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.
Musical guests scheduled to appear at “We Are One: The Obama Inaugural Celebration at the Lincoln Memorial” include Beyonce, Mary J. Blige, Bono, Garth Brooks, Sheryl Crow, Renee Fleming, Josh Groban, Herbie Hancock, Heather Headley, John Legend, Jennifer Nettles, John Mellencamp, Usher Raymond IV, Shakira, Bruce Springsteen, James Taylor, will.i.am, and Stevie Wonder. [via Gawker]
Pre-gentrification New York landmark Amato Opera will close its doors in May, at the end of its 61st season. Tony Amato gave the news to his company before Saturday night’s performance of “The Merry Widow.” The Bowery building housing the minscule stage and auditorium has been sold to a developer. [via NYT]
La Cieca hears (merci, mon ami Pedro!) that New York City Opera have hammered out a solution to their General Director problem, finding a candidate with far more than journeyman experience who is probably by now ready for a change of scene.
Quote the line (and the title of the Noel Coward play in which it is spoken) by that perfectly describes La rondine.
J’ai un ami, JJ, qui m’a raconté cette mise en scène de La rondine dans Gay City News.
La Cieca returns, “rested” after her long absence, for an all-new edition of Unnatural Acts of Opera. The theme for 2009 is “The Greatest Pirates,” and, assisted by the many suggestions of the cher public, La Cieca has selected a prime specimen of live dementia for her first offering of 2009. The New Unnatural Acts […]
UPDATE: A quick preview of tonight’s (this afternoon’s, actually) spectacular radio broadcast of I puritani from the Teatro Comunale di Bologna. First, a hint of some of the “new” musical ideas in this edition of Puritani. This is the final cabaletta of the opera, performed (as it was apparently originally intended) as a duet for […]
The long-awaited return of the “Jambon d’Or,” featuring bass-baritone (?) Liudas Mikalauskas. [kml_flashembed movie=”http://www.youtube.com/v/TNW8wOQ6hq8″ width=”425″ height=”350″ wmode=”transparent” /]
Celebrated fact-mangler Norman Lebrecht is at it again. Did you know that the Metropolitan Opera has in its repertoire a production of Der Rosenkavalier directed by Jonathan Miller? This interview includes a statement by Dr. Miller insisting his current La boheme (inspired by “the photoÂgraphic world of Brassaï, Cartier-Bresson and Kertezsz,” dontcha know) will be the […]
More light entertainment from the First Annual Pitchy Awards: the prancing panniers of Max Emanuel Cencic. [kml_flashembed movie=”http://www.youtube.com/v/5awkNNA7XFM” width=”425″ height=”350″ wmode=”transparent” /]
La Cieca managed to capture a couple of minutes of the gala entertainment at the 2009 Pitchy Awards.
Cher public, La Cieca begs you to consider yourself among the little people to be thanked as your doyenne accepts the award for “Best Overall Classical Music Coverage in a Blog or Newspaper” as awarded by artsjournal’s Life’s a Pitch. La Cieca is honored to be recognized among so eclectic a group of honorees as Mark […]
A dramaturg, a renowned actress, an Egyptologist, a Shakespeare expert, an art historian, an opera singer, and Samuel Barber’s biographer walk into… well, not a bar, at least to start with. As a warmup for NYCO’s only opera production of the season, Antony and Cleopatra, the company will present “What Becomes a Legend Most,” a […]
For Cassandra and others of the cher public who seem to be interested in the topic: here’s some operatic stage direction that’s a little more advanced than we tend to get here in New York. Discuss.
Oh, La Cieca just can’t put anything over on a smartyboots like our own Hans Lick, who guessed within seconds that last week’s Regie quiz was in fact Benvenuto Cellini. Let us hope that even Ironic Hans will be puzzled by this week’s mystery production, after the jump.Â
Yesterday “nonplused” Counter Critic Ryan Tracy unveiled his detailed plan for his directorship of the New York City Opera. Even if his manifesto is meant less than completely seriously, there are some provocative ideas there. But surely the cher public will have their own opinions.
“English National Opera continues its strongest season in years with what promises to be another Jonathan Miller long-runner – a new La Bohème.” [via The Independent]
Miraculous Mariella Devia sings “Casta diva” at a New Year’s Day concert at La Fenice. [kml_flashembed movie=”http://www.youtube.com/v/1rEx2M5zRX0″ width=”425″ height=”350″ wmode=”transparent” /] Mariella Devia at amazon.com
La Cieca wishes to thank you, cher public, for making this year’s Amazon Associates advertising program successful beyond her wildest dreams. And now, the top ten most ordered items of 2008! 1. Wagner: The Great Operas from the Bayreuth Festival 2. Marilyn Horne – The Complete Decca Recitals 3. The Original Jacket Collection: Montserrat Caballé […]
[kml_flashembed movie=”http://www.youtube.com/v/_eW1aHmmmwE” width=”425″ height=”350″ wmode=”transparent” /]
Eclectic “not news” site fark.com takes on high culture with their current Photoshop contest. The task: take an image from Francesca Zambello‘s WNO production of the Ring (well, maybe the culture’s not so high after all) and then tweak the context a bit. Best entry so far: The original image and its many variations may […]
Brothers under the Lederhosen: Alice Coote and Helmut Berger.
Something is busted on the Met’s website, but that shouldn’t stop you from applying for this week’s $25 weekend night tickets, which after all are for Fleming’s Thaïs and Angela Gheorghiu/Roberto Alagna in the new Rondine. Instructions for this week’s lottery are as follows: Please enter our Weekend Ticket drawing by calling 212-362-6000 before 8:00 […]
As we approach the new year, La Cieca is gearing herself up to revive the recently dormant Unnatural Acts of Opera. Your doyenne was thinking that an interesting theme for 2009 might be “The Greatest Pirates,” i.e., the most important and impressive live, non-commerical recorded documents of opera. La Cieca is now accepting nominations from […]
Exclusive opera reviews, commentary, and top reads
delivered to your email weekly…ish.
