Bess, is you our woman now?
POSTED at
6:39 PM
23 Comments
31 January 2008
30 January 2008
28 January 2008
No Sleep 'Til Sunnyside
Not a whole lot of news on matters operatic in the past couple of days, so La Cieca has decided a competitive quiz is in order. The clip below is the "Sleepwalking Scene" from Verdi's Macbeth divided among 14 sopranos and mezzo-sopranos. All you have to do is name the 14 singers in the correct order. (La Cieca has decided to be merciful this time and omit overly obscure singers. Each singer in this clip is or was internationally famous. However, La Cieca cautions you that not all these singers included Lady Macbeth in their onstage repertoire.)
When you believe you know all 14 voices, send your answer to [email protected]. First correct answer will receive a gift certificate from amazon.com. Should there be no entry with all 14 correct answers by midnight on Tuesday, January 29, La Cieca will choose randomly among the entries with the highest number of correct answers.
In the meantime, please feel free to discuss and make wild guesses in the comments section.
UPDATE: As of Monday evening, La Cieca has not declared a winner. There is a tie for first place with two entries each naming 13 out of 14 correctly. Interestingly, they both mistake the same Lady. For those of you who might want to do a little more intensive study of the Ladies (and La Cieca doesn't mean only the lesbians in the audience!), here's the mp3 to download.
When you believe you know all 14 voices, send your answer to [email protected]. First correct answer will receive a gift certificate from amazon.com. Should there be no entry with all 14 correct answers by midnight on Tuesday, January 29, La Cieca will choose randomly among the entries with the highest number of correct answers.
In the meantime, please feel free to discuss and make wild guesses in the comments section.
UPDATE: As of Monday evening, La Cieca has not declared a winner. There is a tie for first place with two entries each naming 13 out of 14 correctly. Interestingly, they both mistake the same Lady. For those of you who might want to do a little more intensive study of the Ladies (and La Cieca doesn't mean only the lesbians in the audience!), here's the mp3 to download.
POSTED at
6:57 PM
63 Comments
27 January 2008
Villazón sings again!
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 on January 13 of this year."
While we're on the subject, do be sure to check out Ed's always fascinating podcast.
While we're on the subject, do be sure to check out Ed's always fascinating podcast.
POSTED at
10:29 PM
20 Comments
18 January 2008
This is my belief, in brief
That grand old man of music André Previn is writing another opera, following up on the clamorous success of 1998's A Streetcar Named Desire. The commission for Houston Grand Opera is Brief Encounter, based on Noel Coward's one-act play Still Life as well as the screenplay for the eponymous film. (First Tennessee Williams, then Noel Coward ... surely a collaboration with Jean Genet is the next logical step!) Well, anyway, the premiere of Brief Encounter, most likely omitting the above imagery, is set for May of 2009. Too long a wait, you say? Well, in the meantime, sit back and enjoy an excerpt from Previn's one universally recognized masterpiece.
Labels: camp, diva, great homosexuals of history, mp3, votd
POSTED at
1:52 PM
16 Comments
16 January 2008
10 January 2008
Close harmony
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.
Labels: mp3, stephen costello
POSTED at
4:23 PM
11 Comments
04 January 2008
A teeny-weeny admonishment to dear Signor Bellini
Noel Coward offers a few observations on the standard operatic repertoire, assisted by Margaret Leighton.
Labels: mp3
POSTED at
10:44 PM
5 Comments
30 December 2007
La parola scenica
At yesterday's matinee Hansel and Gretel at the Met (broadcast and simulcast), a disgruntled audience member expresses his distaste for the "forest" setting, just as Lisette Oropesa makes her entrance as the Dew Fairy. Top marks to Ms. Oropesa not only for singing her solo so enchantingly, but for continuing without a flinch despite the clearly audible shout of "Boo! Change the set!" (At least the fellow didn't yell, "Bravo! Bravo
Robert O'Hearn!")
POSTED at
12:39 PM
39 Comments
22 December 2007
Christmas is here, bringing good Cher
While we're waiting for the restoration of Stephen Costello's ringing rendition of "O Holy Night," La Cieca thought you might like to hear another great American tenor's take on the classic carol.
Labels: camp, e major is a really high key, mp3, stephen costello
POSTED at
6:49 PM
13 Comments
02 December 2007
15 November 2007
10 November 2007
And all he said was "woof"
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:
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:
POSTED at
1:21 AM
9 Comments
29 October 2007
24 October 2007
20 October 2007
Princess
Maury D'annato asks "How high does the Simionato role [in Adriana Lecouvreur] lie? Could Podles do it?
Well, judge for yourself. Here's a clip of mezzo Oralia Dominguez singing the Principessa's aria "Acerba volutta."
Well, judge for yourself. Here's a clip of mezzo Oralia Dominguez singing the Principessa's aria "Acerba volutta."
Labels: maury d'annato, mp3
POSTED at
11:19 PM
8 Comments
12 September 2007
No answer?
Curiously, the response to La Cieca's challenge to identify the ten "wrong numbers" she reached whilst trying to phone Milton Host has evoked something less than the usual excitement associated with an Unnatural Acts of Opera quiz. As such, your doyenne will make it easy for you by making available an excerpt from the Vestale podcast with just the "
riotously funny" bits. So, it's up to you, chers commentateurs: who are all these people?
