la cieca ci guarda
Fall 2015 is the target date for an as yet untitled one-woman show based on the life of Kathleen Battle, scheduled to star Oscar winner Lupita Nyong’o.
Which stage director—who, incidentally, has a smash hit on Broadway at the moment—has been blackballed from at least two return engagements at the Met because of a kerfuffle with a conductor?
La Cieca hears that the Met’s opening night of the 2018-2019 season will be a new production of Samson et Dalila featuring Bryan Hymel and Elina Garanca.
La Cieca has discovered that the independent auditor chosen by the Met, AGMA and Local 802 to report on the company’s finances, Eugene Keilin, is a major donor to the Met, giving at least $25,000 in 2011-2012 according to that season’s Annual Report.
La Cieca hears that the Met’s planned production of West Side Story in the 2017-2018 season has been shelved.
Peter Gelb sent out an email to the “Public Bulletin Board” earlier today, noting that “inaccurate rumors [are] flying around” and attempting to clarify the Met’s position on upcoming union negotiations.
La Cieca hears that Indianapolis Opera plans to cancel the fourth and final show of its season, Britten’s Albert Herring, “amid ongoing financial issues.”
According to the Facebook page of tenor Yusif Eyvazov (Des Grieux to Anna Netrebko‘s Manon in the Rome Opera Manon Lescaut), the two are “engaged.”
Anna Netrebko sings “Sola, perduta, abbandonata” from Manon Lescaut at the Rome Opera, Riccardo Muti conducting.
La Cieca’s spy informs her that the Met will announce its 2014-2015 “Wednesday evening.” Watch parterre.com starting at 4:00 pm tomorrow for up-to-the-minute coverage.
Soprano Anna Netrebko and bass-baritone Erwin Schrott have amicably ended their relationship after six years because of their “demanding schedules and the resulting constant time apart.”
La Cieca hears that Anna Netrebko and Erwin Schrott are going their separate ways. Expect an official announcement within a day or so.
La Cieca hears that the Ravinia Festival in 2014 will do a novel take on Strauss’s Salome, setting the work in Milan’s celebrated “Casa di Riposo per Musicisti Giuseppe Verdi.”
La Cieca hears that soprano Alex Penda is en route to London on a rescue mission, for which her friends (young or otherwise) are doubtless giving thanks.