Glitter and be Gelb
“A dash of pizazz would have been welcome in announcing next year’s schedule, which looks respectable but safe.” Our Own JJ previews the Met’s 2011-2012 season. [New York Post]
Questo e Quello
Rubbed the Regie way
The several of you who guessed Iolanthe for last week’s Regie quiz were, well, not quite as wrong as everyone else. The work in question was Birtwhistle’s The Io Passion as performed at the Wiener Kammeroper in a staging by Nicola Raab. (But of course!) Moving on: so, what are these folks up to?
Parterrians, prepare for glory!
Thanks to the valiant (not so) few of you, cher public, parterre.com garnered its highest-ever single day of pageviews in history this week. On Wednesday (the day of the Met press conference) the site registered 30, 729 views, most of them on the liveblog, which now ranks as the sixth most popular page in parterre […]
Kiss the Koch
So, any guesses who’s funding the Tea Party Astroturfing campaign backing Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker‘s proposal to strip state workers of collective bargaining rights? La Cieca urges all you opera fans to keep in mind the image of the National Guard called on striking teachers when you are enjoying the ambiance of the Auditorium Formerly […]
By La Cieca
Huge
“When I left the opera house, I stumbled to the next train out of town and fell immediately asleep; when I left the afternoon broadcast, I stepped out onto the sidewalk and discovered that the sun had set while I’d been in the dark, watching. The sky’d gone all orange and blue and was seemingly […]
Not a what?
If you’re wondering why you haven’t heard from La Cieca (pictured, right) today, it’s because JJ (pictured, left) has been busy writing and stuff. By “and stuff,” he means primarily seeing an amazing production of Tennessee Williams‘ Vieux Carré by the Wooster Group and reacting to it at Musical America. See you all tomorrow at […]
Sofronia substitute
“Rachelle Durkin will sing the role of Norina in this Saturday’s matinee performance of Don Pasquale, replacing Anna Netrebko, who is ill,” says the Met press office.
‘Twixt the cups and the lip
Above is a preliminary PR photo of Eva-Maria Westbroek in the “biggest than life” titular role of the Mark-Anthony Turnage/Richard Thomas bio-opera Anna Nicole, set to open tonight at the Royal Opera, Covent Garden. But without the benefit of Photoshop and artful lighting, what do Westbroek and Anna Nicole really look like?
Metropolitan Opera 2011-2012: the announcement
The press conference announcing the Met’s 2011-2012 season has begun.
Noxious in China
In this artist’s conception, your intrepid girl reporter La Cieca is seen covering tomorrow’s season preview press conference at the Met. Assuming she regains consciousness in time, watch for her live reports from the event beginning at 1:00 pm, right here on parterre.com!
Four for the show
Until Monday evening, I never placed Don Pasquale in my list of favorite operas, but the four principals were so magnificent that I realized just how special an opera can be when it is sung so well. Remember that works like this—Elisir, Ory, Flute, rather than Aida, Forza, etc.—can be performed beautifully today since the […]
By zinka
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The wild Juan
And now, ladies and gentlemen, Christopher Maltman (among others) in Kasper Holten‘s Juan.
Infinite variety
Having completed her season of Giulio Cesare in Paris, Natalie Dessay next takes on Lucia di Lammermoor in New York. A glimpse of the soprano’s Handelian chops and perhaps a hint of her current vocal estate, after the jump.
Nationwide hookup
Instead of waiting until the last moment, La Cieca (pictured) has decided go ahead and set the dates for the remaining evening chats with the cher public (also pictured) in the month of February (not pictured).
Two heads are better than one
La Cieca is pretty sure this is going to be a popular choice, and she thinks as well she’s just discovered parterre’s new resident futurologist. Congratulations to Baritenor (pictured) for his exhaustive essay on the Met’s 2011-2012 season.
Happy Birthday Renee Fleming
“The People’s Diva,” who brought so much darkness and so much hope to us in 2010, is 52 years young today!
Blood simple
Is it possible for a performance of Richard Strauss’s Elektra to be exciting without an exciting Elektra? It of course depends on your priorities and expectations, which will ultimately determine whether such a performance, as preserved on this DVD from Baden-Baden is for you. Linda Watson’s first assumption of the punishing role of Elektra (she […]
Off the air
I’ve found myself procrastinating endlessly over this review. I’m always excited by the chance to hear recently composed operas, and have a weak spot for the American repertoire. So I had overly high hopes for Paul Salerni‘s Tony Caruso’s Final Broadcast. At first listen, I found myself underwhelmed, slightly off put by the blending of […]
Statue of limitations
What do opera composers do on vacation? If the researches behind this performance at the Rossini in Wildbad Festival are correct, they gather their nearest and dearest and dash them off a quickie opera for performance en famille. That, in any case, is what Giovanni Pacini did during down-time between presenting seventy-odd operas to the […]
Altar ego
“At a time of life when most opera singers can barely remember their glory days, 70-year-old Placido Domingo is still giving performances singers half his age could be proud of.” Our Own JJ‘s latest review is a love letter to the Met’s revival of Iphigénie en Tauride. [New York Post]
River of no Regie
So many wonderful guesses on the most recent Regie quiz, but curiously only the very early Alexander and the very late luvtennis proved veritable William Tells in their accuracy: that applicious opera is Cosi fan tutte. The production for the Baden-Baden Festspielhaus is by Philipp Himmelmann. Our next quiz is one of the most difficult […]
Chat rebels
La Cieca invites her comrades to join her in the struggle that will be the chat during this afternoon’s performance of Nixon in China, starting at 1:00 pm.
Maestro on the mend
Riccardo Muti‘s recent fainting spell that resulted in surgery for a broken jaw was caused by a” heart rhythm disturbance,” say his doctors. The conductor has been fitted with a pacemaker to regulate his heart rate, and is expected to make a full recovery.
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).