Diva
In fact, she became Peggy Lee.
The diva hazard bonus: a special above-and-beyond payoff to those who have patiently put up with a colleague’s diva antics. La Cieca cannot find any official instance of this bonus in the world of opera, but surely it’s an incredible idea. … Kim Cattrall was such a diva to work with on the Sex and…
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.
La Dessay rehearses the “bathtub scene” from Manon. Sorry, folks, the video is no longer available for embedding at the request of the uploader, Parsifal1979. You can view it, however, on the YouTube site.
Pint-sized Broadway dynamo Kristen Chenoweth will make her fully-staged role debut as Cunegonde in Candide at the English National Opera this summer. The Bernstein/Wilbur, Latouche, Parker, Hellman, Sondheim, Bernstein & Wheeler operetta will be performed in the Robert Carsen production previously seen at the Théâtre du Châtelet, Paris and La Scala, Milan. Performances begin June…
Ageless Reri Grist sings “Somewhere” in a rehearsal for the 19th Annual Gypsy of the Year Competition, celebrated earlier this month. La Grist introduced this song 50 seasons ago when West Side Story premiered on Broadway. She is joined in this clip by Chita Rivera, Carol Lawrence and other members of the original company.
A concert in Vienna, 2006.
“Starring Leona Mitchell (star of the Metropolitan Opera and other major opera houses around the world) and Sarah Rice (the original Johanna in SWEENEY TODD on Broadway), Leona & Sarah, Songs for the Heart & Soul. These two friends join their thrilling voices in an evening of songs, melodie, chanson and an aria or two,…
A reader writes… Dear La Cieca: I found your site through a Google search because I am trying to track down contact information for Felicia Weathers. So imagine my pleasure at the clip of “Up, Up and Away”! In 1969 I had the good fortune to play “Trouble” to Felicia Weathers’ “Cio-Cio San” in a…
Leocadia Begbick (in the person of Patti Lupone, no less) issues small craft warnings for the Gulf coast. (Just a quick clip from the Mahagonny telecast scheduled for tonight at 9 PM on PBS. Check your local listings, obviously.) And, of course it’s old news by now, but la Lupone will be back on Broadway…
Maite Beaumont created a sensation as Sesto in Lyric Opera of Chicago’s recent Giulio Cesare. She’s seen and heard here as Cherubino.
La Cieca would never have thought this would work. And yet…
And don’t call her Shirley! It’s the one and only Ruby Hinds singing the cabaletta to “O mio Fernando” at a tribute to Doris Roberts (yeah, go figure) in Beverly Hills.
Excellent lines from some of the many, many “Season Brochures” that didn’t make the final five. Soprano Montserrat Caballe stars as Jeanette, a virginal pony who for most of the opera is disguised as a mysterious duck. Montserrat Caballe is perhaps best known from TV’s Sex & The City where she sang the lilting melody…
After you enjoy tomorrow’s Black Friday shopping spree at amazon.com, settle back for a little operatic comfort food: classic Turkey Tetrazzini. 6 tablespoons butter 1/2 pound mushrooms thinly sliced 1 tablespoon Madeira 4 tablespoons flour 1 1/2 cups chicken or vegetable broth 1/2 cup heavy cream 2 to 3 cups cooked turkey, cut into 3/4-inch…
La Cieca’s all-time favorite soprano, Renata Scotto, in one of her greatest roles, Adriana Lecouvreur — if you can think of an operatic experience to rival it, La Cieca hopes you will let her know what you’re having! La Scotto is heard in her first Adriana Lecouvreur, from San Francisco in 1977, partnered by Elena…
“And so for you opera trivia lovers out there, you’ll be interested to know that the outfit ‘Octavian’ was wearing for the 2007 Tucker Gala’s ‘Presentation of the Rose’ was actually the outfit the ‘Sophie’ wore to the theater that night! Diana [Damrau] actually gave me the clothes off her back, right down to her…
Playbill Arts reports more intrigue out of San Francisco: Natalie Dessay will not do the Mary Zimmerman production of Lucia di Lammermoor there next summer as originally announced. Oh, don’t worry, la Dessay will indeed sing the role, but the SFO is substituting a Graham Vick staging, citing “the physical dimensions of the [Metropolitan Opera]…
One of La Cieca’s intricate network of spies has been keeping his ear to the ground in San Francisco where a supernumerary friend whispered to him that “there was concern amongst the SFO backstage ranks that since La Gheorghiu had yet to show up for any La rondine rehearsals, that she may go the route…
Curtis Rayam as Arnalta in L’incoronazione di Poppea, directed by René Jacobs.
All right, cher public, now that the competion is closed, La Cieca will reveal the 20 singers performing the composite “Ernani involami.” First, you might want to listen to the original clip one more time. Now, ready? Here are our 20 divas, pictured and named. Just click on the YouTube clip to play.
The legendary lady of musical theater and popular song is 80 years old today! Ms. Cook celebrates this milestone next month on November 19 and 20 when she appears as a guest artist with the New York Philharmonic.
“Over-accessorizing and poor taste in makeup is not an excommunicable offense,” a specialist on Catholic canon law has explained. The expert was speaking to the San Francisco Chronicle in the wake of a scandal involving San Francisco’s Archbishop George Niederauer and the activist group the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence. On October 7, Niedarauer delivered the…
Culminating the month-long Maria Callas mania over at Rai 3, this Saturday the Italian radio network will broadcast a newly restored version (“il cui audio verrà restaurato per l’occasione”) of the celebrated June 29, 1955 concert of Bellini’s Norma. Co-starring with La Divina are Mario del Monaco and Ebe Stignani, under the baton of Tullio…
New York-based artist Nikos Floros has created an artistic tribute to La Divina herself from 20 thousand beer and soft drink cans for an art exhibition in Athens. The exhibition includes a sculptural gown inspired by Maria Callas’s costume for Iphigénie en Tauride featuring ring-pulls that become a lace-like collar. A kimono sculpture is inspired…
