La Cieca (pictured) is going to go out on a limb here, cher public, based on bits and pieces of gossip, a hard fact or two, and her own occasionally flawed powers of ratiocination. Her prediction: James Levine will retire as Music Director of the Metropolitan Opera, effective at the end of the 2011-2012 season.…

By on January 30, 2011 at 4:00 PM
108 comments

Our own JJ reviews the Met’s Lulu. [NYP]

By on May 10, 2010 at 10:28 AM
44 comments

Now that the exciting and welcome news about Fabio Luisi‘s new position as Principal Guest Conductor has had a chance to settle a bit, La Cieca would like to quote an old, old, old friend and suggest that “our retrospection shall be all to the future.” Let’s slip into our Zukunftsbrillen after the jump, shall…

By on April 29, 2010 at 12:46 PM
53 comments

La Cieca’s question here is exactly what we should be expecting Fabio Luisi to do as a “Guest” at the Met over the next few years? Will he get his own projects, or is going be end up relegated to being Jimmy’s standby (Der Levinespringer)?

By on April 28, 2010 at 12:26 PM
23 comments

Fabulous Fabio Luisi (left) has just been named Principal Guest Conductor at the Met, only the second maestro to be so titled in the company’s history. [NY Times]

By on April 27, 2010 at 4:47 PM
31 comments

“Lights are brighter; the elegantly gowned Tosca no longer plops down on a filthy church floor — and police chief Scarpia’s Act 2 hooker four-way stops short of oral action.” [NYP]

By on April 16, 2010 at 7:53 AM
45 comments

Luc Bondy’s Tosca returned to the Met on Wednesday night with an entirely new set of principals and conductor. The new trio of principal singers, all making local role debuts, could not redirect and redesign the production but they could allow their individual talents to outshine their surroundings.  

By on April 15, 2010 at 12:28 PM
28 comments

With all due respect to our charming new commenter Nina Munk, the difference between the Met and the Bavarian State Opera is not something that can be measured in dollars or euros.  It’s more about aesthetic sensibility.

By on April 15, 2010 at 8:02 AM
25 comments