In an article in the LA Times focused mainly on Placido Domingo‘s renewal of his contract as general director of Los Angeles Opera, the tenor blames his current bout of tracheitis on his participation in Robert Wilson‘s production of Parsifal last fall. Domingo has already nixed his participation in a Wilson Walkuere skedded for Paris…
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.
According to Gay City News, our editor JJ loved Angela Gheorghiu‘s Violetta, and he was more than a little enthused about Herr Jonas Kaufmann. Le public have spoken, and they want their video to stream quickly and reliably. So save this bookmark and visit frequently: it’s the parterre box page at Google Video. Here’s a…
So now Google offers a video sharing service too — a little more trouble to upload, but the playback seems to be somewhat smoother than YouTube. This is a Google video; let La Cieca know what you think.
This week on “Unnatural Acts of Opera,” La Cieca presents what you might call an “ultragala” performance of La traviata — the four acts performed by four different celebrated interpreters of the role of Violetta. For the first act, Anna Moffo is the courtesan, in a 1964 performance from La Scala. Gianni Raimondi is her…
La Cieca’s faithful spy L’incredibile reports from the Met’s Samson prova that Clifton Forbis is “the most committed artist in this role since Jon Vickers,” up to and including singing the Act 1 B-flat full out over the chorus. (“Quite a contrast to Jose Cura‘s attitude.”) It doesn’t hurt, L’inc adds, that Forbis boasts “Popeye…
La Cieca hears that last night at the Met (i.e, only a few hours after Angela Gheorghiu‘s dress rehearsal) ushers were handing out complimentary copies of a DVD of La traviata. Starring Anna Netrebko. On a less ominous note, Unnatural Acts of Opera presents Beverly Sills at her most scintillating in a 1970 performance of…
In her never-ceasing quest to give you, the reader, what you want and need, La Cieca has restored the “Google Search” function on parterre.com. With this handy gizmo you can search the entire (blog and non-blog) parterre.com site, or, years from now when you’ve learned all you can learn from La Cieca, you can also…
La Cieca hears that one of our most popular and beloved mezzo-sopranos is going to drop the “mezzo” part and push up into a higher Fach. Wouldn’t it be a tragedy if this American artist were to show such poor judgment? A quick look-in at Academy Records this evening revealed a tantalizing assortment of CDs…
La Cieca is just so excited about the new youtube capability that she wants you, cher public, to get in on the act. Do you have a favorite operatic video clip you would like to share with the world (well, with the readers of parterre.com, which amounts to everyone in the world that matters)? Just…
According to playbillarts.com, Deborah Voigt will appear on 60 Minutes this Sunday to discuss weight loss, career and such. UPDATE: the 60 Minutes piece is now online.
“Pampered” Australian sheep who listen to opera have (once again!) produced the world’s finest wool. Rumors from Salzburg suggest the parting of the ways with Renee Fleming was not so amicable as we are led to believe: the word La Cieca keeps hearing is “Scheissdosende.” (Well, actually, she just invented that word, but it sums…
According to playbill.com, Cecilia Bartoli is replacing Renée Fleming in Salzburg’s all-star concert celebrating the 250th anniversary of Mozart’s birth on January 27. It seems Renaaay demurred from singing the concert aria “Ch’io mi scordi di te” for “vocal reasons.” (Good to hear it wasn’t because she had objections to the text or anything.) Bartoli…
La Cieca can’t, at this stage, direct her questions to the source of this item, but at least one Met insider at the Met is whispering that Placido Domingo will cancel some (if not all) of his performances in Alfano’s Cyrano de Bergerac beginning Thursday. UPDATE: The cover (who sang the closed dress rehearsal on…
Stephen Costello is ear-candy too: here he is singing “Torna ai felici di” from Puccini’s Le villi. Care to hear him sing the whole opera? Then tune in on Sunday, January 29 to a webcast from wrti.org featuring The Academy of Vocal Arts’ production of Le villi as the second half of a double bill.…
Fanny Brice burlesques an operatic diva. [kml_flashembed movie=”http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docid=-4886971964734781240″ width=”400″ height=”326″ wmode=”transparent” /]
“Her quirky personality shines through once she gets to know you . . . . In the home, she is very sweet and quite affectionate, however she is not clingy or needy for your undivided attention at all times . . . . She’s not a hyper or noisy girl, but she has a wealth…
… that a certain baton-wielder is currently modeling jewelry from the Martha Stewart collection.
As a supplement to this week’s podcast of Faust, a video of Alfredo Kraus singing “Salut, demeure” in 1972.
Dear Liz Smith reports today: “THE NEW pope, Benedict XVI, is getting a reputation for slightly eccentric behavior. He likes to disguise himself as a simple priest and go out at night back to his former apartments in a little zone tucked behind St. Peter’s Square. He often goes to his old room and stays…
La Cieca is both delighted and heartbroken to announce that, on the occasion of Madame Vera Galupe-Borszkh‘s twentieth Annual Farewell Recital, the celebrated “Traumatic Soprano” will, at long last, take the “F” word literally. Madame Vera will say “addio senza rancor” to New York once and for all when she returns to the Thalia Theatre…
Two legendary artists are captured in the freshness of vocal youth in this week’s podcast. Richard Tucker and Victoria de los Angeles star in a production of Gounod’s Faust from the New Orleans Opera, February 26, 1953. Unnatural Acts of Opera
This just in from musicalamerica.com: “Marilyn Horne’s manager at Columbia Artists Management Inc., has confirmed that Ms. Horne has been diagnosed with localized pancreatic cancer.” A source at the Marilyn Horne Foundation adds: “Marilyn Horne has been diagnosed with localized pancreatic cancer, which, allowing for recent significant breakthroughs in treatment, offers an excellent prognosis for…
As several of you have informed us, some of the archived podcasts are currently unavailable for download. The host for these files, libsyn.com, has been experiencing some technical problems but they assure La Cieca that all should be well in a day or so. In the meantime, here’a another youtube video to keep you amused.
One more tribute to Birgit Nilsson. “Isolde’s Narrative,” 1967.
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.
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.