Questo e Quello
On this day in 490 BC, the Athenians and their Plataean allies defeated the first Persian invasion force of Greece at the Battle of Marathon.
On this day in 1957, Welsh actress and screenwriter Dawn French was born.
America hasn’t exactly been vigorous about commemorating the 250th anniversary of the death of Jean-Philippe Rameau.
Protean Meryl Streep is in talks to film a biopic about a legendary diva. No, not that one: Florence Foster Jenkins.
On this day in 1919, Die Frau ohne Schatten premiered in Vienna.
Passion propels more operas than almost any other human emotion; however, many musical dramas have a very different sort of passion—the final days of Jesus—as their subject.
On this day in 1890, evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson was born.
“Heppner will play the three roles in Titanic, including Isidor Straus, a prominent U.S. politician and businessman who goes down with the ship.”
Tenor Michael Fabiano reportedly tore the place down tonight at WQXR’s Greene Space.
On this day in 1979, the revue Sugar Babies opened at Mark Hellinger Theater, to run 1208 performances.
The rediscovery of Franco Faccio’s Amleto, a curious score that last week, via Baltimore Concert Opera, received its first performances since 1871, reminds us just how tough an act Giuseppe Verdi was to follow.
On this day in 1955, American poet Allen Ginsberg performed his poem “Howl” for the first time at the Six Gallery in San Francisco.
When Richard Wagner reached into the past and revised Gluck’s Iphigénie en Aulide, he went beyond the accepted boundaries of tinkering and more or less created a new work that’s fomented aesthetic debates ever since.
Jungfer Marianne Leitmetzerin has outdone herself this week, presenting a nostalgic pairing of Cavalleria rusticana and Pagliacci.
On this day in 1889, the Moulin Rouge opened in Paris.
“Ms. Netrebko, 43, spoke about her willingness to take risks…”
The big news out of the Bay this week, of course, is that David Gockley, after ten years at the helm here and over forty in opera, has decided not to pull a Bloomberg/Galupe-Borszkh.
Some very clever casting indeed in this week’s “Dream Team” competition.
On this day in 1568, the Earl of Moray produced the Casket letters of Mary, Queen of Scots at a conference in York, headed by Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk.
You, the cher public (pictured) have spoken, and La Cieca is happy to reinstate this weekly posting where you are invited to discuss off-topic and general interest subjects.
Now’s the time to fill those gaps in your collection, cher public.
Given Anna Netrebko‘s continuing success at the Met in Macbeth (as evidenced by an mid-scene “brava” in last night’s Sirius broadcast), it’s time to think about the future—specifically her local assignments for next season.
Giacomo Puccini’s horse-opera version of “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,” La Fanciulla del West, based on David Belasco’s play, The Girl of the Golden West, enjoyed the status of a curate’s egg for quite a while.
Tell us: What’s your favorite Verdi performance?
Hasten thee to feed another quarter of conversation for The Talk of the Town!
