La Cieca thanks the visiting Enzo Bordello for pointing out to her some recent updates to the indispensable Met Futures Page so painstakingly maintained by Bradley Wilber. Most of it sound plausible enough, but every now and then a piece of casting leaves La Cieca so stunned she hardly manage to quote a Waldo Lydecker […]
Which world-class maestro is about ready to throw himself off of the roof since he accidentally cced a private email exchange to his entire list of contacts — including Mrs. Maestro? The exchange was eventually forwarded to La Cieca, who redacted some of the details for the sake of privacy, and now presents it for […]
Struggling downtown artiste Robert Wilson has been rendered homeless since his recent “eviction” from the 6,000 square foot loft he leased since the early 1970s. The space is located in a building on Vestry Street in trendy TriBeCa that’s scheduled for demolition to make way for, what else, luxury condominiums. The bereft avante-gardiste has been […]
Fans of red-haired three-named sopranos d’un certain âge will rejoice to hear that at least a couple of the mainstays of the Volpe Era have been asked back to the Met under the Gelb Aegis. (And after all that naughty gossip about firings and buyings-out! Who ever heard of such a thing?) Anyway, not to […]
Here’s the original (or, La Cieca supposes she should say, Das Original) of that endlessly-forwarded and endlessly-discussed article about alleged “doping” in the opera world, as published in Die Presse. Now, what catches La Cieca’s eye here is the description of the beta blocker whistleblower quoted in the article: “Der Tenor und Bodybuilder Endrik Wottrich.” […]
Yes, another YouTube posting, but this one is something very special indeed. Legendary Zarah Leander is seen in a few moments from her 1975 triumph as Madame Armfelt in Das Lächeln einer Sommernacht (A Little Night Music) at the Theater an der Wien. La Leander also cavorts about a studio, lipsynching a medley of her […]
Bayreuth scion-apparent Katharina Wagner‘s production of Die Meistersinger opened yesterday at the Festspielhaus. As you can see, this production is rather curiously cast with David Beckham as Walther and Aprile Millo as Eva. Oh, well, all right, La Cieca must have her little joke, you know. The tenor is in fact Klaus Florian Vogt, whom […]
The nice people at the Verbier Festival in Switzerland cannot be happy about last minute changes to this past weekend’s concert schedule caused by late cancellations by James Levine and Renée Fleming. Maestro Levine, advertised for concerts on July 20 and 22, tendered his regrets on July 16, noting “My doctors have strongly advised me […]
La Cieca is distressed to inform you that her YouTube account comprising 90 videos has been suspended. The cause of the action was a series of DMCA complaints from someone called “ByOnegin S.L.” who claimed “infringement” from three videos featuring Mariella Devia and Montserrat Caballe. La Cieca is naturally distressed that all these favorite videos […]
A rare chance to hear Evangelia Callas (mother of Maria) tell her side of the story. This audio clip from a 1962 television interview is in rather dim sound, but we do get a sample of Evangelia’s singing voice! Evangelia
La Cieca is totally in awe of the insightful (and totally enjoyable) reporting her baby sister OperaChic is doing on the most recent Angela Gheorghiu scandale. In what La Cieca chooses to regard as an early 50th anniversary hommage to one of the most infamous moments in the career of Maria Callas, la Gheorghiu has, […]
Well, it looks like yet another cliche turns out to be true: there really is no such thing as bad publicity. La Cieca hears that since his arrest two nights ago for DWI, Jerry Hadley has been fielding calls and emails from practically everyone he ever met in the business — most of them asking […]
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).
Quinn Kelsey and Lise Davidsen star in the Met's new Macbeth. We're giving away one ticket, so screw your courage to the sticking place and enter now!
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