Questo e Quello
With Richard Strauss and Hugo von Hofmannsthal’s Arabella once again on the Met’s stage, I thought I’d take a moment to revisit that opera’s most reviled character, the Fiakermilli.
No need to dress for this week’s intermission feature, cher public: just show up and start discussing off-topic and/or general interest subjects.
As if you needed an even more exciting reason to drop in for La Casa della Cieca this afternoon: last night’s Butterfly Kristine Opolais is jumping into the role of Mimi, subbing for an ill Anita Hartig for the broadcast and the HD.
It’s time for lazy stage directors and lazy sopranos to find some other gesture besides the chain of clumsy pique turns (AKA “whirling”) that is the cliché go-to shorthand for “joy.”
About this evening: the opera we saw was Arabella, written by a gentleman named Mr. Richard Strauss.
“Javier Camarena will sing the role of Prince Ramiro in the season’s three initial performances of Rossini’s La Cenerentola on April 21, 25, and 28, replacing Juan Diego Flórez, who is ill.”
What must have raced through the mind of the none-too-comely Spanish Infanta when she learned that the opera to be performed during the celebrations for her 1745 wedding to the French Dauphin revolved around the comeuppance of an ugly yet vain water nymph tricked into believing Jupiter was her ardent suitor?
“Oubliez le XVIIIè siècle. A l’Opéra Comique, Platée s’installe sur les podiums d’une fashion week parisienne!”
As part of the celebration of the three-year long restoration of the Theatre Royal de Liege (and, from what we can see in this DVD it is a glorious restoration indeed), the Opera Royal de Wallonie went all the way to find as Belgian an operatic experience as was possible.
Continuing “El Anillo” from the Mike Richter collection, Siegfried at the Teatro Colón (not pictured).
Which artist who very recently won acclaim at the Met will return to that theater very soon to provide an unexpected “bright” spot in a much-anticpated revival this spring?
“German fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld is a household name; 18th-century French composer Jean-Philippe Rameau isn’t.”
American soprano Aprile Millo rehearses for her role debut as Clara in Porgy and Bess with Opera Orchestra of New York.
The sad fact, though, is that the Met is not doing a great job or, in most cases, even a competent job at this core task.
Perhaps there are not that many people in the world who would look at a CD cover and think “Oh, goody, goody! A libretto by Eugène Scribe I’ve never come across before!”
Jungfer Marianne Leitmetzerin has a rare treat up her engageantes this week, a live performance of Verdi’s I due Foscari featuring baritone-era Plácido Domingo.
“Rely on the flamboyant German soprano Simone Kermes to steal scenes as La Jolie.”
Please don’t stand on ceremony, cher public: jump right into the discussion of off-topic and general interest subjects.
La Casa della Cieca is open this afternoon for a cozy chat during the Met broadcast of La sonnambula starting at 1:00 PM.
In issue #46 of parterre box the queer opera zine (“Spunk”), you will find an endorsement by the legendary Astrid Varnay.
Alan Gordon has mass emailed AGAM again, and La Cieca’s got a copy of the missive.
Ineffable Igor Toronyi-Lalic (pictured, right) either spouts a novel canard or perhaps just froths incoherently. La Cieca will let you be the judge.
Divalicious Diana Damrau sings cuts from her new disc Forever tonight at Le Poisson Rouge, and, you, cher public, can see it livestreamed right here starting at 7:30 PM.
“This summer, [Susan] Graham will cap her season in Paris by making her role debut as Anna in The King and I at the Théâtre du Châtelet (June 13-29).”
Tell us: What’s your favorite Verdi performance?
Hasten thee to feed another quarter of conversation for The Talk of the Town!
