipping point in podcasting: Odeo. This web-based service offers the easiest and most elegant way she’s seen yet to receive podcasts: subcribe, synchronize, download, or just listen on the built-in player. The site promises in future to include…
By La Cieca
More bad news for Alberto Vilar. The Royal Opera House has given him 60 days to pony up the 10 million pounds he promised in return for their naming a reception area of the theater “The Vilar Floral Hall.” (Is this guy the Gladys Glover of opera or what?) Says Dame Judith Mayhew Jonas (chair…
By La Cieca
At long last, the final act of Bellini’s sublime bel canto masterpiece Norma, with Montserrat Caballe, Gianni Raimondi and Ivo Vinco. A 1974 performance from Moscow, Francesco Mollinari-Pradelli conducting. Plus: a new, user-friendlier web player! Unnatural Acts of Opera
By La Cieca
… there’s a change in cast in the current episode of “Unnatural Acts of Opera” — Fiorenza Cossotto canceled after the second act of this 1974 performance of Norma, and the part of Adalgisa was sung in the third act by Bruna Baglioni. La Cieca makes the announcement at Unnatural Acts of Opera.
By La Cieca
La Cieca hears (from very reliable sources indeed) that one of the first initiatives of the new Peter Gelb regime at the Met will be to build up Angela Gheorghiu into “house diva.” Apparently the new attitude will be “you’re going on, with or without that wig.” Another top-priority item on the Met’s agenda: a…
By La Cieca
The show goes on at Opera Barga tonight, though not exactly the same show as planned. Since the Berlin Sing-Akademie (hiss! hiss!) has managed to get an injunction against “their” Motezuma‘s being performed, Opera Barga has devised a “pasticcio” version using the original libretto (public domain) and music from several other Vivaldi operas. And the…
By La Cieca
The second “episode” of Norma is now available for download at Unnatural Acts of Opera. And speaking of Norma, can anyone confirm this story? It’s a regional production of the opera, sometime around the mid to late ’60s. The Adalgisa either learned the role in a big hurry or else was just congenitally not very…
By La Cieca
Did you know Unnatural Acts of Opera is the only all-opera podcast in the whole, uh, podosphere? Even better, this podcast features only live opera performances, preferably demented. Our opera this time is both live and demented, with even a soupcon of backstage drama to add an extra frisson. La Cieca presents the first act…
By La Cieca
Those of you who haven’t had the chance to hear the “Oper” section of La Cieca’s podcast of Ariadne auf Naxos should take the time today; starting tonight a new opera will be programmed on the free player. (Both parts of the Ariadne, as well as last week’s Macbeth, will remain available for downloading via…
By La Cieca
La Cieca has to say she is just plain appalled at the turn of events in the Opera Barga / Motezuma fracas. Not that she’s any particular fan of Vivaldi opera, but the behavior of the officials at the Berlin Sing-Akademie (who claim copyright ownership of this 270-year-old opera) strikes her as unartistic and just…
By La Cieca
San Francisco Opera, as always right on the crest of the wave, introduced its own podcast over the weekend. Pamela Rosenberg and Donald Runnicles yak about the 2005-06 season, which will include the premiere of the new John Adams piece “Dr. Atomic,” and some musical highlights of the rest of the repertoire are included too.…
By La Cieca
Backstage drama! The veteran prima donna suspects a conniving newcomer of trying to upstage her — both onstage and off! No, it’s not All About Eve, but almost! Now, on the parterre podcast “Unnatural Acts of Opera,” the Prologue to Ariadne auf Naxos from the Salzburg Festival 1954. Lisa della Casa, Hilde Gueden and Irmgard…
By La Cieca
After a service interruption that lost all her files (grrrrr!) La Cieca has restored and restarted her Web radio show Il Gran Teatro della Cieca. Included in this rotation are the Macbeth and Turandot from her podcast, plus complete performances of L’incoronazione di Poppea, Samson et Dalila and Jenufa. Thank you for your patience, and…
By La Cieca
Music fans of all orientations, gay, straight and bi (oops, the Times says you don’t exist, my mistake), well, anyway, music fans around the world finally have news worth talking about. No, we’re not talking about Alberto Vilar, but you’re getting warm. Which is to say, it’s good news. Sir Elton John and George Michael…
By La Cieca
Everyone’s favorite Kiwi songbird, Dame Kiri te Kanawa, is being sued by an Australian promoter because she didn’t show for a series of crossover concerts. The diva was to appear opposite Oz pop star John “The Voice” Farnham, whom she found overly chatty onstage. Says Farnham, “[Dame Kiri] is probably not used to an audience…
By La Cieca
For the first “regular” show of “Unnatural Acts of Opera,” La Cieca presents Shirley Verrett in Act One of Verdi’s Macbeth in a live (and lively!) performance from La Scala, the opening night of the 1975 season. This was surely one of the greatest nights of Verrett’s career, when Kunst and Stimm met in perfect…
By La Cieca
It has come to La Cieca’s attention that not everyone listens to music on an Ipod, or, for that matter, wants to. Chacun a son gout, as she always says. To accomodate those of you who want to listen to “Unnatural Acts of Opera” over your computer’s speakers, she’s added a new gizmo to the…
By La Cieca
