parterre box the queer opera zine

She got through all of last year and she's here

More proof (as if any were needed) that 70 is the new 50: "Viva la Diva: Gala zum 70. Geburtstag von Grace Bumbry." The concert (performed at the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival on July 17 of this year) featured the septuagenarian siren in a demanding program of arias and scenes from Aida, Ernani, Les Troyens and the complete third act of Tosca!

La Cieca offers her cher public a pair of Querschnitten from this historic concert:

"Ritorna vincitor!" from Aida

"Ah! Je vais mourir" from Les Troyens

Labels: bumbry, cher public, gala, mp3

Die heilige Musik!

The long drought of Richard Strauss operas on Sirius Metropolitan Opera Radio ends with an appropriately post-romantic bang on Monday when the network launches a two-day marathon of archival Met performances of the composer's works. Here's the schedule:

Monday, June 11, 2007

6:00 AM ET Ariadne auf Naxos. 3/20/1976. Levine; Caballé, Remedios, Welting, Troyanos, Dooley, Titus.

9:00 AM ET Der Rosenkavalier. 1/29/2000. Levine; Graham, Fleming, Hawlata, Grant Murphy, Ketelsen.

12:25 PM ET Salome. 1/5/1974. Levine; Bumbry, Ulfung, Resnik, Shadur, Lewis.

3:00 PM ET Die Frau Ohne Schatten. 12/17/1966. Böhm; Rysanek, King, Ludwig, Berry, Dalis.

6:00 PM ET Elektra. 1/22/1994. Behrens, Voight, Fassbaender, McIntyre, King.

9:00 PM ET Arabella 3/5/1983. Leinsdorf; Te Kanawa, Weikl, Battle, Rendall, Dunn, Gramm.

Tuesday, June 12, 2007

6:00 AM ET Elektra 3/25/1961. Rosenstock; Borkh, Rysanek, Madeira, Uhde, Vinay.

9:00 AM ET Capriccio 1/31/1998. Davis; Te Kanawa, Harries, Kuebler, Fitch, Brendel, Keenlyside, Rootering.

12:00 PM ET Arabella 12/15/2001. Eschenbach; Fleming, Ketelsen, Bonney, Very, Forst, Halfvarson.

3:00 PM ET Der Rosenkavalier 3/19/1983. Levine; Troyanos, Te Kanawa, Haugland, Blegen, Hammond-Stroud.

6:20 PM ET Ariadne auf Naxos 4/14/2001. Levine; Voigt, Margison, Petrova, Mentzer, Brendel, Oswald.

9:00 PM ET Salome 3/13/1965. Böhm; Nilsson, Liebl, Dalis, Cassel, Shirley.

If you've held out on getting Sirius thus far, now you have an excuse to sign up for a FREE 3 day trial.

Labels: bumbry, sirius

Grace Bumbry sings Richard Strauss

In the latest episode of Unnatural Act of Opera, deluxe diva Grace Bumbry wails in a lesser-known corner of her vast repertoire, two operas by Richard Strauss.

In performances two decades apart, she takes on the title role of Salome (1978) and Klytemnestra in Elektra (1997). La Cieca's generosity extends even farther, though. As bonus, we hear Bumbry in an interview discussing Madame Lehmann and her breakthrough performances as the "Schwarze Venus" at Bayreuth.

As encore -- a 2003 performance of "Der Manner Sippe!"

Labels: bumbry, diva, podcast

Coming attractions

What's happening next week on Sirius.

Monday, November 13, 2006

6:00 AM Offenbach: Les Contes D’Hoffmann. 12/3/55 Monteux; Tucker, Peters, Stevens, Amara

9:00 AM Donizetti: Don Pasquale. 4/15/06 Benini; Florez, Netrebko, Alaimo, Kwiecien

12:00 PM Mascagni/Leoncavallo: Cavalleria Rusticana/I Pagliacci. 4/11/1964 Santi; Farrell, Miller, Tucker, Bardelli / Amara, Corelli, Colzani, Marsh, Ghitti

3:00 PM Wagner: Tannhauser. 1/21/78 Levine; McCracken, Bumbry, Weikl, Kubiak, Macurdy

7:30 PM Rossini: Il Barbiere di Siviglia (LIVE FROM THE MET). Benini; Damrau, Florez, Mattei, Del Carlo, Ramey

Tuesday, November 14, 2006

6:00 AM Wagner: Gotterdammerung. 4/22/00 Levine; Eaglen, Anderson, Palmer

12:00 PM Massenet: Manon. 12/21/63 Schippers; Moffo, Gedda, Guarrera, Tozzi

3:00 PM Verdi: La Traviata. 4/6/1957 Cleva; Tebaldi, Campora, Warren

7:30 PM Puccini: Tosca (LIVE FROM THE MET). Luisotti; Gruber, La Scola, Morris

Wednesday, November 15, 2006

6:00 AM Berlioz: Benvenuto Cellini. 12/27/2003 Levine; Bayrakdarian, Giordani, Del Carlo, Carfizzi

9:00 AM Wagner: Tannhauser. 1/21/78 Levine; McCracken, Bumbry, Weikl, Kubiak, Macurdy

12:00 PM Verdi: Un Ballo in Maschera. 2/26/66 Molinari-Pradelli; Price, Peters, Bergonzi, Dunn, Merrill

3:00 PM Donizetti: Don Pasquale. 4/15/06 Benini; Florez, Netrebko, Alaimo, Kwiecien

7:30 PM Puccini: Madama Butterfly (LIVE FROM THE MET). Fisch; Gallardo-Domas, Zifchak, Giordani, Croft

