Recent Stories
Tonight Lori Phillips will make her Met debut as Senta in Der Fliegende Holländer, replacing Deborah Voigt, who is ill.
With barely a month (!) remaining before La Fleming’s Hope drops, your doyenne has determined that we (meaning you, the cher public) should do our (i.e., your) utmost to mark this turning point in the history of music.
Romanian tenor Stefan Pop, 23, is one of this year’s first-prize winners in the Operalia competition. There’s a glimpse of the budding hunkentenor in action after the jump.
Adapting a novel, especially a well known novel like Sophie’s Choice, by William Styron, can be a herculean task. The two conflicting, almost mutually exclusive, forces at work are the desire to create a great work for the stage, while at the same time remaining true to all the nuanced characterizations and storylines present in…
“Exciting! Indomitable! Alluring! Rigid! Enormous! Pulsing! Penetrating! Riveting! The public shame of being flogged! Aching tenderness!” [NYT]
Color La Cieca impressed! Friendly Fritz guessed correctly that the opera depicted in last week’s Regie quiz was Franz Schreker‘s Die Gezeichneten — as produced at the Teatro Massimo di Palermo by Graham Vick. Following the jump, a glimpse of what that production looked like in action.
Internationally acclaimed dance club pop sensation Renée Fleming returns to her roots (she often sang opera during her college days) for this afternoon’s Met broadcast of Rossini’s Armida.
“Marianne Cornetti‘s Amneris…. gives the audience a heart attack every time she opens her mouth, possessing an ability to literally drown out the orchestra.” La Cieca has a new favourite opera critic, and his name is Jamie Tabberer.
Tell us: Filth or dementia?
Hasten thee to feed another quarter of conversation for The Talk of the Town!
Grand Tier Grab Bag
Grand Tier Grab Bag
Goodnight, Irene
Goodnight, Irene
Grand Tier Grab Bag features the American Zwischenfach mezzo Irene Roberts ahead of an eclectic season of Wagner.
Grand Tier Grab Bag features the American Zwischenfach mezzo Irene Roberts ahead of an eclectic season of Wagner.
Grand Tier Grab Bag
Poetic license
Poetic license
Parterre Box shines a light on Liparit Avetisyan, who made his Met debut as Alfredo earlier this spring.
Parterre Box shines a light on Liparit Avetisyan, who made his Met debut as Alfredo earlier this spring.
Grand Tier Grab Bag
Frau Miina-Liisa will es werde Nacht
Frau Miina-Liisa will es werde Nacht
Parterre Box features soprano Miina-Liisa Värelä, making her title role debut in Die Walküre in Munich next week, in a performance of Tristan und Isolde from 2021.
Parterre Box features soprano Miina-Liisa Värelä, making her title role debut in Die Walküre in Munich next week, in a performance of Tristan und Isolde from 2021.
Grand Tier Grab Bag
Lux aeterna luceat eis
Lux aeterna luceat eis
Grand Tier Grab Bag this week honors the late Limmie Pulliam with a bit of his Verdi Requiem.
Grand Tier Grab Bag this week honors the late Limmie Pulliam with a bit of his Verdi Requiem.
Grand Tier Grab Bag
Kathryn the great
Kathryn the great
Parterre Box previews Kathryn Lewek‘s upcoming Salome with clips of her as another unhinged lady of antiquity.
Parterre Box previews Kathryn Lewek‘s upcoming Salome with clips of her as another unhinged lady of antiquity.
Grand Tier Grab Bag
Count your blessings
Count your blessings
Fast-rising Verdi baritone Ariunbaatar Ganbataar is the subject of this week’s Grand Tier Grab Bag.
Fast-rising Verdi baritone Ariunbaatar Ganbataar is the subject of this week’s Grand Tier Grab Bag.
Dwayne Croft will make his Met role debut as Escamillo Saturday night, replacing Mariusz Kwiecien, who is ill.
Among the ten musical feasts that Paris staged to celebrate the coronation of the last Bourbon king, Charles X, in 1825, Il viaggio a Reims by Gioachino Rossini had undoubtedly the highest profile. Others, including La Route de Reims, a pastiche of Mozart music, are now long forgotten, and Rossini’s score once seriously risked suffering…
Our Own JJ lends his voice to the debate about nudity in art this afternoon on WNYC’s Soundcheck. UPDATE: you can now listen to the show after the jump.
