Recent Stories
“Verdi revered Shakespeare and would turn over in his grave.”
Our Own JJ (not pictured) counts down his 10 favorite New York opera performances of 2013 in the New York Observer.
Weltstardiva Anna Netrebko plays a basement in Greenwich Village next month.
This week, our peek into the Mike Richter collection reveals a long listen for those lengthy midwinter nights: Wagner’s Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg.
Vintage issue #33
Mary Garden goes back to Paris to-morrow.
Each year, Leon Botstein leads the American Symphony Orchestra in a concert opera or two.
Our Own Jungfer Marianne Leitmetzerin has concocted something to keep you warm on those long winter nights: a complete performance of Les Troyens from 1974!
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
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.
Grand Tier Grab Bag
One man’s Junker
One man’s Junker
Handel’s Deidamia — and one of its current champions, soprano Sophie Junker — are the subject of this week’s Grand Tier Grab Bag.
Handel’s Deidamia — and one of its current champions, soprano Sophie Junker — are the subject of this week’s Grand Tier Grab Bag.
“La parole humaine est comme un chaudron fêlé où nous battons des mélodies à faire danser les ours, quand on voudrait attendrir les étoiles.”
A snowy day in MYC offers a perfect excuse to stay home, cozy and warm, and enjoy the hospitality of La Casa della Cieca during this afternoon’s broadcast of Falstaff starting at 1:00 PM.
Daniela Sindram will sing the role of Octavian and Rúni Brattaberg will sing the role of Baron Ochs in this evening’s performance of Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier.
“Is Parsifal, then, a religious artwork, or is it a work ‘about’ religion?”
In honor of Giacomo Meyerbeer, the unjustly or (depending on how you look at it) justly neglected 19th century opera composer, a selection from Mike Richter‘s “Meyerbeer Operas” CD-ROM.
How, then, to explain the perplexing performance last Friday night of Falstaff, Mr. Levine’s first new production since his return?
Also unimpressed was Franco Zeffirelli…
In Vintage Issue #32: How that opening night of Lohengrin might have gone; La Cieca on La Gran Scena…
Talk of the Town
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.
The Talk of the Town
Dorothy Maynor should have made it to the Met
Dorothy Maynor should have made it to the Met
We had to wait for Marian Anderson to break the color barrier at the Met and many great Black opera singers never had a chance there.
We had to wait for Marian Anderson to break the color barrier at the Met and many great Black opera singers never had a chance there.
“I am Fabio Luisi – a professional musician and conductor in international concert halls and opera houses, involved in many aspects of music and art. For many years I have also had a secret passion for another art which I have studied and practiced to bring to you today: perfumery.” [FL Parfums]
“Miss Mary Garden, the prima donna, has some definite ideas about American customs laws which would make her an ardent tariff reformer if she were in politics.”
Just in time for the holidays, La Cieca has flung open the doors of her Shoppe of Holiday Delights!
So we may all be on the same page as we discuss, following the jump is the video of the December 7 Traviata from La Scala.
Our Very Own Marianne Leitmetzerin (pictured) has graciously shared a jewel from her vast coffer of recorded performances, a boon La Cieca hopes will become a regular Monday event here at parterre.
Our dear friends at Operavore (to whence Our Own JJ will be returning for another season early in 2014) have called for nominations for favorite operatic “party records.”
During what German audiences at Eugene Onegin like to call a “Briefpause,” the cher public (pictured) are invited to discuss, oh, this, that and the other thing.
“After attending the dress rehearsal in London I wrote the following to Mr Carsen to give him the opportunity to make changes.”
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