Labels: contest, maury d'annato, mp3, quiz
POSTED at
9:28 PM
5 Comments
31 August 2007
Bella è quell'ira, o vergine!
Wow! Who is this Odabella?
As several of you quick-witted commenters have divined, the mystery Odabella is none other than Eva Marton, who performed in Verdi's Attila in 1972. As you watch this YouTube clip of the entire aria, thrill to la Marton's precocious mastery of diva body language!
As several of you quick-witted commenters have divined, the mystery Odabella is none other than Eva Marton, who performed in Verdi's Attila in 1972. As you watch this YouTube clip of the entire aria, thrill to la Marton's precocious mastery of diva body language!
POSTED at
7:53 PM
47 Comments
28 August 2007
Microgroovy
That utterly addictive web presence Vinyl Divas has just updated their fascinating, wide-ranging collection of operatic LP covers with high-quality scans of albums featuring every opera lady you've ever heard of (and more than a few you haven't.)The latest set runs the gamut from Alla Ablaberdyeva (performing Bach, Purcell and Handel with the assistance of the intensely bearded Alexander Fiseisky and his massive organ) to Virginia Zeani (rocking a hot-pink cocktail dress and Jackie Kennedy flip for a Verdi/Puccini recital.)
UPDATE: Although the Vinyl Divas site does not include any sound clips to complement the dizzying collection of album covers, La Cieca thought you might enjoy a sampling of late '60s crossover at its best. Ferocious Felicia Weathers is heard in a psychedelic single:
POSTED at
2:49 PM
25 Comments
23 August 2007
Rose Bampton, 1908-2007
POSTED at
8:44 PM
15 Comments
04 August 2007
Anna's turn
The latest participant in the "Am I the Casta Diva Type?" competition is the lovely Anna Netrebko. Here, from a concert on July 28, is her first public performance of the Bellini aria.
Anna Netrebko sings "Casta diva"
Comments?
Anna Netrebko sings "Casta diva"
Comments?
POSTED at
7:56 PM
81 Comments
29 July 2007
Le belting
Régine Crespin does her "New York has neon, Berlin has bars" routine on a French variety TV show "Palmarès des chansons" circa 1967. She sings her version of one of the greatest hits of the evergreen entertainer
Mistinguett, the chanson "C'est vrai!". A video excerpt of this performance (featuring Mme. Crespin "entourée de danseurs avec plumes") may be found on the Place aux Chansons website.
POSTED at
2:05 PM
33 Comments
26 July 2007
Das Traumboot
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 many of you heard sing Lohengrin at the Met back in 2006, and, if this photo is anything like accurate, is indeed the "Traumboot" above referenced.
Now, be honest, cher public. If you saw this fellow approaching on a boat, would you even notice that it was drawn by a swan? No, La Cieca didn't think so.
Oh, and of course, that's not La Millo up there with the paint-spattered decolletage. More's the pity, La Cieca must say, because surely if it were Millo singing the soprano part in the quintet, it would be more nearly in tune than this snippet from the Generalprobe.
For those of you interested in Ms. Wagner's Konzept, here's a feature from German TV.
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 many of you heard sing Lohengrin at the Met back in 2006, and, if this photo is anything like accurate, is indeed the "Traumboot" above referenced.
Now, be honest, cher public. If you saw this fellow approaching on a boat, would you even notice that it was drawn by a swan? No, La Cieca didn't think so.
Oh, and of course, that's not La Millo up there with the paint-spattered decolletage. More's the pity, La Cieca must say, because surely if it were Millo singing the soprano part in the quintet, it would be more nearly in tune than this snippet from the Generalprobe.
For those of you interested in Ms. Wagner's Konzept, here's a feature from German TV.
Labels: 2007, cher public, hunkentenor, millo, mp3, scandale, this diva looks like that diva, wagner
POSTED at
9:05 PM
20 Comments
23 July 2007
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:
Labels: bumbry, cher public, gala, mp3
POSTED at
4:20 PM
45 Comments
12 July 2007
Zum Raum wird hier die Zeitgeist
As a warmup for this evening's Unnatural Acts of Opera podcast of Parsifal (Act 1), a short film by Kopernikus1618 demonstrating what happens when "Andy Warhol meets Richard Wagner."
Speaking of Unnatural Acts, La Cieca is once more setting a precedent by offering an alternative to the current program of Wagner's Rienzi, a live performance from Vienna in 1997. Since the Vienna Rienzi is heavily cut and catches Siegfried Jerusalem on an off night vocally, La Cieca has decided to make available the most nearly complete version of Rienzi available, based on a 1976 radio performance of the work conducted by Edward Downes. These mp3s were encoded by the ineffable Mike Richter for one of his invaluable Audio Encyclopedia CD-ROMs. You can download a .zip file containing the five acts of Rienzi here.
If you like what you hear (and why should you not?), you should note that this complete recording is now available in excellent sound on a 4 CD set released by Ponto, and the whole thing will set you back less than a Jackson.
