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.
Tomás Hanus conducts Piotr Beczala, Olga Bezsmertna, Jongmin Park, Elena Zhidkova and Monika Bohinec.
Tell us: What was the best of 2025?
Parterre Box concludes the thrilling first year of Talk of the Town by inviting your lightning rod opinions on several more categories of operatic argumentation.
Starring Joyce DiDonato, Daniela Barcellona, Juan Diego Flórez, John Osborn and Oren Gradus, conducted by Michele Mariotti. From March 14, 2015.
From the Vienna State Opera: Isabel Leonard, Maxim Mironov, Alessio Arduini and Luca Pisaroni; Jean-Christophe Spinosi conducts.
Starring Anna Netrebko, Anita Rachvelishvili, Piotr Beczala, Carlo Bosi, Ambrogio Maestri, and Maurizio Muraro, conducted by Gianandrea Noseda. From January 12, 2019.
Starring Kathleen Battle, Luciano Pavarotti, Juan Pons, and Enzo Dara, conducted by James Levine. From November 16, 1991
Nicole Chevalier leads the cast at the Komische Oper in a production directed by Barrie Kosky.
Starring Aprile Millo, Harolyn Blackwell, Florence Quivar, Luciano Pavarotti and Leo Nucci, conducted by James Levine. From January 26, 1991.
Performance from November 19, 2011: Dante Anzolini; Rachelle Durkin (Miss Schlesen), Richard Croft (M. K. Gandhi), Kim Josephson (Mr. Kallenbach), Alfred Walker (Parsi Rustomji).
Starring Eva Marton, Dolora Zajick, Luciano Pavarotti, Sherrill Milnes, and Jeffrey Wells, conducted by James Levine. From October 15, 1988.
Cornelius Meister leads Camilla Nylund, Georg Nigl, Jochen Schmeckenbecher , Okka von der Damerau, Michael Laurenz, Regula Mühlemann and Peter Simonischek.
The big news of 2020 was, obviously, that everyone (or almost everyone) stayed home.
The Met rings in the new year with a gala performance featuring sopranos Angel Blue and Pretty Yende, and tenors Javier Camarena and Matthew Polenzani—live from the Parktheater im Kurhaus Göggingen, in Augsburg, Germany
Starring Christiane Eda-Pierre, Isola Jones, Luciano Pavarotti, Louis Quilico, and Ara Berberian, conducted by James Levine. From December 15, 1981.
On this day in 1954 the Harold Arlen–Truman Capote musical House of Flowers opened on Broadway.
Starring Shirley Verrett, Luciano Pavarotti, and Cornell MacNeil, conducted by James Conlon. From December 19, 1978.
Starring Renata Scotto, Maralin Niska, Luciano Pavarotti, Ingvar Wixell, and Paul Plishka, conducted by James Levine. From March 15, 1977.
Starring Lisette Oropesa, Angela Meade, Stephanie Blythe, Jennifer Johnson Cano, Paolo Fanale, Ambrogio Maestri, and Franco Vassallo, conducted by James Levine. From December 14, 2013.
“Barrie Kosky tells Offenbach’s fantastic story as a disturbing nightmare of an artist who increasingly loses his sense of identity. As we dive into the obsessions of a deranged mind, the title role itself is shared by three performers – including an actor – while a single soprano embodies all four female lead roles.”
Starring Renée Fleming, Kelli O’Hara, Nathan Gunn, Alek Shrader, and Sir Thomas Allen, conducted by Sir Andrew Davis. From January 17, 2015.
Performance from December 21, 2010: Erik Nielsen; Susanna Phillips (Pamina), Erika Miklósa (Queen of the Night), Russell Thomas (Tamino), Alan Oke (Monostatos), Nathan Gunn (Papageno), Morris Robinson (Sarastro).
Starring Christine Schäfer, Alice Coote, Rosalind Plowright, Philip Langridge, and Alan Held, conducted by Vladimir Jurowski. From January 1, 2008.
Starring Teresa Stratas, Renata Scotto, José Carreras, Richard Stilwell, and James Morris, conducted by James Levine. From January 16, 1982.
On this day in 1950 José Ferrer and Gloria Swanson opened a Broadway revival of Twentieth Century.
Starring Isabel Leonard, Lawrence Brownlee, Christopher Maltman, Maurizo Muraro, and Paata Burchuladze, conducted by Michele Mariotti. From November 22, 2014.
A Baroque Valentine’s with Opera Lafayette | Feb | DC & NYC
Celebrate love in all its guises with tender ballads, amorous duets, cheeky verses, and bawdy drinking songs plus food, cocktails and wine.
