The maternal instinct
Born on this day in 1888 actress Gladys Cooper.
Recent Stories
Moore than a feeling
New York City Opera Renaissance has officially announced casting for their impending production of Tosca.
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).
On boroughed time
“By the end of next year… the axis of opera in New York may just possibly have shifted from Lincoln Center to a loft in Gowanus.”
Inherit the wind
Jean-Philippe Rameau was nearly 80 when he composed his final masterpiece Les Boréades, but it had to wait over 200 years to reach the stage.
Laugh, clown, laugh
On this day in 1989 The Simpsons premiered on Fox.
Pfft!
On this day in 1809 Napoleon Bonaparte was divorced from the Empress Josephine by an act of the French Senate.
Vola talor dal carcere
Spain’s world-famous opera star Montserrat Caballe was handed a six-month suspended jail sentence and fined more than 250,000 euros ($275,000) on Tuesday for cheating the taxman.”
The Power of Myth
On this day in 1939 Gone with the Wind received its premiere at Loew’s Grand Theatre in Atlanta.
Wan lake
The sound of Joyce DiDonato, Lawrence Brownlee and John Osborn nailing La Donna del Lago’s thrilling second-act trio alone made worthwhile enduring one of the ugliest, most bone-headed productions seen at the Metropolitan Opera in many a year.
Gold school
The name Joseph Rumshinsky might ring a bell (or a shofar).
Deep in my art, dear
I give you a complete performance of Stephen Sondheim‘s Sunday in the Park with George from the Théâtre du Châtelet.
Triple threat
On this day in 1918 Giacomo Puccini’s Il Trittico premiered at the Met.
The elf on the self
Tenor/Sunnysider Jonathan Blalock, recent creator of the title role in Mark Adamo‘s Becoming Santa Claus at Dallas Opera, guests on the essential podcast The Sewers of Paris.
The little brown wren
On this day in 1930 actress Bette Davis arrived in Hollywood, under contract to Universal Studios.
Touched by an angel
La Cieca reminds the cher public (pictured) that The Fiery Angel, webcast live from Munich, begins shortly.
Or would you rather be a mule?
Today is the centennial of the birth of pop stylist supreme Frank Sinatra.
Un Ravens kicker, ardendo di geloso furor
Baltimore Ravens place kicker Justin Tucker may or may not be giving up his day job any time soon.
Now I wouldn’t presume to tell the cher public what the cher public ought to think
Where does the time go?
Profitons bien de la jeunesse
La Cieca (pictured) notes that next year’s recipients of the F. Paul Driscoll Awards for Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Excellence will include Joseph Calleja, Elina Garanca, Waltraud Meier, Anna Netrebko and José van Dam, which means we are now officially out of old singers.
Gli enigmi sono due
Giacomo Puccini’s final opus interruptus is and shall always remain my favorite opera. The reasons for this preference are so varied and numerous that if they were printed and bound the volume would most assuredly require its own stand.
A woman is beautiful only when she is gloved
On this day in 1882 Victorien Sardou‘s melodrama Fédora opened in Paris, featuring Sarah Bernhardt in the title role.
Auf dem Wasser zu singen
This week’s “Trove Thursday” features noted Wagnerian Hildegard Behrens revisiting Rusalka, one of her early, lyric roles.
Ambizioso spirto, tu sei NYCO
New York City Opera Renaissance certainly seems to have its eyes on the future.