West coast story
Pene Pati, originally scheduled to sing Romeo on October 1, will perform the role in all performances, replacing Bryan Hymel who has withdrawn for personal reasons.
bryan hymel
Embroidered silk
Maria Agresta‘s delicately-acted, sumptuously-sung seamstress transformed what might have been just an average Wednesday night revival into something finer.
Thank you for smoking
Along with Don Giovanni, Carmen is an odd bird on the list of the most beloved and frequently performed works.
Fou fighter
It is easy to become overly identified with opera—as a cleverer friend of mine once noted: being a sports fan is an interest, but if you like opera, everyone thinks of it as a crippling obsession.
Protestant movement
La Cieca is sure that Meyerbeer fanatics will be delighted to hear that the Royal Opera House Covent Garden is preparing a new staging of Les Huguenots.
Fresh princes
Imagine two tenors releasing French opera aria collections at the same time without duplicating a single track!
Let’s make it regal
Having heard a bit of the opening night broadcast and read some decidedly mixed reviews, I was totally unprepared for the remarkable performance of Donizetti’s Anna Bolena that I attended on December 15 at Chicago Lyric Opera.
Snow business
Every year I say I’m not going to another La Bohème because I’ve seen this too many times.
Coeurs amoureux
La Cieca hears that the Met’s opening night of the 2018-2019 season will be a new production of Samson et Dalila featuring Bryan Hymel and Elina Garanca.
The Met: What is to be done?
Coming as Peter Gelb did from the music industry, opera lovers hoped that he would display a more distinctive knack for casting and an improved talent pipeline than Joe Volpe offered during the waning years of his tenure.
B. F. deal
Tenors Bryan Hymel (pictured) and Joseph Calleja redeem otherwise routine Puccini revivals at the Met, says Our Own JJ in the New York Observer.
Bean counter
Another season opens this weekend, the much-admired series of livestreams from the Bayerische Staatsoper.
A Faustian bargain
What we have here is the grandest opera never heard.
We’ll settle that tonight!
La Cieca has been wining, dining and otherwise wooing her Met connection (pictured above) and he (or is it she?) has come across with some tidbits about upcoming seasons at Casa Gelb.
And the 2013 Pubies go to…
One startling upset catches the eye among the many winners (if that is the word) of the 2013 Parterre Box Awards.
Triple threat
Congratulations to Bryan Hymel (right), winner of the 2013 Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in Opera “for his performances in Les Troyens, Robert Le Diable and Rusalka at the Royal Opera House.”
Énée day now
Tenor Bryan Hymel has been named the recipient of the eighth annual Beverly Sills Artist Award for young singers at the Metropolitan Opera.
Quand viendra l’instant des suprêmes adieux
American tenor Bryan Hymel will make his Met debut, singing the role on December 26, December 29 matinee, January 1, and January 5 matinee (the date of the global HD transmission).
Win a Free Ticket to Opening Night at the Met!
Quinn Kelsey and Lise Davidsen star in the Met's new Macbeth. We're giving away one ticket, so screw your courage to the sticking place and enter now!
I’ll take the fall
The days are getting shorter, but you can keep the prattle going this fall’s Talk of the Town! You will, you can, you must join in the discussion about: Great mezzo soprano performances (October),
Gained in translation (November), Teleport me back to… (December).
