An entirely new plot element in a Shakespeare text? The story turns on a dispute between Oberon, the manipulative king of the fairies, and Tytania, his willful wife, over the guardianship of a changeling boy. Oberon badly wants that boy as his henchman. But Tytania, who has seen the brutal way her husband sometimes bullies…
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Our Own CerquettiFarrell guessed correctly, if cautiously that all those people in short pants were doing Salome. To be precise, it’s a Christopher Alden production for Saarbrücken. Next up, an opera that looks like it might be Salome , but it’s not. So what is it? (Remember, cher public, no blurting! If you have seen…
An old clip, but worth reviving: Elizabeth Vidal sings “La méditation de Thaïs.” [kml_flashembed movie=”http://www.youtube.com/v/CM2IYVN-ckY” width=”425″ height=”350″ wmode=”transparent” /]
“The acoustics are wonderful, but it may be the only opera house in the world where Rigoletto’s vows of revenge are punctuated by the raucous cries of seagulls.” [Christian Science Monitor]
“Journalist, screenwriter and producer” Patricia Zohn gives San Francisco Opera’s Traviata a quick once-over over at Huffington Post. As may be expected, there’s little of depth in the post proper: “Vi makes mincemeat out of the heart of Alfredo, the scion of a wealthy family — and then compounds the debris by actually falling in…
[This caption by Kernita Makilla replaces La Cieca’s much inferior “psst… sandbag… SANDBAG!” The photograph by Ken Howard is of Christopher Feigum as Figaro, James Westman as Beaumarchais, and Dorothy Byrne as Susanna in Opera Theatre of Saint Louis’s 2009 production of The Ghosts of Versailles by John Corigliano and William “It’s because I’m gay, isn’t…
The titian-tressed triller was born 106 years ago today in Philadelphia; appropriately, on Arch Street. Miss MacDonald is heard here in that great, great French grand opera Tsaritsa! [kml_flashembed movie=”http://www.youtube.com/v/a1rI8hcBgIw” width=”425″ height=”350″ wmode=”transparent” /]
A new study suggests that milder forms of intellectual property piracy (e.g., file sharing) seem to have no ill effects on the lively production of books, films and music. [NYT]
“I don’t see how they could not close…There is a slight chance that they can remain open, but where would the money come from?” That’s Robert W. Wilson, former New York City Opera chairman, deftly nabbing the takeaway quote from Robin Pogrebin‘s NYT analysis of what went wrong for the company. And wait until you…
Rufus Wainwright previews an aria from his opera Prima Donna: “Les feux d’artifice t’appellent: descends dans la rue!”
La Cieca isn’t sure how all this sorts out or how it relates to opera, but as she understands it, the show our JJ is working tonight at Splash Bar New York (“Dorothy Bishop: Sexy, Sassy and Starving” at 8:00 PM) leads directly into another event that involves free booze.
Meet “Opera Singer” Oksana Grigorieva. The Ukraine-born diva (seen here resting between selections during a performance of “Detskaya”) was once the girlfriend of Timothy Dalton but now is best known as “the woman behind Mel Gibson‘s billion-dollar divorce.” The Braveheart star himself produced the enceinte Grigorieva’s current single “Call My Name” (no relation to the…
What could say “Paris in the spring” more eloquently than this musical offering: Paris Théâtre des Champs-Elysées 06/14/2009 Kurt Weill : Die Dreigroschenoper Ian Bostridge (Macheath)… Oh, sorry, forget I said anything! Oh, the shark has Teeth like razors And a massive Overbite…
Just how badly does Robert Heuer want Stewart Robertson out of Florida Grand Opera? Well, so La Cieca hears, badly enough for the board to agree even in the current economy to pay Robertson his full salary for next season. This is despite the fact that the maestro resigned early this year, and has been…
This just in from the Met’s press office: “In the Met’s new staging of Offenbach’s Les Contes d’Hoffmann, Joseph Calleja will sing the title role, replacing Rolando Villazón, and Alan Held will sing the roles of the four villains, replacing René Pape.” The press release goes on to explain that Villazón plans to undergo throat…
“But perhaps the greatest delight was witnessing Richard Bonygne wielding his baton. Demonstrating a general air of ease (but levels of energy that one might have expected from someone fifty years his junior) …” [MusicOMH]
La Cieca is fully aware that Anna Netrebko is a dress size or two bigger now than she was a couple of years ago. And yet, there is no excuse, no excuse I tell you, to transform the young courtesan Violetta Valery into the middle-aged dowager Mrs. Claypool. Now, La Cieca has a couple of…
Yuriy Mynenko represents Ukraine in the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competion — though probably not with this particular selection!
First reports indicate major personal successes for Anna Netrebko and Charles Castronovo in last night’s Traviata at San Francisco Opera.
Well guessed, cher public! Last week’s puzzler was indeed Der Freischütz in the Robert Wilson production designed by Viktor & Rolf “with the use of over one million Swarovski crystals.”
The great mezzo-soprano and advocate for the arts is 96 today! [kml_flashembed movie=”http://www.youtube.com/v/pCYHALudt1k” width=”425″ height=”350″ wmode=”transparent” /] (The video above is taken from one of Miss Stevens’ occasional appearances with The Wednesday Afternoon Fine Arts League under the auspices of Mrs. Ricky Ricardo.)
Your doyenne makes fun of Jessye Norman from time to time here at parterre.com, because we love her, you know. So it is with particular delight that La Cieca wishes La Jess “toi toi toi” on her Broadway debut in the hit musical Rock of Ages.
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