Recent Stories
“Say! What about throwing your very own baby in the fire by accident? There’s one for you. Doesn’t get much more implausible than that!”
In belated recognition of the 70th birthday of Eva Marton (she celebrated that milestone on June 18) La Cieca offers a particularly fiery performance of Tosca from Manila in 1979.
The complete recording of Der Ring des Nibelungen conducted by Christian Thielemann at the Bayreuth Festival is now on sale
for only $5.99. And, no, I am not making this up.
Everything about Aleksandra Kurzak’s new disc
is a variation on the term “fioritura.”
One of the most familiar of all operas in an unfamiliar guise: the original (1853) score of La traviata, heard here in a 2001 performance at the Verdi Festival di Busseto.
Of all of Verdi’s operas. Aida is the one I find least interesting dramatically.
What, you might ask, could a middle-of-the-road middlebrow stage director add to this monumental chef-d’oeuvre?
Before we Yanks all go our merry ways for the July 4 holiday, here’s a quick reminder of this summer’s must-see.
Tell us: What’s your favorite Verdi performance?
Hasten thee to feed another quarter of conversation for The Talk of the Town!
Grand Tier Grab Bag
Grand Tier Grab Bag
When they go low
When they go low
Nostalgic for bass month, Parterre Box offers excerpts from two young basses to watch: Giorgi Manoshvili and Patrick Guetti.
Nostalgic for bass month, Parterre Box offers excerpts from two young basses to watch: Giorgi Manoshvili and Patrick Guetti.
Grand Tier Grab Bag
Nailin’ the coughin’
Nailin’ the coughin’
Rosa Feola, still scheduled for a run of performances as Violetta in New York this spring, is the subject of this week’s Grand Tier Grab Bag.
Rosa Feola, still scheduled for a run of performances as Violetta in New York this spring, is the subject of this week’s Grand Tier Grab Bag.
Grand Tier Grab Bag
Landing the plane
Landing the plane
With Nixon, Klinghoffer, and Andris Nelsons on the mind, Parterre Box offers a recording of the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s recent John Adams outing.
With Nixon, Klinghoffer, and Andris Nelsons on the mind, Parterre Box offers a recording of the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s recent John Adams outing.
Grand Tier Grab Bag
Le galant tireur
Le galant tireur
American tenor Charles Castronovo performs a bit of Weber’s Der Freischütz ahead of the opportunity to hear Berlioz‘s take on the score at Carnegie Hall next week.
American tenor Charles Castronovo performs a bit of Weber’s Der Freischütz ahead of the opportunity to hear Berlioz‘s take on the score at Carnegie Hall next week.
Grand Tier Grab Bag
My 600 performance life
My 600 performance life
Parterre Box acknowledges Riccardo Muti‘s 600th performance with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra by highlighting two of his favorite singers — under a different conductor.
Parterre Box acknowledges Riccardo Muti‘s 600th performance with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra by highlighting two of his favorite singers — under a different conductor.
Grand Tier Grab Bag
Life imitates art
Life imitates art
With Gustavo Dudamel in the spotlight at Parterre Box this week, Grand Tier Grab Bag foreshadows one of the New York Philharmonic’s upcoming operatic engagements.
With Gustavo Dudamel in the spotlight at Parterre Box this week, Grand Tier Grab Bag foreshadows one of the New York Philharmonic’s upcoming operatic engagements.
“Gheorghiu has admitted a romance with Cézar, a flamboyant Romanian counter-tenor…”
More virtual opera for those poor souls starved of the real thing: Rossini’s Ermione starring Anna Caterina Antonacci!
The Tutto Verdi series from the Teatro Regio Parma may be said to relate to the great Giuseppe Verdi’s oeuvre as the burning of the library at Alexandria did to classical literature.
“But Thais is a French opera.”
It has come to La Cieca’s attention that the New York Opera Calendar is sadly devoid of content until Saturday of this week.
La Cieca, appearing live on tape, extends her thanks to parterre’s advertisers for the month of July.
As soon as you are finished celebrating the gay pride of yourself and/or others, cher public, feel free to comment here on matters off-topic and general.
Shocker of the century! The New York Times reveals that Met singers are miked!
Talk of the Town
The Talk of the Town
A favorite Verdi performance from CKurwenal
A favorite Verdi performance from CKurwenal
Like probably all of us, there are so many different things I could have submitted for a favorite Verdi performance.
Like probably all of us, there are so many different things I could have submitted for a favorite Verdi performance.
The Talk of the Town
A favorite Verdi performance from La Grunowa
A favorite Verdi performance from La Grunowa
I realize Igor Gorin did not sing much Verdi except for a few Papa Germonts, yet this performance of the famous baritone aria from Attila I claim is well-night perfect singing.
I realize Igor Gorin did not sing much Verdi except for a few Papa Germonts, yet this performance of the famous baritone aria from Attila I claim is well-night perfect singing.
The Talk of the Town
A favorite Verdi performance from Ryan Ellerman
A favorite Verdi performance from Ryan Ellerman
Luminous Lucia Popp’s “Caro Nome” beams with Gilda’s youthful passion, displaying Popp’s signature bright, beautiful timbre and magnificent coloratura.
Luminous Lucia Popp’s “Caro Nome” beams with Gilda’s youthful passion, displaying Popp’s signature bright, beautiful timbre and magnificent coloratura.
The Talk of the Town
A favorite Verdi performance from Marina Rebeka
A favorite Verdi performance from Marina Rebeka
While studying Un ballo in maschera for my Vienna role debut next January, I came across this beautiful ‘Ecco l’orrido campo’ amazingly performed by Montserrat Caballé.
While studying Un ballo in maschera for my Vienna role debut next January, I came across this beautiful ‘Ecco l’orrido campo’ amazingly performed by Montserrat Caballé.
The Talk of the Town
A favorite art song performance from Niel Rishoi
A favorite art song performance from Niel Rishoi
Hans Hotter masterfully captures the poignancy of this sublime Brahms Lied.
Hans Hotter masterfully captures the poignancy of this sublime Brahms Lied.
Dame Gwyneth Jones is fighting an attempt to oust her as president of the Wagner Society, a position she has held for 23 years.
Our weekly canard concerns that greatest of all operas, Don Giovanni—or is it?
Here’s Jonas Kaufmann last night in Munich, singing Manrico’s scena from Trovatore
Soprano Elizabeth Blancke-Biggs sings the final scene from Salome in the Stefan Herheim production for Den Norske Opera.
So finally we can see what the Robert Lepage Ring would have looked like if only the Machine hadn’t been totally fucked.
American mezzo Jamie Barton, who has steadily been winning fans in the US over the past few years for her rich and nuanced singing, took the international opera world by storm last weekend by winning both the Song Prize as well as the overall prize in the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition.
Could Marek Janowski do for Wagner what the early music movement did for the Baroque and Classical repertory?
Name a Verdi opera, based on a play by Voltaire, described in the immortal words of the composer as “Questo e proprio brutto.”
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