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There’s hands-on and then there’s hands-on, and the latter was definitely in play in the lobby of the Kaye Playhouse just before Thursday night’s performance of La traviata by the Martina Arroyo Foundation’s Prelude to Performance program.
If Facebook is to be believed, Anna Netrebko and “Azerbaijani tenor Yusif Eyvazov (age 37)” are engaged.
Mike Richter, via CD-ROM, takes us back to the golden age of concert opera in New York City with Il pirata starring Montserrat Caballé.
In response to repeated urging by La Cieca, Our Own Dawn Fatale has contributed a “to do” list for the benefit of Met management, assuming the company makes it out of this summer alive.
“How the Dying Composer’s Sentimental Whim Was Invoked by Lucy Arbell, the English Prima Donna, to Forbid Mary Garden to Sing the Title Role in Cleopatra.”
An uplifting way to start the week from Our Own Jungfer Marianne Leitmetzerin: a performance of Gluck’s Iphigénie en Aulide under the baton of Riccardo Muti.
Welcome to Parterre Puzzle Corner #2. But first, the solution to last week’s challenge.
La Cieca would never kid you, cher public: it’s that time of the week when we discuss off-topic and general interest subjects.
Tell us: Filth or dementia?
Hasten thee to feed another quarter of conversation for The Talk of the Town!
Grand Tier Grab Bag
Grand Tier Grab Bag
Goodnight, Irene
Goodnight, Irene
Grand Tier Grab Bag features the American Zwischenfach mezzo Irene Roberts ahead of an eclectic season of Wagner.
Grand Tier Grab Bag features the American Zwischenfach mezzo Irene Roberts ahead of an eclectic season of Wagner.
Grand Tier Grab Bag
Poetic license
Poetic license
Parterre Box shines a light on Liparit Avetisyan, who made his Met debut as Alfredo earlier this spring.
Parterre Box shines a light on Liparit Avetisyan, who made his Met debut as Alfredo earlier this spring.
Grand Tier Grab Bag
Frau Miina-Liisa will es werde Nacht
Frau Miina-Liisa will es werde Nacht
Parterre Box features soprano Miina-Liisa Värelä, making her title role debut in Die Walküre in Munich next week, in a performance of Tristan und Isolde from 2021.
Parterre Box features soprano Miina-Liisa Värelä, making her title role debut in Die Walküre in Munich next week, in a performance of Tristan und Isolde from 2021.
Grand Tier Grab Bag
Lux aeterna luceat eis
Lux aeterna luceat eis
Grand Tier Grab Bag this week honors the late Limmie Pulliam with a bit of his Verdi Requiem.
Grand Tier Grab Bag this week honors the late Limmie Pulliam with a bit of his Verdi Requiem.
Grand Tier Grab Bag
Kathryn the great
Kathryn the great
Parterre Box previews Kathryn Lewek‘s upcoming Salome with clips of her as another unhinged lady of antiquity.
Parterre Box previews Kathryn Lewek‘s upcoming Salome with clips of her as another unhinged lady of antiquity.
Grand Tier Grab Bag
Count your blessings
Count your blessings
Fast-rising Verdi baritone Ariunbaatar Ganbataar is the subject of this week’s Grand Tier Grab Bag.
Fast-rising Verdi baritone Ariunbaatar Ganbataar is the subject of this week’s Grand Tier Grab Bag.
What better way to celebrate the birthday of the USA than with a fusillade of coloratura fireworks, garnered from the YouTube page of our lovely friend Coloraturafan?
So, if the opening of the Met season is canceled, Anna Netrebko can always find work as a replacement Yitzhak on Broadway.
Our Own Dawn Fatale (artist’s conception) will take to the airwaves of Bloomberg Radio this evening at 9:00 pm to discuss the Met’s current woes.
“Dress size is like a delicate exotic fruit; touch it and the bloom is gone.”
Worried about the future of opera in America? Don’t be!
It’s been too long, cher public, since La Cieca last lauded the true unsung heroes of parterre box: our advertisers.
This week, Our Own Jungfer Marianne Leizmetzerin presents what is perhaps the briefest Bühnenweihfestspiel on record.
La Cieca admits she has nothing prepared, so you, the cher public, will have to keep yourselves amused with discussion of off-topic and general interest subjects.
Talk of the Town
The Talk of the Town
Patrizia Ciofi should have made it to the Met
Patrizia Ciofi should have made it to the Met
The artist who I feel should have made it to the Met is Patrizia Ciofi.
The artist who I feel should have made it to the Met is Patrizia Ciofi.
The Talk of the Town
Giannina Arangi-Lombardi never made it to the Met
Giannina Arangi-Lombardi never made it to the Met
Giannina Arangi-Lombardi never sang at the Met.
Giannina Arangi-Lombardi never sang at the Met.
The Talk of the Town
Andrée Esposito and Alain Vanzo should have made it to the Met
Andrée Esposito and Alain Vanzo should have made it to the Met
This Mireille duet unites Andrée Esposito and Alain Vanzo and shows the timbral and stylistic qualities that made them exemplary.
This Mireille duet unites Andrée Esposito and Alain Vanzo and shows the timbral and stylistic qualities that made them exemplary.
The Talk of the Town
Ebe Stignani and Anita Cerquetti should have made it to the Met
Ebe Stignani and Anita Cerquetti should have made it to the Met
Subtlety is for cowards, say the blazing Anita Cerquetti and the blaring Ebe Stignani.
Subtlety is for cowards, say the blazing Anita Cerquetti and the blaring Ebe Stignani.
The Talk of the Town
Sena Jurinac should have made it to the Met
Sena Jurinac should have made it to the Met
Sena Jurinac, a celebrated Mozart and Strauss singer here as the Composer, a signature role.
Sena Jurinac, a celebrated Mozart and Strauss singer here as the Composer, a signature role.
The Talk of the Town
Janet Baker should have made it to the Met
Janet Baker should have made it to the Met
The divine Dame Janet Baker never sang at the Metropolitan, sadly for American audiences.
The divine Dame Janet Baker never sang at the Metropolitan, sadly for American audiences.
Our Own Coloraturafan salutes the summer festival season with a compilation of Ladies Macbeth singing “La luce langue.”
Lucky Müncheners won’t be the only ones reveling in Rossini this afternoon: the opening of the Bayerische Staatsoper’s Guillaume Tell will be webcast starting at noon EDT, naturally with a session at La Casa della Cieca devoted to discussion.
The legendary conductor, mainstay of New York City Opera for 35 years, has died, says @nprclassical.
From one of the earliest Mike Richter CD-ROMs, “Odd Opera,” comes a piece definitely fitting that description.
The Met’s administrative offices were vandalized this morning, with “obscene messages” sprayed “on some paintings and sculptures.”
“Now, ‘grand’ can mean ‘opulent’ or ‘magnificent,’ which this concert’s singers certainly were.”
Guys, this would be funny if if weren’t so scary.
Luxuriantly maned divos Dmitri Hvorostovsky and Roberto Alagna rehearse Otello.
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