Oh, and did La Cieca mention the video currently on the Unnatural Acts page, a short film in which five divas offer their "regrets" for their non-attendance at the Met's 1983 Centennial Gala? You will be overjoyed (we hope) to hear that this clip includes the celebrated Renata Scotto X-ray Story!
Speaking of Unnatural Acts, La Cieca is once more setting a precedent by offering an alternative to the current program of Wagner's Rienzi, a live performance from Vienna in 1997. Since the Vienna Rienzi is heavily cut and catches Siegfried Jerusalem on an off night vocally, La Cieca has decided to make available the most nearly complete version of Rienzi available, based on a 1976 radio performance of the work conducted by Edward Downes. These mp3s were encoded by the ineffable Mike Richter for one of his invaluable Audio Encyclopedia CD-ROMs. You can download a .zip file containing the five acts of Rienzi here.
If you like what you hear (and why should you not?), you should note that this complete recording is now available in excellent sound on a 4 CD set released by Ponto, and the whole thing will set you back less than a Jackson.
Oh, and did La Cieca mention the video currently on the Unnatural Acts page, a short film in which five divas offer their "regrets" for their non-attendance at the Met's 1983 Centennial Gala? You will be overjoyed (we hope) to hear that this clip includes the celebrated Renata Scotto X-ray Story!
POSTED at
1:49 PM
3 Comments
09 June 2007
Stella for star
Just a few quick words about the magnificent soprano Antonietta Stella, the "tie-breaker" in our recent quiz. She is perhaps not quite so familiar to some of La Cieca's readers as the more celebrated divas also heard on the track such as Tebaldi and Price. La Cieca will quote her dear colleague Enzo Bordello, who wrote eloquently about this singer in 1998:". . . her 1957 broadcast performance [of Tosca] with Tucker and Warren is sensational. The voice is confidently produced, with plenty of healthy, glowing tone. She tosses off the role's many high B's and C's like they were child's play....
"The long and the short of the matter is that I simply adore Antonietta Stella. What did she do well, you ask? Well, I would reframe the question this way: what did she NOT do well? Although I never saw Stella in the theater, I can honestly say that few singers have thrilled me as much as she on records and video. At its best, the voice represents the highest standard of Italian lirico-spinto singing. There is a morbidezza in the sound that is ravishing. In addition to producing focused high notes, Stella sang with unforced resonance in the lower register. The legato is melting and her pianiszimo singing ranks with the best of anyone."
Antonietta Stella sings "Vissi d'arte"
Stella on YouTube
POSTED at
12:12 AM
16 Comments
05 June 2007
WINNER! Chi e quella donna bruna lassu?
WE HAVE A WINNER!. The lovely and talented Eric M. was the first to identify all six mystery sopranos correctly at 10:15 AM today, followed closely by Fred at 11:47. Congratulations to Eric and Fred, and thanks ever so to all of you who played! (For the correct answers to the quiz, check the comments thread to this post!)
Our sound clip of Soprano #6 was excerpted from one of her seven performances of Tosca at the Metropolitan Opera.
La Cieca is delighted to announce that the lovely people over at The Second Tosca have offered a pair of complimentary tickets to the show to one of you lovely readers. Here's how it works. Listen to the audio clip below of six divas singing "Vissi d'arte" and identify all six, in the correct order. Email your answers to [email protected].
The first entry with all six sopranos correctly identified in the correct order will win the pair of tix to The Second Tosca for Tuesday evening, June 12. (In the unlikely event that there is no correct answer by midnight, Sunday June 10, La Cieca will award the tickets to the most nearly correct entry; her decision in this is, as in all things, final.) Remember, it's six separate sopranos singing, and your hint is that all six of these divas sang the role of Tosca onstage.
Our sound clip of Soprano #6 was excerpted from one of her seven performances of Tosca at the Metropolitan Opera.
La Cieca is delighted to announce that the lovely people over at The Second Tosca have offered a pair of complimentary tickets to the show to one of you lovely readers. Here's how it works. Listen to the audio clip below of six divas singing "Vissi d'arte" and identify all six, in the correct order. Email your answers to [email protected].
The first entry with all six sopranos correctly identified in the correct order will win the pair of tix to The Second Tosca for Tuesday evening, June 12. (In the unlikely event that there is no correct answer by midnight, Sunday June 10, La Cieca will award the tickets to the most nearly correct entry; her decision in this is, as in all things, final.) Remember, it's six separate sopranos singing, and your hint is that all six of these divas sang the role of Tosca onstage.
Labels: mp3
POSTED at
11:10 PM
15 Comments
02 May 2007
27 March 2007
Higher and higher
On the recommendation of tipster La Malipasta, La Cieca presents a snippet or two from a January 14 performance of Meyerbeer's Il crociato in Egitto at the Teatro Fenice. Heard in a duet from the first act of this rarity are two sopranos of differing genders, Michael Maniaci and Patrizia Ciofi.
