La Cieca presents, in traditional YouTube format, the shocking solution to the Mystery of Isolde’s Curse. [kml_flashembed movie=”http://youtube.com/v/3StsbgcqbUE” width=”425″ height=”350″ wmode=”transparent” /] Congratulations to Christian Ocier who recognized all 14 voices almost immediately and so is the winner of the amazon.com gift card. And thanks to all of you, cher public, for playing!
I thought that it would be fun to tell you about a little concert last Sunday here in Montréal, with Renée Fleming, Diana Damrau, Joyce DiDonato and Matthew Polenzani. It was actually the first time that I have heard any of them in the flesh, so I was most curious to see if the voices […]
[kml_flashembed movie=”http://www.youtube.com/v/VX27o382fYs” width=”425″ height=”350″ wmode=”transparent” /]
Actually this next sound clip dates back over a decade but has recently re-emerged (like the Creature From The Black Lagoon, actually) on such sites as Dial “M” for Musicology, Boing Boing and Wired. It’s a project by conceptual artists Vitaly Komar and Alex Melamid based on an online poll of people’s likes and dislikes […]
Here’s bel canto goddess Mariella Devia in fiery form for the final cabaletta from Anna Bolena earlier this month in Palermo. (Just ignore the annoying interpolated interviste.) [kml_flashembed movie=”http://youtube.com/v/rT5cpY2qJ2c” width=”425″ height=”350″ wmode=”transparent” /]
Recital in Tokyo, November 2007. [kml_flashembed movie=”http://youtube.com/v/kGgFU8_bpLM” width=”425″ height=”350″ wmode=”transparent” /]
[kml_flashembed movie=”http://www.youtube.com/v/qvDWwm2MHlI” width=”425″ height=”350″ wmode=”transparent” /] Many thanks to loyal reader Oliver for pointing us to this astonishing clip of Hildegard Knef singing “Seeräuber Jenny” from Die Dreigroschenoper. True, she was hardly an opera singer; in fact, Ella Fitzgerald once called her “the world’s greatest singer without a voice.” But as this clip demonstrates, La […]
Until recently, soprano Diana Damrau was unaware of reports of steroid abuse in the 18th century seraglio. (Photo by Ken Howard, Metropolitan Opera.)
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. […]
La Cieca is putting her entire nest egg into popcorn futures, since next season opera lovers will rarely emerge from their local movie palace. The Met will do an astonishing 11 HD simulcasts during the 2008-2009 season. Monday, September 22, 2008: Opening Night Gala starring the astonishingly well-preserved Renée Fleming in fully staged performances of La Traviata (Act […]
[Our Own Gualtier Maldè reports from this afternoon’s dress rehearsal of La Fille du Régiment] The Met has another hit on its hands — though not a totally new one, this production and cast already having triumphed at Covent Garden and the Vienna Staatsoper. Laurent Pelly (who vies with Davide Alagna and Mark Streshinsky as […]
Now here’s some political news La Cieca can follow with interest: Merkel surprises with daring décolleté at Oslo opera That how The Local described German Chancellor Angela Merkel‘s appearance as a special guest at Saturday night’s gala celebrating the opening of Den Norske Opera’s new auditorium. It seems Die Kanzlerin racked up a double handful […]
The legendary diva celebrates her 75th birthday today. [kml_flashembed movie=”http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docid=-2989150895689621204″ width=”400″ height=”326″ wmode=”transparent” /]
La Cieca has just heard that that veteran thespian Marian Seldes will make her Metropolitan Opera debut on April 21 as the Duchess of Krakenthorp in the company’s new production of Donizetti’s La Fille du Régiment, replacing Zoe Caldwell, who is ill. La Seldes will play the Duchess for the entire run of performances through […]
In what will surely be a highlight of the 2008-2009 musical season here in Gotham, mean, moody, magnificent (and blogorific!) Aprile Millo is set to perform the title role in Cherubini’s Medée with Opera Orchestra of New York under the baton of Eve Queler. Other presentations in the concert company’s repertoire do not perhaps set […]
Even as La Cieca writes this, that legendary grande dame thespian Zoe Caldwell is treading the boards of the Level “C” rehearsal room at our own little Metropolitan Opera in preparation for her debut with the company as the Duchesse de Krakenthorpe in La Fille du Régiment. (Imagine how impressive she’ll be once she’s in […]
Definitive barihunk Nathan Gunn (center) will play Lancelot in a semistaged concert of Lerner and Loewe’s musical Camelot at Avery Fisher Hall May 7-10. Additional hunkiness will be provided by Gabriel Byrne (Arthur) and Marc Kudisch (Sir Lionel) and the diva quotient may be filled by Marin Mazzie as Guenevere. The New York Philharmonic presentation […]
La Cieca’s spy, just returned from the Metropolitan Opera Guild luncheon at the Waldorf-Astoria honoring Franco Zeffirelli, reports: Lynn Redgrave did the voiceover for a video retrospective of Zeffirelli’s life, beginning with his origins as a “love child” (news to me). But the highlight was Angela Gheorghiu. After performing two Romanian folk tunes nobody knew or […]
La Cieca just taken a look at a detailed schedule of Met performances for next season, and so she’s only just become aware of the following very interesting couple of weeks around the holidays:
So La Cieca’s Met spy tells her that Angela Gheorghiu sauntered into a rehearsal for the Café Momus scene 45 minutes late after what must have been a leisurely lunch, then proceeded to offer “suggestions” improving upon the Franco Zeffirelli staging of the scene. La Cieca would say that given the diva’s track record, the […]
Cher public, that’s the headline on a Bloomberg News interview with Our Renée, and first of all La Cieca will thank the news service for supplying us with such ready-made comic material.
Today is the 96th anniversary of the birth of magnificent Martha Mödl.
This season’s revival of Tristan und Isolde at the Met has led a number of you to wonder, “what the hell is Jane Eaglen up to these days?”Â
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!
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).
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