Swing and miss
The oddball pairing of Bernie Williams and Jonathan Tetelman doesn’t quite knock it out of the park at Carnegie Hall.
crossover
As Dorothy Parker once said to her boyfriend
“Magdalena Kozená sings Cole Porter”
Who is Sylvia? What is she?
“Part cabaret confessional, part homage to the Great American Songbook…”
Give my regards to Carthage
A semi-staging of Dido and Aeneas starring Broadway divas and frequent collaborators Kelli O’Hara and Victoria Clark seemed a screwy idea at best.
When monarchs unite, how happy their state
Tony Award winners Kelli O’Hara (The King and I) and Victoria Clark (Gigi) will reunite onstage in a new production of the opera Dido and Aeneas.
No you can’t
Identically-coiffed artistes Klaus Florian Vogt and Renée Fleming prove conclusively that American musical theater is not an international language.
Le roi danse
“This summer, [Susan] Graham will cap her season in Paris by making her role debut as Anna in The King and I at the Théâtre du Châtelet (June 13-29).”
Le jazz tiède
The crossover album: a hint that that an artist has either exhausted all the repertory at her command and owes her record label a new release or that her waning vocal resources really shouldn’t be taxed much further than an octave.
Something happened up there, something not very nice
Emma Thompson will portray Mrs. Lovett in the New York Philharmonic’s staged production of Stephen Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.
… and now the worse news
A couple of tweets from Thomas Hampson detailing some grisly-sounding future projects.
Avec la participation exceptionnelle de La Machine
La Cieca is always delighted when Met stars “cross over” into more popular genres of entertainment.
Boathouse Betty
La Cieca just glimpsed this “save the date” from NYCO’s development department.
Just what I wanted!
La Cieca (pictured, left) celebrated her birthday early this year when she unexpectedly received the perfect gift—the following press release.
Anna’s anthem
Awesome Anna Netrebko wraps her considerable talent around a the Europop hit “La Voix.” Note the correct use of hair extensions (without those ridiculous “rocker chick” bangs) and the plain but striking red gown.
Hunch confirmed
“Internationally acclaimed opera singer and arts administrator Plácido Domingo, General Director of Washington National Opera (WNO), will lead a group of his protégés in a concert performance of Verdi’s Rigoletto on August 2, 2010, at Beijing’s Reignwood Theater…. The concert performance marks the first time that Domingo, a legendary tenor who has recently made highly […]
The hits just keep on coming
… and the hope gets darker and darker as La Scoopenda performs Leonard Cohen‘s “Hallelujah.”
La Cieca celebrates her birthday early this year
“On her new album, Dark Hope, opera star Renee Fleming takes a ‘visit to a new, parallel universe.’ … Dark Hope finds ‘The People’s Diva’ covering songs by Muse, Arcade Fire, The Mars Volta, Death Cab For Cutie, Leonard Cohen, Band Of Horses, and more.”
Impossible things are happening every day
Remember “Toi et Moi,” the pectacular music video from which the above image is grabbed? Well, the terrific twosome who brought you that indelible video and perhaps slightly more delible audio, Dmitri Hvorostovsky and Igor Krutoi, have done it again. Their newest collaboration, “a once-in-a-lifetime musical event” called “Deja Vu” arrives at Radio City Music […]
Hair raising
Katherine Jenkins, C-list Britpop has-beens… and Rolando Villazón in a ginormous jewfro. No, this does not bode well.
Dat woice which calls to me
Remember Dragana Jugovic del Monaco? Oh, come on, who could ever forget? Well, she’s back (or was back, anyway, as of 1999) for the following crossover effort with a pop singer who La Cieca supposes must be billed as something like “The Ozzy Osbourne of the Republic of Serbia.”
Pole position
Dame Kiri te Kanawa‘s cousin (who calls the opera diva “auntie because of the age difference”) is promoting “Australia’s first pole-dancing championships.”
mish-measha
People often come up to me and say, La Cieca, “Who do you think will be the next Renée Fleming?” Well, all, right, that doesn’t actually happen often, or even rarely. In fact, it doesn’t happen at all. But be that as it may, La Cieca has found “the next Renée Fleming,” or at least […]
Cumming attraction
This is crossover that stops just short of crossdressing.
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).
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!
