“In a fiscal year that challenged the nation’s largest performing arts organization to find a more sustainable financial model for the future, the Metropolitan Opera incurred an estimated $22 million budget shortfall for the 2013-14 season.”
The Met has just announced it is revising once again its rush ticket policy, doing away the “lottery” system in place earlier this season and instead going to a “first come, first served” online sale daily.
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).
A production as delectable as the current one (through Sunday) at the Juilliard Opera will make you wonder why Il Turco is not as well known as L’Italiana, Il Barbiere, La Cenerentola, even the odd and occasional Il Viaggio a Rheims.
On this day in 1347, Cola di Rienzo repelled an attack by Roman nobles led by the Orsini and Colonna families.
She hopes to star on Broadway in a production of Living on Love, a farce she performed in this past summer at the Williamstown Theater Festival in Massachusetts.
On this day in 1620 the Mayflower reached Cape Cod.
On this day in 1307, William Tell shot apple off his son’s head, assuming that actually happened.
A young friend messaged me to ask if I knew Rossini’s Macbeth.
Was it really only seven years ago that Anna Netrebko and Rolando Villazón were being a Traumpaar in Manon?
On this day in 1558 Elizabeth I ascended the English throne.
Paris can be a lot to handle, but this week it was a lot to Handel.
On this day in 1849, a Russian court sentenced writer Fyodor Dostoevsky to death for anti-government activities linked to a radical intellectual group.
La Cieca invites the cher public (pictured) to discuss off-topic and general interest subjects.
Imagine the good fortune of attending La Bohème with someone who’s never seen it!
Join La Cieca and the parterriani this afternoon for a chat during the premiere of Manon Lescaut from the Bayerische Staatsoper.
On this day in 1533 Francisco Pizzaro arrived in Cuzco, the capital of the Inca Empire.
“La nonna rock è impazzita per Jonas Kaufmann definito il più bel tenore del mondo.”
“In a last-minute substitution, American tenor Bryan Hymel will sing the role of Rodolfo in this evening’s performance of La Bohème, replacing Ramón Vargas, who is ill.”
The Bayreuth Festival has decided to walk away from a new Parsifal production directed by Jonathan Meese for 2016 because the budget has spiraled out of control. Andris Nelsons is still on board to conduct.
On this day in 1905, David Belasco’s The Girl of Golden West premiered in New York City.
On this day in 1918, Allied troops occupued Constantinople, the capital of the Ottoman Empire.
You figured it out a fortnight ago, cher public.
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