Part One Ah non ti son piu caraPart Two Non v'e per noi piu speme
POSTED at
1:23 PM
26 Comments
15 March 2007
21 February 2007
Do it again
UPDATE: CORRECTED MP3 PLAYER
The remarkable OperaChic was in attendance for the prima of La Scala's revival of La fille du Regiment, where Juan Diego Florez encored his first act cabaletta "Pour mon ame." This performance marked the first "bis" of a solo aria at La Scala since 1933. Photos and an account of what must have been a truly dazzling night abound on the Chic's website. And here's what JDF's "bis" sounded like:
The remarkable OperaChic was in attendance for the prima of La Scala's revival of La fille du Regiment, where Juan Diego Florez encored his first act cabaletta "Pour mon ame." This performance marked the first "bis" of a solo aria at La Scala since 1933. Photos and an account of what must have been a truly dazzling night abound on the Chic's website. And here's what JDF's "bis" sounded like:
POSTED at
12:32 PM
9 Comments
14 February 2007
All night long
You know those times when you look at your watch, and it's only about 8:15, and you say to yourself, "Oh, man, this is going to be a long, long, long evening!"
This is one of them.
This is one of them.
POSTED at
7:36 AM
20 Comments
05 February 2007
After the ballo
... is over, you can hear a performance of the winning entry in the Madlib challenge, devised and written by the lovely and talented Le Cerf Agile and performed by the Apocryphal Opera Anecdote Theater of the Air Players. The actors have informed La Cieca that they are honored to be performing such top-notch material, and La Cieca has replied "How lovely for you" or words to that effect. Le Cerf and the other four winners should keep an eye on the mailbox for their rewards in the form of historic opera DVDs. Also on the latest episode of
Unnatural Acts of Opera, the aforementioned third act of Un ballo in maschera and a wild rant by your doyenne on the subject of the Met's Jenufa.
Labels: contest, la cieca ci guarda la cieca ci vede, mp3, podcast
POSTED at
10:57 PM
3 Comments
Links to this post
31 January 2007
Helmets off, here they come, those Beautiful Girls!
A galaxy of talent sufficient to cast an Arena di Verona production of Sondheim's Follies assembles in the following recording. It's the "Ride of the Valkyries" as sung on February 13, 2003 at a gala performance in Tokyo. Wotan's daughters, in order of appearance: Alessandra Marc (Gerhilde), Eva Marton (Helmwige), Karan Armstrong (Waltraute), Agnes Baltsa (Schwertleite), Anna Tomowa-Sintow (Ortlinde), Gwyneth Jones (doubling Siegrune and Rossweisse) ... and Jochen Kowalski (Grimgerde).
POSTED at
9:01 AM
23 Comments
Links to this post
28 January 2007
Sein Weg
That most versatile of all golden-age divas, Lilli Lehmann, must be looking down from Paradise right now with a peculiarly puzzled expression on her face, for at last she has a rival. Meet Ingrid Höfer, an artist with a " mission to sing." Mme. Höfer's discography reveals that her range runs the gamut from Traditional folk material through Bach oratorio, Romantic Lieder and even choral music from Wagnerian stage-consecrating-festival-drama.
Along the way, the protean Höfer instrument soars through material more tradionally associated with dramatic soprano, coloratura soprano, and contralto. Die Höfer even takes on the challenge of a form that the mighty Lilli dared not attempt, i.e., the Broadway show tune.
La Höfer points out on her website about these sound clips "Erwähnenswert wäre noch, dass Sie hier die dunkle (nicht tiefe) Vokalfärbung eines dramatischen Sopran und nicht eines lyrischen hören." That is, "It should be noted that you are hearing the dark (not low) vocal timbre of a dramatic soprano, not a lyric." So noted.
POSTED at
6:08 PM
29 Comments
Links to this post
03 January 2007
2007 things to do in the new year
- Visit La Cieca's newly spiffed up MySpace page, where you can
- Delight in a slideshow of the Many Faces of La Cieca,
- Listen to a few of the doyenne's favorite tracks,
- Thrill to the latest bizarre opera video,
- And, while you're there, become one of La Cieca's friends (as if you aren't all already!)
- Meanwhile, you can get ready for the relaunch of Unnatural Acts of Opera this evening at 8:00 p.m., and
- Discuss.
POSTED at
1:10 PM
3 Comments
Links to this post
21 December 2006
Not the type at all
At last La Cieca has discovered Renee Fleming's muse, or at least, as we have so often wondered "who the hell it was who taught her to sing that way."
Meet the divine Naoko Maeda, asking the musical question . . .
Meet the divine Naoko Maeda, asking the musical question . . .
Labels: filth, fleming, mp3, naoko maeda
POSTED at
6:37 PM
12 Comments
Links to this post
14 December 2006
13 December 2006
What it sounded like
Roberto Alagna sings "Celeste Aida" December 7, 2006 at La Scala. And for those of you who are interested, here's how the Antonello "Fleet of Foot" Palombi sang the
aria in 1998.
