Recent Stories
To celebrate reaching over 14,000 subscribers with over 18 million video views, I put together a compilation of my top 25 video postings from the past six years.
There goes my very last nerve.
Your Own La Cieca has emerged from semi-retirement to present the 2014 Pubie Awards.
By special request of Our Own DeCaffarrelli, and courtesy of Mike Richter, here’s a treat: a 1969 performance of La Cenerentola starring the delectable Teresa Berganza.
Alan Gordon replies to a letter from Peter Gelb we haven’t seen yet. La Cieca has to wonder if the Wendy White thing is really going to turn out to be an effective negotiating tactic.
Cher public, you know that Rupert Christiansen is not someone with whom your doyenne often agrees, but this time he’s got it right.
Malena Ernman heads a starry cast in this 2011 performance of Serse from the Theater an der Wien, courtesy of Our Own Jungfer Marianne Leitmetzerin.
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.
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.
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.
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.
It appears that Mariame Clément’s conception of Don Pasquale is that the opera should be retitled Malatesta.
I am certain that we Parterrians are a very literate, even literary, group.
The Met has released what the press office calls “background financial information” relevant to the company’s ongoing union negotiations.
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.
The mighty Teatro Colón Ring cycle draws to a close, courtesy of Mike Richter‘s superb CD-ROM “El Anillo.”
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.
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.
“A lot seems to be spent on productions that simply aren’t worth it.”
To some, Anne Schwanewilms will always be the soprano in the slinky black dress who replaced Deborah Voigt at Covent Garden a decade ago.
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.
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.
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.
“Toilets occupy me a great deal because, well, this is England after all and they matter.”
Thanks to Jungfer Marianne Leitmetzerin, here are a pair of short Puccini operas, Le villi and Suor Angelica.
The Met season may (just) be over, but it’s always the right time for discussion of off-topic and general interest subjects.
×
Sign up for Parterre’s free newsletter.
Exclusive opera reviews, commentary, and top reads
delivered to your email weekly…ish.