In the words of Stella Maria Krazelberg von und zu Brabant, “Renata was robbed!” La Cieca offers a quick reminder of some moments that should have made the Met’s “Top 15” list.

Luana de Vol takes center stage as the bullying Ortrud in Peter Konwitschny‘s brilliant production of Lohengrin. Emily Magee is the hapless Elsa.

In an unreleased track from Cecilia Bartoli‘s new “Maria” CD (and you know La Cieca dotes on inédits!), the singer/musicologess performs in English! The song is “Yon moon o’er the mountains,” which, as you all know, is one of the hit tunes from Balfe’s The Maid of Artois. In less aesthetically pleasing news, a photo…

You know that Vivaldi opera everyone’s been talking about? (Yeah, La Cieca realizes that sentence looks absurd, but read on.) Anyway, here’s the already infamous nude scene for tenor Zachary Stains from the opera Ercole sul Termodonte, or, as it is

Legendary opera diva Anna Moffo spreads her wings in a straight film role — but as a gay character. La Moffo plays the lesbian “Lia” in Das Mädchen Julius. The film concerns the heroine Jules (a girl with a boy’s name) who, according to the plot synopsis, as a teenager had a lesbian experience with…

In a controversial performance (condemned by Stephen Colbert, praised by Andrew Sullivan), bass-bearitone Kurt Rydl grrrrowls the role of Hagen. Legendary diva Rosa Ponselle was so impressed by this Götterdämmerung that she dedicated an encore song to Herr Rydl. The (ahem) versatile basso replied with a video tribute to Nancy Sinatra:

Totally pulled together. Class act. Doing what comes naturally. Well played! Call it what you will, but, fair is fair: this is great stuff.

The unsinkable (and apparently unflappable) Birgit Nilsson sings what turns out to be an aria from Verdi’s Macbeth — despite makeup design from Valley of the Dolls and a costume recycled from the “Be Our Guest” number in Disney’s Beauty and the Beast. La Nilsson’s performance (as awesome as it is!) is only an opening…