“When I left the opera house, I stumbled to the next train out of town and fell immediately asleep; when I left the afternoon broadcast, I stepped out onto the sidewalk and discovered that the sun had set while I’d been in the dark, watching. The sky’d gone all orange and blue and was seemingly […]
If you’re wondering why you haven’t heard from La Cieca (pictured, right) today, it’s because JJ (pictured, left) has been busy writing and stuff. By “and stuff,” he means primarily seeing an amazing production of Tennessee Williams‘ Vieux Carré by the Wooster Group and reacting to it at Musical America. See you all tomorrow at […]
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).
“Rachelle Durkin will sing the role of Norina in this Saturday’s matinee performance of Don Pasquale, replacing Anna Netrebko, who is ill,” says the Met press office.
Above is a preliminary PR photo of Eva-Maria Westbroek in the “biggest than life” titular role of the Mark-Anthony Turnage/Richard Thomas bio-opera Anna Nicole, set to open tonight at the Royal Opera, Covent Garden. But without the benefit of Photoshop and artful lighting, what do Westbroek and Anna Nicole really look like?
The press conference announcing the Met’s 2011-2012 season has begun.
In this artist’s conception, your intrepid girl reporter La Cieca is seen covering tomorrow’s season preview press conference at the Met. Assuming she regains consciousness in time, watch for her live reports from the event beginning at 1:00 pm, right here on parterre.com!
Until Monday evening, I never placed Don Pasquale in my list of favorite operas, but the four principals were so magnificent that I realized just how special an opera can be when it is sung so well. Remember that works like this—Elisir, Ory, Flute, rather than Aida, Forza, etc.—can be performed beautifully today since the […]
And now, ladies and gentlemen, Christopher Maltman (among others) in Kasper Holten‘s Juan.
Having completed her season of Giulio Cesare in Paris, Natalie Dessay next takes on Lucia di Lammermoor in New York. A glimpse of the soprano’s Handelian chops and perhaps a hint of her current vocal estate, after the jump.
Instead of waiting until the last moment, La Cieca (pictured) has decided go ahead and set the dates for the remaining evening chats with the cher public (also pictured) in the month of February (not pictured).
La Cieca is pretty sure this is going to be a popular choice, and she thinks as well she’s just discovered parterre’s new resident futurologist. Congratulations to Baritenor (pictured) for his exhaustive essay on the Met’s 2011-2012 season.
“The People’s Diva,” who brought so much darkness and so much hope to us in 2010, is 52 years young today!
Is it possible for a performance of Richard Strauss’s Elektra to be exciting without an exciting Elektra? It of course depends on your priorities and expectations, which will ultimately determine whether such a performance, as preserved on this DVD from Baden-Baden is for you. Linda Watson’s first assumption of the punishing role of Elektra (she […]
I’ve found myself procrastinating endlessly over this review. I’m always excited by the chance to hear recently composed operas, and have a weak spot for the American repertoire. So I had overly high hopes for Paul Salerni‘s Tony Caruso’s Final Broadcast. At first listen, I found myself underwhelmed, slightly off put by the blending of […]
What do opera composers do on vacation? If the researches behind this performance at the Rossini in Wildbad Festival are correct, they gather their nearest and dearest and dash them off a quickie opera for performance en famille. That, in any case, is what Giovanni Pacini did during down-time between presenting seventy-odd operas to the […]
“At a time of life when most opera singers can barely remember their glory days, 70-year-old Placido Domingo is still giving performances singers half his age could be proud of.” Our Own JJ‘s latest review is a love letter to the Met’s revival of Iphigénie en Tauride. [New York Post]
So many wonderful guesses on the most recent Regie quiz, but curiously only the very early Alexander and the very late luvtennis proved veritable William Tells in their accuracy: that applicious opera is Cosi fan tutte. The production for the Baden-Baden Festspielhaus is by Philipp Himmelmann. Our next quiz is one of the most difficult […]
La Cieca invites her comrades to join her in the struggle that will be the chat during this afternoon’s performance of Nixon in China, starting at 1:00 pm.
Riccardo Muti‘s recent fainting spell that resulted in surgery for a broken jaw was caused by a” heart rhythm disturbance,” say his doctors. The conductor has been fitted with a pacemaker to regulate his heart rate, and is expected to make a full recovery.
“Greek night at opera canceled due to conflict” [Indiana Daily Student]
La Cieca knows little of the ways and means of gala-giving, so you tell her: what does it mean when NYCO’s Spring Gala is already available for half price on “luxury discount” website Gilt Groupe?
It was while attending a performance of Fédora in Naples in 1885 that eighteen year-old Umberto Giordano fell in love with Sardou’s then immensely popular play; the protagonist was none other than Sarah Bernhardt, the creator of the title role. He immediately asked the French dramatist to sell him the rights, a request Sardou did […]
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