Recent Stories
La Cieca has just heard that Herbert Breslin died this morning in Paris.
Karita Mattila is out of all Met performances of Un ballo in maschera next season, replaced by Sondra Radvanovsky.
La Cieca wants to get a jump on this busy birthday season by offering a remembrance of Birgit Nilsson a day early.
The Underworld as corporate boardroom, Pluto a “suit,” the damned a bunch of clerks tapping away at laptops.
You can call Robert Lepage many things (and the critics have!), but one thing you cannot call him is “inflexible.”
Jules Massenet wrote Werther at the midpoint of his very successful career.
“Based on journalist feedback,” the Met’s press office has ceased issuing email announcements of cast changes.
On this, the anniversary of her natal day, May 15, La Cieca likes to think back to that moment…
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.
Vincent Boussard’s 2011 take on Bellini’s I Capuleti e i Montecchi returned on Saturday (May 12) to Munich’s Nationaltheater.
“About the only good thing that can be said for New York City Opera’s Orpheus, which opened Saturday night, is that it made the rest of the company’s feeble season seem scintillating by comparison.”
It’s about time you arrived, cher public!
Gustav Holst was always searching for deep theses from which to suspend his art.
Our Own Betsy Ann Bobolink has returned from Capistrano or wherever it is she winters to bring us our first selection of chat subjects for the long, sultry summer season.
On Nerva Nelli’s suggestion, La Cieca visited Lyric Opera of Chicago’s website, and it’ dire, my friends, dire.
Overture! Light the lights! And what heights you hit indeed, cher public, in La Cieca’s “Gold Standard” competition.
Andrea Andermann, the producer who brought you Tosca in the Settings and at the Times of Tosca, Traviata in Paris, and Rigoletto in Mantova, is preparing for a telecast of La Cenerentola.
Talk of the Town
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.
The Talk of the Town
Hina Spani should have made it to the Met
Hina Spani should have made it to the Met
A full century after her heyday, Argentine soprano Hina Spani still moves us thanks to her vivid recordings and the savants who have cherished and shared them.
A full century after her heyday, Argentine soprano Hina Spani still moves us thanks to her vivid recordings and the savants who have cherished and shared them.
“Katarina Dalayman will sing the role of Brünnhilde in this evening’s performance of Wagner’s Siegfried, replacing Deborah Voigt, who is ill….”
“The bass-baritone Luca Pisaroni, playing Leporello in the Met’s recent Don Giovanni, asked for vegetable sausage…”
Here’s a change of pace for you parterre chatters as the Met season winds down.
Certain opera productions become the stuff of legend as much for the circumstances surrounding the performance as for the musical results.
ust when you thought it was impossible to adore Yannick Nézet-Séguin any more than you already did…
Can a day pass without the New York Times‘ 24/7 coverage of the Met’s Ring getting on yet another of La Cieca’s nerves?
This Billy Budd would have worked better with a stronger set of singers.
Kate Royal withdrew as Mozart’s Contessa the other night (May 3) in Munich and we were forced to accept as substitute—gosh!—Anja Harteros
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