POSTED at
5:13 PM
81 Comments
Links to this post
22 September 2006
18 September 2006
pARRRRterre box
Avast ye, cher public! La Cieca salutes International Talk Like a Pirate Day (September 19) with music from The Pirates of Penzance and Maria Stuarda. (Don't worry, that makes more sense than you would think.)Labels: cher public, mp3
POSTED at
10:52 PM
2 Comments
Links to this post
04 September 2006
Astrid Varnay 1918 - 2006
The celebrated dramatic soprano Astrid Varnay died earlier today in Munich. She was 88 years old. A few highlights from her 55 year career can be heard in this podcast. Included are scenes from Die Walkure, Tannhauser, Elektra, Der Fliegende Hollander, Der Rosenkavalier, Parsifal, Siegfried, and Tristan und Isolde.
powered by ODEO
UPDATE: one of the few available video clips of Varnay in live performance, from a 1971 telecast of Jenufa:
POSTED at
8:50 PM
136 Comments
Links to this post
19 August 2006
parterre 2.0
In her never-ceasing quest for greater convenience and maximum gadget-intensivity, La Cieca has updated the user interface for her podcasts. Now she can insert one podcast directly into the homepage like so . . .
All you need do is click on the "play" button and crank up your speakers. (This is the most recent podcast, by the way, the third act of Mercadante's Il Bravo, which includes a few bits of news plus a return of the wildly popular quiz "The Enigmas of La Cieca.") The most recent dozen or so podcasts can be accessed, as always, from the Unnatural Acts of Opera page. And do note that the Unnatural Acts of Opera Archive contains the whole first year of La Cieca's little shows.
Another new shiny object is the updated player on the Podderdammerung page -- now you can listen to the entirety of Der Ring des Nibelungen from a single page here on parterre.com. Podderdammerung.
Another exciting new feature, coming very soon, is discussed in the current podcast.
All you need do is click on the "play" button and crank up your speakers. (This is the most recent podcast, by the way, the third act of Mercadante's Il Bravo, which includes a few bits of news plus a return of the wildly popular quiz "The Enigmas of La Cieca.") The most recent dozen or so podcasts can be accessed, as always, from the Unnatural Acts of Opera page. And do note that the Unnatural Acts of Opera Archive contains the whole first year of La Cieca's little shows.
Another new shiny object is the updated player on the Podderdammerung page -- now you can listen to the entirety of Der Ring des Nibelungen from a single page here on parterre.com. Podderdammerung.
Another exciting new feature, coming very soon, is discussed in the current podcast.
POSTED at
10:48 AM
2 Comments
Links to this post
15 July 2006
Nagasaki trainwreck
This is what makes conductors wake up screaming. From a performance of Madama Butterfly, Philadelphia, February 1967, with Montserrat Caballe in the title role, and Richard Karp doing what he can to keep things together in the pit.
The trainwreck.
(La Cieca likes to think of this excerpt as the "Berio Completion" of Butterfly.)
(La Cieca likes to think of this excerpt as the "Berio Completion" of Butterfly.)
Labels: mp3
POSTED at
7:42 PM
88 Comments
Links to this post
24 June 2006
Giudici, ad Angela!
La Cieca has found a few fragments from last night's performance of Tosca at the ROH -- only about 15 minutes of music, but enough, perhaps, to give a hint of the suitability of Angela Gheorghiu for the title role. La Cieca's take (based on an in-house mike, remember!) is that the Roman diva is a perfect fit for la Gheorghiu temperamentally, but at least a size too big vocally. She banks a lot on the "Vissi d'arte," and, yes, it does pay off gloriously -- but that's not the whole role, is it? An idea of relative volume can be gathered from the performances of Marcelo Alvarez and Bryn Terfel, both in excellent fettle. And if Antonio Pappano can make the whole score sound this rich and exciting, La Cieca says, bravissimo! So, what does my cher public think of these
Tosca snippets?
Labels: cher public, diva, gheorghiu, mp3
POSTED at
12:02 PM
34 Comments
Links to this post
22 June 2006
Cruda sorte
By now, cher public, you have all heard about the Skandal in Vienna: Olga Borodina was sacked from L'italiana in Algeri (or did she walk out?) because, well, there were a variety of reasons proffered. Short version, though, is that the Staatsoper press office announced "All contracts between Olga Borodina and the Vienna State Opera have been dissolved by mutual agreement." (Those "contracts" included a new Boris Godunov production.) A gallant Agnes Baltsa substituted on short notice. La Cieca would say that Baltsa "jumped in," but, since the veteran diva was announced as having an injured leg, perhaps that phrase would be in poor taste. So, anyway, here are the announcement and Baltsa's first aria, as
recorded from the house.
Labels: cher public, diva, mp3
POSTED at
8:20 AM
59 Comments
Links to this post
30 May 2006
One from the vault
Since this week's Unnatural Acts of Opera podcasts feature a classic live recording of Bizet's Carmen, La Cieca thought it might be fun to remember the legendary chanteuse Leona Anderson with a clip of her performance of the
Habanera. La Anderson, who was once described as "the missing link between Florence Foster Jenkins and Mrs. Miller" is perhaps best remembered from TV's Ernie Kovacs Show, where she shared warbling duties with Edie Adams and Yma Sumac. Both the Bizet selection and this
encore are excerpts from Anderson's 1957 LP Music to Suffer By.Labels: mp3
POSTED at
10:33 AM
93 Comments
Links to this post
25 May 2006
Puccini, still unknown
La Cieca doesn't want to get all pedantic here, but she does want to point out that the phrase Mirella Freni sang at the end of her rambling monologue at the Volpe gala was not from Act 3 of La boheme. Or rather, the musical phrase reappears in the opera, but the version Freni sang was obviously meant as the tag of her scheduled encore, "Sole e amore." This number is a parlor song written by Puccini in 1888, and he recycled the main melody later for "Addio dolce svegaliare." "Sole e amore" is one of the songs that Michael Kaye collected and edited back in around 1990 for a book called The Unknown Puccini. The last phrases of the song are set to the words, "Al Paganini -- G. Puccini." It's a whimsical touch, to set the signature of the song, and apparently Freni's version of "Sole e amore" was meant to end with a dedication to the retiring General Manager, "To Joe Volpe, from Mirella."
