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.
“Let’s say that the Metropolitan Opera wants to broadcast all of its operas in 3-D. They might not want to do that over the public Internet. Who knows what other technologies might bring us?” As seen here, a possible marketing campaign for Les Contes d’Hoffmann. [New York Observer]
Our own JJ (not pictured) revisits A Little Night Music, and who should be inhabiting that chateau extravagantly overstaffed but Elaine Stritch? [Capital New York]
“The immitigable force of Italian melodrama and Mediterranean culture, which is loved throughout the world, today is worthy of a different fate and should become a means of new expressions, a national flag to be treasured. Instead, often great efforts are made to reject a culture, to massacre the work and stature of artists who…
La Cieca is always delighted when a legendary lady of the lyric stage reinvents herself. For example, who ever would have expected Montserrat Caballe to make a comeback as Radames?
Last week’s listening experiment showed that, left to their own devices, most folks spring into instant inertia. So maybe gentle prodding and encouragement would do some good.
“Greek Fire…. will see [Eva] Mendes playing the role of famed opera singer Maria Callas, but don’t expect her to be doing any arias, or even lip-synching for that matter. Instead, the biographical drama will focus on Callas’ scandalous affair with shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis.” [Toronto Sun]
“Her gal-pal friends play with what look like the tails of exotic serpents and keep huge spiders as pets. I was not exactly sure what this all meant. Still, the kids squealed with delight.” No more delighted than La Cieca was when she realized that Katharina Wagner has finally caught up to Mary Zimmerman in…
San Francisco Opera is looking for a trio of Ramon Vargas lookalikes to serve as “doppelgängers” for the tenor in their upcoming production of Werther. [Contra Costa Times]
Congratulations to director Stephen Wadsworth, who was just named Seattle Opera’s Artist of the Year, an honor that, given Speight Jenkins‘ celebrated distaste for publicity, obviously has nothing whatsoever to do with Wadsworth’s recently inheriting the Met’s high-profile production, HD telecast, etc. of Boris Godunov. [Broadway World]
Lovely, legendary, litigious Dame Kiri te Kanawa is among the distinguished divas and dudes of the lyric stage to be honored at the 2011 edition of The F. Paul Driscoll Awards for Outstanding Achivement in the Field of Excellence. Also tapped: maestro Riccardo Muti, soprano Patricia Racette, bass-baritone Bryn Terfel and tenor Jonas Kaufmann. The…
The dramatic soprano (and soon to be belter!) celebrates her golden birthday today.
The Archangel of Fabulous (or, as he’s known under that helmet, Andrew Richards) has been following the several Calixto Bietio Parsifal discussions on our little blog quite closely and in fact he has commented, answered and otherwise reacted to a number of the parterriani concerns on his own blog, Opera Rocks.
Can you believe it’s less than two weeks before individual tickets go on sale for the Met’s 2010-2011 season? And you know that that means! It’s the time of year when La Cieca invites the cher public, for the sake of less well-informed opera fans (which, relative to you, of course, means just about everyone!)…
Dr. Jonathan Miller, the autodidact and polymath who has redefined the words “coot” and “windbag” for the 21st century, took a well-deserved hiatus from his — what is it? – 11th or 12 absolutely final irrevocable annual retirement from operatic stage direction to announce that he doesn’t attend the theater, and, what’s more, nobody begs…
La Cieca’s fans worldwide will be happy to note that she doesn’t think scandals are limited to only New York and Bayreuth. In fact, wherever Patti LuPone goes, scandale follows. Right now, La LuPone is in Chicago, and, yes, the Hogtown natives are restless.
Awesome Anna Netrebko wraps her considerable talent around a the Europop hit “La Voix.” Note the correct use of hair extensions (without those ridiculous “rocker chick” bangs) and the plain but striking red gown.
“A tousle-haired and radiant young man called Ein Gast… appears” [NY Times]
Who better than Straussmonster to speak up at just the right time to identify Die Schweigsame Frau, a Barrie Kosky production at the Münchner Opernfestspiele. The “Walküre” in question is Aminta, in the person of the gallant and gravid Diana Damrau. Following the jump, the ADD-rific trailer for the show, and then this week’s challenge.
Salome, webcast live right now from the Verbier Festival. Valery Gergiev conducts Deborah Voigt (Salome), Dame Gwyneth Jones[!!!!] (Herodias), Siegfried Jerusalem (Herodes), Evgeny Nikitin (Jochanaan), John Tessier (Narraboth), Catherine Hopper (Page). On-demand video after the jump.
La Cieca hears that the Met has just freed up about 60 storage containers in their production storage facility in New Jersey, disposing of 14 old productions including such venerable classics as the Robert O’Hearn Hansel and Gretel, the Beni Montresor Gioconda and the Franco Zeffirelli Falstaff.
This is a rather old story, but La Cieca heard it confirmed just recently. You all have heard, I trust, that this summer the Arena di Verona, for the first time in its nearly 100 year history of opera performances, is miking both singers and orchestra. Why? Because Franco Zeffirelli, director of all five of…
You know how La Cieca gets when one of her darling Regie productions gets dissed sight unseen, as happened on these shores with last Sunday’s unveiling of the Hans Neuenfels Lohengrin at Bayreuth. (Not so much on this site, because La Cieca is happy to report that here at dear parterre.com all schools of opinion—even…
It looks like the Washington National Opera is going to be absorbed by the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. [Wall Street Journal]
“Before the shoot, I Googled female rock singers like Courtney Love and Patti Smith, everyone I could think of, to check out their image. They all had bangs and this disheveled, unplanned look.” [Daily News]
Tell us: What’s your favorite Verdi performance?
Hasten thee to feed another quarter of conversation for The Talk of the Town!
