Selections from the dress rehearsal, Berlin, October 21, 2009. Simon Boccanegra – Plácido Domingo Maria Boccanegra (Amelia) – Anja Harteros Jacopo Fiesco – Kwangchul Youn Gabriele Adorno – Fabio Sartori [“Fabelhafte Schneider”]Conductor – Daniel Barenboim
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.
So, you remember Americans for Prosperity (i.e., David H. Koch, i.e., the guy the NYCO is honoring on November 5)? So, guess which issue they’re on the wrong side of this time? Health care reform? Well, yes, they’re still trying to block health care reform, but they’re multitasking, too. Now AFP is throwing some of…
Olga Borodina goes on tonight in Aida at the Met, subbing for an ailing Dolora Zajick. It’s on Sirius, for those of you who feel like chatting.
The Nico Muhly commentary may continue here.
Brit crit calls Nico Muhly‘s work “slow, painful death”; Nico calls Brit crit “cunty” and makes fun of the funny way they spell stuff. Which means that the 2011 premiere of Two Boys at ENO should be great fun for all us sport fans. [The Guardian]
So, as I understand it, Don Giovanni is the Great Gatsby?
The best way to pay tribute to a legendary Wagner interpreter? Why, to perform the “Liebestod” as beautifully as Nina Stemme did at the first Birgit Nilsson Prize Award Ceremony just last week. October 13, 2009 More details about The Birgit Nilsson Prize Award Ceremony 2009 are online.
A different look at Salome — from the Deutsche Oper am Rhein.
First was littoraldrift, but funniest was Krunoslav in our most recent and (as one might say) entry-level Regie quiz, the answer to which was rather too obviously Falstaff. So, on to something more challenging this week, after the jump.
La Cieca realizes it’s not quite fair to judge an artist from a few minutes of video or from what is apparently a dress rehearsal. But it doesn’t seem to be going out on much of a limb to say: this Nadja Michael can’t sing.
I hate it when this happens. Rosenkavalier Duet
The Metropolitan Opera commission Daedalus by Osvaldo Golijov seems to have slipped through the cracks, for now at least. According to the virtually always accurate Met Futures by Brad Wilber, the premiere of the work, planned for the 2011-2012 season, is not going to take place.
“The answer, he decided, was obvious: an opera. In typical Burning Man fashion, as he was standing in line at the port-a-potties, describing this epiphany to…” [CNET]
La Cieca is delighted to wake up to some wonderful, uplifting news. No, not about the balloon boy; turns out that was a hoax anyway. This “rescue” is for real. Amore Opera, successor to downtown institution Amato Opera, will present its first full production, Puccini’s La Bohème opening on Friday, December 11th at the Connelly…
Congratulations to our two winners of the Rosenkavalier essay contest. The lovely rysanekfreak came in first in the “Ja, Ja” division, while Tristram Minstrel was judged the most astute of the many “Nein, Nein” sayers. Our rysanekfreak will be sent the new Decca DVD of the opera starring La Fleming, Sophie Koch, Diana Damrau, Franz…
Wien, 18. Oktober 2009
According to a press release from the Met, Fabio Luisi (left) will conduct all performances of Hansel and Gretel this season replacing Andrew Davis (not pictured) who has withdrawn for personal reasons.
“She was pretty but blank onstage back then, but Tuesday night’s opening performance found her too far the other direction, transforming the ironic, moody aristocrat into a Lifetime movie drama queen.” [NYP]
“Tenor Domingo collects opera gong” [BBC News]
[La Cieca is delighted to introduce a new reviewer, @scazzasofija.] I found Rosenkavalier (Met, Oct. 13) to be mostly sublime. My quibbles come from a preference for Kleiber’s tempos. I found that de Waart was waving his arms as fast as he could for the beginning, but I think the prelude and up until the…
Maria Gavrilova jumps in as Tosca tonight at the Met, replacing the ailing Karita Mattila.
Whenever La Cieca (center) feels afraid, she doesn’t just hold her head erect or whistle a happy tune (though she’s been known to do both on occasion), she reminds herself, “You know, things could be a lot worse than what they are!”
Tonight’s chat during tonight’s season premiere of Der Rosenkavalier from the Met begins at 7:15 pm.
In the comments section of this post, you are invited to offer your opinion on why Renée Fleming‘s broadcast performance (as heard tonight, October 13) strikes you as a great portrayal of the Marschallin.
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.
