Just when La Cieca thought she would never get another chance to use the “popera” and “turbans” tags in the same post, she found this clip!
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 is delighted to note that her old, old, old friend Charlie Handelman has picked up the podcasting microphone again after a hiatus earlier this winter. Recent episodes of The Handelmania Podcast include surveys of recordings of Ernani and Lohengrin recordings and tributes to Claudia Muzio, Caterina Mancini and Leopold Stokowski. And don’t miss…
So La Cieca thinks it’s time to declare this officially: Kiri te Kanawa has become a mean old bat. The downbeat diva, most recently in the headlines for her controversial anti-panty policy, has gone and dished Hayley Westenra, who apparently is a New Zealand popera singer. (Well, to be perfectly fair, “apparently” isn’t so accurate…
From the Met’s website:
The solution to the “D’amor al dolce impero” quiz … Maria Callas Renata Scotto Katia Ricciarrelli Christina Deutekom Adelaide Negri Renee Fleming Jennifer Larmore Christine Weidinger Nelly Miricioiu Maja Tabatadze Cecilia Gasdia Montserrat Caballe
Faust (Gounod) Acts 4 and 5 Since our this podcast completes our series of Faust episodes, La Cieca needs to decide which work should be featured next on “Unnatural Acts of Opera.” Your doyenne has narrowed the selection down to five works of maestro Rossini, and now it’s up to you, cher public, to tell…
When the weather outside is described as “wintry mix,” La Cieca’s thoughts stay inside, where it’s cozy and warm. Which doesn’t exactly explain why she’s posting this video of a pre-Il Divo David Miller in Rigoletto, but, then, does one really need a reason? [kml_flashembed movie=”http://youtube.com/v/8HCeAMm8Vx4″ width=”425″ height=”350″ wmode=”transparent” /]
Deborah Voigt has officially “postponed” her role debut (“ihr Rollendebüt zu verschieben”) as Brünnhilde in Siegfried, originally scheduled for April of this year at the Vienna State Opera. Serving as Aufspringerin Einspringerin will be Nina Stemme. Frau Voigt returns to Vienna in November 2008 as Salome and joins the company on their Japangastspiel for Fidelio.
In a collaboration that La Cieca is delighted to describe as a “tête-à -tête-de-peau,” musical director Enrique Mazzola and director Calixto Bieito rehearse Der Fliegende Holländer for Stuttgart.
Your doyenne is always diffident about asking you for financial aid, cher public, but recently a few of you inquired how you can help out. It’s easy, actually: using PayPal, you can donate as much (or as little) as you choose (or do not choose) using any major credit card. (For more information on PayPal…
La Cieca is the last one to contradict the libretto of Manon Lescaut, but she believes that the Louisiana is no desert — at least where exciting young singers are concerned. Here’s New Orleans native Bryan Hymel, whose singing is both Big and Easy!
It is La Cieca’s sad duty to publish the following example of “This Diva Looks Like That Diva.”
As a followup to Karita Mattila‘s banana-themed halftime show during Manon Lescaut, La Cieca salutes bass-baritone Paul Whelan. The Armani-clad singer credits a favorite potassium-rich fruit (sometimes called “nature’s amphetamine”) for his well-publicized “rescue” of the English National Opera’s recent Lucy of the Lammermoors (or whatever it is they call it in English). Of course,…
A reader sends this screenshot from his amazon.com account:
UPDATE: We have a winner! Francesco guesses all 12 divas correctly at 2:09 AM today, narrowly defeating Pedro, who achieved another perfect score only three hours later. Congratulations to both gentlemen. The rest of you may continue to play just for fun, and La Cieca will post the solution to the quiz on Friday. The…
La Cieca has just heard that Nancy Fabiola Herrera will sing the title role of Carmen tonight at the Met, replacing the ailing Olga Borodina.
La Cieca is happy to report that you, cher public, have made the Amazon Associates Program a rousing success, generating considerable income for the improvement and expansion of parterre.com. Over the past four months, you have purchased literally hundreds of items, of which the most popular can be seen right after the jump:
In contrast to some of our former Regie subjects, this production certainly appears to be set realistically in period. So it should be child’s play for you, cher public, to name the opera. (As always, if you know this production, hold your tongue while others guess!)
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No doubt about it, Stephanie Blythe needs to get another picture taken for the New York Times. (It was unflattering enough the first time around.) On the other hand, it’s nice to have a general manager who says things like “I worship the ground Stephanie Blythe walks on,” and (ever adept at providing a mini-scoop)…
On February 9, Eva Marton joined the very select sorority of sopranos who have sung all three leading female roles in Elektra when she made her role debut as Klytämnestra at Liceu in Barcelona. (Come to think of it, there are only two other members of that club, Dame Gwyneth Jones and Leonie Rysanek!) La…
Well, it says so right there on Page Six, you know it must be true: Michael Stipe injures his leg in a go-carting accident, The Duchess of York is accused of destroying the Brazilian coastline, and THE hipster intelligentsia flocked to Brooklyn Tuesday night to catch Patrick Stewart in Macbeth at BAM’s opening gala. Mikhail…
The author, now viewed as an early feminist, based the plot on her own difficult experience with postpartum depression, which was then diagnosed as a nervous disorder curable only by a long period of bed rest, over-feeding and withdrawal from the world of family and friends. The character in the opera ends up going mad…
Here’s an amusing soupcon from the Bay Area Reporter (where the late lamented Tiger Hashimoto once held sway). In his “Out There” column, Roberto Friedman rips the lid off a mini-scandal at the GayVN Awards. Apparently the nominating committee for this group honoring excellence in the gay porn industry were not listening with their “soul…
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.