She maintains her gloriosity even in a monosyllabic state!
STEMdiva status
Ahead of a special boozy, bawdy Valentine’s Day concert, artistic director of Opera Lafayette Patrick Quigley speaks with soprano Maya Kherani about her journey from MIT to rising American Baroque star.
La Cieca has just heard that Stephen Costello is the 2009 Richard Tucker Award Winner.
[Replaces “Mizrahi eliminated in Project Runway shocker!”]
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.)
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…
Pavol Breslik sings an aria from Idomeneo.
Our Own JJ reviews Don GIovanni in the New York Post.
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.
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″…
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?
[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.
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 –…
Grace Moore and Cary Grant swing it in this scene from When You’re in Love (1937).
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]
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.
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…
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…
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” /]
La Cieca hears that the Man of Steel‘s spring 2010 season will go something like this:Â
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
Dimitri Pittas will sing Nemorino at the Met on April 11, 15, and 18.
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…
[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!
Achim Freyer‘s concept for the Wälsung twins in his LA Ring looks oddly familiar. Or is that Frank Gorshin doing his celebrated impression of Placido Domingo?
Tell us: What was the best of 2025?
Parterre Box concludes the thrilling first year of Talk of the Town by inviting your lightning rod opinions on several more categories of operatic argumentation.
A Baroque Valentine’s with Opera Lafayette | Feb | DC & NYC
Celebrate love in all its guises with tender ballads, amorous duets, cheeky verses, and bawdy drinking songs plus food, cocktails and wine.