Recent Stories
Multiple-threat Isaac Mizrahi, like everyone else it seems, really wants to direct; and direct he shall for Opera Theater of St. Louis this summer, helming A Little Night Music. And designing the sets and costumes too. [Playbill]
The “Voice of an Angel” was born February 1, 1922.
Right you are if you think you are, cher public! Our most recent Regie quiz did indeed depict a new production of Wagner’s Rienzi, directed by Philipp Stölzl. (Photo credit: Bettina Stoess im Auftrag der Deutschen Oper Berlin) No handy dome-shaped landmarks in this next quiz, cher public, so La Cieca will leave you to…
La Cieca hears that Olga Borodina still has whatever it was she had on Wednesday, and so will have to cancel tonight’s Met performance of Carmen as well.
UPDATE: La Cieca hears that Sondra Radvanovsky is ill this afternoon, which presumably means Juliana DiGiacomo will sing Lina.
What is it about Natalie Dessay, La Cieca wonders, that provokes journalists to badmouth La sonnambula?
Maybe this will warm your surrealistic heart, or maybe it’s not your cup of fur. But, anyway: Aida on Ice.
Barely a week before opening night, Denyce Graves has withdrawn from an Opera New Jersey production of Carmen. Kirstin Chávez will substitute. [Tim Smith]
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.
La Cieca hears that a highlight of the 2010-2011 New York City Opera season will be the local premiere of Seance on a Wet Afternoon, the Stephen Schwartz tuner to star Lauren Flanigan.
Join La Cieca tonight for a chat saluting the Met farewell (and 2,928th performance) of character tenor Charles Anthony.
Legendary diva Raina Kabaivanska, who announced her farewell to opera her two years ago as the Countess in Queen of Spades, has changed her mind. The soprano has accepted the leading role in Nino Rota‘s opera buffa La scuola di guida (The Driving School), as a woman who falls in love with her driving instructor.…
At the Met, Viktoria Vizin will sing the title role in Bizet’s Carmen tonight, replacing Olga Borodina, who is announced as “ill.”
1. Webcast technology has been refined enormously in the barely two years since the pioneering (and frustrating) effort at streaming a performance of Il Sant’Alessio. The embeddable (!) player didn’t skip once that I could see, and the sound was consistent. Neither, obviously, was exactly HD quality, but the experience felt quite seamless.
The beloved composer would have been 254 years old today had he not died such a long time ago. La Cieca invites her cher public to share publicly favorite YouTube clips, and those of you who have personal reminiscences of W.A.M. are invited to get them off your chest sooner rather than later, what with…
No, Ann Murray will not perform the role of the Marquise de Berkenfield at the Met, as announced previously when Felicity Palmer withdrew from the role. With Jean Rigby and Rebecca de Pont Davies booked up years in advance, the Met will muddle through somehow with Meredith Arwady, who hails from a place implausibly called…
Coming up at 2:30, the webcast of Werther from the Opéra Bastille featuring Jonas Kaufmann. [ARTE Live Web]
Talk of the Town
The Talk of the Town
Yannick Nézet-Séguin is a great opera conductor
Yannick Nézet-Séguin is a great opera conductor
Historically, conductors were often viewed as rigid, authoritarian figures. Yannick Nézet-Séguin completely subverts this stereotype.
Historically, conductors were often viewed as rigid, authoritarian figures. Yannick Nézet-Séguin completely subverts this stereotype.
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.
Alberto Veronesi has been appointed Music Director of Opera Orchestra of New York, effective in the 2011-12 season. He will succeed OONY founder Eve Queler, who will become Conductor Laureate once Veronesi’s initial five-year tenure begins.
A confab with our redoubtable Internets Guru Nick Scholl just now resulted in two innovations. First, for those of you who want a quick and handy way to keep up with recent comments, there is now a comments feed button in the left navigation bar just beneath the display of the most recent mots from…
“Although they work in different genres, both Plácido Domingo and Elaine Stritch continue to impress and inspire with their dedication to stretching their talents in new directions.” If only Charles Isherwood could somehow have found a way to mention Israel, he’d have created the platonic ideal of a Times arts story. [NYT]
Diana Damrau joined James Levine and the Met Orchestra at Carnegie Hall on Sunday afternoon for one of Levine’s typically overloaded – er, generous – orchestral feasts. But this deeply involving marathon of German warhorses rewarded those who would submit to its somber, festive intensity.
“Oh God! Oh justice dear to God! Oh light of the sun!” La Divina discusses her cinematic debut.
Our Own Ercole Farnese exercised his sharp eye for detail almost before La Cieca got the most recent Regie quiz posted: within 25 minutes he identified the work in question as Norma. We have video of the controversial Peter Mussbach staging after the jump.
UPDATE: Dessay has “just now” confirmed she will go on for tonight’s performance, which begins in about 15 minutes.
La Cieca has heard a few complaints that the “threaded” comments format (you know, “2, 2.1, 2.2, 2.2.1,” etc.) can be difficult to untangle for occasional visitors. While we’re not quite up to unthreading the comments, we do want to keep the cher public happy. So what do you think about the following options for…
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