September 15, 2000: Just before the NYCO's dress rehearsal of Roberto Devereux began, Paul Kellogg stepped before the curtain to inform the audience that the singers might be marking and that the production might well have some changes by the time the show acutally opens (given that Mark Lamos is in charge, that's hardly news). Anyway, Kellogg closed his little speech with the warning, "I don't want to be reading about this rehearsal on the Internet." (The allusion, of course, is to La Cieca's scooping the world last year in revealing the company's entire season and casting well over a month before the official announcement.) Well, anyway, later in the runthrough Lauren Flanigan stumbled over her farthingale, necessitating a momentary pause. At that point the soprano quipped to the audience, "Don't post this to the Internet, okay?"

Dear Charlie Handelman is recovering and in good spirits following heart surgery earlier this week. He plans to return home on Sunday. Charlie is of course the legendary collector and dealer of live opera tapes, and lately has returned to the stage as a baritone -- he is scheduled to make his debut at Amato Opera this spring in La boheme. If you would like to send get-well greetings to Charlie, just send them here and La Cieca will be glad to forward them to him!

Okay, you tell me what this is about. Soprano Patricia Racette, interviewed in the San Francisco Chronicle, chats about:

• her "fruitful" and "combustible" relationship with Francesca Zambello
• her passion for Tae Bo and kickboxing
• the house in Santa Fe she "co-owns"
• and her poodle named (no! yes!) Sappho

La Cieca asks: Pat, honey, wouldn't it just be easier to come out?

Martin Bernheimer's participation with the Texaco Opera Quiz will be severely curtailed during 2000-2001. The veteran critic served as moderator of the quizzes for several years through last season, but has not been invited back in that capacity. His participation in the Quiz next season will be limited to three quizzes (as panelist) and a roundtable discussion. He will also offer a brief tribute to Hans Hotter during the Holl�nder broadcast. (By way of comparison, Bernheimer was moderator for nine broadcasts last season.) When asked, Bernheimer declined to speculate on the reasoning behind this sudden change of duties. La Cieca, though, has her suspicions. And now the really bad news: this sudden lacuna may well be filled by the intensely annoying Cori ("That's the longest high note I ever did hear, you betcha") Ellison.

Quite a birthday present for old Cieca: she was quoted in the very stuffy Daily Telegraph by critic Rupert Christiansen. In a preview of Jessye Norman's London gig doing that woman.life.song thing, Christiansen alludes to our recent badinage about La Jess's talkshow Bavardage. (Being a pundit is sometimes hard work, but, ah, it does have its rewards!)

Helen Quinn, unofficial organizer of the Metropolitan Opera's Saturday morning standee line, died August 1. She was reportedly 76 years old. Helen's labor of love involved arriving at Lincoln Center at dawn each Saturday of the Met season and keeping an orderly list of the standees before they officially formed a line to buy tickets at 10:00 a.m., a duty that often involved keeping hundreds of eager opera-lovers calm and orderly in the worst weather.

The Italian Revenue Service has ruled against Luciano Pavarotti, decreeing that he has "significant interests" in Italy and therefore cannot claim "foreign resident" status for tax purposes. The Pav will settle his back tax bill for a reported 25 billion lira (approximately $12,500,000.)

A source close to Opera Orchestra of New York tells La Cieca that maestro Eve Queler has persuaded Placido Domingo to return to the company for its 2001-2002 season. The tenor's vehicle will be La battaglia di Legnano, which he recently sang with great success in London.

La Cieca had the pleasure of hearing splendid soprano Indra Thomas (on videotape) singing the Mad Scene from Il pirata, as performed last weekend at Caramoor. She is surely one of the most promising young talents today, a richly colored and full lirico-spinto, with a distinctive timbre and a lovely spin on soft high notes. Ms. Thomas already has a firm command of Bellinian line and legato and some good ideas about the more brilliant coloratura — though some of the trickier bits sounded a bit smudged. The finale ultimately disappointed, I'm afraid, as Ms. Thomas struggled with the absurd over-ornamentation devised by Will Crutchfield. For all Trilling Will's good intentions in reviving this lovely repertoire, I fear he shoots himself in the foot just about every time by insisting on showing off, writing bizarre cadenzas and variations that may perhaps be "authentic" but are certainly not suitable for his singers' individual talents. He sabotaged Hei-Kyung Hong's otherwise delectable Cleopatra this way, and this time he managed to trip up Ms. Thomas just at the finishing line of her marathon. (You will be happy to hear that this canny singer pulled herself together for a ringing high C. But why should a relatively inexperienced artist be forced to "triumph over adversity?")

Assuming the stage is in working order by then, The Royal Opera at Covent Garden will present the first assumption of the role of Norma by Angela Gheorghiu in 2004. Mr. Gheorghiu (Roberto Alagna) will not sing Pollione; forgive La Cieca for suggesting that he would, however, make a truly world-class Flavio. Meanwhile, at the Met, Renee Fleming reprises Rusalka that season with Sergei Larin as the Prince. Look for James Morris's Boris Godunov and Vesselina Kasarova's Charlotte in New York around the same time.

Obscenely rich opera aficionado Alberto Vilar has just promised $2 million to La Scala as the company begins a transition to "American-style" financing, i.e., based on private philanthropy instead of state subsidy. Prediction: look for big, heavy conservative productions and a return by Cecilia Bartoli. Not to mention lots of candid photographs taken the restaurant "Vilar Biffi Scala." More

And here's even more gossip from La Cieca!