Recent Stories
“She ducked the high E-flat!”
The front runner in our devilishly difficult “D’amor sull’ali” quiz is Giasone (pictured), with 22 of 30 singers correctly identified.
The American mezzo-soprano, director, filmmaker and teacher Regina Resnik has died.
Well, my dears, if you thought Frank Castorf‘s Ring or Stefan Herheim‘s Meistersinger were outré, then wait until you get a load of the radical take on Don Carlos by Peter Stein for the Salzburg Festival!
“The Met is proud of its history as a creative base for LGBT singers, conductors, directors, designers, and choreographers.”
Wonder no more! Says the Met press office, “Elina Garanca has withdrawn from her 2013-14 Met engagements because she is pregnant with her second child, who is due this winter.”
Leslie Uyeda’s When the Sun Comes Out is being premiered by Vancouver’s Queer Arts Festival as “Canada’s first Lesbian opera” at the Roundhouse Community Center in Yaletown. I caught the second performance; there is one more tomorrow night.
I’ve long been a fan of Kenneth Branagh, even though this fandom feels a bit like being a camel in the desert.
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.
Deborah Voigt, “unfortunately ill,” will not sing her first Ortrud this Sunday at the Festival de Lanaudière. According to the festival’s press office, a replacement will be named later today.
here in the US, you can 
La Cieca hears a rumor, currently unconfirmed, that Elina Garanca is pregnant and will cancel her participation in the Met’s new production of Werther this season.
“As one of opera’s most controversial artists, Grace-Melzia Bumbry continues to make headlines.”
La Cieca hears that congratulations are in order to Aleksandra Kurzak and Roberto Alagna, who are expecting their first baby in February.
The Met’s season-opening production of Eugene Onegin will be directed by Fiona Shaw,
“Mary Garden has adopted sea massages instead of nude bathing as a means of reducing.”
Peter Gelb says Calixto Bieito will direct at the Met.
Talk of the Town
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.
The Talk of the Town
Leyla Gencer should have made it to the Met
Leyla Gencer should have made it to the Met
Leyla Gencer had a long European career but never sang at the Met.
Leyla Gencer had a long European career but never sang at the Met.
How’s about a little light summer chat Tuesday afternoon starting at 2:15 EDT, when parterre fave Danielle de Niese headlines Don Pasquale, webcast live from the Glyndebourne Festival?
La Cieca spies spotted the New York Times‘ Anthony Tommasini at the opening of the Salzburg Meistersinger, which indicates his review should be appearing by tomorrow at the latest.
Here’s your opportunity, cher public, to discuss off-topic and general interest subjects the first week of August.
And now, cher public, the vocal identification quiz in excelsis, Leonora’s great Act IV scena from Il trovatore, as sung by 25 sopranos (and five tenors).
Wagner’s Meistersinger, in a witty, sumptuous performance (thanks to Stefan Herheim and Daniele Gatti, respectively) is now being streamed on 3sat.online, available, so far as La Cieca can tell, wherever the internet reaches.
Wendy White is suing the for a 2011 accident on stage during a performance of Faust.
“Sing on your vocal interest, not your vocal principal!”
If the Frank Castorf production of the Ring at Bayreuth accomplished nothing else, it will be the popularization in classical music circles of the term “boovation.”
×
Sign up for Parterre’s free newsletter.
Exclusive opera reviews, commentary, and top reads
delivered to your email weekly…ish.