Cecilia Bartoli’s latest vanity release bucks protocol to present an album heavy on historical concept. The classical recording industry has long feasted on the popularity of operatic solo records, especially during the last few years of industry-wide decline in CD sales. Incidentally, as record companies run out of ways to sell the standard repertoire to…

on October 31, 2009 at 12:57 AM

“Since its 1987 premiere, this Franco Zeffirelli production has transitioned from breathtaking to tasteless to endearingly camp.” [JJ in NYP]

on October 30, 2009 at 8:12 AM

The Random Number Generator has spoken, and from the whopping 442 comments offered during the Turandot Chat, the randomly chosen winner of the Cecilia Bartoli Sacrificium CD is #185, as written by….. Our Own squirrel. Congratulations, to you, o little nut-hoarder, and La Cieca asks that you email her a shipping address where your CD…

on October 29, 2009 at 12:43 PM

Tonight’s chat during tonight’s season premiere of Turandot from the Met begins at 7:30 pm. Sirius/XM RealNetworks from metopera.org

on October 28, 2009 at 7:30 PM

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…

on October 15, 2009 at 11:08 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. 

on October 13, 2009 at 6:14 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 not a great portrayal of the Marschallin.

on October 13, 2009 at 6:13 PM
Dawn of the Philistines Dawn of the Philistines

I’m not sure who I find more annoying – the partisans who vigorously defend Luc Bondy‘s production of Tosca at the Met or those who decry it.  As Bondy’s production replaces one of the Met’s signature offerings, both groups have seized on this event as a watershed event in the history of opera in America…

on October 13, 2009 at 12:34 PM

Good news for La Cieca’s competitive public! Tomorrow night during the Der Rosenkavalier chat (beginning at 7:15 pm), you all are invited to compete for recently released recordings of the beloved R. Strauss classic.  After the jump, you’ll learn how it works. 

on October 12, 2009 at 12:54 PM

La Cieca has managed to obtain this exclusive snippet from the camera rehearsal for Saturday afternoon’s Met HD telecast. Note the “Hitchcock” influence in the cinematography. (Extra points for the first member of the cher public to detect La Cieca’s cameo appearance!)

on October 06, 2009 at 7:57 AM

Anthony Tommasini‘s Sunday Times think piece about opera direction (fetchingly adorned with the Susannesque headline “Halfway Won’t Do”) is online now. La Cieca thinks TT’s heart is in the right place (and of course she’s still all aglow after the Babs interview), so she’s going to stay mum about that Herbert Wernicke production of Die…

on September 30, 2009 at 2:56 PM

The quarterly results (July-September 2009) are in, and La Cieca must say she is delighted with the participation of you, the cher public, in the Amazon Associates advertising system. After the jump, a rundown of this quarter’s most popular products ordered via parterre.com.  

on September 30, 2009 at 10:24 AM

Billionaire philanthropist Bruce Wayne  David H. Koch, slated to be celebrated for his boons to humanity at the November 5 “American Voices” gala by the New York City Opera,  is namechecked in this month’s Rolling Stone. The article, “The Lie Machine,” details how this summer’s “spontaneous” demonstrations against health care reform “were tightly orchestrated from the top down…

on September 29, 2009 at 2:16 PM

And this is so not someone I expected to turn up at the Embassy Ball.

on September 26, 2009 at 12:58 AM

Renée Fleming shall henceforth be known as “La Scoopenda.” Congratulations to JNinNYC for his splendid suggestion, and thanks to all you lovely public who came up with so many clever ideas: in particular “La Ubiquita,” “Miss Cast” and “That Woman.” The new Verismo CD (among other delectables) is now on its way to the clever…

on September 24, 2009 at 1:09 PM

Now, here La Cieca is somewhat confused. The music is obviously from Tannhäuser, but so far as she can tell the scenario for the video is derived from the 1964 Bette Davis vehicle Dead Ringer.

on September 23, 2009 at 11:08 PM

She’s been dubbed “The Beautiful Voice,” “America’s Soprano,” “Opera MILF,” “Ney-Ney,” and now “The People’s Diva.” If there’s anything Renée Fleming doesn’t need, it’s another, whaddyacallit, another sobriquet. And yet, La Cieca does not consider need when she’s feeling generous, so she has decided that it is time to create yet one more nickname for…

on September 17, 2009 at 12:39 PM

The headlined phrase is a neologism (La Cieca should know, because she just made it up) and therefore will require a bit of explanation. Bear with your doyenne, cher public, because there’s eventually going to be a CD review in here somewhere. So. Many, many years ago, ere the earth was young and all that,…

on September 13, 2009 at 10:35 PM

Offhand, La Cieca would never have thought of Così fan tutte done as a telenovela, but honestly? She’s seen a lot worse. [kml_flashembed movie=”http://www.youtube.com/v/oQwtjYkKoz0″ width=”425″ height=”350″ wmode=”transparent” /]

on September 05, 2009 at 3:36 PM

Régine Crespin, whose “Very Best” you’ll want to possess; Joan Crawford, in the 1947 film noir Possessed.

on September 03, 2009 at 3:02 PM

All of you who said, “Oh, Kiri te Kanawa could never do Norma” are feeling pretty silly right now, aren’t you? Of course, La Cieca doesn’t mean the Bellini druidess, a role the Kiwi songbird never could have mastered even at the peak of her career, whenever that might have been. No, this Norma is…

on September 03, 2009 at 11:53 AM

From that rarest and most coveted of all camp crossover efforts, the Sylvia Sass disco album:

on August 17, 2009 at 10:44 PM

La Cieca is delighted to note that two of the best-remembered and most-coveted “Live from the Met” telecasts have at last been made available on DVD. Otello (25 September 1978) and Cavalleria rusticana/Pagliacci (5 April 1978) are now available at the Met Opera Shop and online at www.metoperashop.org, “as well as through other outlets.” La…

on August 17, 2009 at 2:37 PM

According to Variety, Kate Winslet will star in a remake of Mildred Pierce, to be directed by Todd Haynes. Is this, like, the Hurricane Katrina of gay sensibility, or what?  Let’s hope HBO goes for a fuller treatment of the story than the classic 1945 Joan Crawford vehicle, including Veda’s budding career as an opera…

on August 14, 2009 at 2:03 PM
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