Recent Stories
Danielle de Niese has emailed blog A Liberal’s Libretto insisting that she was misquoted on her now-notorious “elephants” one-liner.
See the new posting that will appear at 5:45 pm entitled “Overture! Light the Lights!” — this will be your official one-stop location for tonight’s chat during the Met’s Tosca.
An old clip, but worth repeating: Gina Lollobrigida plays Lina Cavalieri plays Floria Tosca in La donna più bella del mondo.
A video glimpse of the new Tosca, from the New York Times. The wig needs some major cleaning up.
Ya are 91 years old today!
Two days ago, Thurdsay, September 17, marked a new peak for parterre.com. On that day, you, the cher public, viewed the site a total of a whopping 18,323 times — the highest number of pageviews on a single day ever recorded! La Cieca suggests you all treat yourselves to Champagne, and your doyenne may just…
Following up on her rant in an earlier thread, La Cieca now proposes the debate continue on the perhaps not perfectly defined issue of “composer’s intentions.” After the jump, discussion material.
La Cieca thinks the following is among the most obnoxious puffery things ever written about an opera singer, and it’s surely the worst bit in the tongue bath the New York Times Magazine gives Danielle de Niese:
Tell us: What’s your favorite Verdi performance?
Hasten thee to feed another quarter of conversation for The Talk of the Town!
Grand Tier Grab Bag
Grand Tier Grab Bag
Don’t cry because it’s over
Don’t cry because it’s over
Grand Tier Grab Bag hearkens back to the days when Sondra Radvanovsky — who is singing no Verdi at all next season — seemed like the Verdi soprano of reference.
Grand Tier Grab Bag hearkens back to the days when Sondra Radvanovsky — who is singing no Verdi at all next season — seemed like the Verdi soprano of reference.
Grand Tier Grab Bag
Rizzin’ to the occasion
Rizzin’ to the occasion
Parterre Box features the Met’s current Eugene Onegin, Iurii Samoilov, in a performance of Rossini ahead of a return to Pesaro this summer.
Parterre Box features the Met’s current Eugene Onegin, Iurii Samoilov, in a performance of Rossini ahead of a return to Pesaro this summer.
Grand Tier Grab Bag
When they go low
When they go low
Nostalgic for bass month, Parterre Box offers excerpts from two young basses to watch: Giorgi Manoshvili and Patrick Guetti.
Nostalgic for bass month, Parterre Box offers excerpts from two young basses to watch: Giorgi Manoshvili and Patrick Guetti.
Grand Tier Grab Bag
Nailin’ the coughin’
Nailin’ the coughin’
Rosa Feola, still scheduled for a run of performances as Violetta in New York this spring, is the subject of this week’s Grand Tier Grab Bag.
Rosa Feola, still scheduled for a run of performances as Violetta in New York this spring, is the subject of this week’s Grand Tier Grab Bag.
Grand Tier Grab Bag
Landing the plane
Landing the plane
With Nixon, Klinghoffer, and Andris Nelsons on the mind, Parterre Box offers a recording of the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s recent John Adams outing.
With Nixon, Klinghoffer, and Andris Nelsons on the mind, Parterre Box offers a recording of the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s recent John Adams outing.
Grand Tier Grab Bag
Le galant tireur
Le galant tireur
American tenor Charles Castronovo performs a bit of Weber’s Der Freischütz ahead of the opportunity to hear Berlioz‘s take on the score at Carnegie Hall next week.
American tenor Charles Castronovo performs a bit of Weber’s Der Freischütz ahead of the opportunity to hear Berlioz‘s take on the score at Carnegie Hall next week.
In response to readers’ requests, here’s the 2009-2010 Met Sirius/XM broadcast schedule, in printable form.
Today La Cieca prepares to usher in the New Year in the way that has been traditional among her people for thousands of years…
Obviously, Danielle de Niese is all about the singing, or, anyway, all about the slamming bod, and then the singing. But she does talk from time to time, and when she talks, she sounds strangely familiar.
[SPOILER ALERT! MAY CONTAIN DETAILS YOU DON’T WANT TO SEE BEFORE YOU ATTEND THE PRODUCTION!]
