UPDATE: La Cieca has just received an email from Bruce Zemsky and Alan Green, managers of Jonas Kaufmann, stating “Mr. Kaufmann has not cancelled any of his future engagements for this year and next year and is in excellent health. The Nacion is not well informed as Mr. Kaufmann just appeared in a solo all Puccini concert in Prague on March 16… and appeared on March 21 as soloist with the Berlin Staatskapel with Daniel Barenboim. Mr. Kaufmann is looking forward to his engagements for April and all his other future engagements.” Read more »
Last week, Moody’s Investor Services delivered yet another piece of yet another piece of bad news for the Metropolitan Opera. They downgraded the Met’s debt offering one grade from “A3” to “Baa1.” They justified the lowered rating by pointing to the estimated $22 million dollar operating deficit in the fiscal year ending in July 2014 and the Met’s decision to borrow more money using their Chagall murals as collateral. Read more »
Ne Quittez Pas, director James Darrah’s new site-specific reimagining of Poulenc’s 1958 monodrama La voix humaine, adds a cabaret-style prologue of Poulenc art songs on texts by Guillaume Apollinaire and others, as well as additional poetry by both Apollinaire and Cocteau, expanding the one-act monologue to an evening-length presentation. Starring as La voix humaine’s sole character is Grammy-winning powerhouse soprano Patricia Racette, with the prologue sung by Edward Nelson, praised by Bachtrack for a “ringing baritone” that is “a thrill to listen to.” The production is led by music director and pianist Christopher Allen, winner of the 2017 Sir George Solti Conducting Award. Read more »
“Opera star Montserrat Caballé has reached a deal with the public prosecutor to receive a six-month prison sentence and a €240,000 fine for defrauding the Spanish tax office of €500,000 by claiming to live in Andorra.” [EL PAÍS]
La Cieca hears that Indianapolis Opera plans to cancel the fourth and final show of its season, Britten’s Albert Herring, “amid ongoing financial issues.”
The Met has managed to scrape up enough money (hitting up donors and dipping into its own coffers) to finance the rush ticket program for 2012-13.
Cher Public