Competition is always a good thing
On this day in 1935, the “Monopoly” board game went on sale for the first time.
Recent Stories
La deserta donna
La Cieca hopes the cher public won’t let poor Manon Lescaut get too lonely out there in the bayou or the heath or whatever it is, because you’ll want stay close to listen to our latest Identification Quiz, 15 sopranos in full hysterical wail.
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).
Clamori e canti di battaglia, addio!
On this day in 1887 Verdi’s Otello premiered in Milan.
Glitter, glitter on the wall
A vibrant burlesque, this adult iteration of the classic fairytale manages to arch its back against the past while crawling toward the future.
Love hears, love knows, love answers
This week “Trove Thursday” brings a rare in-house recording of a visit to the Metropolitan Opera House by the Staatsoper Hamburg presenting Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress with a deluxe cast
Not nobody, not nohow!
“Mr. Luisi won praise replacing Mr. Levine time after time, particularly in a costly version of Wagner’s Ring cycle—though, perhaps in a sign of the situation’s delicacy, the two conductors have never met in person.”
See for yourself
“See for yourself what the genius of Walt Disney has created in his first full length feature production.”
Sag, welch wunderbare Träume
First seen in 2005, Siegfried makes a welcome return as a stand-alone production this season.
Blackberry winner
Washingtonians enjoyed a happy reunion this past Sunday with David Daniels.
The double negative has led to proof positive
La Cieca thinks she knows who the murderer is.
No, she is an actress
Born on this day in 1943 American actress Blythe Danner.
Se il destassi… no, peloso!
The one glitch was a much-publicised fiasco in the bear-pit of Milan’s La Scala, where in 1998 she was booed after her performance in Donzietti’s Lucrezia Borgia.”
When the naysayers ‘nay’ you pick up your pace
“Chee’s novel charts Berne’s course from the mid-19th-century snowbound Minnesotan frontier, to the tents of a roving circus troupe…
Autour de moi tout est sourire, lumiére et joie!
On this day in 1900 Gustave Charpentier‘s Louise premiered in Paris.
The toothless tiger rules the restless jungle
It’s up to you, cher public, to try to decide for yourself what, if anything, this bizarre story in the New York Times means.
Read all over
La Cieca is pleased and proud to present the Top 10 most popular posts on parterre.com for the month of January 2016.
Queen for a D
Friday’s season premiere at the Met of Donizetti’s opera about the doomed Scottish queen proved surprisingly satisfying and a genuine success for Sondra Radvanovsky.
The hill is greener
Live recordings of Hans Knappertsbusch conducting Parsifal seem to proliferate like stairways in M.C. Escher prints.
Unfiltered
t’s with great joy that I am able to give you Carmen, sung in Italian, from La Scala in 1931. I love this kind of stuff.
Kiss them for me
La Cieca (pictured) considers herself privileged to recognize the advertisers whose generous support of parterre.com helps keep this blog bringing you the latest in opera news, reviews and gossip.
Era amorosa la tua Manon? Rammenti?
On this day in 1893 Puccini’s Manon Lescaut premiered at the Teatro Regio in Turin.
Ott and proud
“Baritone Jarrett Ott (bottom) in Philadelphia, with current boyfriend Adam Franklin (top)…”
Show Girl
Happy 95th birthday performer Carol Channing.