From the tenorissimo.com site, here's a clip of Placido Domingo singing the song.
From the tenorissimo.com site, here's a clip of Placido Domingo singing the song.
POSTED at
3:38 PM
8 Comments
Links to this post
01 May 2006
Burn and crash
It's rare to hear dementia and filth within the same minute of music, but, well, it does happen.
POSTED at
11:01 AM
148 Comments
Links to this post
17 April 2006
Off with her head tones!
Enrico Stinchelli and Michele Suozzo, the hosts of La barcaccia, are not amused by Edita Gruberova's improvements on Donizetti's score for Anna Bolena. (They call her "Anna Mi Bemollena," or "Anna E-flat-ena.")
Labels: mp3
POSTED at
10:09 AM
89 Comments
Links to this post
28 March 2006
24 January 2006
More about Steve
Stephen Costello is ear-candy too: here he is singing "Torna ai felici di" from Puccini's Le villi. Care to hear him sing the whole opera? Then tune in on Sunday, January 29 to a webcast from wrti.org featuring The Academy of Vocal Arts' production of Le villi as the second half of a double bill. The curtain-raiser, La Navarraise, will begin at 3:00 p.m., with the Puccini starting, oh, sort of 4:15-ish.
Labels: mp3, stephen costello
POSTED at
2:23 PM
2 Comments
Links to this post
20 January 2006
The Inner Bark
"Her quirky personality shines through once she gets to know you . . . . In the home, she is very sweet and quite affectionate, however she is not clingy or needy for your undivided attention at all times . . . . She's not a hyper or noisy girl, but she has a wealth of energy and stamina and she loves to go for long walks in the park . . . . All she needs now is someone to whom she can give all that love and devotion. All she wants is someone to love her and spend time with her." Oh, and her singing voice "could rival Renee Fleming," which is pretty impressive, since
this bitch seems to have it all over Renaay in the personality department.
Update: on the other hand, maybe I'm misreading this. What if the dog sounds like this?
Update: on the other hand, maybe I'm misreading this. What if the dog sounds like this?
POSTED at
12:17 PM
8 Comments
Links to this post
19 January 2006
Too much is not enough
La Cieca is both delighted and heartbroken to announce that, on the occasion of Madame Vera Galupe-Borszkh's twentieth Annual Farewell Recital, the celebrated "Traumatic Soprano" will, at long last, take the "F" word literally. Madame Vera will say "addio senza rancor" to New York once and for all when she returns to the Thalia Theatre at Symphony Space for three recitals, March 22nd, 24th, and 25th, 2006 at 8 P.M. In what is billed as "La Gran Scena’s only New York appearance this season," dear Vera will take center stage with her accustomed “monster concert” program of demanding arias and songs, taking the occasional breather to share selections from her trove of Diva Anecdotes. This year Madame "sinks" arias from La Grande Duchesse de Gerolstein, Manon Lescaut, Il trovatore, La Gioconda, and Mefistofele, as well as chansons by
Poulenc and Oscar Straus, lieder by Richard Strauss and Schubert, a traditional Mandarin folk song, a Negro spiritual, and a contemporary art song. The “First Lady of Operatic Theatre”(New York) will collaborate with Maestro Sergio Zawa (aka Met assistant conductor Lucy Arner) in a production conceived, written and performed by the indefatigable Ira Siff. Mme. Galupe-Borszkh's jewels are by Larry Vrba. The trio of performances will transpire at the Leonard Nimoy Thalia (Peter Norton Symphony Space), Broadway at West 95th Street. Tickets (a laughably inexpensive $32.oo) may be obtained at the box office (212) 864-5400; major credit cards are accepted. For further information, do contact Mr. Siff at (212) 460-9124, or at [email protected].
Labels: diva, madame vera galupe-borszkh, mp3
POSTED at
12:04 PM
8 Comments
Links to this post
12 January 2006
Remembering Birgit Nilsson
Join La Cieca in a special edition of "Unnatural Acts of Opera," recalling some great moments from magnificent Birgit Nilsson.Part 1 includes selections from Die Walkuere, Lohengrin (with Astrid Varnay), Siegfried (with Hans Hopf), Goetterdaemmerung and Parsifal (with Helge Brilioth), plus "I Could Have Danced All Night."
In Part 2, Nilsson is heard in Tannhaeuser, Salome (with Fritz Uhl and Grace Hoffman). "Traeume," Tristan und Isolde (with Christa Ludwig) and Turandot (with Franco Corelli). A live 1973 performance of the "Liebestod" closes the program.
