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La Cieca’s trying a new look for parterre.com, since she must confess that the light-on-dark format was beginning to get a little wearing on her aging eyes. Comments? Suggestions?
Cher public, La Cieca entreats you all to bear with her in these next few days as she tries to figure out what the hell is going wrong with WordPress and causing the site to be suspended every couple of days. In the meantime, some of the features (such as the “recent comments” section in…
[kml_flashembed movie=”http://www.youtube.com/v/HaL0jnNgm4E” width=”425″ height=”350″ wmode=”transparent” /] That goddess among divas, Madame Vera Galupe-Borszkh, indulges a whim (as divas have been known to do) and returns to grace the stage next week at Symphony Space. Those of you incapable of the hike up to 95th Street may take comfort in the DVD Vera: Life of a…
“Miss Susan Alexander, a pretty but hopelessly incompetent amateur, last night opened the new Chicago Opera House in a performance of… (I still can’t pronounce that name, Mr. Kane.) Her singing, happily, is no concern of this department. Of her acting, it is absolutely impossible to say anything except that it represents a new low,…
A little housekeeping on this lovely spring morning, cher public. Starting today, commenters will be required to log in to the site. Most of you are already signed up and logged in as it is, so this new condition will mostly apply to new visitors to parterre.com. The login will be helpful to La Cieca…
La Cieca usually goes pea-green with envy when some other opera blogress launches a successful promotion, but in this case she’s going to make an exception because this story has the happiest ending imaginable. As detailed by Anne Midgette today in the Washington Post, Priscilla Barrow, who has taught music in public schools for over…
La Cieca just listened to this new recording of Alcina starring Joyce DiDonato and Maite Beaumont. She’s not going to speak up immediately about her reactions, but will open the floor to discussion. (If you can’t see the amazon mp3 player above, please click here.)
Anna Netrebko was not pregnant as of this morning, according to Jeffrey D. Vanderveen, managing director of Universal Music Classical Artists Management, who broke the non-news to Opera Chic. La Cieca will continue to keep you updated on the state of the soprano’s gravidity as the situation develops.
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.
Peter Mattei in Le nozze di Figaro. (La Cieca thinks the production is pretty cool too.) [kml_flashembed movie=”http://www.youtube.com/v/rjEipadAxew” width=”425″ height=”350″ wmode=”transparent” /]
Earlier today Opera Chic reported on a still fairly vague rumor that Anna Netrebko is pregnant again. Here in New York the information is also pretty vague, but La Cieca has heard that Erwin Schrott (currently in Naples) is spilling spilled beans as proud papas will do. Whispers in New York indicate that the Met…
Too clever by half you are, méchant public: our most recent quiz revealed itself to you as Lohengrin far sooner than La Cieca had hoped. So, this week, something with a bit more visual flair:
La Cieca warns you, music writers, she is going to giggle like a madwoman you begin your article with the line “We owe Chicago Opera Theater tremendous thanks for dragging the smaller operas of Benjamin Britten out of the closet…” [Chicago Tribune]
This is why the YouTube was invented. Hell, this is why the universe was invented. [kml_flashembed movie=”http://www.youtube.com/v/CgSib1LVZHQ” width=”425″ height=”350″ wmode=”transparent” /]
In honor of her one-third of a century, La Cieca has at long last returned to the Sunnyside Studios to record not one but two episodes of Unnatural Acts of Opera. Finally, cher public, you can hear the last two acts of a legendary performance of Jenufa from Opera Orchestra of New York, on March…
La Cieca was born exactly 33 years ago today.
Vesselina Kasarova is dipping her oar into dramatic mezzo waters, and, well, it’s not exactly smooth sailing. (Thanks, tamerlano, for unearthing this clip!) [kml_flashembed movie=”http://www.youtube.com/v/rF1lnvkrRFY” width=”425″ height=”350″ wmode=”transparent” /]
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.
“Renee Fleming, 50, allegedly snatched a MasterCard from the victim’s pocketbook in the Green Café on West 57th Street near Sixth Avenue at 2 p.m. on April 15.” [via NY Post; thanks to williams!] UPDATE: According to an email from Mary Lou Falcone (RF’s publicist), it’s a different, non-operatic Renee Fleming the Post was talking…
Congratulations to Stephen Llewellyn, grand prize winner of The Omniscient Mussel‘s #operaplot competition, as adjudicated by Danielle De Niese. Stephen’s plot synopsis read: There was a young lady called Fricka Who…who…*snore* “Wake up – it’s over.” It’s good, I just wish it were quicka. La Cieca is particularly impressed with Stephen’s brevity: in fact, at…
Meanwhile, in Zürich, Vesselina Kasarova stars in The Alessandra Marc Story. And in other “this diva/that diva” news, Tyne Daly is now doing a one-woman show on the life of Eileen Farrell.
It’s been rumored, but you know how La Cieca feels about rumors. Anyway, here’s some solid proof that Joseph Calleja has been engaged for the Met’s new production of Les Contes d’Hoffmann set for a December 3, 2009 opening.
One reason why (in La Cieca’s opinion) the Met’s Ring was long overdue for replacement. [kml_flashembed movie=”http://www.youtube.com/v/ZbGw3A9Dg-Q” width=”425″ height=”350″ wmode=”transparent” /]
La Cieca received this letter yesterday. If you have reviews, opinion pieces, appreciations, or (as in this case) a Letter to the Doyenne, please email to [email protected]. Saving New York City Opera?
Belated birthday greetings to Giulietta Simionato, still going strong at 99. The following video is from 1964, only two years before her retirement — after a career spanning almost four decades.
In what must be regarded as the season’s most startling volte-face, next month the New York City Opera will perform opera. As part of the River to River Festival, the company will present a tab version of The Magic Flute, Massenet’s La Navarraise and a concert of the usual pops stuff. Performances June 25-27 will…
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