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Among symbolic classical tropes, one of my favorites (perhaps because only another classicist will understand it) is Nessus’ Shirt, an emblem of glory (a promotion, say, or an expensive luxury) that destroys you.
Which recently disgraced genius is tingling with excitement at an offer to help a fellow artist achieve redemption?
The moral of Lohengrin is clearly set out: Don’t talk on your wedding night. Even more important, don’t sing. Happily, at Lyric Opera of Chicago, Johan Botha in the title role and Amber Wagner as Elsa of Brabant ignored this advice.
Pencils down! We have a solution; please see below.
UPDATE: La Cieca now has audio evidence of Micaela Carosi‘s dress rehearsal of Aïda. PREVIOUSLY: La Cieca has heard of sweeping changes of cast in important Verdi revivals across the pond: Elisabete Matos has suddenly been dropped from Rome Opera’s Riccardo Muti-helmed Nabucco, with Csilla Boross jumping in as Abigaille.
La Cieca was just sent an announcement about “James Levine: 40 Years at The Metropolitan Opera, an extraordinary insider’s view of the legendary conductor’s Met career, illustrated with vivid historic photographs…. Marking the 40th anniversary of Met Music Director James Levine’s company debut on June 5, 1971, the book celebrates his unparalleled artistic achievements through…
Three Juliettes, three different seasons of the Met’s Roméo et Juliette: Natalie Dessay in 2005, Anna Netrebko in 2007, Hei-Kyung Hong in 2011. At this rate, La Cieca predicts that the role will be performed in the nude sometime around 2025. (Photos: Dessay and Hong by Marty Sohl, Netrebko by Ken Howard.)
Usually the idea of the Regie quiz is: you know the music, but the visuals are unfamiliar. Now let’s try it a different way.
Tell us: What’s your favorite Verdi performance?
Hasten thee to feed another quarter of conversation for The Talk of the Town!
Grand Tier Grab Bag
Grand Tier Grab Bag
Don’t cry because it’s over
Don’t cry because it’s over
Grand Tier Grab Bag hearkens back to the days when Sondra Radvanovsky — who is singing no Verdi at all next season — seemed like the Verdi soprano of reference.
Grand Tier Grab Bag hearkens back to the days when Sondra Radvanovsky — who is singing no Verdi at all next season — seemed like the Verdi soprano of reference.
Grand Tier Grab Bag
Rizzin’ to the occasion
Rizzin’ to the occasion
Parterre Box features the Met’s current Eugene Onegin, Iurii Samoilov, in a performance of Rossini ahead of a return to Pesaro this summer.
Parterre Box features the Met’s current Eugene Onegin, Iurii Samoilov, in a performance of Rossini ahead of a return to Pesaro this summer.
Grand Tier Grab Bag
When they go low
When they go low
Nostalgic for bass month, Parterre Box offers excerpts from two young basses to watch: Giorgi Manoshvili and Patrick Guetti.
Nostalgic for bass month, Parterre Box offers excerpts from two young basses to watch: Giorgi Manoshvili and Patrick Guetti.
Grand Tier Grab Bag
Nailin’ the coughin’
Nailin’ the coughin’
Rosa Feola, still scheduled for a run of performances as Violetta in New York this spring, is the subject of this week’s Grand Tier Grab Bag.
Rosa Feola, still scheduled for a run of performances as Violetta in New York this spring, is the subject of this week’s Grand Tier Grab Bag.
Grand Tier Grab Bag
Landing the plane
Landing the plane
With Nixon, Klinghoffer, and Andris Nelsons on the mind, Parterre Box offers a recording of the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s recent John Adams outing.
With Nixon, Klinghoffer, and Andris Nelsons on the mind, Parterre Box offers a recording of the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s recent John Adams outing.
Grand Tier Grab Bag
Le galant tireur
Le galant tireur
American tenor Charles Castronovo performs a bit of Weber’s Der Freischütz ahead of the opportunity to hear Berlioz‘s take on the score at Carnegie Hall next week.
American tenor Charles Castronovo performs a bit of Weber’s Der Freischütz ahead of the opportunity to hear Berlioz‘s take on the score at Carnegie Hall next week.
UPDATE: “Alan Held will sing the title role in the revival of Wozzeck for all performances this season, replacing Matthias Goerne, who will undergo knee surgery in April,” says the Met press office. EARLER: La Cieca has been alerted that “wir arme Publikum” should be ready for a major cancellation/casting change announcement from the Met…
“The first installment of Crain’s Business of Arts & Culture series will explore how competition for strong and deep-pocketed trustees has never been steeper as more potential board members are choosing to support fewer organizations. We will also look at how to find new board members, keep them, and use their expertise to help grow…
Our own JJ reflects on a pair of French operas, Roméo et Juliette and L’africaine, neither of which you could exactly call “grand.” [New York Post]
Though semi ramide got there first, kudos as well to Indiana Loiterer III for pinpointing the exact scenes of Rusalka depicted in this Barrie Kosky production for the Komische Oper Berlin—a staging, by the way, that your own doyenne will witness a couple of weeks from now during her Regietournee. After the jump, video of…
La Cieca (pictured, left) invites all the single cher public to join in circa 1:00 pm for a discussion of this afternoon’s absolutely last and final performance of Armida. Ever.
