La Cieca
James Jorden (who writes under the names "La Cieca" and "Our Own JJ") is the founder and editor of parterre box. During his 20 year career as an opera critic he has written for the New York Times, Opera, Gay City News, Opera Now, Musical America and the New York Post. He has also raised his voice in punditry on National Public Radio. From time to time he has directed opera, including three unsuccessful productions of Don Giovanni, a work he hopes to return to someday. Currently he alternates his doyenne duties with writing a weekly column on opera for the New York Observer.
“Since the 1918 premiere of Puccini’s Il Trittico, only two divas at the Met dared to sing the leading roles in all three of its one-act operas: Renata Scotto, a supreme vocal stylist, and Teresa Stratas, a magnetic singing actress. On Friday, Patricia Racette, who is not quite either of these things, took the plunge.”…
By La Cieca
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Smartly done, Kashania, who guessed almost immediately that last week’s Regie quiz represented From the House of the Dead — in a production by Calixto Bieito, by the way. But even oil drums, truck tires and life-sized airplanes suspended over the stage might look a little prim in contrast to this week’s puzzler:
By La Cieca
Poet of the podium Carlos Kleiber leads the final minutes of Tristan und Isolde from the mystic abyss of Bayreuth, circa 1975.
By La Cieca
La Cieca invites all the cher public to a troika of talk during tonight’s Met season premiere of Il trittico. The performance begins at 8:00 pm.
By La Cieca
The great Swedish soprano died earlier today. She was 82. [AP]
By La Cieca
La Cieca welcomes to the editorial desk of parterre.com new correspondents squirrel and Ercole Farnese, who have already begun their blanket coverage of the New York City opera scene.
By La Cieca
Tonight’s Met season premiere of Il trittico features Patricia Racette‘s first local whack at the three heroines, which means La Cieca expects the parterre posse to be out in force. Check back here at parterre.com beginning at 7:45 for a live chat coinciding with the Sirius/RealNetworks broadcast of the Puccini three-parter.
By La Cieca
Colombetta, Colombetta, Apri l’uscio, non farmi penar Del balcon solleva il velo Apri amor se no qui gelo Colombetta, Colombetta, Arlecchino gelando si sta.
By La Cieca
The Met’s January Rosenkavalier performances have been reassigned to maestro Edo de Waart as James Levine “takes it easy” preparing the new production of Les Contes d’Hoffmann.
By La Cieca
You know how you have this old friend you’ve known for 20 years now, who’s always been a little nuts, or gets a little high, or just is, you know, eccentric, but in a way that is so clueless that it’s kind of endearing? Someone you can count on for a laugh, because you always…
By La Cieca
What happens, La Cieca imagines, when Project Runway meets Carl Maria von Weber.
By La Cieca
Attached you will find the song lineup for last night’s Aprile Millo recital, though as the saying goes, there were some changes to the printed program. The first half went more or less as planned, though after the R. Strauss a man exiting the auditorium tripped and fell in the aisle, hit his head on…
By La Cieca
Far side of the lobby, near the big picture window overlooking the park.
By La Cieca
Hui He will sing the title role of Verdi’s Aida at the Metropolitan Opera on March 26, 31, and April 3 matinee, replacing Hasmik Papian, who has withdrawn.
By La Cieca
Erstwhile opera blogger Nick Scholl (aka Trrill) is currently live-tweeting the Poisson Rouge “Sacrificium” launch party!
By La Cieca
Our JJ writes his rave of raves: “If such a thing as perfection in opera is possible, in this House of the Dead, the Met achieves it.” [NY Post]
By La Cieca
“For the premiere in 1918, the Metropolitan Opera marshaled … Florence Easton, whose repertory ranged from Carmen to Brünnhilde, as Loretta, the doting Gianni Schicchi’s ingénue daughter who winds him around her little finger with the Top 10 aria ‘O mio babbino caro’.” [NYT]
By La Cieca
Michael Kaiser, president of the Kennedy Center, celebrated mastermind of the financial turnarounds of the Royal Opera, American Ballet Theatre the Alvin Ailey Dance Theater, has some interesting advice for arts organizations in our current troubled times. His ideas take on a strong resonance, La Cieca thinks, when applied to our big New York opera…
By La Cieca
An elegantly beturbaned Miss Leontyne Price offers an object lesson in The Art of the Diva Interview.
By La Cieca
Noel Dahling hedged his bets, but one of those bets paid off: no, that wasn’t Liù in the body bag, but it was in fact Siegfried — which means, of course, the opera was Götterdämmerung. For those among you who are devotees of the Regie art, the production is by La Fura dels baus.
By La Cieca
Is it just me, or does this seem like using From the House of the Dead as a club to beat a dead horse?
By La Cieca
Dame Kiri te Kanawa‘s cousin (who calls the opera diva “auntie because of the age difference”) is promoting “Australia’s first pole-dancing championships.”
By La Cieca
For no particular reason, La Cieca has been thinking of the duet “E un anatema” from La Gioconda, and for a very particular reason, she’s been thinking of Aprile Millo. Anyway, to get the discussion started for the weekend, cher public, how’d you like to share your favorite performances of this duet, YouTube style, down…
By La Cieca
