“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. […]
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“?
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).
The legendary mezzo-soprano is 75 today.
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!
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.
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 […]
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.
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 […]
La Cieca hears that two spectacular events crowned last night’s performance of La sonnambula at the Vienna State Opera.
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.”
It’s the return of the Twitter Operaplot Competition! [The Omniscient Mussel]
“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]
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.
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.
Enthusiastic Met intermission commentator Blythe Danner and her Oscar-winning daughter/blogger Gwyneth Paltrow are on the short list…
Which Brit of medium height has been added to the short list for a prestigious post that (paradoxically) would represent a homecoming?
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 […]
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?
The American conductor (about whom Wikipedia mildly says “There is some mystery surrounding his early life”) was born in London on April 18, 1882… or perhaps 1887. Or was it Pomerania in 1889?
Even with two weeks to guess, cher public, you were stumped by our most recent Regie quiz. (Hurrah for La Cieca!) However, you did manage to have some interesting conversations along the way, so it wasn’t a total wash.
The American soprano was born April 18, 1948.
The setting is Salzburg, September of 2009. Anna Netrebko and Daniel Barenboim partnered for a recital with lofty aspirations and difficult works mere months after her unfortunate Lucia at the Met. Thanks to the foresight to record this evening, we now have a record of a great night – hopefully a turning point – in […]
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