Roberto Alagna sings “Celeste Aida” December 7, 2006 at La Scala. And for those of you who are interested, here’s how the Antonello “Fleet of Foot” Palombi sang the aria in 1998.
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.
There’s video of “Il momento dell’abbandono di Alagna e la precipitosa entrata di Palombi in jeans.”
It just gets better and better. Now Opera Chic reports that Roberto Alagna is threatening to (counter)sue La Scala, citing a hostile work environment. And yet, he has announced he intends to sing Thursday night’s performance, even though the Scala management has already announced a substitute singer. More tales of anonymous phone calls, threats, showdowns…
At left, Astrid Varnay as Ortrud in Lohengrin; at right, Joan Crawford as Nurse Lucretia Terry in The Caretakers.
Your correspondent is back in town just in time to report that Roberto Alagna walked out of tonight’s performance of Aida at La Scala when his rendition of “Celeste Aida” was greeted by “qualche fischio” among the polite applause. The Corriere della Sera reports that Antonello Palombi was rushed onto the stage in “black jeans…
La Cieca is off for a week in sunny Florida; she’ll be back on December 10 tanned, rested and ready to dish the dirt. Feel free to comment on any current threads, enjoy the podcasts, and if you hear of anything universe-shattering (e.g., Renee’s Trovatore), email La Cieca and she’ll get around to it as…
La Cieca has just heard that Juan Diego Flórez has canceled tonight’s Carnegie Hall recital: tracheitis.
You’ve got to hand it to lovely Lucine Amara. First she gets cast in the Encore! production of Follies, and now she even has her own infomercial!
That popular and versatile artist TBA will enjoy a busy December at the Met alternating the roles of Mimi and Musetta in La boheme. La Cieca wonders if Cristina Gallardo-Domâs is “indisposed” with the same “health” “problems” that beset Susannah Glanville. Anyway, G-D is out of the rest of 2006, though she’s still on the…
La Cieca has been informed that there’s an emergency meeting called this afternoon at the Met on the subject of, well, let’s just say, “The Emperor’s New Clothes.” Let’s hope staffers are able to clear the air!
Perhaps you’ve been wondering why James Levine has taken over the final two performances of this season’s Madama Butterfly at the Met. Could it be that Asher Fisch has fallen ill? Well, no, Maestro Fisch is just fine, thank you. In fact, La Cieca hears that Levine has returned so that these two performances can…
From the mailbag: Dear La Cieca, First of all, you are fab. [Several paragraphs of fulsome praise snipped.] But that’s beside the point. I just noticed that the Met has published more details on their upcoming HD broadcasts. Unfortunately, at least as far as Ontario is located, they did an abominable job in choosing their…
You all remember that new Norma slated for Zurich with Renaaay (and Marcello Giordani, by the way)? Well, La Cieca hears that talks are already in progress to import the show (complete with The Beautiful Druidess) to the Met. The good news is that we’ll see the retirement of the “Ping-pong Table Norma” last glimpsed…
New York fans of puppylicious tenor Juan Diego Flórez will be happy to hear that he will be a fixture at the Met the next few seasons. Next year he stars in a new production of La Fille du regiment opposite his Barbiere prima donna, Diana Damrau. In 2008-2009, he headlines the first Met performances…
The infamous X-rated telephone calls from Fox News blowhard Bill O’Reilly to his producer Andrea Mackris are now arias in a decidedly secular oratorio by composer Igor Keller. According to the gossip site radar.com, Keller has set court documents relating to Mackris’s sexual harassment lawsuit against O’Reilly as “seven chorales, four recitatives, and numerous arias.”…
La Cieca has just heard that impeccable Ira Siff will return to the Met Sirius broadcast tonight for the second intermission of Tosca. Listen and learn!
La Cieca must be brief as she is on jury duty (can you imagine, La Cieca being asked to pass judgment?) Anyway. Highlight of the Tucker Gala was definitely Marcello Giordani, who was in absolutely ideal voice for the “Improvviso,” and only slightly nervous for the “Vicino a te.” (He sharped on the very final…
What’s happening next week on Sirius. Monday, November 13, 2006 6:00 AM Offenbach: Les Contes D’Hoffmann. 12/3/55 Monteux; Tucker, Peters, Stevens, Amara 9:00 AM Donizetti: Don Pasquale. 4/15/06 Benini; Florez, Netrebko, Alaimo, Kwiecien 12:00 PM Mascagni/Leoncavallo: Cavalleria Rusticana/I Pagliacci. 4/11/1964 Santi; Farrell, Miller, Tucker, Bardelli / Amara, Corelli, Colzani, Marsh, Ghitti 3:00 PM Wagner: Tannhauser.…
Quello, as a matter of fact, because Marcello Giordani is going on tonight as the Duke in Rigoletto at the Met, jumping in for Joseph Calleja. It’s on Sirius, of course.
According to the Sydney Morning Herald, “The male toilets of Australia’s most famous landmark, the Sydney Opera House, has been listed among hot spots for a hook up point for men cruising sex with other men.” Jane Eaglen is going to teach young people how to sing. “By the time her stepfather Herodes starts sucking…
Salvatore Licitra, who took a nasty spill Tuesday night on the way to a promo event for his new CD, will sing go on and Canio tonight at the Met. The tenor reportedly tore a couple of tendons in his shoulder and will have to wear a sling during Pagliacci. Some of the staging will…
Fifty parterre box livechatters agree: the first RealNetworks Met Opera streaming broadcast was a sensational success! Listeners compared notes last night during the performance of Rigoletto, a number of them doing an A/B comparison between the Real stream and the Sirius stream. The consensus was that the Real stream offered excellent fidelity and depth of…
“There is a noise inside the tabago factory and the revolting cigar-makeress bursts into the stage,” reads the classic fractured English synopsis of Carmen. Now a Korea-based English-language site steps up to the plate with a season preview fetchingly entitled “Glamorous Opera and Moist Aria.” Some highlights: The set of the Roman Theater that reproduce…
Beginning tomorrow night with the season premiere of Rigoletto, the Met will offer weekly free (yes, that’s right, free) streaming broadcasts of opera performances over their website, metopera.org. Further broadcasts through the end of the year will include: Rigoletto (Siurina, Calleja, Pons) Wednesday October 25 Cavalleria Rusticana/Pagliacci (Guleghina, Racette, Licitra) Monday, October 30 Il Barbiere…
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.
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.