Coupe de grâce
Our good friends at Opera Depot are currently offering a free download of Parsifal conducted by Hans Knappertsbusch at the 1963 Bayreuth Festival.
Questo e Quello
Their master’s voice
One of Mike Richter‘s most spectacular achievements was the remastering and digitization of the complete master classes conducted by Maria Callas at the Juilliard School in 1971-1972.
She is a diamond
“La Cieca cannot imagine it is much fun to sing ‘Dove sono’ when you’re suffering a fresh case of the Reno jumpy-wumps.”
Robert W. Wilson, 1927–2013
Robert W. Wilson, the American hedge fund manager and former chairman of New York City Opera, has died, an apparent suicide.
Beautiful slender Mary Garden makes her debut in filmland
“Samuel Goldfish’s big glass house on the Hudson is liable to need fireproof curtains—and they better be drawn down tight—for there Mary Garden, who says she has never been in a photoplay house in all her life, will start acting in the title role of Thais for the Goldwyn Picture corporation.”
Have yourself a Mary little Christmas
Here’s a seasonal treat from Our Own Jungfer Marianne Leizmetzerin, Martinu’s Hry o Marii (The Miracles of Mary).
I shall look forward personally to exterminating you, Mr. Sun
“Gelb is said to track sunspot activity for advance warning of possible satellite transmission disruptions.”
Pop music
La Cieca (right) invites those of you who have a thirst for conversation to enjoy this week’s off-topic and general discussion forum.
Weekend in München
“Now, my trip to Munich has been cancelled and I am hoping to be able resell the tickets at face value.”
Dream team
“Music lovers are in for a treat this Saturday…”
Indeed a great chance to be a canard
“Verdi revered Shakespeare and would turn over in his grave.”
Towards zero
Our Own JJ (not pictured) counts down his 10 favorite New York opera performances of 2013 in the New York Observer.
The beat goes on
Weltstardiva Anna Netrebko plays a basement in Greenwich Village next month.
Art school confidential
This week, our peek into the Mike Richter collection reveals a long listen for those lengthy midwinter nights: Wagner’s Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg.
Why, She Would Not Sing Anywhere Else for the World
Mary Garden goes back to Paris to-morrow.
Light my foyer
Each year, Leon Botstein leads the American Symphony Orchestra in a concert opera or two.
Troy for ever reaps a dire delight
Our Own Jungfer Marianne Leitmetzerin has concocted something to keep you warm on those long winter nights: a complete performance of Les Troyens from 1974!
Dancing bears
“La parole humaine est comme un chaudron fêlé où nous battons des mélodies à faire danser les ours, quand on voudrait attendrir les étoiles.”
Où sont les neiges d’aujourd’hui?
A snowy day in MYC offers a perfect excuse to stay home, cozy and warm, and enjoy the hospitality of La Casa della Cieca during this afternoon’s broadcast of Falstaff starting at 1:00 PM.
Everything’s coming up Rúni
Daniela Sindram will sing the role of Octavian and Rúni Brattaberg will sing the role of Baron Ochs in this evening’s performance of Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier.
The opposite of canard is truth
“Is Parsifal, then, a religious artwork, or is it a work ‘about’ religion?”
Meyerbeer goggles
In honor of Giacomo Meyerbeer, the unjustly or (depending on how you look at it) justly neglected 19th century opera composer, a selection from Mike Richter‘s “Meyerbeer Operas” CD-ROM.
Come to the unstable
How, then, to explain the perplexing performance last Friday night of Falstaff, Mr. Levine’s first new production since his return?
I’ll take the fall
The days are getting shorter, but you can keep the prattle going this fall’s Talk of the Town! You will, you can, you must join in the discussion about: Great mezzo soprano performances (October),
Gained in translation (November), Teleport me back to… (December).