Rogo boy
Berliners anxious about casting of the Staatsoper’s new staging of Il trovatore since Aleksandrs Antonenko canceled can breathe a sigh of relief, since tenor Gaston Rivero (pictured) will jump in as Manrico.
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Sink or swim
Says the Met press office, “Erin Morley will sing the role of Sophie in all performances of Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier this season…”
I’ll take the fall
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).
Long division
La Cieca hears that Anna Netrebko and Erwin Schrott are going their separate ways. Expect an official announcement within a day or so.
Mary II: the tantalization
“The tantalization of the monk in the luxurious apartments of Thaïs was daring and earnest in its realism.”
Head start
A preview of sorts of next weekend’s parterre get-together right this minute as BBC Radio 3 broadcasts Les Vêpres Siciliennes.
Awakening scene
Better late than never, cher public: you’ve still got a whole week to discuss off-topic and general interest subjects.
Canard en retard
Please forgive the lateness of this week’s howler, which in any event is something more of a squeaker anyway.
Appearing nightly
I suspect most New York City opera-lovers had long since given up hope that the fascinating soprano Anna Caterina Antonacci would ever return to their city.
Ma, falle gli occhi azzuri!
Another treasure from Mike Richter‘s trove: the only studio recording of Dorothy Kirsten‘s celebrated Tosca.
Old testament
La Cieca hears that the Ravinia Festival in 2014 will do a novel take on Strauss’s Salome, setting the work in Milan’s celebrated “Casa di Riposo per Musicisti Giuseppe Verdi.”
Two ladies in the shade…
The simple fable at the heart of Die Frau ohne Schatten shouldn’t be difficult to parse, but Hugo von Hofmannsthal’s libretto juggles its vaguely Jungian, vaguely Arabian Nights symbolitry as if with intent to mystify and bewilder.
Light reading
“Opera isn’t all about the music: On the most basic level, it’s a grotesquely expensive form of entertainment.”
Stormy, husky, brawling, Mary of the Big Shoulders
“Behold her now with her sleeves rolled up to her dimpled elbows, forewoman of the great Chicago voice factory, state bouncer and maker of contracts!”
Evviva Las Vegas
Where else would you be this evening at 7:55, cher public, but in La Casa della Cieca whilst the season premiere of Rigoletto emanates from the Met?
Melts in your mouth
The cher public are invited to quit stuffing their faces and get back to the business at hand: discussing off-topic and general interest subjects.
Sweatin’ with the passive-aggressive
“Pilates is my preferred form of torture.”
Diabolical variations
Whenever I encounter Eric Owens, he’s plotting to conquer the universe.
Why Rupert Christiansen is the wrong commentator about gay rights protesters
The veteran British critic click-whored…
Canard als Gast
This week’s canard is contributed in by the artistic director of Gotham Chamber Opera, Neal Goren.
“Die Frau,” nicht ohne chattin’
Where else would you be this evening at 7:25, cher public, but in La Casa della Cieca whilst Die Frau Ohne Schatten emanates from the Met?
Brotherly love
Again dipping into the rich archive of live recordings remastered and made available by the late Mike Richter, we find this selection from his early disc “Odd Opera 2.”
An audience with La Cieca
La Cieca is happy to announce a meet-and-greet gathering for New York City area parterre readers on November 24 starting at 2:30 pm at Symphony Space. The focal event of the afternoon will be a screening of Les Vêpres Siciliennes from the Royal Opera House at 3:00 pm, with socializing (pictured, above) to occur during […]
Semi: Colon
The abrupt withdrawal of Katharina Wagner from an abridged seven-hour Ring cycle she was to direct at the Teatro Colon last year prompted no shortage of scorn and Schadenfreude.