Talking head
Our Own JJ discusses Maria Callas and her Voice Of Perfect Imperfection with NPR’s Lynn Neary.
Recent Stories
Regiematazz
Will was the first cher pube to firmly commit to Don Pasquale, and as such he will be counted the winner of our most recent Regie quiz. Special thanks to eckermann, who earned “Le Mot du Jour” for his meticulously detailed (if totally off-base) analysis.
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).
Definitive
La Cieca and her panel of experts were overwhelmed at the level of sheer lexicological cleverness exhibited by so many of the cher public in our More than words can say competition. Of the many brilliant responses, the judges have managed to choose an overall winner (who will receive the promised gift pack) plus several […]
Happy Birthday Renée Fleming
She Who Has More Sobriquets Than Changes of Facial Expression continues her second half-century.
Something unspoken
A brace of profiles in the March issue of Opera News engage the reader in a fascinating game of “the same, but different.” Simon Keenlyside and Paulo Szot are both baritones; both handsome, sexy men; and they’re both adept in classical and more modern musical theater forms. Both gentlemen are starring in new productions at […]
Peak performance
It’s that time of week once again, cher public, the Saturday afternoon chat accompanying the Met’s matinee broadcast. The topic of today’s colloquy? Why, it’s La Fille du Régiment beginning at 1:00 PM!
Happy Birthday Gilda Cruz-Romo
The Mexican soprano is 70 years old today.
Some day her prince will come
I checked back in on the Met’s revival of Ariadne auf Naxos yesterday, after a messy first night one week ago that left much to the imagination. Tenor Lance Ryan had been sick that night, and the cover who took his place was not much healthier, throwing the whole cast into a panic mode that […]
“Boys” meets world
UPDATE: A press release has just gone out announcing “The Metropolitan Opera and the English National Opera (ENO) will co-produce a world premiere production of composer Nico Muhly’s first opera.
De Nile of service
La Cieca hears that the planned Decca recording of Giulio Cesare, to be based upon live concert performances this week in Paris, has been canceled.
L’or pur de mes cheveux
“People approach me now and say things like, ‘We loved your hair last week, but the jacket the week before was even better’.” [Wicked Local Norwell]
Regie on tap
This one’s not a quiz, because the concept is so elegantly obvious: Das Rheingold as an episode of Baywatch, with the Nibelung’s anvils replaced by a handier set of percussion instruments.
Irina Arkhipova 1925 – 2010
The legendary Russian mezzo-soprano has died after a brief illness. She was 85.
New York Times staffing up arts desk
Rumor has it the NYT will do at least five full-time hires and bring in another half-dozen or so dedicated freelancers to provide in-depth coverage of the artistic event of of the decade: next summer, Leon Botstein conducts Franz Schreker. [Bard Summerscape]
Vicar’s delight
“To Kettles Yard in Cambridge for the premiere of a new song cycle by Richard Baker, performed by baritone Christopher Purves and pianist Andrew West. Having started off in Harvey and the Wallbangers, Purves is now a rising British operatic star: he will sing Beckmesser at Welsh National Opera alongside Bryn Terfel in Die Meistersinger […]
Peter and the Woolfe
The arts journalist La Cieca would like be when she grows up, Zachary Woolfe, continues his analysis of Peter Gelb‘s Met tenure — now all the more interesting since Joe Volpe has returned to the fold. [Observer]
More than words can say
Are you ready for a competition, cher public? Well, get ready to don your lexicographer’s caps, because this one is all about the words.
Che Sarah, Sarah
La Cieca’s old, old, old friend Dorothy Bishop has revived and revised her hilarious Sarah Palin show, now entitled “A Sarah Palin Presidents’ Day Spectacular,” Thursdays in February beginning the 11th at NYC’s Cafe Iguana.
Mommy track
UPDATE: A spokesman for Anna Netrebko just has informed La Cieca “Anna is not pregnant.” An Austrian website thie morning reported the rumor that Anna Netrebko is expecting again. [OE24.at]
The People’s Courtesan
Like Liza Minnelli at the Palace or Nomi Malone in Goddess, Renée Fleming‘s Thaïs is better understood as diva event than Gesamtkunstwerk. It’s an opportunity to watch a star lady do her voodoo in a work that exists largely to showcase her glamour and appeal.
Make ’em laugh!
“A German, a Peruvian and a Kiwi walk into an American theater and start speaking French: that sounds like the premise of a joke, right?” Our Own JJ reviews La fille du régiment at the Met.
Regie Is the Most Fun a Girl Can Have Without Taking Her Clothes Off
Congratulations LogeLizard for so adeptly pinpointing Manon Lescaut as the solution to our most recent Regie quiz. The production was by Graham Vick for the Teatro la Fenice, and we have a glimpse of this regie in action after the jump.
“What do I look like, an ATM?”
The 1990s never ended, it seems. Joe Volpe back at the Met, and his one-time sidekick Alberto Vilar back in the news. The Felonious Philanthropist, donor of abut $12 million to the Met during Volpe’s tenure, was sentenced yesterday to nine years in prison for such charges as securities fraud, wire fraud and money laundering. […]