Oh say can you view
“Tune in to ABC… at 11:00 am EST, when Renée joins the ladies of The View and guest co-host Jay Mohr to talk about her upcoming performance of the National Anthem at the Super Bowl.”
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.
Mary Garden brings another novelty
“Such a costume! A dream in purple!”
What we read
A quick review of statistics for 2013 reveals your top ten favorite parterre pages for the year, cher public.
Butt of the joke
“The deep stirrings that open Brokeback Mountain, the opera, rise up from the bowels of the orchestra…. And those tones are gripping.”
You’ll sometimes walk alone
“Carousel – New Production/Lyric Opera Premiere. Denyce Graves; remaining cast TBA. Rob Fisher/conductor, Rob Ashford/director; remaining creative team TBA.”
Songs for a maestro
Our Own Jungfer Marianne Leitmetzerin offers a program in tribute to the late maestro Claudio Abbado.
Ice box
Avoid the seasonal chill, cher public: there’s plenty of discussion of off-topic and general interest subject to keep you warm here at parterre box.
Male fraud
Has Los Angeles Opera mentioned lately that Billy Budd has an all-male cast?
Britannia rule the bayou!
Wow, English National Opera sure is offering an amazing home-grown season this year… oh, wait.
Mike Richter meets Claudio Abbado
La Cieca assumes, or at least hopes, such an encounter is currently taking place on some other plane. In slightly more mundane terms, though, Mike Richter did “meet” Claudio Abbado, though not in the context of his celebrated CD-ROM series.
B. F. deal
Tenors Bryan Hymel (pictured) and Joseph Calleja redeem otherwise routine Puccini revivals at the Met, says Our Own JJ in the New York Observer.
“I felt the hand of Death”
Oddly enough, Eva Marton‘s interpretation of the Kostelnicka (pictured) goes unmentioned in Issue #38.
Dead European white males once again in jeopardy
Our old friend Heather Mac Donald (not pictured) is back, ostensibly to mourn the loss of ‘Petrarchan intimacy with the past’ in the study of the humanities, but, reliably enough, she can’t help taking a swipe at Regietheater while she’s at it.
Dear Penthouse Forum
“Oh yes, and there were seven naked men on the ground around her.”
Mary Garden is in love
“Her sweetheart dresses in blue and has big feet.”
Tales of the planet Htrae
“If Maria Callas remains the prototype of the stormy operatic diva, then Renée Fleming is the anti-Callas.”
A night at the Roxburgh
Did someone ask Jungfer Marianne Leizmetzerin for a real operatic rarity?
Claudio Abbado 1933-2014
Italian conductor Claudio Abbado, former musical director of La Scala, has died at the age of 80.
Danielle fires back
The leading lady of the Bayerische Staatsoper’s production of La Calisto has taken to the Twitters to respond to the recent discussion of her comments about Miley Cyrus.
A breath of fresh air
What better way to take a break from the hurly-burly than with a discussion of off-topic and general interest subjects?
Local man
After four years of delegating union talks to his predecessor, Joseph Volpe, Met honcho Peter Gelb will now lead negotiations himself.
Out of Touch
In a press release that was obviously sent in 1985 and for some bizarre reason only just arrived an hour ago, Lyric Opera of Chicago has announced the production of a new Ring cycle with Sir Andrew Davis conducting and David Pountney directing.
Gesamtkunst-twerk
Talkative divette Danielle de Niese helpfully explains that Miley Cyrus uses her sexuality for the wrong reasons.