Sweeney, supersized
Opera house versions of Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd featuring Bryn Terfel / Judith Christin and Thomas Allen / Felicity Palmer.
Recent Stories
Listen to the lullaby
On this day in 1981 42nd Street won the Tony Awards for “Best Musical” and “Best Choreography.”
I’ll take the fall
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).
Standing in the shadows of love
Richard Strauss’ monumental (arguably his magnum opus) Die Frau ohne Schatten made a triumphant return to the War Memorial Opera House last Sunday June 4 after 34 years.
Midwest Side Story
Lyric Opera of Chicago has brought back its wildly successful 2019 production of West Side Story, directed by Francesca Zambello. I thought it was terrific back then and, even with numerous cast changes, it was just as terrific on Sunday afternoon.
Free bird
On this day in 1975 Joan Sutherland sang La traviata during the Metropolitan Opera’s tour in Tokyo.
Getting to be a habit with me
Although somewhat flawed, Days of Wine and Roses draws from the same musical language that made Piazza so instantly distinctive, and it features a specificity that I noticed in Adam Guettel’s earlier breakthrough work, Floyd Collins.
L’amor della diva!
On this day in 1971 Grace Bumbry made her role debut as Tosca as part of the Metropolitan Opera Summer Festival.
Should you decide to accept it
On this day in 1967 Barbara Bain won the Emmy Award for “Outstanding Continued Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Dramatic Series” for Mission: Impossible.
Die Zauberflöte
“I’ve never laughed so much nor been so moved by a Zauberflöte until Simon McBurney’s where even its Busby Berkeley-flavored finale brought tears to my eyes.”
Seems an awful waste
On this day in 1979 Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street won the Tony Award for “Best Musical.”
Let’s get serious
Renée Fleming arrived at Carnegie Hall on May 31 with something to prove.
Getting better and better
Once again, La Cieca thanks you for your concern and patience during May 2023.
Tour de force
On this day in 1975 the Metropolitan Opera performed La bohème on tour in Tokyo.
Variations on salon themes
In French opera—until Pelleas et Mélisande anyway—there is always a great deal of dance; often, dance rather than song is the main event.
June is busting out all over
All the rams that chase the ewe sheep are determined there’ll be new sheep and the ewe-sheep aren’t even keeping score.
Die Frist ist Glum
This Holländer offers neither a clear narrative vision for the work nor a sense of turbocharged drama; it simply sits on the Met’s cavernous stage as a dull gray mass.
Candid theatricality
Out of sheer morbid curiosity last evening I pulled up the “orders” page of my Amazon account and searched Otello to discover that over the past 11 years. I’ve ordered 15 items with that title (one as recently as last night!)
Someone has wounded you
On this day in 1969 the musical Dear World closed at the Mark Hellinger Theater after an extremely disappointing run of only 132 performances.
Der Fliegende Holländer
Tomasz Konieczny stars as the accursed Dutchman in Wagner’s haunting ghost story.
Distinctly human
In the five short years that I’ve been in New York, I have seen that crusty old Franco Zeffirelli production of La bohème more times than I can count on one hand. And there are certainly times when that peeling mise-en-scène really shows its age.
Expected Wagneriennes
Christa Ludwig sings Kundry in Parsifal with Helge Brilioth, Thomas Stewart and Cesare Siepi conducted by Leopold Ludwig, followed by a legendary Birgit Nilsson–Jon Vickers Tristan und Isolde led by Erich Leinsdorf.
“The boy is a genius”
Born on this day in 1899 film producer Irving Thalberg.
Teen angel
On this day in 1962 Barbra Streisand appeared on The Garry Moore Show.