Questo e Quello
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Please bear with La Cieca, cher public as she is experimenting with WordPress. Don’t worry, the old parterre.com won’t disappear! To read previous postings, please click here.
So, if you’re wondering why Jerry Springer: the Opera is called “the opera” —
UPDATE: La Cieca has heard from more than one reliable source that Juan Diego Flórez is yet another victim of whatever it is that’s mowing down all the Almavivas. The tenor, she hears, has canceled Barbiere di Siviglia at Lyric Opera of Chicago. Word on the street is that John Osborn will be released from…
The Met officially announced today that the company will stage Anna Bolena for Anna Netrebko for the opening night of the 2011-2012 season (old news to you, cher public!) and, the following season, Maria Stuarda for Joyce DiDonato. The company has no current plans to produce Roberto Devereux. In what La Cieca is choosing to…
“Marcello Giordani is, how can I put this, what Franco Farina would sound like if he weren’t awful.” — My Favorite Intermissions
La Cieca’s dear friend Ed Rosen (doyen of Premiere Opera) sent along a clip from Rolando Villazón‘s first recital since his return to the stage early this month. According to Ed, “He first sings Massenet’s “Ouvre tes yeux,” followed by Tosti’s “Ideale.” Rolando’s voice sounds as beautiful as ever! The recital took place in Barcelona…
A brainy reader points out to La Cieca that her little blog is mentioned this month in The New York Review of Books. The lovely and talented Sarah Boxer discusses a bevy of books on blogs and blogging, modestly mentioning only in passing her own tome on that very subject. As an example of the…
Don’t expect Met HD telecasts to show up on your pay-per-view channel anytime soon. According to the Associated Press, theater owners protested that the release of the telecasts to the In Demand service only 30 days after theatrical release would take revenue away from their broadcasts. “At least five of the Met’s operas this season…
La Cieca’s cher public will breathe a sigh of relief when she informs them that internet it-boy Izzy Anderson is, in fact, over 18. According to an email from YouTube impresario Wen Arto, Izzy is 23 and an aspiring performer. Wen continues, “Izzy wants to sing opera very badly but he is busy with ……
A reader sends us this page from the Los Angeles Opera season brochure for 2008-2009. (Click on the image to enlarge). La Cieca wonders if perhaps this production was originally planned for Giulietta Simionato and Mario del Monaco…
“…and Marcelo‘s getting LARGER!” [Via Opera Chic]
“John Treleaven and Linda Watson Bring Passion to Wagner’s Five-Hour Love Story” — Los Angeles Downtown News
Guest critic Niel Rishoi reviews the VAI DVD release of Lucia di Lammermoor. OK, this is IT. Barring the cuts, this is the Lucia of Gaetano Donizetti. Not that misguided travesty at the Met, not Natalie Dessay‘s vocally juddery overwoughtness. No schtick, no Carol Burnetting around. Just Donizetti and Cammarano’s Romantic drama, pure and simple.…
Over the years we have heard many different versions of Gluck’s Orphée. One can choose the Vienna version for castrato, which is shorter and simpler (or better: equally difficult, but in a less spectacular way), the Paris rewrite for tenor or the Berlioz reworking for the distinguished mezzo Pauline Viardot (Anne Sophie von Otter sang…
La Cieca thanks you all for your patience. And now, at the proper playback speed, the “Cherry Duet” as sung by Stephen Costello and Ailyn Pérez at their London recital Tuesday night. Iain Burnside is the pianist.
The Associated Press has the first review of Rolando Villazón‘s return to the stage earlier today in a performance of Werther at the Vienna Staatsoper. Reporter George Jahn says the audience’s “huge expectations… were mostly – but not completely – met.” Apparently the tenor’s high B’s sometimes failed to soar over the Massenet orchestral climaxes,…
Today, January 5, is the 91st anniversary of the birth of one of La Cieca’s particular heroes, Wieland Wagner, stage director and designer. Here is a scene from Wieland’s legendary production of Tristan und Isolde featuring Birgit Nilsson and Wolfgang Windgassen. In this clip, Wieland is seen in rehearsal for his 1965 production of Der…
Noel Coward offers a few observations on the standard operatic repertoire, assisted by Margaret Leighton.
La Cieca has just been reminded of the intriguing news that Gotham Chamber Opera, in collaboration with The Morgan Library & Museum, will present a new production, Scenes of Gypsy Life (a cautionary tale featuring music of Janácek and Dvorák), on January 16 and 17. The program devised by GCO artistic director Neal Goren and…
On New Year’s Day, WNET/Channel 13 will broadcast all six operas comprising the first season of Met HD simulcasts. As you stagger home from your year-end revels, you can tune in to The First Emperor at 5:00 AM, followed by I puritani at 8:00 and Il barbiere di Siviglia at 11:00. Following a nice long…
The saga of the peripatetic New York City Opera continues. According to a story in today’s New York Times (another Saturday newsdump! Well, at least someone has figured out how the media works here in the city!) Anyway, according to this NYT story, Gérard Mortier is kicking around a few ideas for keeping the NYCO…
“At High School of Enterprise, Business and Technology on Grand Street Campus in Brooklyn, the show is sold out at nearly 1000 tickets. The school didn’t spare any effort in terms of marketing: there’s a huge color banner for ‘Live in HD’ on the side of the building, facing Bushwick Avenue, with a picture of…
Stephanie Blythe sings Ulrica in the Met’s revival of Un ballo in maschera.
Tell us: Filth or dementia?
Hasten thee to feed another quarter of conversation for The Talk of the Town!
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