Even as sinister gossip hinted to the contrary, the Met successfully completed negotiations with the stagehands’ union last night, averting the possibility of a job action next week. According to a source close to the Met, Peter Gelb sent out an email confirming the contract sometime after 1:00 this morning:
Legendary soprano Sena Jurinac, one of the most beloved artists at the Vienna State Opera, died yesterday. She was 90. [via AP]
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).
La Cieca hears that the premiere of a new production may be marred. The reason? The company might have to perform the Paris version of this opera.
Only because I am a member of the You Can Never Have Too Much Callas School of Opera Listening can I recommend EMI’s new release The Callas Effect. The beautifully packaged production is the size of a small paperback book and consists of two CDs with 29 arias sung by Callas plus a new 70-minute […]
Giovanni Simone Mayr was one of the most important musical figures of his day, a man Rossini referred to as the “father of Italian opera” whom Napoleon personally lobbied to come work in Paris. Though he wrote nearly 70 operas and taught Donizetti and Bellini, the Bavarian-born composer had the misfortune of hitting his peak […]
Slim British tenor Ian Bostridge arrives in town for a recital on November 28 featuring Thomas Adès‘ “Darknesse Visible,” as well as the work upon which it “reflects,” the John Dowland song “In darkness let me dwell,” as a sort of prelude to an evening of Heinrich Heine settings including the Dichterliebe. And you, cher […]
“…to a certain degree, good critics are no longer necessary to find. The phrase ‘Everybody’s a critic’ has taken on a universal cast. The internet encourages people to share their opinions with the world. In the theatre, the buzz created by chatroom chatters has become increasingly important to a show’s reputation before it opens. There […]
As the dear Marquise de Merteuil found out to her sorrow, the only worse than not being talked about was being talked about. But worst of all, cher public, is having no place to go for general interest and off-topic conversation. So here you are: your place to promenade during this week’ intermission.
Miss Bobolink accepts the challenge: It’s Margaret-and-Will Day!
Different people look at things from different points of view: a fact so familiar it’s the refrain of one of the songs from the beloved music musical Lost Horizon. So La Cieca will have no quarrels if you don’t agree with her choices of must-see programming for the upcoming week.
“Now that it has become apparent that Robert Lepage‘s production of the Ring at the Met is a fiasco (too soon? Nah.)… well, anyway, since arguably the production is a dreary, unworkable, overpriced mess whose primary (perhaps only) virtue is that it actually hasn’t killed anyone yet, and since, let’s face it, the Machinecentric show turned out to be so mind-bogglingly […]
From the Met press office: “Jay Hunter Morris will sing the role of Siegfried in Siegfried on April 21 matinee and April 30, 2012, and in Götterdämmerung on May 3, 2012. He replaces Gary Lehman who has withdrawn due to illness.”
“Rumors were that an ‘Occupy’-something group would disrupt Wednesday night’s US premiere of Kommilitonen! But the Juilliard Opera performance went off without offstage fireworks, and proved to be a well-crafted and moving meditation on student activism.” [New York Post] (Photo: Nan Melville)
“…Finding my voice w/out pitch, rhythm and the composer’s structure–a new challenge!” [@reneesmusings, Twitter feed for Renée Fleming]
“City Opera Management has passed on an offer from the unions representing its musicians and singers that could have saved the company some much-needed cash. The proposal would have required members of the New York City opera to perform for free in the 2011-2012 season.” [NY1]
More innovative casting from amazon.com.
Cher public, La Cieca must inform you that the president of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Michael Kaiser (right), is afraid of you (left). “This is a scary trend,” says he. [via Huffington Post, of all places to climb on your soapbox about “serious arts criticism.”]
“Instead of Bess’s leaving their Charleston ghetto for New York by herself, with the crippled Porgy giving chase some time later, the Broadway version would include a newly invented scene in which Bess tries to persuade Porgy to start a new life with her up North. She leaves, followed by Porgy; one final stage picture […]
The Handelian hilarity begins in just half an hour, cher public, so tune in to the Met’s Listen Live page and find your place in the parlor of La Casa della Cieca.
Randal Turner, pictured above, is but one of 33 barihunks featured in—who ever would have guessed?— “the first Barihunks calendar,” just in time for holiday giving and receiving. All proceeds from the calendar, available at the Barihunks site, will be donated to young artist programs. (Photo by Sarah Wells)
A “Machine” that’s been dished and hung out to dry, and a “Magasin” you hang dishes on to dry. Thanks to Zerbinetta for noticing the striking similaries (not to mention that fact that the object that actually does something costs less than half the one that does nothing; a lesson for us all?)
No shortage of interesting guesses, but, alas, none of the cher public were only MontyNostry was able to identify last week’s Regie quiz by the three images chosen. The opera, in fact, was Pikovaya Dama, and that lady taking a nap in her corset in the third photo is none other than the title character. Some […]
Even the shooting stars of the heavens cannot compare to the dazzling spectacle of the cher public (pictured) shooting off their mouths.
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