Female on the beach
Christian Thielemann has proved himself to be the preeminent Strauss interpreter of the current generation of conductors and he’s in striking form here.
Recent Stories
One of three
When I acquire DVDs of opera performances, I look for performances which truly merit a video recording; performances in which the totality of the musical and dramatic elements are worth preserving for repeated viewing.
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).
All boulevards lead to Westchester
“Let’s go up to Westchester!”
Magrets de canard
For our weekly meander through mendacity, we turn to no less than Gotham Chamber Opera’s own Neal Goren, who writes, “People repeat as fact that women ruin their voices, or at least sacrifice their high notes, by singing in chest voice. So untrue!”
Busting out
June Anderson will make the transition into the “Anne Revere” segment of her career next summer when she sings the role of Elvira Griffiths in Tobias Picker‘s An American Tragedy at the Glimmerglass Festival.
To the Emerald City, as fast as lightning!
Aidan Lang has been named Seattle Opera’s third General Director effective September 1, 2014.
Fleur du mal
Nathaniel Hawthorne, the repentant Puritan—that is, he repented that his family had once been Puritans—describes the voice of Rappaccini’s Daughter, Beatrice, as “rich as a tropical sunset, … which made Giovanni, though he knew not why, think of deep hues of purple or crimson and of perfumes heavily delectable.”
Teen queen
Handel’s first surviving musical composition is Almira, the opera he wrote in a hurry when shake-ups at the Hamburg opera house, where the 19-year-old had been playing in the violin section, left a planned production unfinished.
Clichés Grip City
La Cieca supposes she shouldn’t complain: the more time Lorin Maazel spends on Facebook, the less time he spends conducting Don Carlo.
Zach talk
Longtime Friend of the Box Zachary Woolfe (pictured) sits down with Marc Scorca of Opera America for a “Conversation about Opera in America,” implausibly enough.
Greene beret
Tuesday at 7:00 PM, WQXR’s Operavore and Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts offer a sneak peek at “Verdi in Paris,” the theme of this year’s Bel Canto at Caramoor.
See note. Note? … Note!
“Adamo [not pictured] spent a year researching the story, and poured his learning into his libretto. It has 116 footnotes.”
Powder room only
Spare a few minutes, cher public, to discuss off-topic and general interest subjects.
Canard season
La Cieca has her old, old, old friend Enzo Bordello (pictured, left) to thank for this week’s canard, or rather, carnards, as Enzo has delivered a delicious brace of blunders.
The meme that wouldn’t die
La Cieca (pictured, lower right) has had time on her hands and access to Photoshop, a lethal combination—especially the day the new Anna Netrebko Verdi album cover has been leaked.
Servant of new masters
Morningside Opera’s ¡Figaro! (90210) is a staging/translation (into English, Spanish, et al.) of Le Nozze as if in contemporary Beverly Hills (as if!), and it’s playing at the NSD Theater on Bank Street near the Meatpacking District through next Sunday.
Forse, forse
Well done, you listeners to Mozart tidbits and participants in the “Non mi dir” competition.
Backstory
In August 1845 Alexandre Dumas fils ended his brief but passionate affair with Parisian courtesan Marie Duplessis. He sent her a bitter letter that is often quoted in program notes about La Traviata.
Rogo for it
In an ever-changing world it’s comforting to know that the Parmigiani of the Teatro Regio continue their campaign through the Verdi canon not unlike the Allied Forces’ rout of the Germans at the beginning of 1945.
Pitch problem
How the quest for a lowered diapason ended with Renata Tebaldi serving as unwitting spokesperson for a libertarian cult.
The other gospel of the other Mary, Mary
San Francisco Opera’s marketing leaves La Cieca at least momentarily speechless, so she’ll have to rely on you, cher public, to take up the slack with discussion of off-topic and general interest subjects.
Claramae Turner 1920-2012
The American contralto, who created the title role in Menotti’s The Medium and introduced the song “I Left My Heart in San Francisco,” died May 18. She was 92.