New girl in town
La Cieca invites you to enjoy a new blog from occasional member of the cher public (or member of the occasionally cher public) Crewmantle: COMMANDOpera.
Questo e Quello
Regie done right
The joy on my face after opening the plain manila envelope that contained the ArtHaus Musik DVD of Walter Felsenstein‘s 1975-6 Die Hochzeit des Figaro is hard to describe. I wanted to love this DVD with all my heart, as I have with the three other Nozze DVDs I own. I did, and then some. […]
Isn’t it romantic?
In the past ten years there has been a renaissance of the countertenor, perhaps from a renewed fascination with period pieces performed in authentic period style. While no one is thinking of lopping off body parts just yet (although with some of these Regie productions, who knows?), many major opera houses now engage David Daniels, […]
Smokey and the Pundit
Our publisher JJ will grace the airwaves of WNYC this afternoon at 2:00 PM for an appearance on Soundcheck. The topic is that one on everyone’s mind right now, the renascent New York City Opera.
E poi morir, e poi morir!
In the year and half that New York City Opera has been absent from the musical milieu of our metropolis, Tony Tommasini has been sadly deprived of one of his favorite topics of conversation.
Peace offering
I have to be honest, when I first got this CD from Cieca cara I thought, “What the fuck did I get myself into?” My assignment was to review the new Naxos recording of Leonard Bernstein‘s Mass. I did this show 10 years ago in school and it was not a happy experience. So, at […]
Selling the sizzle
La Cieca is happy to announce that parterre.com is now accepting advertising via blogads.
I am not a hit
The world needs a lot of things: health care, happiness, homo marriages, peace, prosperity and butterflies. What it doesn’t need is a mediocre “budget” recording of a contemporary opera already satisfactorily recorded with the original cast.
White boys can’t waltz
… but these boys’ (and girls’) hearts are in the right place as they join with Wenarto to celebrate the apparent victory of Referendum 71 in Washington.
Love, without music
I need to state right off the bat that I have never been one to worship at the altar of Maria Callas. While I can acknowledge her greatness, there are many other singers whom I prefer in the Bel Canto repertoire. So I was skeptical when I began watching Callas Assoluta from ArtHaus Musik.
When I haven’t sung my songs
“Renée herself seemed as if she’d rather be somewhere else.
The mirror in the man
This production of Der Rosenkavalier (directed by Stefan Herheim for Staatstheater Stuttgart) looks fascinating:
Libre elle est née
Why does La Cieca suspect that Angela Gheorghiu has, for the moment anyway, forgotten the denouement of Bizet’s opera?
Buzzworthy
Mean, moody, magnificent Mariusz Kwiecien gets the Regie treatment (including a buzzcut!) for a new Don Giovanni in Munich.
The student princess
Which much-recorded singer has developed her use of expressive rubato to the point that she actually “stole” a professor from a prestigious British academy by offering him a veritable fortune to resign his position and devote his time to coaching her most recent CD?
He has always been a fellow who arranges things
Is there no end to the talents of George Steel? Boy soprano, Bernstein protégé, conductor, impresario, endive fancier — and now matchmaker!
Noch mehr Tristan
The BBC 3 broadcast of Tristan und Isolde that so captivated the cher public yesterday afternoon is available in streaming form for the next week.
Regie in mufti
Two weeks the cher public have had to ponder our most recent Regie quiz, and yet none of the usual suspects were able to work out the obvious clues. A Victorian ingenue and her doting father are interviewed by an Italian fascist in a Rita Hayworth wig?
Happy Birthday Victoria de los Angeles
Today is the 86th anniversary of the birth of the beloved Spanish Catalan soprano, November 1, 1923.
Pyramid scheme
A special Halloween trick (or is it a treat?) for the cher public.
Enigma
At this point, Maria Guleghina is still listed as tonight’s Turandot at the Met. Any of the cher public attending this performance are encouraged to share news, reviews and scuttlebutt about what did or did not happen (broad enough for you?) here in the comments section.
Love in the afternoon
Right now on BBC 3, Tristan und Isolde from the Royal Opera.
Castrata Diva
Cecilia Bartoli’s latest vanity release bucks protocol to present an album heavy on historical concept. The classical recording industry has long feasted on the popularity of operatic solo records, especially during the last few years of industry-wide decline in CD sales. Incidentally, as record companies run out of ways to sell the standard repertoire to […]
An overnight project
La Cieca hopes you will enjoy the following little video (shared with us by the lovely and personable kashania) and that you will be inspired to go and do likewise. (You know what the comments section is for!)
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).