Ad “HOC” chat
Today’s Met broadcast is The Nose. Our habitual chat begins at 12:30 pm, and the details are after the jump.
Recent Stories
So etwas geht selten gut aus
… as the saying goes. A German opera singer is accused of murdering her husband Hermann, then hiring a body double to sign over to her his properties, stocks, bonds, cash and life insurance policy. [The Telegraph]
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).
The face that launched
She without whom La Cieca would not cast a shadow, Renée Fleming, has a newly revamped website!
Leave it to… Jane?
Per the Met’s press office, “Jane Archibald will make her Met debut as Ophélie in the Met’s new production of Thomas’s Hamlet, singing the role on April 5 and 9.”
Nag, nag, nag
La Cieca would like to give the cher public a little nudge in the way of a reminder that the procrastination competition will be closed at midnight tonight. So what are you waiting for? (Remember, only comments to the original posting will be considered!)
American to helm American opera company
As La Cieca indicated previously, Francesca Zambello (center) is going to add the notch of General and Artistic Director of Glimmerglass Opera to her already bulging belt. [NYT]
Trapped in the closet
La Cieca is informed that tomorrow’s final dress rehearsal of Hamlet is as closed as closed can be: covers, Met staff and a few handpicked guests of Peter Gelb are the only humans to be allowed in the auditorium as the Thomas is teched. It’s natural enough, since — as we all know — the […]
Regie round the clock
Bravo Monsieur (or Madame) 79CXR for your guess in the most recent Regie quiz. The work depicted is indeed Béatrice et Benedict, in a production for the Opéra Comique directed by Dan Jemmett. The staging, La Cieca regrets to say, was not taken in with pleasure; critiques are headlined everything from “The enterprise overall does […]
Bright Lights, Big Ideas
Forget all the others. You need to read this review of The Nose. [New York Observer]
Lascivious wassails
If you feel like discussing the Sirius broadcast of Antony and Cleopatra, here’s the place.
Century of progress?
New York City Opera has announced its 2010-2011 season, and it looks like La Cieca’s precognitions were about 90% correct. (Please, hold your applause.)
Tee party
Our Own CruzSF has devised a delightful new pastime, which consists of posing in a parterre box t-shirt “in front of the great and not-so-great opera houses of the world.” First up: the Napa Valley Opera House. That’s after the jump.
Ecco il Leone
La Cieca just received an email from Samuel Ramey confirming, “Yes, the comment is from me. Had no idea it would cause such a discussion.” (Photo: Ken Howard, Metropolitan Opera)
Only a “Nose” I give you
“The Met’s new production of ‘The Nose’ should be a hit with everyone except headline writers. Had the Shostakovich comedy bombed, they’d quip ‘Met blows nose’ or ‘Don’t pick this opera!’ But since this sassy, smart show is the highlight of the current opera season, they’ll have to settle for something like ‘Breath of fresh […]
Ex cathedra
So, who do you think said this? It is unfortunate that for the Met’s first production of ATTILA they could not do a more “conventional” production. The sets and the costumes had nothing to do with the period of the opera or the characters. I know from having been at rehearsals that the director gave […]
A summer place
La Cieca hears that Glimmerglass Opera is about to announce the name of its next General Director. Shockingly, it’s neither an actual Brit nor someone currently associated with NYCO, ya know.
An option that should be dropped
Dimitra Theodossiou “takes” a high E-flat at the end of Odabella’s cabaletta.
My Hun and only
You know La Cieca wouldn’t miss the chance to host a chat on so rare an occasion as today’s Met broadcast of Attila. Of course, on the radio you won’t get a chance to experience the Miuccia Prada or Herzog & de Meuron contributions, but your doyenne is sure that fellow chatters (chatterers?) will be […]
Philip Langridge 1939-2010
The English tenor, specialist in the works of Benjamin Britten, died yesterday after a brief illness.
Eyewitness “Nose”?
La Cieca may not at the moment comment on last night’s premiere of The Nose at the Met since Our Own JJ is working on his review of the piece today. But she wants to encourage the cher public to share their thoughts.
Math is hard
Here’s our dear Karita Mattila (left), currently occupied playing Émilie du Châtelet in the eponymous new opera by Kaija Saariaho.
Now it is your turn to wait
In honor of National Procrastination Week La Cieca has a challenge for you, the cher public. If you’re anything like your doyenne (and she thinks at least some of you are in most important ways) you possess opera-related media that have been sitting on a shelf or wherever it is you stow your opera-related media […]
A vos jeux, cher public
This just in from the Met: Marlis Petersen will sing the role of Ophélie in the first six performances of the Met’s new production of Thomas’s Hamlet, replacing Natalie Dessay who is ill.