Living the part Living the part

Diana Soviero chats with Roger Pines about six decades of performing, four decades of teaching, and how she’s handing the tradition off to the next generation.

American beauty American beauty

It’s surprising to read that, as of this writing, La fanciulla del west has only had 105 performances at the Metropolitan Opera.

Golden ‘Girls’ season finale Golden ‘Girls’ season finale

The conclusion of our Fanciulla del West video overview in three parts looks at a trio of performances from the 2010s.

Safe passage Safe passage

A Met HD cinema broadcast of Puccini’s Tosca on Saturday, 27 January, concluded the first run of a production marked by upheaval in the ten months between its announcement and its New Year’s Eve premiere.

Doge days Doge days

That Placido Domingo and James Levine, the Met’s inexorable septuagenarians, would team up yet again—on April Fools’ Day, no less—for a revival of Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra occasioned an uncomfortable degree of doubt and dread.

Roma holiday Roma holiday

Manuel de Falla’s La Vida Breve makes its video debut with this release from C-Major which means there’s still plenty of opportunities for improvement.

what to say about caballe?

[La Cieca’s old, old, old friend Camille attended Montserrat Caballe‘s Valentine’s Day duo recital earlier this month. Her reactions — which she admits it took her some days to sort out in her mind — follow.] After some reflection and reviewing Caballe’s Orange Festival Norma, once again, I can merely pipe up with my opinion…

Tough guy

Joseph Volpe‘s memoir The Toughest Show on Earth (see, La Cieca can get the title right when she wants too) is a book about a working-class kid from Queens who wanted to be Rudolf Bing when he grew up. Or, rather, it’s about a stage carpenter who was bright enough and ambitious enough to do…