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.
Armida in just three hours, and, ironically (given the dramatic weight of this bel canto role) a certain soprano just can’t stop twittering!
UPDATE: La Cieca’s spy reports: He’s here!
The diva is 77 today!
It’s official: James Levine has withdrawn from Cincinnati Opera‘s 90th Anniversary Gala Concert (June 19) and the season-opening production of Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (June 23 & 26). John Keenan takes up the Wagner duties and a roster of guest conductors fill in at the gala.
Far over on the Upper West Side of Manhattan exists an amazing marvel of the cosmos… the Metropolitan Opera. It is where the opera Tosca is being “prepared” for performance only few days from now.
Well, you know, sometimes it’s not easy being a benefactress. Would you believe that both winners and the runner-up in yesterday’s Zauberflöte contest all live in Nova Scotia and Irkutsk and places like that and so are not able to accept the tickets to Inner Voices playing here in the city. So, round two, after…
The good news: whatever Natalie Dessay‘s “illness” was, she didn’t permanently lose her voice. The bad news: she can still talk.
Getting the “screaming heads” treatment on CNBC is not good news for Peter Gelb.
“The halls of CAMI are not a happy place right now,” an insider informs La Cieca, and according to information received by parterre.com more than half a dozen long-time Columbia Artists Management personnel have not had their contracts renewed in recent weeks.
La Cieca (not pictured) welcomes her cher public to a second week in good old Egypt with this afternoon’s broadcast of Die Zauberflöte. She is delighted to announce that during this afternoon’s chat she will give away tickets to the fascinating new musical theater program Inner Voices which includes that mini-opera Whida Peru: Resurrection Tangle that Valmont…
Which tenor may have bought it — so far as the management is concerned at that theater where they’re still waiting for him to arrive for his first (and last) rehearsal? Just in case, a familiar figure is already heading across the river.
Which lady’s silence about her pregnancy will definitely derange her 2010-2011 schedule?
See those little blue circles? Do you know what they represent? The answer is after the jump.
UPDATE: The Traviata chat is beginning in preparation for the 8:00 start time of tonight’s performance.
This Greek mezzo-soprano, born 1944 [!] is seen at a concert last month [!!!]. For this kind of quality work, we all need to start saving our money, cher public.
La Cieca presents an open letter from a parterre box reader.
“Nobody dies in Partenope, Handel’s 1730 opera that ends in contentment and reconciliation. For the audience at the New York City Opera’s production Saturday night, the finale also hinted at hope for the troubled company’s future.” [NYP]
You may think La Cieca is full of beans when she tells you that a maestro private-jetted in to New York today for a rehearsal and then jetted back again, with no plan to return to our metropolis until the day of the prima.
“…in Parsifal, instead of digging out the chapters from Metaphysics for Dummies (which is what basically everyone does, except Herheim!), [Calixto Bieito] made it a perfectly plausible story, close to us, to our lifestyles…
UPDATE:The Met press office this afternoon [!] has broken the news:
[San Francisco Chronicle]: I’m certainly not the first person to observe how convincing you are in male roles. Would I be correct in thinking that the line outside your dressing room after these performances is rather, um, interesting?
Either the directors are running out of ideas, or else the cher public is just getting too smart. Once again, the first guess was the right guess: the opera in last week’s Regie quiz was indeed Un ballo in maschera. (And you, SF Guy, need to get to bed earlier!) After the jump, La Cieca’s…
La Cieca (pictured) is delighted to host an afternoon Aïda chat for you, the cher public — all of whom she imagines as having something of the grave dignity and multiple chins of dear Sir Cedric Hardwicke.
Tell us: What’s your favorite Verdi performance?
Hasten thee to feed another quarter of conversation for The Talk of the Town!
