Several things got into my inbox this week, calling into question my dependability and accuracy.
Mesdames et mesdames, there is something for every taste in every style to make you a fashion standout in La Casa della Cieca this afternoon.
Our Betsy (pictured) orates: “Mah fella Merkins! Rally round the Pashmina Shawl and let your voice be heard.”
It’s the end of the world as we know it.
As the season gears up, so does the chat at La Casa della Cieca.
Just for you girls, Betsy turns her headlights on a nice handful of operas that will no doubt prove to be bags of fun.
Our Own Betsy cries, “Grab your spoon and dish: it’s Saturday chat time!”
Our Own Betsy yelps, “Stop the presses! We interrupt this program to bring you this special bulletin!”
An early start for the Sunday chat, cher public.
Attention K-Mart shoppers!
The opening performance of the already-notorious 2012 Bayreuth Festival, Der Fliegende Holländer, begins at noon today EDT and is relayed on a number of web-available radio stations.
Says Betsy Ann Bobolink: “Today’s Chat Check is especially for the losers among us, those who fail at all the quizzes and games set before us.”
Here’s the thing about puns, Betsy: summer going to enjoy them and summer not.
Betsy Ann Bobolink presents a Betsy Ann Bobolink production of un film de Bétsy Ann Bobolinque.
Coming up over the next two weekends: a pair of streamed video performances sure to provide plenty of chat fodder.
Says Betsy Ann “Yankee Doodle” Bobolink; “In honor of the upcoming holiday, today’s breakdown will forego the usual F.K. evaluation system in favor of rating each opera according to its ‘Ooo-Aah’ factor. “
La Cieca would never leave the cher public without something to gossip about, even in the middle of June.
In short, which opera would most people most like to F.K.?
Miss Bobolink will be unable to do the weekly breakdown, as she is having her pique fitted.
Reflecting my new mantra — “and would have gone on longer, had he not died” – here is The Curate’s Egg edition of the Saturday breakdown.
Yes, that’s the lovely and talented Cecilia Bartoli peeking out from under those bangs, offering us a glimpse of her first staged Cleopatra.
Our Own Betsy Ann Bobolink (not pictured) writes: “Well, let’s see. They’ve used sinks, bathtubs, commodes. Except for bathroom scales, that takes care of the primary fixtures in la salle de bain. Boudoirs have been done to death. Clocks, chairs, chandeliers are all hopelessly passe. The only room left for an aspiring director to seek inspiration…
La Cieca’s choice of chat topic today is of course I Capuleti e i Montecchi, as webcast from the Bavarian State Opera at 1:00 PM EDT. Our own Betsy Ann Bobolink, however, naturally has her own ideas, as she will expound after the jump.
Our Own Betsy Ann Bobolink has returned from Capistrano or wherever it is she winters to bring us our first selection of chat subjects for the long, sultry summer season.
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.