Labels: mp3
POSTED at
8:41 PM
12 Comments
Links to this post
08 January 2006
Queen Lear
La Cieca wishes a very happy 80th birthday to Evelyn Lear, heard recently on Unnatural Acts of Opera singing "The Boy from Ipanema." Another sample of her vast range of artistry can be found here, in her performance of the
Letter Scene from Eugene Onegin at the San Francisco Opera in October 1971.
Labels: mp3, san francisco
POSTED at
1:19 PM
9 Comments
Links to this post
06 December 2005
High Noon: the Gala and Quiz!
Here it is, cher public: the Unnatural Acts Gala and Quiz. To listen, just click on the arrow button. (Make sure your speaker volume is turned up, and allow 10 - 15 seconds for the show to start playing.)
You can also download the mp3 at this direct link. When you know the answers to the three questions, send them to [email protected]. For more details on the gala and quiz, see the posting below.
Listen to the Gala and Quiz!
You can also download the mp3 at this direct link. When you know the answers to the three questions, send them to [email protected]. For more details on the gala and quiz, see the posting below.
Labels: cher public, gala, mp3, podcast
POSTED at
12:00 PM
0 Comments
Links to this post
09 November 2005
The Carol Neblett Memorial Prize
Rolando Villazon says he's willing to do nudity, but only if it's called for in the story of the opera. Might La Cieca hope that such a plot-driven rationale be found to get budding hunkentenor
Stephen Costello to strip off during OONY's Guglielmo Tell this Sunday? Well, perhaps not. But (so La Cieca heard at the recent Liciathon) Costello
sounds perfectly spectacular even when fully clothed, and surely, nudity or no nudity, will be a standout in the cameo role of the Fisherman. So La Cieca is willing to compromise: how about jeans and a ripped wifebeater? All right, with wading boots, that's something a fisherman might wear. . .UPDATE: He talks, too!
Labels: mp3, stephen costello, villazon
POSTED at
11:05 AM
90 Comments
Links to this post
Patty meltdown
La Cieca works from time to time with (as dear Zinka would say) "young sinkers," i.e., aspiring operatic talent. The harsh truth is that the average young artist has about as much chance of winning King Kong Millions as she (the group is overwhelmingly female) does of building a major career. With such an insane level of competition, even getting an audition is considered a coup. In order to improve their chances, singers network obsessively, tweak headshots and repertoire lists, and even attend (expensive) workshops on how to "position" themselves in the market. Once in a while, an artist comes along who defies all the rules, skewers the sacred cows, and laughs in the face of common sense about how to behave with a potential employer. Such an artist is "Patty." According to La Cieca's source, the following sound clip is "a real message left by a real auditionee on the voicemail of the director of a real opera company in the midwest."
Here's Patty.Labels: mp3
POSTED at
10:00 AM
84 Comments
Links to this post
30 September 2005
Nothing Sacred
You know, it's one thing to flounce around dusting the floor of a church with your silken train, the meantime flaunting your bosom to the Blessed Virgin, but it's another thing altogether to take a heartfelt hymn like "Amazing Grace" and transform it into cheap soundtrack music. Can't someone stop this woman?
POSTED at
9:55 PM
89 Comments
Links to this post
10 July 2005
A good podcast is worth repeating
San Francisco Opera, as always right on the crest of the wave, introduced its own podcast over the weekend. Pamela Rosenberg and Donald Runnicles yak about the 2005-06 season, which will include the premiere of the new John Adams piece "Dr. Atomic," and some musical highlights of the rest of the repertoire are included too.
San Francisco Opera 2005-06 Season Preview.
Labels: blind, mp3, podcast, san francisco
POSTED at
12:15 PM
0 Comments
Links to this post
19 June 2005
Femmes Fatales
Debuting today on Il Gran Teatro della Cieca, "Femmes Fatales," a program featuring deadly divas. Featured are complete and demented performances of L'incoronazione di Poppea, Macbeth, Samson et Dalila, Jenufa and Turandot.The lethal lovelies in question are Anna Caterina Antonacci, Shirley Verrett, Oralia Dominguez, Anja Silja and Montserrat Caballe; victims and co-conspirators include David Daniels, Kurt Moll, Piero Cappuccilli, Nicolai Ghiaurov, Jon Vickers, Ernest Blanc, Karita Mattila, Jerry Hadley, Luciano Pavarotti, Leona Mitchell and Giorgio Tozzi.
Il Gran Teatro della Cieca
The very quick turnaround on this show can be credited to two amazing pieces of shareware, MP3 Surgeon (for direct editing of MP3s without decoding to wav, and, consequently, no degradation of sound through re-encoding) and Audiograbber, the fastest ripper La Cieca has ever seen, and, girls, would you believe it's free?
POSTED at
12:00 AM
0 Comments
Links to this post
16 June 2005
Mari Lyn on DVD at last!
