And you’ll find that you’re in the rotogravure
La Cieca (not pictured) invites the cher public (far left) to discuss general interest and off-topic subjects in this, your weekly intermission feature.
Questo e Quello
Stealing Rome
L’incoronazione di Poppea nearly disappeared from the stage completely after its 1642 Venice premiere and a Naples revival in 1651.
Captive audience
Die Entführung aus dem Serail has been a bit of an unruly child recently, with productions by Neuenfels and Bieito dividing audiences and inspiring critics like Heather MacDonald to lengthy manifestos.
To absent friends
Miss Bobolink will be unable to do the weekly breakdown, as she is having her pique fitted.
Deaf ear
Which summer festival is quietly preparing for a season with performances accompanied by two pianos instead of the customary full orchestra?
Past imperfect
One of my adolescent pastimes was trolling the classical cut-out bins in record stores searching for overlooked gems or unfamiliar singers.
Nearsighted item
Which legendary fan will make the switch from opera house to newsprint when she is profiled in the New York Times this weekend?
Down the drain
After all the spectacularly bad publicity the Met garnered last month, Peter Gelb is now in Europe.
Citius, Altius, Fortius
Of all the Olympics-related products created to honor the upcoming summer games in London, surely one of the oddest must be a brand new pasticcio just released on a two-CD set
by Naïve—L’Olimpiade.
The windmills of his mind
Jules Massenet’s Don Quichotte was one of a number of commissions from the Monte Carlo Opera that occupied the composer at the end of his life.
In the Gods
Here’s your intermission feature for the week, cher public, home to your off-topic and general interest discussions.
Best laid chats
Reflecting my new mantra — “and would have gone on longer, had he not died” – here is The Curate’s Egg edition of the Saturday breakdown.
Neuzheli nikto o detiakh ne zabotitsja?!
Russian children’s ombudsman Pavel Astakhov called upon the newly appointed culture minister to check a Russian-British opera production for sex and drug scenes.
Tony award
For decades New York City Opera was a model of an organization with a clear mission.
Regie like a fox
ell, La Cieca thought for a while there that last week’s Regie quiz had stumped the entire panel, but then along came floridante2k with the right answer.
Pillow talk
Francesco Cavalli’s 1649 opera Il Giasone (Jason) was virtually a model of the many conventions that had come to be expected in Venetian public opera in the seventeenth century.
Max impact
Here’s an offbeat midweek attraction: a webcast of Vivaldi’s Farnace from Opéra National du Rhin, Strasbourg, featuring Max Emanuel Cencic, Vivica Genaux and Ruxandra Donose in a production by Lucinda Childs, conducted by George Petrou.
And the Pubie goes to…
La Cieca, having worked her fingers to the bone counting votes, now is ready to reveal to you, the cher public, the winners of the Third Annual Parterre Box Awards.
Grand, hotel
Sneaking in under the wire during the final week of May were two highpoints of New York’s opera season: the Cleveland Orchestra’s Salome with a stunning Nina Stemme and operamission’s revelatory US stage premiere of a complete edition of Handel’s first opera Almira.
Unexpected ghost
Frustrated, perhaps, by the bulky requirements and dubious future of grand opera—and grand opera commissions—Benjamin Britten created some of his most intriguing and, nowadays, popular pieces for small casts and chamber orchestra.
Encouraging young things to grow
La Cieca has reviewed the parterre circulation numbers and she is delighted and not a little perplexed to note that the day of the Great Opera News Kerfuffle provided our site with the highest number of pageviews in history.
A dandy intermission feature
Once the poor “fell0” has recovered, perhaps he will join in this week’s discussion of off-topic and general interest subjects.
Space cadet
Yes, that’s the lovely and talented Cecilia Bartoli peeking out from under those bangs, offering us a glimpse of her first staged Cleopatra.
Home on the range
Our Own Betsy Ann Bobolink (not pictured) writes: “Well, let’s see. They’ve used sinks, bathtubs, commodes. Except for bathroom scales, that takes care of the primary fixtures in la salle de bain. Boudoirs have been done to death. Clocks, chairs, chandeliers are all hopelessly passe. The only room left for an aspiring director to seek inspiration […]
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).