Questo e Quello
Prepare to have your eyes opened.
Sonya Yoncheva will make her North American role debut as Violetta in Verdi’s La Traviata at the Met this January.
Which Met superstar—who’s no stranger to blind items this season—is the first to accede to the Met’s suggestion of a fee reduction of 7% for principal artists in upcoming seasons?
Just in time for Halloween, Decca Classics has released the trailer for the upcoming CD Renée Fleming: Christmas in New York.
On this day in 1952 Clarence Birdseye sold the first frozen peas.
On this day in 1787, Mozart’s opera Don Giovanni received its first performance in Prague.
Finally the mystery has been solved: glamorous Joyce DiDonato and mousy Rachel DiDonato (pictured, left to right) are really the same person!
On this day in 1886, President Grover Cleveland dedicated the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor.
Sunday afternoon’s intermittently involving concert performance of Handel’s Alcina at Carnegie Hall starred an unusually intense Joyce DiDonato as a powerful sorceress blinded by her romantic delusions.
This week’s contribution from Jungfer Marianne Leitmetzerin is a more intimate one, sort of: a recital by Dame Gwyneth Jones.
On this day in 312, Constantine the Great is said to have received his famous Vision of the Cross.
On this day in 1520, Charles V, later Holy Roman Emperor, was crowned King of Germany.
La Cieca hopes that even the less celebrated attendees at this week’s intermission feature will feel free to commment on off-topic and general interest subjects.
On this day in 1938, the Archbishop of Dubuque, Francis J. L. Beckman, denounced swing music.
The San Francisco Opera is batting a thousand where young singers are concerned this season.
On this day in 1947 American actor Kevin Kline was born.
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.
On this day in 1967, the musical Henry, Sweet Henry opened at the Palace Theater.
It was a night a-tingle with excitement at the Metropolitan Opera House.
On this day in 1883, the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City opened with a performance of Gounod’s Faust.
La Cieca is gradually coming to the conclusion that Tara Erraught (pictured) has built her dressing room over an Indian burial mound.
Since the Met’s production of The Death of Klinghoffer, opening tonight, will apparently not be broadcast in any form, Jungfer Marianne Leitmetzerin has graciously provided, in streaming form, a recording from the world premiere of the work in 1991 at the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie.
On this day in 1803 the United States Senate ratified the Louisiana Purchase.
La Cieca trust that you, the cher public, will don your finest festoonery for this week’s discussion of off-topic and general interest subjects.
Tell us: What’s your favorite Verdi performance?
Hasten thee to feed another quarter of conversation for The Talk of the Town!
