Here’s a brief video clip from Russian TV news on Anna Netrebko‘s return to the operatic stage in Lucia di Lammermoor last night at the Mariinsky. For Netrebko’s return, the Mariinsky imported a production of the Donizetti classic directed by John Doyle. It is unclear from early reports whether Netrebko was required to play the…
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Miraculous Mariella Devia sings “Casta diva” at a New Year’s Day concert at La Fenice. [kml_flashembed movie=”http://www.youtube.com/v/1rEx2M5zRX0″ width=”425″ height=”350″ wmode=”transparent” /] Mariella Devia at amazon.com
Something is busted on the Met’s website, but that shouldn’t stop you from applying for this week’s $25 weekend night tickets, which after all are for Fleming’s Thaïs and Angela Gheorghiu/Roberto Alagna in the new Rondine. Instructions for this week’s lottery are as follows: Please enter our Weekend Ticket drawing by calling 212-362-6000 before 8:00…
A snippet from “The View” documents the immaculate jawline and unfortunate Keely Smith diction of The Diva of the Future. In keeping with the season, she sings the classic “Awl be whom faw Krismuss.”
Broadway star, opera diva, image consultant, self-help guru: the late Dorothy Sarnoff was all these and more. But did you know that (according to the New York Times) Ms. Sarnoff was also a pioneer in the field of gay-themed opera?
Two people who probably should be discouraged from owning firearms, Thomas Hampson and Kathleen Battle, belt out a number from Irving Berlin‘s Annie Get Your Gun. [kml_flashembed movie=”http://www.youtube.com/v/HUSpNlhq6cQ” width=”425″ height=”350″ wmode=”transparent” /]
Fun for the holiday season: La Cieca invites her cher public to blingee your favorite diva and then email your doyenne the image or link to include on parterre.com. Update: Our Own Harold submits the first of what La Cieca is sure will be the first of many blinged-out opera stars:Â
Diva Angela Gheorghiu, due onstage at the Met next week for a new production of La rondine, is seen heard here as a remarkably complete package at the age of only 20. The video is dated 1986, four years before the soprano’s professional opera debut. [kml_flashembed movie=”http://www.youtube.com/v/8aBVrSgwp9o” width=”425″ height=”350″ wmode=”transparent” /]
Okay, cher public, you’ve heard the theories. Now it’s time for you to predict who’s getting the nod as new NYCO honcho/honchess.
There’s a rumor that’s been sort of meandering around for the past few weeks in vague will o’ the wisp format concerning the New York City Opera. (As if anything about that company right now is anything but vague, but still…) So here goes. One of the restructuring models that La Cieca keeps hearing about…
Waltraud Meier‘s one (and probably only) Met Isolde is immortalized visually on the Met Archives site in photos by Marty Sohl.
“The campy diva lover in me should exult at the credit in the program ‘Renée Fleming‘s Costumes by Christian Lacroix,’ but in fact the couturier’s frocks were something of a mishmash. Best was a shimmering gold sheath that set off Fleming’s first entrance and trim waistline to perfection; worst was a rumpled ivory silk ballgown…
Our Own Gualtier Maldè reports: Not every opera has to be a masterpiece. I couldn’t subsist on a steady diet of Tristan und Isolde, Die Zauberfloete, Fidelio, plus Otello, Falstaff et al. Frankly the occasional light comic bonbon or trashy but fun melodramatic tunefest makes a nice palate cleanser. I am talking Adriana Lecouvreur, La…
A foundation created by the late soprano Birgit Nilsson will award a prize of one million dollars this year to an “outstanding achievement of a concert or opera singer, a classical or opera conductor, or a specific production by an opera company.” The first award winner was chosen by Ms. Nilsson herself and the foundation…
Next week in New York will be notable for more than just Renée Fleming‘s first local whack at Thaïs. In fact, the night of Wednesday December 10 promises the convergence of two of La Cieca’s favorite demoiselles of dementia, Jessye Normous and Dorothy Bishop performing within minute and blocks of each other. La Bishop’s show,…
“In response to the recession, the Metropolitan Opera’s Board of Directors has decided to subsidize some of the best seats for weekend evening performances for the duration of the opera season. Approximately 16,000 prime seats in the Orchestra and Grand Tier, ranging in price from $295 to $140, will be available for $25 through a…
Our Own Gualtier Maldè reports: The Met’s orchestra and audience have found a new conductor to love: Daniel Barenboim.  The debutante conductor got a huge ovation before he even lifted his baton. Lots of applause for Danny B. all night from an adoring audience including a generous amount at his final bow. There was lots of touchy feely…
“Maria Callas arrives in San Francisco in 1958 with her toy poodle and 17 pieces of luggage,” reported the San Francisco Chronicle 50 years ago (November 24, 2008).
Legendary “Queen of Exotica” Yma Sumac has died at the age of 86. Among many credits in a career spanning more than half a century was a screen appearance as (obviously) a Peruvian priestess in the 1954 film Secret of the Incas.
Just in time for Halloween, an all-new profile by Anne Midgette, “The Undead Diva: Renée Fleming Has Virtuosity Under Control.”
Un petit oiseau (dans la charmille) has just whispered to La Cieca that mythic diva Madame Vera Galupe-Borszkh will emerge briefly from semi-retirement on Halloween night as a surprise guest during the Sirius broadcast of La traviata from the Met. To avoid any confusion, La Cieca should note that “La Dementia” will not be singing…
Magnificent singing actress (and longtime parterre fave) Anna Caterina Antonacci casts a spell in the title role of Cherubini’s Medea in this week’s edition of Unnatural Acts of Opera. Medea, Act 1 Medea: Anna Caterina Antonacci, Giasone: Giuseppe Filianoti, Glauce: Cinzia Forte, Creonte: Giovanni Battista Parodi, Neris: Sara Mingardo, Il capo della guardia: Diego Matamoros,…
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