Lady of the Fake
When Verdi’s Macbeth returned to the Met Thursday night, miscasting doomed the revival as surely as any witch’s curse.
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Aghast
La Cieca hopes her cher public can pull themselves together and enjoy the usual off-topic and general interest comments this week.
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).
The razor’s regie
Well, if there’s a lesson to be learned from our most recent Regie quiz, cher public, it is this: trust your gut.
Casual Friday
The symbolism and themes of suffering and redemption in Parsifal have provided catnip for more than a few oddball stagings filled with Regie excesses.
By Adriel
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And no bones!
Apparently, opera fans got the bright side of the bargain: say “Macbeth” in the theater and you court cataclysm; utter the name in the opera house and, as often as not, you merely predict disappointment.
Bonjour, je veux mon chat
The cher public are reminded that Verdi’s Macbeth will be broadcast and streamed from the Met tonight, and naturally La Casa della Cieca will be open for business.
Lady in the dark
La Cieca (not pictured) would just like to point out…
Death becomes her
The remarkable new/old production of La bohème from Norwegian Opera, directed by Stefan Herheim…
Counter attack
By the end of its 2012-13 season, the Met will have presented four HD transmissions in less than two years featuring countertenors in prominent roles.
It happened in Moscow
When I first watched the DVD Hvorostovsky in Moscow with guest star Sondra Radvanosky, I was absolutely amazed at the superb quality of the singing.
Divina comedy
So this is what it looks like when Faye Dunaway teaches Danielle DeNiese to sing “Vieni t’affretta” from Verdi’s Macbeth.
Questo Weimar rosso
The case for this DVD production of Puccini’s La Boheme from Opera Australia is all about the “inspired concept” of director Gale Edwards to move this oft-told tale from 1840’s Paris all the way to the Berlin at the end of Weimar-era Germany. Hmmm.
Critic’s choice
Our Own JJ (pictured, center) hopes all the cher public will take full advantage of this week’s thread for off-topic and general interest discussion.
A star is reborn
Let’s start with some refreshing news: Poèmes is the finest thing Renée Fleming has recorded in many a season.
Take the Monnaie and run
“Though Mr. Herheim’s work is rigorous, it is also fun, and this Rusalka is serious but the opposite of dour.”
Blind screening
Which department at the Met must have had quite a shock at this bit of current news: apparently the son also rises!
What if they gave a Regie and nobody came?
Some, though certainly not many, guesses at the most recent Regie quiz, but no one quite hit upon the identity of the opera in question, Handel’s Alcina.
Sensational
“Juan Diego Flórez made an untraditional Nemorino, his small but diamond-bright tenor unlike the luscious lyric voice usually heard in this part.”
No greater joy
A rare production of Rossini’s Otello, with a perhaps even rarer stage performance by Cecilia Bartoli (in her role debut as Desdemona) should provide an interesting afternoon’s viewing this Thursday.
Teenager in love
L’elisir d’amore, Donizetti’s evergreen comedy about young love, returned to the Met last night with a strong cast, a high energy level from all the performers, and last but not least, a very full house.
Senior moment
Being an opera lover in Los Angeles is a lot like being a Red Sox fan. As hard as they try we never make it to the World Series, let alone the playoffs.
Mein Ross! Sei mir gegrüsst!
“Pound for pound, ton for ton, it is the most witless and wasteful production in modern operatic history.”