To the Met this evening, where Željko Lučić jumps in as Rigoletto opposite Diana Damrau and Joseph Calleja.

on April 17, 2009 at 3:33 PM

She maintains her gloriosity even in a monosyllabic state!

on April 16, 2009 at 10:44 PM

La Cieca has just heard that Stephen Costello is the 2009 Richard Tucker Award Winner.

on April 15, 2009 at 10:13 PM

[Replaces “Mizrahi eliminated in Project Runway shocker!”]

on April 15, 2009 at 4:00 PM

Nicole Cabell sings Adina at the Met tonight, replacing Angela Gheorghiu. (Those of you keeping score at home will note that of the quartet of singers originally announced for this performance, only Franco Vassallo remains.)

on April 15, 2009 at 12:08 PM

IMG Artists Chairman Barrett Wissman has pleaded guilty to securities fraud, according to today’s New York Times. Wissman purchased IMG Artists from IMG in 2003 for $7.5 million. IMG Artists’ list of international clients has included Itzhak Perlman, Hilary Hahn, Joshua Bell, Renée Fleming, Thomas Hampson, James Galway, KODO, Evgeny Kissin, Lang Lang, Murray Perahia, Antonio…

on April 15, 2009 at 11:44 AM

Pavol Breslik sings an aria from Idomeneo.

on April 15, 2009 at 9:00 AM

Our Own JJ reviews Don GIovanni in the New York Post.

on April 15, 2009 at 8:13 AM

Dolora Zajick will sing the role of Azucena in the Met’s Il Trovatore on April 21, 25, 29, and May 2, replacing Luciana D’Intino who is ill. Mzia Nioradze will sign the final performance on May 8.

on April 14, 2009 at 12:22 PM

The world’s newest cult diva returns! Amira Kamel, first Egyptian ever to sing Aida (it says so on YouTube and so it must be true!) adopts for her “barbaric” drag not only the coiffure, maquillage and plastique of legendary Vera Galupe-Borszkh, but seem to have borrowed one of La Dementia’s caftans as well! [kml_flashembed movie=”http://www.youtube.com/v/zl51vG-a1F8″…

on April 13, 2009 at 3:14 PM

Why did Mary Dunleavy spend most of her day Saturday at the Met rehearsing and having a costume fitting for L’elsir d’amore? Is Angela Gheorghiu sick? Is Nicole Cabell sick? Is AG about to walk out of a performance or two because of the recent tenor switcheroo? Is NC fired?

on April 13, 2009 at 8:04 AM

[kml_flashembed movie=”http://www.youtube.com/v/4yi5PBCDdjI” width=”425″ height=”350″ wmode=”transparent” /] “Norma vista dal suggeritore” is one of several brilliant videos on the YouTube channel lucavi58.

on April 12, 2009 at 9:49 PM

New Kid on the Plaza Drammy writes: April 9, 2009. A traditional Otto Schenk production featuring Diana Damrau as Gilda and who cares but.. Frizza conducting, Viktoria Vizin as Maddalena, Calleja as the Duke, Frontali as Rigoletto, Aceto as Sparafucile. Stellar performances from the entire cast, excepting poor Mr Frontali. The set was phenomenal –…

on April 12, 2009 at 11:22 AM

Grace Moore and Cary Grant swing it in this scene from When You’re in Love (1937).

on April 11, 2009 at 7:23 PM

Bryn Terfel recently showed up at a concert “with only minutes before he was due on stage” only to realize he wasn’t wearing any pants. [via Telegraph]

on April 11, 2009 at 1:08 PM

The Met broadcasts Wagner’s Die Walküre this afternoon, featuring Iréne Theorin‘s Brünnhilde. Discuss. Listen at noon EDT on Sirius, RealNetworks or on the Metropolitan Opera International Broadcast network. (More streaming radio stations may be found at operacast.com.) Online you will also find the libretto and a vocal score to this music drama.

on April 11, 2009 at 11:53 AM

Though La Cieca will not go as far as Mary Garden (who once proclaimed, “Whenever Parsifal is performed, it is Good Friday!”) she does have a soft spot in her heart for Wagner’s final work and its message of compassion and reconciliation. And so, on this Good Friday evening, here is an aircheck of a…

on April 10, 2009 at 6:28 PM

For those Ringheads among you who just can’t get enough Tetraology, here’s a complete traversal of Fritz Lang’s film Die Nibelungen: Siegfried. Since it’s a silent film, it’s suitable for furtive watching while at work. However, if you turn the sound up, you’ll note quite an attractive soundtrack score by Gottfried Huppertz composed for the…

on April 10, 2009 at 11:09 AM
plus j’observe ces lieux, et plus je les admire plus j’observe ces lieux, et plus je les admire

La Cieca admits she’s a little late to the table with this one, but here’s a German TV report on the all-new, all-nude Calixto Bieito production of Gluck’s Armide, currently playing at the Komische Oper. [NSFW, and how rarely La Cieca gets to say that!] [kml_flashembed movie=”http://tr.youtube.com/v/LINaWb2eiEo” width=”425″ height=”350″ wmode=”transparent” /]

on April 09, 2009 at 4:05 PM

La Cieca hears that the Man of Steel‘s spring 2010 season will go something like this: 

on April 09, 2009 at 11:31 AM

A layout (in the very nearly literal sense of the term) of “seven international opera stars who are putting to rest the ‘fat lady sings’ cliché” graces the current issue of Vanity Fair. Since nobody actually reads this magazine, La Cieca will link to the photo of the The Low BMI Septet. Click to embiggen

on April 08, 2009 at 10:53 PM

Dimitri Pittas will sing Nemorino at the Met on April 11, 15, and 18.

on April 08, 2009 at 11:54 AM

As you all know by now, Rolando Villazón is out of the rest of the performances of L’elisir at the Met. The Met press office held on to this news until after 7:00 tonight, which is perhaps some indication of just how bad the Met considers this news to be. This is what La Cieca…

on April 07, 2009 at 11:05 PM

[kml_flashembed movie=”http://www.youtube.com/v/26lm82M7L2Q” width=”425″ height=”350″ wmode=”transparent” /] From The Great Waltz (1938), one of Renée Fleming‘s favorite films!

on April 07, 2009 at 5:00 PM