His barcarolle is worse than his bite
The scene from Candide that was the bone of contention between Robert Carsen and Stéphane Lissner.
La Cieca
Not since Nineveh!
La Cieca and sidekick Milton Host are back with another rarity: Der Barbier von Bagdad by Peter Cornelius. Joining them in the studio with repurposed commentary: a formidable diva of the Johnson era. (No, not Lyndon Johnson. Edward Johnson.) Act 1 is available now at Unnatural Acts of Opera.
She got through all of last year
Good times and bum times — She saw them all, but my dear,She’s no longer here.The actress everyone is eulogizing as the “definitive Lily Munster” had another, in La Cieca’s opinion far more important credit. In 1971 Yvonne de Carlo created the role of Carlotta Campion in Follies, and introduced the showbiz anthem “I’m Still […]
None dare call it twaddle
“In Leonard Bernstein‘s clever one-act opera Trouble in Tahiti, the heroine describes a gaudy movie musical as so much ‘Technicolor twaddle.’ If Tan Dun‘s new work The First Emperor (heard at the Metropolitan Opera on December 29) can hardly be dismissed as twaddle, it never attains the epic status to which it aspires.” Our publisher […]
Tinseled Gaiety
Legendary diva Nazimova in a scene from her 1921 film version of Camille.
Curtain up! Light the lights!
The all-new (or at least somewhat-new) Unnatural Acts of Opera relaunched this morning at 8 a.m., only 12 hours behind schedule. Thrill to the dulcet voiceovers of new guy Milton Host! Delight in La Cieca‘s flattering new microphone placement! Tingle with excitement as the superstar team of Luciano Pavarotti and Beverly Sills sing I puritani! […]
A pretty girl is like a melody
This just in: soprano Elizabeth Futral, currently Tan Dunning it in The Last Emperor, will sing the final Met performance of Puritani this season on February 15.
2007 things to do in the new year
Visit La Cieca’s newly spiffed up MySpace page, where you can Delight in a slideshow of the Many Faces of La Cieca, Listen to a few of the doyenne’s favorite tracks, Thrill to the latest bizarre opera video, And, while you’re there, become one of La Cieca’s friends (as if you aren’t all already!) Meanwhile, […]
Lebrecht, c’est echt
La Cieca was contacted this morning (not too early!) by a representative of the “Lebrecht Live” programme on BBC3. The show is set to discuss the burning topic “Is there cultural value in blogging?” And this is what La Cieca has to say, at least to begin with: One may read consistently brilliant cultural criticism […]
Hoyoutubeho!
Scenes from the 1967 production of Die Walkuere from the Bayreuth Festival, stage direction by Wieland Wagner. Brunnhilde: Anja Silja; Siegmund: Jess Thomas; Sieglinde: Helga Dernesch; Wotan: Theo Adam. Thomas Schippers is the conductor.
Tony’s Award
“The Papageno, Nathan Gunn, was certainly cute enough.” — NYT
The Metropolitan Opera goes to the movies
Eighty years ago! This film was a part of the first “Vitaphone” presentation in New York in August 1926. Soprano Marion Talley was 19 years old and in the first season of her three-year Met career when this scene was filmed.
Headline of the year for 2006
“Opera that depicts Bush, Blair dancing in underwear is canceled.” From the Associated Press. And while we’re on the subject, the scene in question (from Robert Carsen‘s production of Candide, which will not be seen at La Scala in 2007.)
Roundhead roundup
Five newspaper reviews are in for Anna Netrebko‘s Met Puritani, and the score stands at four postive, one mixed: “With the smoky colorings and throbbing richness of her sumptuous voice, Ms. Netrebko was an unusually vulnerable Elvira. Bel Canto purists may find fault with her sometimes imprecise execution of coloratura runs and roulades. But I […]
Bel canto lushinghier
La Cieca thought that now that Puritani has opened at the Met, it’s as good a time as any to review the company’s (rumored) bel canto plans for the next five years or so. Remember, everything in this life is uncertain, so please regard these “predictions” as the gossip they are. Anyway, La Cieca hopes […]
Norma
Everyone’s favorite non-operatic diva Faye Dunaway reacts to the news of her “firing” by Andrew Lloyd Webber. (The show, of course, was Sunset Blvd., and the year was 1994. Miss Faye sued Lloyd Webber and eventually settled out of court for a reported $2 million.)
Cieca plays Criswell
This is the biggest limb La Cieca has ever gone out on: Expect James Levine to make his official Met farewell at the end of the 2011-2012 season. (First hedge on this prediction: Levine will make occasional “guest” appearances with the Met after 2012.) Remember, you heard it here first.
Soon and later
UPDATE: Gregory Kunde is now listed on the Met’s site for the prima of Puritani. La Cieca hears that Eric Cutler did not sing the dress rehearsal of Puritani (anyone there to confirm/deny?) and, though his name’s still on the Met’s site, he won’t go on for the prima Wednesday. Thoughts? And the tittle-tattle about […]
It’s a dessert topping, you cow!
The miraculous properties of the Gelb-era Met begin to rival those of the legendary aerosol product Shimmer. In the future, it seems, the Met will be both a floor wax and a dessert topping. For example, it has been rumored that a new production of Il trovatore would star (depending on who was telling the […]
Science fiction
In the year 2012 we will all have robot servants to organize our collections of antique CDs! In the year 2012 we will complain about the mediocre sound quality of holographic opera telecasts! In the year 2012, stem cells will be used to used to regenerate node-infested vocal cords. Oh, and did I mention that […]
Is it Christmas yet?
No, it’s still not opera, but here’s a classic lounge act in the holiday spirit.
Not the type at all
At last La Cieca has discovered Renee Fleming‘s muse, or at least, as we have so often wondered “who the hell it was who taught her to sing that way.” Meet the divine Naoko Maeda, asking the musical question . . . “Bill” (from Show Boat)
Be among the First
Don’t forget to join La Cieca at 8:00 tonight for a live chat about the prima of The First Emperor at 8:00 p.m. Would any of La Cieca’s cher public care to give her a hand as moderators in the chatroom tonight? To serve, as it were, as Roger Alberto to her Vecchia Madelon? Well, […]
Win a Free Ticket to Opening Night at the Met!
Quinn Kelsey and Lise Davidsen star in the Met's new Macbeth. We're giving away one ticket, so screw your courage to the sticking place and enter now!
I’ll take the fall
The days are getting shorter, but you can keep the prattle going this fall’s Talk of the Town! You will, you can, you must join in the discussion about: Great mezzo soprano performances (October),
Gained in translation (November), Teleport me back to… (December).
