Questo e Quello
Ambiguity. That’s the theme of the operas of Benjamin Britten (ennobled as Baron Britten of Aldeburgh).
“She said also her costume would probably be ‘a blaze of jewels,’ patterned after the image of a Madonna she saw in Rome last year…”
Soprano Anna Netrebko and bass-baritone Erwin Schrott have amicably ended their relationship after six years because of their “demanding schedules and the resulting constant time apart.”
What looks to be a very provocative production of Die Frau ohne Schatten (directed by Krzysztof Warlikowski) is the next STAATSOPER.TV presentation from the Bayerische Staatsoper.
It’s that time of year, cher public, when we give thanks for our off-topic and general interest discussions.
Attendees of tomorrow’s parterre meet and greet (pictured) are reminded that Our Own JJ will be available in the Bar Thalia area of Symphony Space beginning at 2:00 for ticket pickup.
Lincoln Center hosted two milestones this week.
La Cieca invites all the cher public to participate in tonight’s chat session at La Casa della Cieca during the Met’s season premiere of Der Rosenkavalier, beginning at 6:55 pm.
“It’s often said that Verdi wrote [Violetta’s] music with three different voices in mind: a light, leggero soprano for the first act, a lyric voice for the second and a dramatic for the third.”
An auction of the meager remains of the bankrupt New York City Opera’s property musical instruments, some bits of scenery and costumes is scheduled for December 12.
Our weekly peek into the Mike Richter treasure trove yields a live recording from his “Operas of Richard Strauss” CD-ROM, Die Frau ohne Schatten from the Bayerische Staatsoper on July 16, 1988.
What we go to Grattacielo for is fresh young voices singing their guts out.
La Cieca is putting the final touches on Sunday afternoon’s meet-greet-and-Vêpres event.
Berliners anxious about casting of the Staatsoper’s new staging of Il trovatore since Aleksandrs Antonenko canceled can breathe a sigh of relief, since tenor Gaston Rivero (pictured) will jump in as Manrico.
Says the Met press office, “Erin Morley will sing the role of Sophie in all performances of Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier this season…”
La Cieca hears that Anna Netrebko and Erwin Schrott are going their separate ways. Expect an official announcement within a day or so.
“The tantalization of the monk in the luxurious apartments of Thaïs was daring and earnest in its realism.”
A preview of sorts of next weekend’s parterre get-together right this minute as BBC Radio 3 broadcasts Les Vêpres Siciliennes.
Better late than never, cher public: you’ve still got a whole week to discuss off-topic and general interest subjects.
Please forgive the lateness of this week’s howler, which in any event is something more of a squeaker anyway.
I suspect most New York City opera-lovers had long since given up hope that the fascinating soprano Anna Caterina Antonacci would ever return to their city.
Another treasure from Mike Richter‘s trove: the only studio recording of Dorothy Kirsten‘s celebrated Tosca.
La Cieca hears that the Ravinia Festival in 2014 will do a novel take on Strauss’s Salome, setting the work in Milan’s celebrated “Casa di Riposo per Musicisti Giuseppe Verdi.”
The simple fable at the heart of Die Frau ohne Schatten shouldn’t be difficult to parse, but Hugo von Hofmannsthal’s libretto juggles its vaguely Jungian, vaguely Arabian Nights symbolitry as if with intent to mystify and bewilder.
Tell us: What’s your favorite Verdi performance?
Hasten thee to feed another quarter of conversation for The Talk of the Town!
