la cieca ci guarda
La Cieca hears that two spectacular events crowned last night’s performance of La sonnambula at the Vienna State Opera.
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“The halls of CAMI are not a happy place right now,” an insider informs La Cieca, and according to information received by parterre.com more than half a dozen long-time Columbia Artists Management personnel have not had their contracts renewed in recent weeks.
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La Cieca hears that Glimmerglass Opera is about to announce the name of its next General Director. Shockingly, it’s neither an actual Brit nor someone currently associated with NYCO, ya know.
La Cieca hears that Barry Banks will go onstage at the Met shortly — tonight, in fact — jumping in as Almaviva for an ailing Lawrence Brownlee.
La Cieca hears that Bartlett Sher has already signed a new three-opera deal with the Met. The director, who completes his first trifecta with next season’s Le Comte Ory, will reportedly return to the company in 2013-2014 for two productions, one of which will be that new Nico Muhly work, Two and a Half Men…
La Cieca hears that Placido Domingo has withdrawn from Tamerlano at ROH due to ill health and is rumored to be in hospital. Kurt Streit will now sing all performances.
UPDATE: A press release has just gone out announcing “The Metropolitan Opera and the English National Opera (ENO) will co-produce a world premiere production of composer Nico Muhly’s first opera.
La Cieca hears that the planned Decca recording of Giulio Cesare, to be based upon live concert performances this week in Paris, has been canceled.
Angela Gheorghiu will not sing Carmen at the Met this season. Says the diva: “To make so important a debut as Carmen, I want to be as prepared dramatically as I am musically. Therefore, I will postpone my role debut until a later date when I can work intensely with the Richard Eyre production.” Kate…
La Cieca hears that Lance Ryan, scheduled to make his Met debut tonight in Ariadne auf Naxos, is indisposed. Subbing as Bacchus is Michael Hendrick.
La Cieca hears that Olga Borodina still has whatever it was she had on Wednesday, and so will have to cancel tonight’s Met performance of Carmen as well.
La Cieca hears that, beginning tonight, Jose Manuel Zapata will omit Almaviva’s final aria from the remaining performances of Il barbiere di Siviglia this season at the Met.
La Cieca has to say she has never taken much interest in the music of John Corigliano; in fact, she believes she used the phrase “Technicolor twaddle” to describe The Ghosts of Versailles. But your doyenne must give credit where credit is due. Boyfriend is looking fucking amazing for a 70-year-old! Take a look at…
La Cieca is loath to scoop dear Bradley Wilber, but rumors are swirling once again about future seasons at the Met. Perhaps the most controversial (among the cher public, at least) of these plans is a new production of Anna Bolena to open the 2011 season, with Anna Netrebko‘s pretty head on the chopping block.…
La Cieca hears that we can expect a June wedding with only a brief honeymoon before that busy love couple gets back to the salt mines!
La Cieca’s spy in San Francisco whispers that the 2008-2009 season will open with Simon Boccanegra with Dmitri Hvorostovsky in the title role. Later productions will include a revival of Bohème with Angela Gheorghiu and the company premiere of Die Tote Stadt featuring Emily Magee and Torsten Kerl. Also expected is the world premiere of…
Željko Lu?ic will sing Macbeth for the Met’s broadcast and HD simulcast of the Verdi opera tomorrow afternoon, replacing Lado Ataneli, who is “indisposed.”
La Cieca has just heard that Cynthia Lawrence will sing Lady Macbeth on Tuesday, January 15 at the Met… and possibly more performances later in the season!
Juan Diego Flórez will make his role debut as the Duke of Mantua in a new production of Rigoletto on March 31. The event will mark the inauguration of “The International Opera Festival Alejandro Granda” in Peru. Puppylicious Flórez is pictured here with Latin Grammy winner Gian Marco, with whom he shared the stage for…
Imagine La Cieca’s delight when she heard that Julia Roberts has been cast in the starring role of Voce di Donna, a biopic based upon the whirlwind adventures of your very own doyenne. Oscar-winner Roberts (left) beat out A-listers Nicole Kidman, Susan Sarandon and Dame Judi Dench to portray “Older Cieca.” The character in more…
La Cieca has obtained exclusive video footage of a presentation by Susan L. Baker, chairwoman of the New York City Opera, announcing plans for the company’s 2008-2009 “season.” NYCO’s announcement, dumped into the scarcely-read Saturday Times, would seem to indicate that our speculation of the past couple of weeks was, in fact, accurate.
There hasn’t been much chatter about it, but it seems that Rolando Villazón is emerging from his four-month period of silence. His recently updated website states that the tenor is scheduled for staged performances in Vienna (Manon and Werther) beginning January 5, followed by a series of concerts and a couple of Verdi Requiems in…
Purely a rumor at this point, but La Cieca hears that Erwin Schrott and Anna Netrebko are engaged. (To be married. To each other.) UPDATE: A reliable source informs La Cieca: “As far as I know they are very close friends but I have not heard anything about marriage.” So let’s wait and see.
UPDATE: Soprano Renée Fleming has issued the following statement: “Today, December 3, 2007, is the 84th anniversary of the birth of Maria Callas, the greatest interpreter of the role of Norma in the 20th century. In honor of this great artist, I have decided to reaffirm my decision not to sing Norma indefinitely. As a…
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