Up to speed
“New York is great. Opera is great. They deserve each other. So what can we do to get them together? Who can show us how it’s done? We need to ask the Germans.”
La Cieca
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.
A committee should be organized
On this day in 2015 it was announced that Cecilia Bartoli would sing the role of Maria in West Side Story at the 2016 Salzburg Pfingstfestspiele, conducted by Gustavo Dudamel, no less!
My day at the polls has come to an end, I know
The results are in for the 2015 Pubie Awards, cher public, and may La Cieca just say that you could knocked her over with featheras some of the results!
How’s your head?
Now here’s a competition for a parterrian: the Bayerische Staatsoper is looking for a drag performer to lip sync the final scene from Salome!
Cooting edge
Fans of the “context-free laundry list” school of opera criticism will be happy to know that “the world’s preeminent philosopher in the field of aesthetics,” Roger Scruton, has now shouldered the white man’s burden of rescuing opera from interpretation.
Words and music
As is happening increasingly in opera productions today (e.g., the Rosenkavalier in Stuttgart), the action of Moses und Aron at the Komische Oper begins some minutes before the music does.
21st century blues
Your doyenne peers into the future, or, to be more accurate, into the Future Met Wiki, to reveal the latest rumors on casting and repertoire.
Mezzos don’t cry
Alice Coote talks about her life as a man. (No, really.)
Macaronic and cheese
The Berlin Komische Oper was the scene of one of my greatest opera experiences five years ago, so I particularly looked forward to a return to this theater.
The girl with the Onassis tattoo
Swedish actress Noomi Rapace has been named as star of a film biography of Maria Callas to be directed by Niki Caro, reports Variety.
Beltway outsiders
Yes, it’s that time of year again, cher public. Which artists will win the treasure of a 2015 parterre box “Pubie” Award? Just follow the trail after the jump for your chance to vote!
Where in the World Is Montserrat Caballé?
The legendary diva failed to show up in court this morning for settlement of her tax fraud case.
The bough friend
The Deutsche Opera an Rhein production of Handel’s Xerxes (which is shared with the Berlin Komische Oper), though I saw it three nights ago, has taken a while to settle down in my brain.
(Mighty real)
A problem with scheduling an opera-intensive trip is that you don’t always hear and see the shows in optimum order.
Bum’s rush
Our Own JJ reviews Orlando and Early Shaker Spirituals in the Observer.
The blue dream
It will come to no surprise to followers of the direction of Stefan Herheim (or to readers of La Cieca’s gushing fangirl appreciations of his work) that his Stuttgart production of Der Rosenkavalier was as “delightfully busy” as we have come to expect.
Love vs. politics, plus poison
The first stop on The Cieca and Dawn Regietournee 2015 is the Stuttgart Opera.
Synergy
Some things just naturally go together, like parterre box and our beloved advertisers.
Bühne nights
Your doyenne and her faithful confidante Dawn Fatale are off later this week for a safari, seeking the wild Regie in its natural habitat.
Losing their shirts
If you’ve been putting off seeing Renée Fleming in Living on Love, you’d better get a move on. The show posted its closing notice today and the final performance will be Sunday May 3.
Lede buried
They were there, opera insiders said, because Chelsea Clinton is a friend of the tenor Vittorio Grigolo, who was playing the Chevalier, Manon’s true love.”
The winner’s tale
In a decision La Cieca doesn’t think anybody is going to dispute, the Richard Tucker Foundation has named mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton their 2015 award winner.
“New York, this is your last chance!”
Coming this fall on a basic cable channel near you, Ultimate Diva Jessye Norman tries her hand at situation comedy, playing a 30-something bachelor girl who returns to Manhattan in search of adventure and romance.