New faces of 2014 New faces of 2014

Once upon a time, a man and a woman met. He could sing, she could sing. They fell in love, got married, and became a power couple to rival Billary.

Midnight oil Midnight oil

La Cieca (pictured) is hard at work creating interesting new content for the upcoming week at parterre.com, but in the meantime she urges you to talk among yourselves about off-topic and general interest subjects.

Going to the mattresses Going to the mattresses

La Cieca reminds the cher public (pictured) of today’s live webcast of Der Rosenkavalier from Malmö Opera starting at 1:00 PM, accompanied by a chat session in La Casa della Cieca.

The beautiful rooms are empty The beautiful rooms are empty

It appears that Mariame Clément’s conception of Don Pasquale is that the opera should be retitled Malatesta.

Als wären Sie die Statue auf Ihrer eigenen Gruft Als wären Sie die Statue auf Ihrer eigenen Gruft

I am certain that we Parterrians are a very literate, even literary, group.

Numbers game Numbers game

The Met has released what the press office calls “background financial information” relevant to the company’s ongoing union negotiations.

Wrong by wrong Wrong by wrong

The board of La Scala voted today to oust incoming general director Alexander Pereira at the end of his first season amid allegations of a conflict of interest.

Final chapter Final chapter

The mighty Teatro Colón Ring cycle draws to a close, courtesy of Mike Richter‘s superb CD-ROM “El Anillo.”

Lowered expectations Lowered expectations

Yes, it’s that time of year again, cher public: the day we follow the trail of votes to find out which artist will win the treasure of a 2014 Pubie Award.

Whippersnappers invade lawn Whippersnappers invade lawn

“A lot seems to be spent on productions that simply aren’t worth it.”

Hothouse flower Hothouse flower

To some, Anne Schwanewilms will always be the soprano in the slinky black dress who replaced Deborah Voigt at Covent Garden a decade ago.

Fatal attraction Fatal attraction

Benjamin Britten’s final opera Death in Venice, based on Thomas Mann’s 1912 novella, is given a lush and quite beautiful production from stage director Deborah Warner for the English National Opera.

“Ecco la luce…” “Ecco la luce…”

That day we all knew eventually would come did come, in the winter of 2001, when the final issue of parterre box, the queer opera zine was mailed out to the cher public, such as they were at the time.

Bess in show Bess in show

On the occasion of Sondra Radvanovsky‘s role debut in Roberto Devereux, I thought this would ba a good opportunity to put put together a compilation of some of my favorite artists singing the fiendishly difficult final scene of this opera.

Loo! Here the Gentle Lark Loo! Here the Gentle Lark

“Toilets occupy me a great deal because, well, this is England after all and they matter.”

Supernatural Puccini Supernatural Puccini

Thanks to Jungfer Marianne Leitmetzerin, here are a pair of short Puccini operas, Le villi and Suor Angelica.

The ladies who loge The ladies who loge

The Met season may (just) be over, but it’s always the right time for discussion of off-topic and general interest subjects.

Erwartung at Emerson’s Bar and Grill Erwartung at Emerson’s Bar and Grill

La Cieca wishes the divine Jessye Norman the very best of luck with her newly-released autobiography Stand Up Straight and Sing, because—not to put too fine a point on it—it doesn’t look like the diva is going to make much of a go of her second career as a saloon singer.

The ladies in question The ladies in question

There is a truism that there are no small parts, only small singers. Last night’s Così fan tutte has made me consider another possible truism: there are no bad productions, only miscast productions.

Wedding beaux Wedding beaux

David Daniels and Whitney Walters will be married on June 21st in Washington, DC by none other than Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

And Hanson is as Hanson did it, too! And Hanson is as Hanson did it, too!

Think of it as the anti-Puritani.

The revengening The revengening

Legendary Birgit Nilsson heads a spectacular cast in the second act of Götterdämmerung, our latest treasure from Mike Richter‘s trove of CD-ROMs.

Faites vos jeux, Messieurs! Faites vos jeux, Messieurs!

The Met may be missing an angle calculated to appeal to the more adventurous attendee: opera as game of chance.

Putting on the Ritz Putting on the Ritz

Leave it to that savviest of all divas, Jessye Norman, to work a subtle product placement into the very first chapter of her newly-released autobiography, Stand Up Straight and Sing.