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.
From the Met press office: “Elisabete Matos will sing the role of Minnie in La Fanciulla del West at this evening’s performance, replacing Deborah Voigt who is ill.”
“Unveiling a new La Traviata Friday night to a starry audience including Natalie Portman and Vanessa Redgrave, the Met triumphed with the most moving and exciting Verdi production in years.” [New York Post] / Photo: Ken Howard/Metropolitan Opera
La Cieca is shocked, shocked to see that not a one of you clever cher public were able to work out the solution to last week’s Regie quiz. Admittedly it’s a work not very often revived, but it should at least be a familiar title: Rossini’s Semiramide, as done here in a staging by Nigel…
La Cieca (not pictured) reminds the cher public that the first chat of 2011 will begin at noon today at La Casa della Cieca. Details on Pelléas et Mélisande after the jump.
As La Cieca (pictured, alas) whoops it up somewhere in the vicinity of Lincoln Center tonight, she hopes that you, the cher public, will at least kick off your festivities with a chat during tonight’s Met prima of La traviata, beginning at 7:00 pm. Details after the jump.
So stop me if you’ve heard this one: a, shall we say, mature diva gets stranded in the snow, and in her place a substitute (carefully hidden, no doubt!) gives a performance! Out of nowhere – gives a performance! Well, according to Intermezzo, life imitated art (and what better art to imitate than All About Eve?)…
La Cieca’s spy wriggled into last night’s Met dress rehearsal of La traviata and reports: “One has to be careful about making too many judgments or drawing too many conclusions from a rehearsal, but last night’s final dress was indeed very promising.”
The bestowal of a bouquet of accolades upon James Levine is unsurprisingly the main thrust of the current Opera News (why, after all, should this month be different from any other in the rag’s 75 year history?) and given the plum of penning this poetical posy is the horticulturally apt writer Scott Rose, “author of…
If you’re like La Cieca, you’re snowed in today, so how about let’s pass the time recalling great operatic snow moments?
The cher public are indeed making “progress” when it takes only a few hours for one of you (Orlando to be exact) to identify our most recent Regie quiz as The Rake’s Progress, as devised by Opera Cake fave Krzysztof Warlikowski for the Staatsoper Unter den Linden. There’s video of this production as well as…
So the gossip La Cieca has been picking up is that at some point there were plans at the Met to open the 2012-13 season with Eugene Onegin featuring Mariusz Kwiecien, Anna Netrebko and Matthew Polenzani. The soprano and baritone were also booked to open the 2013-2014 season with new production of La bohème. Then…
As we all already know (those of us addicted to Brad Wilber‘s Met Futures, and who among us is not?) the Metropolitan Opera already has plans to produce two operas of Donizetti’s so-called “Tudor Trilogy.” Anna Bolena opens the 2011-2012 season featuring Anna Netrebko (left) and Maria Stuarda follows on the following season starring Joyce…
A loyal member of the cher public writes: “Very nice performance of Fanciulla last evening. Although I still love Debbie, and am quite willing to see her in anything she does, I think this was the best of the three Fanciullas I’ve seen so far.”
This just in from the Met’s press office: “Matthew Polenzani will sing the role of Alfredo in La Traviata for all performances this season. For the January 19, 22, 26 and 29 performances, Polenzani replaces Francesco Meli, who has withdrawn due to illness.”
The opera composer and bon vivant was born December 22, 1858.
The title of this site says it all: Fotografie orribili di cantanti.
La Cieca wonders if the horrific accident during last night’s performance of the Spider-Man musical (which promises to re-open Wednesday night with “additional safety protocols“) reminds you of, well, anything familiar?
UPDATE: Thanks to the generosity of a member of the cher public who wishes to remain anonymous, a ticket has been obtained for the parterre reviewer!
La Cieca wishes a festive and safe (if such a combination is possible) holiday season to all the cher public, who in turn are invited to offer each other such greetings in the comments below.
“Faye Dunaway‘s Master Class Movie: What The Hell Happened?” [Michael Musto]
“The decades-overdue debut of Sir Simon Rattle at the Met Friday night demonstrated brilliantly just what we’ve been missing: His conducting of Pelléas et Mélisande is the musical pinnacle of the season.” [New York Post]
La Cieca is simply overjoyed to announce a handy and fascinating innovation at parterre.com: The Author Archive Page. Each of your doyenne’s stable of scribes will be assigned his and/or her own unique page where every story under that byline will be easily accessible—as, for example, the many and wondrous reviews of Ercole Farnese. Look…
La Cieca has just heard that Ferruccio Furlanetto has canceled this afternoon’s performance of Don Carlo at the Met. Giorgio Giuseppini will sing Filippo.
Congratulations to Opera Chic, named “Essential Opera Blogger” in the current Opera News by a panel consisting of Brian Kellow and Tristan Kraft.
Tell us: What’s your favorite Verdi performance?
Hasten thee to feed another quarter of conversation for The Talk of the Town!
