A dark eye is watching
Dwayne Croft will make his Met role debut as Escamillo Saturday night, replacing Mariusz Kwiecien, who is ill.
Recent Stories
Journey into the unknown
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 […]
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).
Verklärte Nackt
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.
Levinespringen?
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 […]
Switcheroo
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.
Don Jonas
Carmen just started on Sirius. You know where the live chat is!
The first rule of the opera biz
Don’t piss off the costumer!
The return of threaded comments
In order to facilitate more in-depth discussion, La Cieca has asked the parterre.com web guru to reinstate “threaded” comments.
Nott so hott
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?
What does a Principal Guest Conductor do?
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)?
United we…?
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.
Summoning Nina Munk!
This story involves money, so it’s impossible for La Cieca to understand. Nina, darling, would you hasten to our aid?
Blindsided
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!)
Be our guest
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]
Willis or won’t she?
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.”
Run on the Banks
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.”
We never see a headline about a breadline today
Remember those figures you read yesterday in the New York Times citing salaries of the heads of the Metropolitan Opera, the Brooklyn Academy of Music, the New York Philharmonic, the Philadelphia Museum of Art and New York City Opera? Well, not so much. In fact, Zarin Mehta‘s reported compensation was off by only 230%. [NYT]
Summer camp
They are actually doing this, my dears, and with that cast! And it’s staged! Any cher pube in the environs of Liège next June is begged, entreated, and cajoled to give us a fuller report!
Who to whom
A charticle to interest Nina Munk and, perhaps, others of the cher public.
Bitter to the sweet
La Cieca just heard that Diana Damrau has canceled her engagement in Hamlet with the Washington National Opera. Heading the “star-studded” cast for this production will now be Liam Bonner / Michael Chioldi, TBA, Samuel Ramey, Elizabeth Bishop and John Tessier.
Mystery? Science?
This is post number 3,000 on parterre.com.
Catchphrase catches on, again
Congratulate yourselves, cher public, as another parterre turn of phrase has entered the general lexicon.
Furregie
In the well-reasoned words of Strephon, “Perruques and puffs. Rococo frou-frou seen through a 19th Century sensibility” must indicate Mignon. Director Jean-Louis Benoit staged the sentimental classic in sets by Laurent Peduzzi and costumes by Thibaut Welchlin at the Opéra Comique.