Will the dancing Marguerites please wait in the wings?
P.S. The old site will be back tomorrow, promise!
Recent Stories
Strange bedfellows
From the Orders Report for La Cieca’s Amazon store for October 23, 2009: And a reminder, cher public, even though La Cieca is coming to you from an alien server until tomorrow, the Little Shop of Arias is still in business.
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).
And the question is…?
“Gloria Davy, Claudia Muzio, Renata Scotto and Lynne Strow Piccolo.”
The Damnation Chat
Tonight’s chat during the season premiere of La Damnation de Faust from the Met begins at 8:15 pm. Sirius/XM RealNetworks from metopera.org
Actually, they scare me too
“…at the height of her crippling attacks of stage fright, her vocal coach had to physically push her on to the stage of the Met’s new production of The Marriage of Figaro, in which she was singing with Bryn Terfel and Cecilia Bartoli.” [Times Online]
Unitasking
If you’re wondering why the relatively inexperienced George Steel was tapped for the demanding job of hauling the New York City Opera out of the basement — instead of front-runner Francesca Zambello, well, maybe this is why: Zambello, currently in London creating a joint Royal Opera and Royal Ballet production of Tchaikovsky’s comic rarity “The […]
Don’t Flack for Me, Argentina
I’m sure you’ve all read by now about the “famous Argentine opera diva” (who, by the way, nobody has ever heard of, so she’s not famous; and she doesn’t sing opera, so she’s not an opera diva; and at the rate she’s going, she’s probably going to turn out to be from Bolivia)… but, anyway, […]
Shoot Your Shot
Maestro Wenarto shows us how Tosca should be done… as directed by that exciting Regie wunderkind Luc Bondage.
Master of her Domain
The film of that awful play Master Class will begin lensing next week in Detroit. Faye Dunaway directs and stars as Maria Callas. [Detroit Free Press] UPDATE: Edited to include this much funnier photo suggesting La Dunaway has decided to play the Audra McDonald part.
Knight und Träume
Jonas Kaufmann in his role debut(!) as Lohengrin. This is a great, great artist.
Mikes Hammered
Takeaway from this morning’s press conference unveiling the He Who Must Not Be Named Theatre at Lincoln Center: the Kellogg-era sound enhancement system has been “eliminated.” [via NYT]
A right to sing the blues
Tyne Daly will star as Maria Callas in that awful play Master Class, which La Cieca has to say strikes her as somewhat counterintutive. And while we’re on the subject, why hasn’t somebody written a play about Eileen Farrell? [theatermania.com]
Plácido Boccanegra
Selections from the dress rehearsal, Berlin, October 21, 2009. Simon Boccanegra – Plácido Domingo Maria Boccanegra (Amelia) – Anja Harteros Jacopo Fiesco – Kwangchul Youn Gabriele Adorno – Fabio Sartori [“Fabelhafte Schneider”]Conductor – Daniel Barenboim
Head Voice Pupil in Topless Aria!
Renée Fleming reveals the horrible truth of what actually happened back in 1987 (and singing Tamu-Tamu wasn’t even the worst of it), but snaps back to teach a very fine master class indeed. [NYP]
The Naming of Names
Just for the sake of everyone’s convenience, cher public, La Cieca asks you to identify yourself with your comments. You don’t need to log in to the site; just use the”Name/URL” option in “Choose an identity” section of the comments form. Again, this is a temporary measure until we get back to good old parterre.com.
Koch blocker
So, you remember Americans for Prosperity (i.e., David H. Koch, i.e., the guy the NYCO is honoring on November 5)? So, guess which issue they’re on the wrong side of this time? Health care reform? Well, yes, they’re still trying to block health care reform, but they’re multitasking, too. Now AFP is throwing some of […]
Oh, de Nil!
Olga Borodina goes on tonight in Aida at the Met, subbing for an ailing Dolora Zajick. It’s on Sirius, for those of you who feel like chatting.
Headlines La Cieca wishes she’d written
“Lafayette’s frothy delivery delights at Kennedy Center” [Washington Post]
Trahison?
Which red-ink stained opera company’s backers have made broad hints that they want a full-time director and fundraiser onboard — instead of the current General Director who can barely spare one day per week?
Provisional quarters
Welcome, cher public, to the temporary home of parterre box during our move to a new server. Please continue commenting and otherwise shmoozing here through the evening of Saturday the 24th.
Nico vs. fucking Brits
Brit crit calls Nico Muhly‘s work “slow, painful death”; Nico calls Brit crit “cunty” and makes fun of the funny way they spell stuff. Which means that the 2011 premiere of Two Boys at ENO should be great fun for all us sport fans. [The Guardian]
By La Cieca
I’ve never seen such beautiful shirts before
So, as I understand it, Don Giovanni is the Great Gatsby?