Elektral college Elektral college

La Cieca thought the cher public might like to share some of their favorite Elektra videos and anecdotes.

on October 18, 2015 at 10:00 AM
Putting on the Ritz Putting on the Ritz

Leave it to that savviest of all divas, Jessye Norman, to work a subtle product placement into the very first chapter of her newly-released autobiography, Stand Up Straight and Sing.

on May 07, 2014 at 12:26 AM

Seven decades of difference in age doesn’t stand in the way of a charming interview between Marta Eggerth and Zachary Woolfe on the occasion of her viewing her 1932 film Das Blaue vom Himmel for the very first time. (Prepare to be verklempt.) [New York Observer]

on November 19, 2010 at 10:10 AM

La Cieca invites the cher public to act as blue-ribbon panel in selecting the singers to be included in the “Greatest Diva” study.  Voting after the jump. 

on September 13, 2010 at 12:10 PM

La Cieca was delighted, amused and infuriated (three of her favorite emotions) when she read yet another wonderful piece over at The Awl yesterday, a statistical analysis determining The Greatest Diva of the Past 25 Years. This treatise, by one Jay Caspian Kang, was limited in scope to ladies inhabiting the realm of popular music,…

on September 09, 2010 at 7:35 PM

Legendary diva Martina Arroyo chats with Our Own JJ about learning, teaching and The Odd Couple. [New York Post]

on July 08, 2010 at 7:59 AM

Our Own JJ (not pictured) interviews the legendary Charles Busch and goes on to muse on drag (not in drag, on drag) at the new joint venture Thirteen/Capital.

on June 17, 2010 at 5:32 PM

An elegantly beturbaned Miss Leontyne Price offers an object lesson in The Art of the Diva Interview.

on November 14, 2009 at 10:08 PM

You can pull the fork out of Madame Vera Galupe-Borszkh, because, believe it or not, she’s still not done. How, you ask, can that be? Well, according to an email received by La Cieca this morning, In the tradition of many great divas who pack it in, only to unpack, Madame Vera emerged from retirement…

on April 07, 2009 at 10:24 AM

The scene: a university voice studio’s master class. The guest: Carol Vaness.  The diva/pedagogue opines that a young singer is “pressing on the sound.” Y.S.: [thinks for a moment] You know, you’re right! C.V.: [unsmiling] Of course I’m right. I’m famous.

on October 24, 2008 at 8:07 AM

Legendary, lovely Evelyn Lear is a lady who knows what she wants. La Cieca hears that for a recent master class engagement, the veteran diva had only a few simple requirements: “Cups and water, and the water should not be iced; a mirror; and a box of Kleenex for when I make the students cry.”…

on May 29, 2008 at 11:21 AM

Interview with Leyla Gencer in 2007. [kml_flashembed movie=”http://youtube.com/v/5q4je2G7YpE” width=”425″ height=”350″ wmode=”transparent” /]

on May 17, 2008 at 12:31 AM

Oh, it’s just a typical day in the life of Shirley Verrett: walking the dog, crooning a few show tunes, going for a sleigh ride in a fur turban, vocalizing in a variety of silk scarves, strolling in the Bois, pounding notes on the Casio, and oh yes, belting out a Gluck aria or two.…

on April 27, 2008 at 3:36 AM