She’s been dubbed “The Beautiful Voice,” “America’s Soprano,” “Opera MILF,” “Ney-Ney,” and now “The People’s Diva.” If there’s anything Renée Fleming doesn’t need, it’s another, whaddyacallit, another sobriquet. And yet, La Cieca does not consider need when she’s feeling generous, so she has decided that it is time to create yet one more nickname for…
Presenting just for you, cher public, the complete Sirius/XM Metropolitan Opera broadcast schedule for 2009-1010. Performances on dates highlighted in bold will also be streamed via RealNetworks from the Met’s website. Season premieres are marked with (P). Obviously you are going to want to chat about some of these broadcasts, so let La Cieca know in…
What, you ask, is “Kunst?” I’ll tell you what Kunst is. Kunst is appearing on the stage of the Paris Opéra at the age of 53 wearing ballet flats, mom jeans, a Wal-Mart top, and a wig from the Evelyn Lear “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf” wash ‘n’ wear collection. That’s what Kunst is. (Waltraud…
Don’t ask La Cieca how she obtained these photos of the Met’s new Tosca production, because if she told you, she’d have to kill you. Suffice it to say that admirers of Karita Mattila will not be disappointed!
Talk of the Town
The Talk of the Town
A favorite Verdi performance from Ivy Lin
A favorite Verdi performance from Ivy Lin
This is one of those rare performances that makes you believe that everything Verdi was greater Way Back When.
This is one of those rare performances that makes you believe that everything Verdi was greater Way Back When.
The Talk of the Town
A favorite Verdi performance from Mister Snow
A favorite Verdi performance from Mister Snow
Nothing prepared me for the Soviero experience
Nothing prepared me for the Soviero experience
The Talk of the Town
A favorite Verdi performance from Tildy Diva
A favorite Verdi performance from Tildy Diva
A well-known Met Aïda with a starry cast from 1967 is TildyDiva’s Favorite Verdi Performance
A well-known Met Aïda with a starry cast from 1967 is TildyDiva’s Favorite Verdi Performance
The Talk of the Town
A favorite Verdi performance from Arrigo
A favorite Verdi performance from Arrigo
My favorite Verdi performance is Claudio Abbado Don Carlo opening of the Scala.
My favorite Verdi performance is Claudio Abbado Don Carlo opening of the Scala.
The Talk of the Town
A favorite Verdi performance from Peter Russell
A favorite Verdi performance from Peter Russell
The purely musical performance preserved here is thrilling, ratcheted to a higher intensity than the Deutsche Grammophon studio recording
The purely musical performance preserved here is thrilling, ratcheted to a higher intensity than the Deutsche Grammophon studio recording
The Talk of the Town
A favorite Verdi performance from TC
A favorite Verdi performance from TC
Victoria de los Ángeles has always been my Violetta of choice, a portrayal that never ceases to move me.
Victoria de los Ángeles has always been my Violetta of choice, a portrayal that never ceases to move me.
“Italian opera has never been more popular. It has also never been in greater need of Italian voices. No matter how good the alternatives, a home-grown voice, properly schooled, transforms the sound of Verdi. It is not just the diction or timbre. It is the tradition . . . . Nicholas Hytner’s staging … remains…
Members of the cher public (pictured) will, La Cieca hopes, be happy to hear that the annual Opening Night Chat will transpire here at parterre.com once more on September 21. Discussion of the Met’s Tosca and (more to the point) whether Margaret Juntwait will be able to corral Blythe Danner into another gabfest will begin…
Just texted to La Cieca: Am at Philharmonic dress. Her Messiaen was luminous. Far the best thing I’ve heard her do. Which is excellent, brava, you go on like this. But, La Cieca being La Cieca, you know she is going to harp on this little gem: Known as “the people’s diva,” she continues to…
Here’s an entertaining essay in which the author acts as a sort of Netflix queue algorithm for pop music fan who think they might want to dabble in the hard stuff. [Time Out New York]
A hint of what George Gagnidze‘s Scarpia may sound like. Tre sbirri…
Looks like dear Liz Smith was prescient: yes, there is now a Sarah Palin opera! [Boston Herald]
As your doyenne hinted previously, the Met just has announced that bass-baritone Juha Uusitalo “has withdrawn due to illness” from the opening night production of Tosca on September 21. George Gagnidze will perform the role of Scarpia on opening night and in further performances through October 14. Those of you who can’t be in the…
Yes, it does indeed appear that bass-baritone’s Met career has reached its finish. Could his replacement be that superstar who previously… uh, changed his mind on the deal? [That last part obviously no longer applies – LC.]
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