Gut reaction
The real problem with opera today, according to Marcelo “Mouth of the South” Àlvarez? Could it be tubby tenors with teeny voices? Actually, no. The problem is… blogs.
Recent Stories
Pandora’s parterre box
Live chat at for tonight’s Fliegende Holländer at the usual place.
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).
Sing for your supper
Those among the cher public inclined toward philanthropy and/or star-gazing will want to check out the details on a gala fundraising dinner and concert for the Marcello Giordani Foundation on May 7. The evening will feature performances from young singers and a litotic “Lifetime Achievement Award” presented to Magda Olivero (in virtual attendance via videoconferencing […]
Happy Birthday YouTube
The very first clip was uploaded to the revolutionary video-sharing site only five years ago today!
Microbrow
“I agree that Gelb has had problems actually identifying what’s going to make a successful production. But I submit that the real problem is exactly the same problem the Met had under Gelb’s predecessor, Joe Volpe: not that the company engages unusual directors, but that it doesn’t let them actually do what they’re good at. […]
Pas de duh
Is anyone else as amazed as I am by the following remark in the New Yorker‘s capsule item on Armida: “…an exquisite ballet fetchingly choreographed by Graciela Daniele“?
Happy Birthday Fiorenza Cossotto
The legendary mezzo-soprano is 75 today.
Shadow of a doubt
La Cieca has no word on this yet, but she is sure that reliable baritone is going to get a lot of stage time at the Met the last few weeks of the season — probably as much as he’s had since the 20th century!
Joie de mourir
Juilliard Opera presented an under-ripe yet moving performance of Poulenc’s masterpiece Dialogues des Carmelites on Wednesday. Promising young singers surmounted a dodgy production and stiff musical direction with intelligent singing and contagious enthusiasm.
Here comes the Jonas!
La Cieca’s delight at the success of her colleague The Omniscient Mussel is equaled only by her bitter envy for the success of her colleague The Omniscient Mussel. TOM, you see, has built upon the success of last year’s #operaplot competition by signing up a slew of new opera houses to offer prize packages for […]
The littlest angel
A member of the cher public who attended yesterday’s Met Guild luncheon honoring Frederica von Stade reports: “Evelyn Lear went so far as to call [Flicka] ‘Mother Teresa — a saint.’ As part of his homage, Thomas Hampson sang one of the Cherubino arias — it was really sweet.
It’s all about Muti
A dramatic symphony with incidental voices: that’s how Riccardo Muti’s Otello, which inaugurated the 2008 Salzburg Festival, could be aptly described. Beginning with the initial allegro agitato with its piercing lashes, it instantly appears obvious that Muti’s intention is to go for the jugular, nail the audience to their seats and never give them a […]
Laureate
La Cieca hears that two spectacular events crowned last night’s performance of La sonnambula at the Vienna State Opera.
The Answer to the Great Question
Robert Tuggle, Director of Archives for the Metropolitan Opera, has announced a migration of the company’s supremely useful online database to a new software system. He’s looking for ideas for “new features that might improve on a system that we are already pleased with.”
Tweet smell of success
It’s the return of the Twitter Operaplot Competition! [The Omniscient Mussel]
Disoriented
“An article in Arts incorrectly identified the opera Madame Butterfly as a spin-off of the musical Miss Saigon. Miss Saigon is actually a spin-off of Madame Butterfly. (Apr. 13, p. 19)” [The Justice]
Forced perspective
As we approach the end of the first all-Peter Gelb season at the Met, there’s already a certain amount of editorial judgment on the General Manager’s “aesthetic agenda.” That’s only fair, of course: judgement is what critics do.
It’s a zoo
La Cieca has just heard that James Morris and Hei-Kyung Hong have withdrawn from Cincinnati Opera’s upcoming production of Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, due to “recuperation from surgery” and “family issues,” respectively.
Ordinary daughters ameliorate their lot
Enthusiastic Met intermission commentator Blythe Danner and her Oscar-winning daughter/blogger Gwyneth Paltrow are on the short list…
Tall tales
Which Brit of medium height has been added to the short list for a prestigious post that (paradoxically) would represent a homecoming?
Opera with a whiskey back
On Friday, April 16th, American Opera Projects and Opera on Tap presented a triple bill of new works at Galapagos Art Space in DUMBO, including what is essentially a pastiche, a collection of songs, and a one act opera. There were highs, there were lows; there was booze and opera in the same room. I […]
Brace yourselves
Our operatic riddle of the day: what is due to be seen in New York in September, assuming the enormous weight doesn’t rupture another disc?