You can pull the fork out of Madame Vera Galupe-Borszkh, because, believe it or not, she’s still not done. How, you ask, can that be? Well, according to an email received by La Cieca this morning,

In the tradition of many great divas who pack it in, only to unpack, Madame Vera emerged from retirement last summer for a recital at Tanglewood at the invitation of Maestro James Levine. Her artistry was greeted with the kind of ecstatic response that only encourages divas of a certain age.

Thus emboldened, the legendary “traumatic soprano” indulged a whim (and who better to do so?), and booked the Peter Norton Symphony Space at the Leonard Nimoy Thalia here in New York City.  Following the lead of such visionary opera impresarios as George Steel, Madame Vera will limit her exposure to a mini-season of three nights, May 27, 29 and 30.

La Dementia is joined by Maestro Sergio Zawa (Lucy Arner) for a lavish evening of treasures from their repertoire, including scenes from Madama Butterfly, La traviata, and L’Italiana in Algeri, plus songs by Schubert, Strauss and Liszt. The cup overfloweth with the inclusion of Madame’s hilarious treatise on “Modern Music” composed by Richard Burke.  Sharing the (surely vast) stage with Madame will be special guest diva Carmelita della Vaca Browne (Johnny Maldonado).

Madame Vera’s creator and alter ego is, of course, Ira Siff, weekly commentator on the Metropolitan Opera broadcasts.

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