“Renee Fleming and Timothy Jessell arrive for the formal artist’s dinner for the Kennedy Center Honors at the United States Department of State December 4, 2010 in Washington, D.C.” More (circumstantial) proof after the jump.
Mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard has been named the recipient of the sixth annual Beverly Sills Artist Award for young singers at the Metropolitan Opera. She receives a $50,000 prize and is married to Teddy Tahu Rhodes, which frankly strikes La Cieca as overkill. (Photo: Marty Sohl/Metropolitan Opera)
Which diva—whose recordings, though popular, are sometimes obscure—anticipates becoming a bride as well as a mother? The lady’s beau, we’re told, is a tax attorney in our nation’s capital.
Talk of the Town
The Talk of the Town
A favorite Verdi performance from Tildy Diva
A favorite Verdi performance from Tildy Diva
A well-known Met Aïda with a starry cast from 1967 is TildyDiva’s Favorite Verdi Performance
A well-known Met Aïda with a starry cast from 1967 is TildyDiva’s Favorite Verdi Performance
The Talk of the Town
A favorite Verdi performance from Arrigo
A favorite Verdi performance from Arrigo
My favorite Verdi performance is Claudio Abbado Don Carlo opening of the Scala.
My favorite Verdi performance is Claudio Abbado Don Carlo opening of the Scala.
The Talk of the Town
A favorite Verdi performance from Peter Russell
A favorite Verdi performance from Peter Russell
The purely musical performance preserved here is thrilling, ratcheted to a higher intensity than the Deutsche Grammophon studio recording
The purely musical performance preserved here is thrilling, ratcheted to a higher intensity than the Deutsche Grammophon studio recording
The Talk of the Town
A favorite Verdi performance from TC
A favorite Verdi performance from TC
Victoria de los Ángeles has always been my Violetta of choice, a portrayal that never ceases to move me.
Victoria de los Ángeles has always been my Violetta of choice, a portrayal that never ceases to move me.
The Talk of the Town
A favorite Verdi performance from Anna Netrebko
A favorite Verdi performance from Anna Netrebko
I feel that the best years of Maria Callas’s vocalità, when we hear such a unique freedom and generosity in her singing, were captured in her early recordings.
I feel that the best years of Maria Callas’s vocalità, when we hear such a unique freedom and generosity in her singing, were captured in her early recordings.
The Talk of the Town
A favorite Verdi performance from Armerjacquino
A favorite Verdi performance from Armerjacquino
Before the screams of horror begin, it says ‘favorite’, not best.
Before the screams of horror begin, it says ‘favorite’, not best.
“Margaret, what is it Big Daddy always says when he’s disgusted?” asks the immortal Big Momma in dear Tennessee Williams‘ Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, which Maggie answers, “He says bull when he’s disgusted.” Well, your own Big Momma (i.e., La Cieca has been speaking to a Met insider (pictured) about certain recent headline-grabbing…
La Cieca, who is beginning to feel just the tiniest bit like dear Julian Assange, has been leaked upon yet again. This time she’s been forwarded a message that Peter Gelb sent to the minions of the Met late yesterday afternoon. Naturally your doyenne was certain you, the cher public, would want to read it.
UPDATE: It’s official. EARLIER: La Cieca hears from a generally reliable source that James Levine has resigned from his post as music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Expect an official announcement later today.
UPDATE: This just in from the Met press office: “Hei-Kyung Hong will sing the role of Juliette in Roméo et Juliette for performances from March 3 through March 22 this season, replacing Angela Gheorghiu, who is ill. The role of Juliette for the Saturday, March 26 performance is TBA.” EARLIER: Angela Gheorghiu has just announced…
“It’s just that it seems rather perverse to have cast such opulent voices and then given them not much to sing…. the role of Anna Nicole would not stretch Danielle de Niese.” Loyal parterrian Jondrytay (not pictured) looked in on the Royal Opera’s Anna Nicole and shared this thoughts on his blog Not So Wunderbar.
The definitive evidence that the Met was far too wildly optimistic when scheduling Armida.
James Levine has just canceled his remaining engagements for the season with the Boston Symphony, including a tour to Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center. The canceled dates run through March 19; Levine’s next performance at the Met is scheduled for March 30. [WBUR]
Which divo—who’s not known for a sizable instrument—has suddenly sported a massive bulge that has onlookers wondering “are you padding your part, or are you just glad to be back at the Met?”
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