La Cieca
James Jorden (who writes under the names "La Cieca" and "Our Own JJ") is the founder and editor of parterre box. During his 20 year career as an opera critic he has written for the New York Times, Opera, Gay City News, Opera Now, Musical America and the New York Post. He has also raised his voice in punditry on National Public Radio. From time to time he has directed opera, including three unsuccessful productions of Don Giovanni, a work he hopes to return to someday. Currently he alternates his doyenne duties with writing a weekly column on opera for the New York Observer.
The Slovak soprano, whose career spanned more than 50 years, died yesterday in Zurich. She was 74.
By La Cieca
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Christine Goerke and Yusif Eyvazov star in a live broadcast from the Met.
By La Cieca
Happy 53rd birthday to actress, comedian and singer Jane Krakowski.
By La Cieca
Asmik Grigorian as Jenufa in her Covent Garden debut and Karita Mattila as the Kostelnicka lead a star cast with conductor Henrik Nánási.
By La Cieca
Born on this day in 1880 singer and vaudevillian Nora Bayes.
By La Cieca
Bass René Pape, the world’s reigning Boris, reprises his overwhelming portrayal of the tortured tsar caught between grasping ambition and crippling paranoia. The original 1869 version runs two-and-a-quarter hours with no intermission.
By La Cieca
Assuming Facebook and Instagram will remain inaccessible through the evening, here’s something to amuse you meantimes: La Cenerentola from the Teatro Real in Madrid.
By La Cieca
This rare performance of Arrigo Boito‘s sprawling Roman epic was recorded at the Bregenz Festival in July 2021.
By La Cieca
The Met’s premiere of Terence Blanchard‘s Fire Shut Up in My Bones dominated the top ten list of most popular articles on parterre box in September.
By La Cieca
The Metropolitan Opera’s opening night for 2021 features the the historic company premiere of Terence Blanchard’s Fire Shut Up in My Bones.
By La Cieca
Pop culture diva Kim Kardashian seized the opportunity of Sunday night’s Met gala to perform a scene from a lesser-known Richard Strauss opera, Der Schatten ohne Frau.
By La Cieca
Born on this day in 1904 actress Gladys George.
By La Cieca
Simone Young conducts a new production by Andreas Homoki from the Opernhaus Zürich.
By La Cieca
Born on this day in 1938 mezzo-soprano Tatiana Troyanos.
By La Cieca
In commemoration of the 20th anniversary of 9/11, the Met presents Verdi’s Requiem, with Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducting the extraordinary Met Orchestra and Chorus.
By La Cieca
On this day in 1951, the film An American in Paris debuted in London.
By La Cieca
A new collective bargaining agreement between the Metropolitan Opera and its orchestra, the last of the Met’s three largest unions to reach an agreement, was ratified today.
By La Cieca
Featuring Juan Diego Flórez, Marina Monzó, Marta Pluda, Manuel Amati, Giorgio Caoduro, Nicolò Donini, Matteo Roma, Sergey Romanovsky, Pietro Spagnoli and Jack Swanson.
By La Cieca
Jennifer Hudson “honors” Aretha Franklin by singing “Nessun dorma.”
By La Cieca
Frank Castorf’s staging of the Ring, premiered in 2013 and filmed in 2016, provoked controversy right from the beginning. Marek Janowski’s musical reading was unanimously praised
By La Cieca
La Cieca has received a copy of a message, apparently from the Metropolitan Opera, announcing the departure of Diane Zola from the company.
By La Cieca
From the Salzburg Festival, the tenor sings sings Chausson, Schumann, Brahms and Britten, with Mathieu Pordoy.
By La Cieca
