Madame XY
Versatile diva Violeta Urmana takes on the demanding verismo role of Giordano’s Fedora for the first time at… Oh, sorry, that’s René Pape as Méphistophélès in Faust at Covent Garden! (Photo by Catherine Ashmore)
Recent Stories
Evergreen goddess
Every year New York City opera-lovers eagerly anticipate the autumn because it means that summer is finally over and we can get back to serious opera-going, and this September promises “The Battle of the A’s.”
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).
Kaufmann on the mend
The prognosis from Jonas Kaufmann‘s surgery seems to be very positive indeed: the tenor and his family were spotted Saturday enjoying the Oktoberfest in Munich. Details after the jump.
Giudici, ad Angela?
Even though that other soprano, whatever her name is, has garnered a lot of ink for opening the Met season with Anna Bolena, the real news here is the “dream team” Gheorghiu/Callas collaboration, a highlight of which has been the “Divina Draculette” photo retouching competition. La Cieca has sifted the many fine entries and has […]
Splendidissima!
A 1989 production of Verdi’s Un ballo in maschera should have been another jewel in Herbert von Karajan’s already quite impressive crown. A stellar cast, an impeccable orchestra, an enormous period set –the grand opera of Salzburg under his regime. He had recently finished a studio recording with the cast, and was preparing them for […]
Intermission feature
La Cieca invites the dear companions of her loge (i.e., the cher public) to chatter away about any and all unrelated topics, on this, your Intermission Feature thread for the week of September 18.
Newspaper of Record decrees post-Levine era
“With the news this month that James Levine had slipped and injured a vertebra while vacationing in Vermont… Fabio Luisi became the company’s music director in all but name.” [New York Times]
Happy Birthday Anna Netrebko
The diva, soon to open the Met season in Anna Bolena, marks the Four Oh milestone today.
Never forget
“Zeffirelli, who has been directing plays, films, and operas for more than 60 years, laments that the Met recently started phasing out some of his classic productions, including Traviata, Tosca, and Carmen, for ‘financial reasons,’ he says. And substituting them with ‘hippie crap’.” [Variety]
Ménage a chat
The place to be this afternoon is where the chat concerns Il trittico from the Royal Opera House. The triple play broadcast begins at 1:20 EDT and may be heard on the BBC iPlayer. (For other listening options, consult Operashare.) The chat, of course, will flow freely in La Casa della Cieca.
Photoshop ’til you drop
La Cieca would like to nudge gently the cher public with a reminder that there is only one day left in the great “Divina Draculette” photo retouching competition, noting the slight change in rules calling for you to email La Cieca with your photos. Prizes for the best in show include Sony’s live Met CD […]
Pulpit fiction
In a post Jimmy Swaggart, Jim Bakker, and Jerry Falwell era and with politicians spouting that natural disasters are God’s way of telling us to reduce the national debt, Sinclair Lewis’ Elmer Gantry seems more prescient than even he probably intended. A satirical novel about the excesses of the evangelical movement in the early part […]
A generation later
On this day 34 years ago, Maria Callas died in her apartment in Paris. Since then the iconic diva has been recollected, documented, analyzed, digitized and portrayed by Tyne Daly. La Cieca invites you, the cher public, to keep her mind today by sharing your favorite Callas performances in the comments section.
Mode and moderne
Wednesday afternoon, Pocket Orchestra New York’s new PONYmobile presented a guerrilla performance of sorts in a most unlikely space, the XES Lounge in Manhattan, where designer Joel Yapching‘s BOOK homme debuted its Spring/Summer 2012 collection to the strains of Monteverdi’s Il Ritorno d’Ulisse in patria.
Tudor City
It will come to no surprise to the parterriani (though perhaps something of a relief to Peter Gelb) that the most coveted ticket of the fall season in New York is Anna Bolena, the Donizetti premiere at the Met featuring Anna Netrebko‘s lovely head. Complete results of the more than 1,100 votes cast in the […]
More deceit and intrigue from LOC
La Cieca assumes that it was while changing frocks from citron to sage that America’s Multitasker Renée Fleming approved the above-pictured outdoor advertising for LOC’s impending season. Because, after all, what celebrity screams “Lyric Opera of Chicago” more obviously than Vanessa Williams? (Thanks to AC for the photo!)
The folly of fidelity
Our Own JJ returns to the pages of Capital New York to reflect on the current Broadway revival of the Sondheim-Goldman musical Follies: “one gorgeous zombie.” (Photo: Joan Marcus)
Save the Bess for last
Well, actually, it appears Michael Riedel was misinformed. (Alert the media!) The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess is, in fact, coming to Broadway. [New York Times]
Think similar
Oh, this should turn out well: “Angela Gheorghiu has recorded a collection of French and Italian opera arias in tribute to the late Maria Callas for EMI Classics…. included are arias by Puccini, Gounod, Bellini, Leoncavallo, Saint-Saëns, Catalani, Bizet, Giordano, Cherubini, Massenet and Cilèa.” Which gives La Cieca an idea for a competition, after the […]
Euro Disney
Tenor/conductor/impresario/corporate shill Placido Domingo welcomed an extension of copyright protection across Europe today as “great news for performing artists.” Well, he’s half right.
Intermission feature
Here it is, ladies and gentlemen, your off-topic and general interest thread for the second week of September.
There’s something about Merrill
Sony Classical, in association with The Metropolitan Opera, has begun issuing on CD a number of historic Met broadcasts, newly remastered. The first I received for review was the December 10, 1955 broadcast of Verdi’s Un ballo in maschera, perhaps most notable for the Ulrica of Marian Anderson, who earlier that year made her debut […]
There will be blood
The Teatro dell’Opera di Roma is “considering actions to be taken to protect the image of the Foundation of its workers and their audiences” following Fabio Luisi‘s cancellation of his participation in Elektra at that theater in order to make time to help clean up the Levineshchina in New York. [Teatro dell’Opera di Roma]