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.
Our publisher JJ will grace the airwaves of WNYC this afternoon at 2:00 PM for an appearance on Soundcheck. The topic is that one on everyone’s mind right now, the renascent New York City Opera.
In the year and half that New York City Opera has been absent from the musical milieu of our metropolis, Tony Tommasini has been sadly deprived of one of his favorite topics of conversation.
La Cieca is happy to announce that parterre.com is now accepting advertising via blogads.
… but these boys’ (and girls’) hearts are in the right place as they join with Wenarto to celebrate the apparent victory of Referendum 71 in Washington.
“Renée herself seemed as if she’d rather be somewhere else.
This production of Der Rosenkavalier (directed by Stefan Herheim for Staatstheater Stuttgart) looks fascinating:
Why does La Cieca suspect that Angela Gheorghiu has, for the moment anyway, forgotten the denouement of Bizet’s opera?
Mean, moody, magnificent Mariusz Kwiecien gets the Regie treatment (including a buzzcut!) for a new Don Giovanni in Munich.
Which much-recorded singer has developed her use of expressive rubato to the point that she actually “stole” a professor from a prestigious British academy by offering him a veritable fortune to resign his position and devote his time to coaching her most recent CD?
Is there no end to the talents of George Steel? Boy soprano, Bernstein protégé, conductor, impresario, endive fancier — and now matchmaker!
The BBC 3 broadcast of Tristan und Isolde that so captivated the cher public yesterday afternoon is available in streaming form for the next week.
Two weeks the cher public have had to ponder our most recent Regie quiz, and yet none of the usual suspects were able to work out the obvious clues. A Victorian ingenue and her doting father are interviewed by an Italian fascist in a Rita Hayworth wig?
Today is the 86th anniversary of the birth of the beloved Spanish Catalan soprano, November 1, 1923.
A special Halloween trick (or is it a treat?) for the cher public.
At this point, Maria Guleghina is still listed as tonight’s Turandot at the Met. Any of the cher public attending this performance are encouraged to share news, reviews and scuttlebutt about what did or did not happen (broad enough for you?) here in the comments section.
Right now on BBC 3, Tristan und Isolde from the Royal Opera.
La Cieca hopes you will enjoy the following little video (shared with us by the lovely and personable kashania) and that you will be inspired to go and do likewise. (You know what the comments section is for!)
Felicity Palmer has withdrawn, alas, from the Met’s spring revival of La Fille du Régiment. In her place, alternating in the role of the Marquise de Berkenfield we will hear Ann Murray (pictured, with friend) and Philip Langridge. (Oh, all right, La Cieca is being silly. Not Philip Langridge, actually, but rather Meredith Arwady. But…
The response to the critic auditions post has been something more than gratifying, cher public, with over 30 of you competing for entry into one of La Cieca’s limited number of slots.
“Since its 1987 premiere, this Franco Zeffirelli production has transitioned from breathtaking to tasteless to endearingly camp.” [JJ in NYP]
Okay, La Cieca has just revised her standard for “Gayest Thing Ever.”
The Random Number Generator has spoken, and from the whopping 442 comments offered during the Turandot Chat, the randomly chosen winner of the Cecilia Bartoli Sacrificium CD is #185, as written by….. Our Own squirrel. Congratulations, to you, o little nut-hoarder, and La Cieca asks that you email her a shipping address where your CD…
La Cieca is holding auditions this week, looking for a few good reviewers of opera CDs and DVDs.
Tonight’s chat during tonight’s season premiere of Turandot from the Met begins at 7:30 pm. Sirius/XM RealNetworks from metopera.org
Tell us: What’s your favorite Verdi performance?
Hasten thee to feed another quarter of conversation for The Talk of the Town!
