Next week, you, mon cher public, along with the rest of le tout New York will of course attend Madame Vera Galupe-Borszkh‘s 20th Annual Farewell Recital at Symphony Space. In preparation for this epochal event, La Cieca hopes you will listen to her interview with Mme. Vera’s alter ego, Ira Siff, on Unnatural Acts of […]
Some sudden cast changes may be in store among the Met’s low-voiced singers. Is Dimitri Kavrakos about to jump into Padre Guardiano’s sandals, replacing Vitalij Kowaljow? And what about Philip Ens — he’s in town for Luisa Miller, but is he going to make a surprise appearance in Fidelio as well?
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).
Do any of you out there ever wonder exactly what it is an “Artistic Administrator” does?
It looks like the NYCO is going to one-up Gelb’s Met by nabbing Kristin Chenoweth first. The Broadway divette is in talks to star as Mabel in The Pirates of Penzance for a 16-performance stint at the State Theater in March 2007.
On dit that America’s leading verista, Aprile Millo, will sing her first Manon Lescaut in the fall of 2006. La Cieca is not at liberty to divulge the venue, other than to say that it will not be in New York City. Rumor has it that the process of replacing James Levine as conductor for […]
According to an article in the New York Times, James Levine will cancel all his remaining Met performances this season, including a tour to Japan. He is scheduled to have surgery to repair and injured rotator cuff on March 20. House management is currently scrambling to find replacements for Levine’s characteristically heavy workload: preparation of […]
Unnatural Acts of Opera presents a tribute to soprano Anna Moffo, who died Thursday night.
Tenor troubles continue: Neil Shicoff is out of the Monday prima of the Met’s Luisa Miller. As at the dress rehearsal, Eduardo Villa will jump in. Veronica Villaroel has of course replaced Barbara Frittoli for most of the run; however, the final two performances still list the ubiquitous TBA in the role of Luisa. La […]
La Cieca has just heard that Neil Shicoff has canceled the dress rehearsal of Luisa Miller at the Met; Eduardo Villa (cover for the run) will do it. And La Cieca has heard further that Sergio Blazquez, scheduled to make his NYCO debut in La boheme in April, is having visa problems, so Gerard Powers […]
Our editor JJ‘s article introducing La traviata is now available on the New York City Opera’s website. La Cieca is so cheered by this good news that she can, for the moment, refrain from ranting at length about the de-retirement of the egregious Dr. Miller, whose production of L’elisir d’amore will rear its ugly head […]
So here we are at the final act of Giordano’s Fedora, and all those nasty little secrets everyone’s been telling throughout the opera are about to be exposed! Marcella Pobbe stars as the mysterious Princess Fedora Romazoff in a performance from the Teatro La Fenice, February 9, 1968. And as a bonus, YouTube video of […]
A rather startling followup headline in the New York Times today: And is La Cieca the only one who was puzzled by the blurb for Luisa Miller in the Met’s Sunday Times ad? The cast for opening night is listed as Barbara Frittoli, Irina Mishura, Neil Shicoff, Carlos Alvarez, James Morris and Phillip Ens. But […]
Mezzo-turned-soprano Violeta Urmana will sing her first Norma later this month. She will take on the Bellini heroine in concert form at Dresden’s Semper Oper beginning March 30, according to an article on Playbillarts.com. The good news from Boston is that James Levine “didn’t break anything” when he fell off the stage after a performance […]
Which still-active soprano has not only begun teaching, but has quickly moved on to the next rung of the pedagological ladder, i.e., interstudio politics? It seems our heroine was invited to a student performance, only to find the teacher of the student in question also in attendance! Air was kissed for public consumption, but once […]
La Cieca hears that Audra McDonald will sing the role of Kitty Oppenheimer when the Met presents John Adams‘ Dr. Atomic in the 2008-2009 season. La McDonald, it will be remembered, premiered Kitty’s aria “Easter Eve, 1945” in May 2004 with the New York Philharmonic under Adams’ baton. The versatile songstress is currently in Houston […]
Broadway diva Kristin Chenoweth sang for the Met Thursday in a “closed” audition. Does that mean she was behind a screen like the NY Phil does it? Rumor has it La Cheno is up for Samira (the Marilyn Horne role) the revival of Ghosts of Versailles in 2245 or whenever it is. La Cieca thinks, […]
Actress/model/skank Carmen Electra will live up to her dual-barrelled operatic name tonight when she attends the Vienna Opera Ball. Curvy Carmen is the date of Viennese entrepreneur/socialite/reality show star Richard Lugner, who annually throws money at a celebrated piece of arm candy in hopes of attracting publicity. La Electra (oh, La Cieca thinks that is […]
In an article in the LA Times focused mainly on Placido Domingo‘s renewal of his contract as general director of Los Angeles Opera, the tenor blames his current bout of tracheitis on his participation in Robert Wilson‘s production of Parsifal last fall. Domingo has already nixed his participation in a Wilson Walkuere skedded for Paris […]
According to Gay City News, our editor JJ loved Angela Gheorghiu‘s Violetta, and he was more than a little enthused about Herr Jonas Kaufmann. Le public have spoken, and they want their video to stream quickly and reliably. So save this bookmark and visit frequently: it’s the parterre box page at Google Video. Here’s a […]
So now Google offers a video sharing service too — a little more trouble to upload, but the playback seems to be somewhat smoother than YouTube. This is a Google video; let La Cieca know what you think.
This week on “Unnatural Acts of Opera,” La Cieca presents what you might call an “ultragala” performance of La traviata — the four acts performed by four different celebrated interpreters of the role of Violetta. For the first act, Anna Moffo is the courtesan, in a 1964 performance from La Scala. Gianni Raimondi is her […]
The performance of Angela Gheorghiu as Violetta has attracted the attention of another Violetta of the present (Anna Netrebko), who will likely be a future interpreter of the role here in New York. And at least one Violetta of a past generation is expected to pay a courtesy call: Virginia Zeani has accepted an invitation […]
Mike Richter is at it again, this time producing some very polished DVD presentations of operatic productions that are not available commerically. At only $15 a disc, Image Mogul is practically giving them away. Here’s a clip from one of the more mainstream offerings, a 1978 Don Carlo from La Scala with Placido Domingo and […]
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