Freeze frame
Our Own JJ takes on an old frame (Der Rosenkavalier) and a new (Eugene Onegin) in his latest review for the New York Observer.
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.
Marriage in München
Our weekly find from the Mike Richter collection: Le nozze di Figaro from the Bayerische Staatsoper with a geniunely A-list cast.
Wayback Wednesday
As the celebrations for the 20th anniversary of parterre box continue, La Cieca (left) introduces a new feature: each week, a vintage issue of parterre box, the queer opera zine, scanned into PDF format for handy download!
Making it that way again
Twenty years ago, a sad and lonely gay man sat down with a pair of scissors and a glue stick and said, “I think I’ll make a magazine.”
Happy Birthday Maria Meneghini Callas
Today would have been the 90th birthday of the quintessential prima donna.
Broadcast snooze
“There’s no hiding it. I find some passages of Wagner insufferably tedious.”
The shade of it all
There’s life in the old gala yet
As we wait for Tuesday’s festivities, cher public, let’s pass the time with conversation about off-topic and general interest subjects.
Just another prick and the wall
Why Rufus Wainwright is turning a Roman emperor into a cock…
The canards begin at Calais
“Nicholas Hytner‘s ENO production of Xerxes, unveiled on the 300th anniversary of Handel’s birth and packed with visual conceits, might be seen as marking the beginning of the modern Handel renaissance on stage.”
Maid in Manhattan
Jane Archibald will sing the role of Adele in all 14 performances of the new production of Johann Strauss’s Die Fledermaus at the Met this season.
Est-ce vrai? Grand merci!
Among the many reasons La Cieca has to be thankful: the legacy of Mike Richter on his CD-ROMs.
Desperately seeking Mary
“She said also her costume would probably be ‘a blaze of jewels,’ patterned after the image of a Madonna she saw in Rome last year…”
Single lady
Soprano Anna Netrebko and bass-baritone Erwin Schrott have amicably ended their relationship after six years because of their “demanding schedules and the resulting constant time apart.”
Die Frau ohne Bademantel
What looks to be a very provocative production of Die Frau ohne Schatten (directed by Krzysztof Warlikowski) is the next STAATSOPER.TV presentation from the Bayerische Staatsoper.
Talk turkey
It’s that time of year, cher public, when we give thanks for our off-topic and general interest discussions.
Rêve divin! heureux délire!
Attendees of tomorrow’s parterre meet and greet (pictured) are reminded that Our Own JJ will be available in the Bar Thalia area of Symphony Space beginning at 2:00 for ticket pickup.
Eine wienerische Maskerad’
La Cieca invites all the cher public to participate in tonight’s chat session at La Casa della Cieca during the Met’s season premiere of Der Rosenkavalier, beginning at 6:55 pm.
Les trois canards
“It’s often said that Verdi wrote [Violetta’s] music with three different voices in mind: a light, leggero soprano for the first act, a lyric voice for the second and a dramatic for the third.”
Less cowbell
An auction of the meager remains of the bankrupt New York City Opera’s property musical instruments, some bits of scenery and costumes is scheduled for December 12.
This woman is dangerous
Our weekly peek into the Mike Richter treasure trove yields a live recording from his “Operas of Richard Strauss” CD-ROM, Die Frau ohne Schatten from the Bayerische Staatsoper on July 16, 1988.
Sunday in the dark
La Cieca is putting the final touches on Sunday afternoon’s meet-greet-and-Vêpres event.
Rogo boy
Berliners anxious about casting of the Staatsoper’s new staging of Il trovatore since Aleksandrs Antonenko canceled can breathe a sigh of relief, since tenor Gaston Rivero (pictured) will jump in as Manrico.
Sink or swim
Says the Met press office, “Erin Morley will sing the role of Sophie in all performances of Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier this season…”