Thursday, November 16, 2006

6:00 AM Verdi: I Lombardi. 1/15/94 Levine; Flanigan, Pavarotti, Plishka, Beccaria

9:00 AM Massenet: Manon. 12/21/63 Schippers; Moffo, Gedda, Guarrera, Tozzi

12:00 PM Verdi: La Traviata. 4/6/1957 Cleva; Tebaldi, Campora, Warren

3:00 PM Mascagni/Leoncavallo: Cavalleria Rusticana/I Pagliacci. 4/11/1964 Santi; Farrell, Miller, Tucker, Bardelli / Amara, Corelli, Colzani, Marsh, Ghitti

6:00 PM Wagner: Gotterdammerung. 4/22/00 Levine; Eaglen, Anderson, Palmer

Friday, November 17, 2006

6:00 AM Donizetti: Don Pasquale. 4/15/06 Benini; Florez, Netrebko, Alaimo, Kwiecien

9:00 AM Verdi: Un Ballo in Maschera. 2/26/66 Molinari-Pradelli; Price, Peters, Bergonzi, Dunn, Merrill

12:00 PM Berlioz: Benvenuto Cellini. 12/27/2003 Levine; Bayrakdarian, Giordani, Del Carlo, Carfizzi

3:00 PM Offenbach: Les Contes D’Hoffmann. 12/3/55 Monteux; Tucker, Peters, Stevens, Amara

6:00 PM Wagner: Tannhauser. 1/21/78 Levine; McCracken, Bumbry, Weikl, Kubiak, Macurdy

9:00 PM Verdi: I Lombardi. 1/15/94 Levine; Flanigan, Pavarotti, Plishka, Beccaria

Saturday, November 18, 2006

6:00 AM Massenet: Manon. 12/21/63 Schippers; Moffo, Gedda, Guarrera, Tozzi

9:00 AM Verdi: La Traviata. 4/6/1957 Cleva; Tebaldi, Campora, Warren

12:00 PM Wagner: Gotterdammerung. 4/22/00 Levine; Eaglen, Anderson, Palmer

8:00 PM Puccini: Madama Butterfly (LIVE FROM THE MET). Fisch; Gallardo-Domas, Zifchak, Giordani, Croft

Sunday, November 19, 2006

6:00 AM Mascagni/Leoncavallo: Cavalleria Rusticana/I Pagliacci. 4/11/1964 Santi; Farrell, Miller, Tucker, Bardelli / Amara, Corelli, Colzani, Marsh, Ghitti

9:00 AM Verdi: I Lombardi. 1/15/94 Levine; Flanigan, Pavarotti, Plishka, Beccaria

12:00 PM Offenbach: Les Contes D’Hoffmann. 12/3/55 Monteux; Tucker, Peters, Stevens, Amara

3:00 PM Verdi: Un Ballo in Maschera. 2/26/66 Molinari-Pradelli; Price, Peters, Bergonzi, Dunn, Merrill

6:00 PM Berlioz: Benvenuto Cellini. 12/27/2003 Levine; Bayrakdarian, Giordani, Del Carlo, Carfizzi

9:00 PM NPR’s World of Opera

Labels: bumbry, damrau, florez, giordani, levine, met, netrebko, pav, sirius

Breaking: David Daniels is the Met's Orfeo

The mystery is solved, and, as usual, La Cieca predicted it well ahead of the official announcement. Per the Met's website, David Daniels will sing the four performances of the new Orfeo ed Euridice production in May 2007.

David joins a distinguished group of artists who have interpreted the role of Orfeo at the Met, including Louise Homer, Kerstin Thorborg, Risë Stevens, Grace Bumbry and Marilyn Horne. The revival of Orfeo will mark the Met's first performances of the opera since 1972.

The Met's website notes that the production is dedicated to the memory of Lorraine Hunt Lieberson.

Labels: bumbry, daniels, met

Bosom buddies

Elegantly scarved divas Grace Bumbry and Shirley Verrett (in alphabetical order) "rehearse" scenes from Aida and Norma in preparation for their historic 1983 duo concert.

Labels: aida, bumbry, youtube

Ariane abbandonata

La Cieca has just heard that Carol Vaness has canceled her performances of Ariane et Barbe-Bleu at the New York City Opera this fall due to "injury." The opening night of this Dukas production is scheduled for October 6, less than six weeks from now, and the word is that NYCO is scrambling rather intensely to find someone, anyone who knows this long, heavy and (above all) obscure role. (The only two names that La Cieca can think of are Geraldine Farrar and Grace Bumbry, and rumor has it neither of them is really enthusiastic about working with Leon Botstein.) Vaness's name is still on the NYCO's website, but her photo has been replaced by a symbolist logo of weeping eyes.

Labels: bumbry, nyco

Digital Dementia

La Cieca notices that those lovely people over at Berkshire Record Outlet are offering what might fairly be called a plethora of opera performances on DVD, for just $8.99 a pop. Particularly drool-inducing selections include La Grande-Duchesse de Gerolstein (Regine Crespin), Lakme (Joan Sutherland), Carmen (Denyce Graves, Roberto Alagna), Un ballo in maschera (Carlo Bergonzi, Antonietta Stella), Norma (Montserrat Caballe, Tatiana Troyanos), Faust (Alfredo Kraus, Renata Scotto, Nicolai Ghiaurov) -- and even a 1988(!) La Gioconda starring Grace Bumbry and Fiorenza Cossotto! Now, you all know how quickly great stuff like this sells out at Berkshire, so what are you waiting for? Get over there now!

Labels: alagna, bumbry, crespin, diva, scotto