Now that the exciting and welcome news about Fabio Luisi‘s new position as Principal Guest Conductor has had a chance to settle a bit, La Cieca would like to quote an old, old, old friend and suggest that “our retrospection shall be all to the future.” Let’s slip into our Zukunftsbrillen after the jump, shall…
Last night, Manhattan School of Music presented a charming, funny and partially polished Le Nozze di Figaro that showcased the ability of the school’s opera program to take a pleasing singer and create a great performer, making for a wonderfully entertaining performance.
Carmen just started on Sirius. You know where the live chat is!
Don’t piss off the costumer!
In order to facilitate more in-depth discussion, La Cieca has asked the parterre.com web guru to reinstate “threaded” comments.
Talk of the Town
The Talk of the Town
Patrizia Ciofi should have made it to the Met
Patrizia Ciofi should have made it to the Met
The artist who I feel should have made it to the Met is Patrizia Ciofi.
The artist who I feel should have made it to the Met is Patrizia Ciofi.
The Talk of the Town
Giannina Arangi-Lombardi never made it to the Met
Giannina Arangi-Lombardi never made it to the Met
Giannina Arangi-Lombardi never sang at the Met.
Giannina Arangi-Lombardi never sang at the Met.
The Talk of the Town
Andrée Esposito and Alain Vanzo should have made it to the Met
Andrée Esposito and Alain Vanzo should have made it to the Met
This Mireille duet unites Andrée Esposito and Alain Vanzo and shows the timbral and stylistic qualities that made them exemplary.
This Mireille duet unites Andrée Esposito and Alain Vanzo and shows the timbral and stylistic qualities that made them exemplary.
The Talk of the Town
Ebe Stignani and Anita Cerquetti should have made it to the Met
Ebe Stignani and Anita Cerquetti should have made it to the Met
Subtlety is for cowards, say the blazing Anita Cerquetti and the blaring Ebe Stignani.
Subtlety is for cowards, say the blazing Anita Cerquetti and the blaring Ebe Stignani.
The Talk of the Town
Sena Jurinac should have made it to the Met
Sena Jurinac should have made it to the Met
Sena Jurinac, a celebrated Mozart and Strauss singer here as the Composer, a signature role.
Sena Jurinac, a celebrated Mozart and Strauss singer here as the Composer, a signature role.
The Talk of the Town
Janet Baker should have made it to the Met
Janet Baker should have made it to the Met
The divine Dame Janet Baker never sang at the Metropolitan, sadly for American audiences.
The divine Dame Janet Baker never sang at the Metropolitan, sadly for American audiences.
British soprano Dame Felicity Lott and her frequent partner, the pianist Graham Johnson, have collaborated on a new recital disc for Champs Hill Records, “Call Me Flott.” Do we really have to?
La Cieca’s question here is exactly what we should be expecting Fabio Luisi to do as a “Guest” at the Met over the next few years? Will he get his own projects, or is going be end up relegated to being Jimmy’s standby (Der Levinespringer)?
We’ve all had a rough time in the last few years; but cultural institutions have had it worse than they could have possibly imagined. With a business model that relies entirely on private donations to achieve fiscal viability, the challenge to make ends meet has never been greater.
This story involves money, so it’s impossible for La Cieca to understand. Nina, darling, would you hasten to our aid?
Which Met title-roler will be declared “ill” by week’s end? (You should know your time is up when the company starts hearing auditioners sing your big aria!)
Fabulous Fabio Luisi (left) has just been named Principal Guest Conductor at the Met, only the second maestro to be so titled in the company’s history. [NY Times]
It’s official: Elizabeth Futral will sing the role of Ophélie in Washington National Opera’s production of Hamlet, replacing Diana Damrau who, according to the company’s press release, “is pregnant with her first child [and] has been advised by her doctors to avoid strenuous activity and air travel, thus preventing her from being in Washington.”
Per the Met’s press office: “In this evening’s performance of Rossini’s Armida, Barry Banks will sing the role of Gernando, replacing José Manuel Zapata, who is ill. Banks will also sing the role of Carlo, which he was already scheduled to perform.”
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