Mean, moody, magnificent Mari Lyn has finally (if posthumously) made her debut on DVD, thanks to the equally (if not more so) magnificent Donald Collup. Mme. Lyn, variously called "Hogcolleratura" and "La Traviyenta," regaled the public access airwaves in the mid-1980s with a series called "The Golden Treasury of Song," featuring the blond-bewigged "singing hostess" warbling her way through everything from "Casta diva" to "Ma Curly-Headed Baby." Donald has anthologized La Lyn's greatest moments (and worst quarters of an hour) into three DVDs that La Cieca is certain are destined to give this and future generations hours upon hours of delight. An audio clip of Mme. Lyn
reading the letter from La traviata is one of the all-time favorite downloads from parterre.com, but, believe me, Mari Lyn is an artist who needs to be seen to be appreciated in her complete fulsomeness. La Cieca urges, entreats, and cajoles you go go immediately to Donald's
website to order these glorious documents of "the art of mal canto."
POSTED at
7:56 PM
1 Comments
Links to this post
11 June 2005
Vera to the rescue
Even as La Cieca writes this, the evergreen Vera Galupe-Borszkh is preparing to go onstage for her first-ever Duchesse de Krakenthorp in Michigan Opera Theater's Fille du Regiment. As La Cieca understands it (reports are somewhat sketchy thus far), La Dementia is graciously jumping in at short notice for Shirley Verrett, who has sung(?) the Duchesse in earlier performances of the Donizetti tuner. More on this momentous story as it develops.
Update (June 12): In fact, Mme. Galupe-Borszkh performed the entire run of Fille, though curiously Verrett's name is still listed on MOT's website. Final performance is today's matinee. No word whether Vera interpolates Gran Scena's celebrated "Motown Medley" in honor of the venue. Anachronistic? Perhaps. But of what relevance is time to a diva whose art is timeless? As, for example, her classic reading of "Les chemins de l'amour."
Update (June 12): In fact, Mme. Galupe-Borszkh performed the entire run of Fille, though curiously Verrett's name is still listed on MOT's website. Final performance is today's matinee. No word whether Vera interpolates Gran Scena's celebrated "Motown Medley" in honor of the venue. Anachronistic? Perhaps. But of what relevance is time to a diva whose art is timeless? As, for example, her classic reading of "Les chemins de l'amour."
POSTED at
11:01 PM
1 Comments
Links to this post
19 May 2005
Pole dancing
The Met's so-called "Millo Pole" will no doubt tonight be swarming with cognoscenti, or as we like to call them around here, opera queens. Aprile Millo sings her only staged Tosca of the Met's season, and that's reason enough to shlep over to Lincoln Center. (Millo had a big personal success in Ballo last month, and she's scheduled to do the Roman diva in the
parks beginning June 14. Sadly, there were not that many occasions that could draw me into the Met (or any other opera house) under my own power this season. Lately, La Cieca's attitude has been sort of "is that all there is?" Oh, well, maybe hearing Millo, followed by some compare-and-contrast, will give me a clearer idea why nothing these days seems to have the old sacro fuoco. (Well, besides
this, anyway!) See you at the Pole!
POSTED at
12:17 PM
67 Comments
Links to this post
04 May 2005
Into the 21st century
La Cieca abandons HTML today and shifts to a blog-driven site. She's hoping that the easier interface will mean more frequent and timely updates, but I guess you'll be the judge of that!
A rave review for last night's Ballo at the Met from the hard-to-please Charlie Handelman, in particular Miss Millo and Mr. Giordani tickled his fancy.
Don't worry: the old La Cieca columns will still be online here.
And now, on this lovely May morning, a moment of nostalgia for that time when we all were young.
A rave review for last night's Ballo at the Met from the hard-to-please Charlie Handelman, in particular Miss Millo and Mr. Giordani tickled his fancy.
Don't worry: the old La Cieca columns will still be online here.
And now, on this lovely May morning, a moment of nostalgia for that time when we all were young.
POSTED at
12:47 PM
1 Comments
Links to this post
22 February 2005
Jazzed up
In response to a very official-looking email from the Business and Legal Affairs department of the Universal Music Group, La Cieca reluctantly must now reveal that the mp3 she mischievously identified as "a track from Renee Fleming's new jazz album" is in fact nothing of the kind. The clip was meant as a travesty of Fleming's attempts at jazz. Believe me, it was the farthest thing from my mind that anyone who reads La Cieca could have such a tin ear as to think the breathy cooing on this clip could possibly have anything to do with "The Beautiful Voice." To recap: for the irony-impaired among you,
this clip is not the real Renee Fleming.
POSTED at
8:14 PM
0 Comments
Links to this post
La Cieca recommends...
be a benefactor
previously on parterre
Colleagues
-
AndrewAndJoshua
Barihunks
Cafeteria Rusticana
Civic Center
Counter/Point3.0
DesignerBlog
Diva of the High C's
Donald Collup
Handelmania
Il Corriere della Grisi
ionarts
Iron Tongue of Midnight
Judycast
Likely Impossibilites
Marginalia
Met Futures
My Favorite Intermissions
Night after Night
NYC Opera Fanatic
Operacast
Opera Chic
operavision
PlaybillArts
Premiere Opera
Sieglinde's Diaries
Sounds and Fury
The Last Debate
The Rest is Noise
Trrill
Una butaca en el paraíso
Vilane fille
Wellsungs
Willy or Won't he?
- Subscribe / RSS
