Brit star! would I were steadfast as thou art!
Rule Britannia? Often during the Olympics that famous number from Thomas Arne’s 1740 Alfred echoed in my ears.
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Sister sister
Like New Yorkers, opera tends to flee the city in summer.
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).
“Don’t look now, but Madame Calvé is the next box”
Here’s looking forward to an exciting, celebrity-filled intermission as you, the cher public, discuss off-topic and general interest subjects.
Citizen chat
Our Own Betsy yelps, “Stop the presses! We interrupt this program to bring you this special bulletin!”
Desert fox
Karol Szymanowski’s 1926 King Roger was the sleeper hit of SFO’s season, not so much for its weird, mystical theme and feeble libretto but because the music is powerfully effective.
Fifty Shades of Great
Those adorable kids over at EMI Classics have followed up the ridiculous with the sublime: an mp3 download of 50 arias (over four hours of music) sung by Maria Callas for… are you ready? 99 cents.
The desert song
You Parterrestrials know all about Santa Fe Opera’s amazing mountain setting and open-sided theater affording breathtaking sunsets, weather-related drama and–when the back stage wall is opened–starry backdrops, but it was my first visit, so indulge me a little.
Don’t blink or you’ll miss it
Which new production was reportedly such a “disaster” during early technical rehearsals that management seriously considered substituting the company’s older staging of the work?
You’ve got to taste all the fruit
“F. Paul Driscoll, editor of Opera News [not pictured], is optimistic.”
When you’re good to Fabio
Among conductors on the roster whom Luisi personally invited to be part of his first Zurich season are…
Tales of an evil queen
Beethoven expressed it best when he reportedly threw Rossini shade: “Any other other style than opera buffa would do violence to your nature.”
Who was that Lady?
Much guesswork, most of it terribly astute, went into our most recent vocal ID quiz, and La Cieca is now ready to reveal the most accurate of a very accurate bunch.
To give one pause
An early start for the Sunday chat, cher public.
Where will the elite meet?
With the Met’s single tickets for the 2012-13 season going on sale Sunday morning, it’s surely about time we, the movers and shakers and parterrians, made our customary ukase on which of the company’s attractions are worth seeing this year and which, not so much.
The shock of the new
“The article also referred imprecisely to offerings in the Lyric Opera of Chicago’s 2012-13 season.”
I enjoy being a valkyrie
So, take a look after the jump and tell La Cieca the two things that are wrong (they’re related) about the cover of the Met’s new Ring DVD/Blu-ray.
Endgame
Based on reliable reports about reshuffling of the Met’s repertoire for the 2013-14 season, the only reasonable conclusion is that James Levine will never return to conduct with the company.
Red sauce
La Cieca has put her little grey cells to work and deduced that Opera Orchestra of New York will present two performances next season…
Rung number
Unlike Mozart, the young Gioacchino Rossini seldom let his ambitions strain relations with employers.
By Adriel
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The Wurm turns
The Met’s controversial Ring cycle, directed by Robert Lepage (not pictured) and conducted by TBA (possibly pictured) makes its home video debut on September 11.
Problem solved!
EMI Classics will release Fifty Shades of Grey – The Classical Album…
F. and Furious
Has it been a year already? Apparently so.
Stairway to paradise
We approach, beloveds, as unto a shrine, for these are no ordinary performances.