You know, La Cieca and her alter ego JJ are just like the pair in that lovely

by Mr. Sondheim, “The Story of Lucy and Jessie.”

Well, not just like, perhaps. La Cieca can hardly be accused of having “maturity and plenty of security” and dear JJ does not exactly boast “the purity along with the unsurety that comes with being only twenty-one.”  But, for the sake of the argument, let’s just say they see things in very different ways. 

Take, for example, this photograph of the current revival of Tosca at the Royal Opera House:

Now, La Cieca looks at this image and thinks, “Such drama! Such excitement! Surely this is demented opera at its (visual) best!”

Whereas JJ casts his critical eye and reflects, “So we have one singer who doesn’t rehearse (Angela Gheorghiu) and another singer who rehearses, but then does something completely different when he gets onstage (Bryn Terfel). And those two unpredictable artists are wrestling atop a rickety table only inches away from real lit candles. This cannot end well.”

“And this is assuming,” JJ adds, “the signora’s bazooms do not pop out of her bodice. How am I supposed to listen to music when I have all this stuff to worry about?”