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.
Legendary Ladies from Sweden Zarah Leander and Birgit Nilsson celebrate Christmas 1977 with a belt-off.
Tonight at Splash, Dorothy Bishop in “Viva la Diva,” directed by our own JJ: [kml_flashembed movie=”http://www.youtube.com/v/tMUy8bDyt94″ width=”425″ height=”350″ wmode=”transparent” /] More information on the show here.
The second half of the historic Dual/Duel Diva Concert at Carnegie Hall on January 31, 1982. Grace Bumbry and Shirley Verrett Concert Part 2 Concert in Honor of Marian Anderson Verdi: Aida Cilea: Adriana Lecouvreur Verdi: Otello Bellini: Norma Encore of Norma duet Opera Orchestra of New York; Eve Queler. Carnegie Hall, New York, 31 […]
La Cieca’s old, old, old friend Dorothy Bishop returns to NYC with a revamped version of her opera/cabaret show “Viva la Diva” at Splash Bar on October 15 at 8:00 pm. As always, our own JJ directs the show. Dorothy’s Splash debut features new material, new costumes, new “Viva la Diva” dancing boys and (perhaps […]
Sharing the stage another diva in one’s identical fach always puts a girl on her mettle, La Cieca has always said, and no better proof of that just-invented shibboleth is there than this week’s edition of Unnatural Acts of Opera. Grace Bumbry and Shirley Verrett grace the stage of Carnegie Hall on January 31, 1982, […]
The bitchiness of queens of long ago still echoes through Founders Hall at the Met. Among the expertly restored artist photographs, programs and media clippings featured in the exhibit “Nights at the Opera: 125 Years,” the clear standout for outrageousness is an original poster for the Old Met’s closing night gala, defaced (or, perhaps we […]
La Cieca has Sylvia Sass will play Maria Callas. Or, to be more specific, Sass will, after a long career built on imitating Callas, literally play the Greek diva when she acts in a French production of the Terrence McNally play Master Class.
Sopranos Deborah Voigt and Patricia Racette and mezzo-soprano Susan Graham made their drag king debut on Sunday night, and for once the gender confusion has nothing to do with Rufus Wainwright. The trio of songstresses donned tuxes for a spoof of the Three Tenors at a gala honoring Placido Domingo‘s 40th anniversary at the Met. […]
“Oh, Mary, was I wasted last night! After a few ‘Rene Flemings’ I was so polluted that I mistook Rufus Wainwright for a girl! Hey, wait a minute. There’s no alcohol in this drink…” [The Martha Blog]
As usual when it’s a Fleming Flapper doing the writing, everything is everyone else‘s fault: poor Renée just sort of wanders in off the street and all this stuff keeps happening to her:
Tuesday morning: A further report from Lindoro Almaviva: Over all the night was a success d’estime. It was a Renee worship night and we got just that. I am sure you will be able to talk in better terms about the singing or lack thereof. My impression is that Renee had an “acting” night, as […]
Legendary Metropolitan Opera wig mistress Nina Lawson died last week at the age of 82. Above, a sample of Ms. Lawson’s coiffure for Joan Sutherland‘s first Met Norma at the peak of the Big Diva Hair era, circa 1970. [via NYT]
Better loosen up those typing fingers, cher public, because La Cieca is bringing you another of her notorious online chats. On Monday, September 22 beginning at 6:30 PM EDT, La Cieca will present Opening Night in Exile, a chat celebrating the the broadcast of the Met’s 2008 opening night starring Renée Fleming, the diva and […]
Oddly convergent divas Meg Ryan and Renée Fleming model the New New look in faces for fall.
The heroic forces of VAI ride to the rescue once more with a cleaned up release of one of the most coveted (and pirated) live opera telecasts: the NHK Lirica Italiana production of La fanciulla del West, starring the luminescent Antonietta Stella. Â
Diva of the Future Renée Fleming, whose impending assignments include modeling four couture gowns on the stage of the Metropolitan Opera, is shown here making a septuagenarian female impersonator look positively chic by comparison.
Patrician Pat Munsel wows the panel. [kml_flashembed movie=”http://www.youtube.com/v/CUp9oXu8lRA” width=”425″ height=”350″ wmode=”transparent” /] (Thanks to clever Youtuber jonedgar for the clip!)
August 30 is the anniversary of the birth of a famous Quickly: Regina Resnik! [kml_flashembed movie=”http://www.youtube.com/v/ipFMt7bPStg” width=”425″ height=”350″ wmode=”transparent” /] And here we have Mme. Resnik in a campy mood, sending up the faux-exoticism of Kismet. Not Since Nineveh!
Three-time World’s Best-selling Canadian Female Recording Artist of the Year Céline Dion apparently has not come to her senses in the eight months that have passed since her Las Vegas farewell. As La Cieca warned you last year, the québécoise canary is planning a crossover into the cinema, specifically a biopic in which she, Céline […]
Any singer who is known as “The Croatian Yma Sumac” you know already has won a place in La Cieca’s deepest heart of hearts. So the astonishing production values of the theatrical experience that is known as Priinceza na zrnu graÅ¡ka can only add to your doyenne’s abject veneration for the one, the only… Zdenka […]
With the opening night of the Metropolitan Opera’s 2008-2009 season barely a month away, La Cieca is already half-drunk with the sheer glamour of it all. Not only will this first night boast a bouquet of bonbons from Renée Fleming‘s greatest rôles (and, frankly, aren’t they all?), but the musical experience will be enhanced by […]
Speaking of divas on the cusp of their second half-century of life, Madonna turned 50 this past weekend. That reminds La Cieca of a kinder if not gentler time when MTV was actually pretty cool, as this spoof promo from the era demonstrates. [kml_flashembed movie=”http://www.youtube.com/v/9IR_3lqBzsc” width=”425″ height=”350″ wmode=”transparent” /]
Now, never let it be said that La Cieca was in any way opposed to glamour, and you know very well that is a fervent believer in dear Pablo Picasso‘s maxim that “art is a lie that makes us realize truth.” But, on the other hand, there’s this month’s cover of Opera News.
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).
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!
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