La Cieca
Tenor Hugues Cuenod will get married early this year, La Cieca hears. Under a a new law legalizing same-sex unions in Switzerland, the veteran artist (age 104) and his long-time partner, a retired diplomat, have decided to tie the knot. Date and location are undisclosed at the moment.
Meet William Zauscher, a 21 year old student and web designer, who describes himself as “somewhat eccentric … artistically sensitive … a natural sense of musicality … creative.” La Cieca thinks William just might be her long lost son. (Thanks to AM for sending this link!)
Future plans for ur-diva Ewa Podles include Azucena in Il trovatore at Caramoor (July 2007) with Julianna D’Giacomo, Simon Neill, Daniel Sutin and Daniel Mobbs; then Orsini in Lucrezia Borgia in the spring of 2008 opposite Edita Gruberoba, Jose Bros and Ildebrando D’Arcangelo. A company debuts in Manhattan when Ottocento Opera presents a concert of…
Margaret Junktrunk Hello there! I’m your announcer Margaret Junktrunk. Welcome to the Sirius Metropolitan Opera broadcast of Ligeti‘s beloved masterpiece Tosca, a work that illustrates the idea, first expressed by Hegel, “A stitch in time saves nine,” or, as the libretto puts it, “Basta!” In today’s performance we will hear tenor Ian Bostridge, baritone Thomas…
Goya, a later (and lesser) work by Gian Carlo Menotti (1911-2007).
La Cieca is [adjective] to announce that over [number] of her cher public were moved to [blank] the “MadLibs” competition. The [adjective] five entries will win an [adjective] DVD for their authors. The first-among-equals grand prize winner’s composition will be performed on Unnatural Acts of Opera as the next installment of the “Apocryphal Opera Anecdote…
A galaxy of talent sufficient to cast an Arena di Verona production of Sondheim’s Follies assembles in the following recording. It’s the “Ride of the Valkyries” as sung on February 13, 2003 at a gala performance in Tokyo. Wotan’s daughters, in order of appearance: Alessandra Marc (Gerhilde), Eva Marton (Helmwige), Karan Armstrong (Waltraute), Agnes Baltsa…
Don’t forget that this Friday, February 2 is “Gay Hookup Night at the Met,” or as it is more formally titled, “Connect at the Met for Gay and Lesbian Singles.” Whether your goal is serious husband-hunting, a casual encounter to share Champagne and dessert, or just to demonstrate that there are some queens out there…
Dame Kiri perturbed by flying underwear, court told Underwear tossing a deal breaker for opera star TE KANAWA PULLED OUT OF CONCERT BECAUSE OF RAUNCHY FANS Court told of dame’s fear of undie throwers Dame Kiri got knickers in twist over concerts
In honor of the soprano’s return to the Met in Jenufa, a selection of performances from 1959 – 2004.
“Of Edita Gruberova‘s debut here two weeks ago, Hanslick wrote in Latin Inches, ‘Not since Elisabeth Schwarzkopf melted the heart of a gazillion year old fan seated far up in the loge of the great Everard Baths has any artist managed to slide both the waggish and buxom aspects of Wagner’s strapping little jailer-girl. Her…
That most versatile of all golden-age divas, Lilli Lehmann, must be looking down from Paradise right now with a peculiarly puzzled expression on her face, for at last she has a rival. Meet Ingrid Höfer, an artist with a “mission to sing.” Mme. Höfer’s discography reveals that her range runs the gamut from Traditional folk…
On a new episode of Unnatural Acts of Opera that can only be called fabulous, we hear the first act of Un ballo in maschera as it was performed at La Scala in April of 1956. Gianandrea Gavazzeni is the conductor, and even by the lofty standards of Unnatural Acts of Opera the cast is…
La Cieca’s cher public are, as in so many aspects of their existence, well ahead of the curve on foreknowledge of casting at the Met in the bel canto and German wings. Perhaps this wintry Friday is a good time to move on to a more semi-substantiated gossip, now on the subject of the operas…
A radio script that La Cieca promised to deliver tonight sits unfinished, and only you, cher public, can save the doyenne’s bacon. The best completions will be eligible for lavish prizes. If you care to give the old girl a hand, just follow this link.
The HD video of the Met’s “special 100-minute version” of The Magic Flute makes its network television debut tomorrow night on PBS. Julie Taymor‘s production of Mozart’s opera can be seen on Wednesday, January 24 at 9 p.m. (ET) on PBS; as usual, check local listings and your mileage may vary. Headlining the telecast are…
“It was an affair to rank with the coming of Christ, the death of Garland, the birth of the blues, and the freezing of spinach.” — Arthur Bell, Village Voice. “Miss Steber appears from the steam room in a chiffon gown, loaded with diamonds and a black towel draped around her waist. Mrs. Leonard Bernstein,…
Angela Gheorghiu will replace Krassimira Stoyanova for a single Met performance of Traviata on Saturday, March 24.
Today is the shared birthday of Placido Domingo and Charlie Handelman. Unfortunately, there’s no YouTube video of these two together, so La Cieca will make do with the next best thing: a Domingo/Domingo duet:
In honor of the one and only Met broadcast of Maria Callas, La Cieca announces yet another of her online chats. Join your darling doyenne on Saturday afternoon, January 20 to discuss the Toll Brothers-Metropolitan Opera broadcast of Lucia di Lammermoor. The Ravenswood Chat Room will open its doors at 1:15 PM EST Saturday. See…
So, does this text for Principessa di Bouillon sound like outtakes from Isolde, or what? O Wollust, voller Pein!Glück und Qual im Bunde!Du still verzehrend Sehnen,Schnell geschlagne Wunde!Heisse Glut, Schauer, Zittern,Und Wahnsinn, SchreckenMuss in des Liebenden Brust Das Warten wecken!Jeder Laut, jeder Schatten,Leis die Nacht durchwebend,Will gegen die zitterndeSeele sich verschwören,Zwischen Zweifel und SehnenBangend und…
So, who can identify the following lines of text? Ich bin nur die Magd, die schwache,Des Genius, der da schafft;Er leiht mir seine Sprache,In Herzen streut sie meine Kraft.Ich bin des Lieds Betonung,Sein Schicksalswiderhall;Sein Werkzeug, seine Wohnung,Der starken Hand Vasall.Bald mild, bald heiter, bald Unheil kündend,Man nennt mich: »Treu dem Sinn«,Mein Klang: ein Lüftchen, schwindendIm…
Gala Gloria Swanson (sixtyish at the time) trills out a tune from a musical version of Sunset Blvd. that, alas, never made it off the drawing board.
On the current episode of the all-new Unnatural Acts of Opera, the Apocryphal Opera Anecdote Theatre of the Air presents the two-act radio drama “Adelina Patti’s Shoe.” Also in this episode: La Cieca spills the beans about the Met’s planned German repertoire through 2012. Oh, and did she mention Act 2 of Der Barbier von…
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.
