Out of the Blue
Bess is clearly Angel Blue’s part—set in the richest and most shimmering upper middle portion of her voice, and optimally suited to her persona.
Recent Stories
Just leave everything to me!
Happy 61st birthday to musical theater diva Donna Murphy.
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).
Taking care of business
Not everyone is happy about the Beethoven sestercentennial.
En direct
Happy 45th birthday conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin.
What is normal?
That question hung in the air when Teatro de la Zarzuela Madrid revived Tomás Bretón’s opera Farinelli for first time since its premiere in 1902.
A soldier’s play
On this day in 1959 Alban Berg‘s Wozzeck had its Metropolitan Opera premiere.
Witch hunt
Later this month Asmik Grigorian will star in Covent Garden’s new Jenufa, which Trove Thursday anticipates presenting the acclaimed Lithuanian soprano in a broadcast from 2014 of Tchaikovsky’s rare opera The Enchantress (Charodeyka).
Well equipped
While last year’s finals were dominated by early nineteenth-century bel canto arias, this year’s finalists took on a remarkably broad range of music from a variety of repertoires.
My heart belongs to mama
VIctor Herbert demonstrates in this slight, affectionate piece a talent for keeping his musico-dramatic balls in the air, as Madeleine’s spirits juggle, fall, rise again, and droop to elegant resignation at the last.
Pettifogging
Happy 66th birthday to comic genius Catherine O’Hara.
Met imposes quarantine
La Cieca has obtained a letter from the Met’s Assistant General Manager, Artistic informing artists arriving in New York from certain high-risk areas they are subject to a two-week quarantine before rehearsing or performing.
A dark drab dud
I never imagined I’d see such a rote park-and-bark Wagner production created in 2020!
Flopéra comique
On this day in 1875 Bizet’s Carmen had its disastrous premiere at the Opéra Comique in Paris.
Shipwreck
After tonight’s dark drab dud of a Dutchman, I was plunged into despair.
Der Fliegende Holländer
Wagner’s early masterpiece returns to the Met conducted by Valery Gergiev (not pictured).
And now a word from our sponsors
Our thanks to our darling parterre box advertisers, without whom La Cieca and the gang would be at a loss for words!
Nobody steps on Cafritz
La Cieca is shocked, shocked to report that…
Entrances and exits
Leading the parterre box top ten for the month of February: a new season and the (apparent) end of a legendary career.
Never mind the ants
On this day in 1960 debonair Don Ameche donned yellowface to star in the notorious flop musical 13 Daughters, which ran 28 performances.
Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions
The 2020 finalists perform on the Met stage this afternoon for an audience of judges, agents, industry leaders, and the general public.
A change is gonna come
In the opera world, one of the pieces that underwent a multitude of changes in its reception was undoubtedly Richard Wagner’s longest and most Germanic opera, Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg.
