The elf on the self
Tenor/Sunnysider Jonathan Blalock, recent creator of the title role in Mark Adamo‘s Becoming Santa Claus at Dallas Opera, guests on the essential podcast The Sewers of Paris.
hunkentenor
Fanale ultimo
Tenor Paolo Fanale rehearses the Rossini Stabat Mater with Jesús López Cobos and L’Orchestre de Paris.
Steam heat?
Tenor Vittorio Grigolo, easy on the eyes despite the fright wig, is one of the “Hottest Opera Stars Of 2013.”
Leather underground
Putting in a little face time (and what faces!) at Charles Castronovo‘s cabaret at 54 Below last night were barihunk trifecta Erwin Schrott, Dmitri Hvorostovsky and Ildar Abdrazakov.
Le sigh
Prepare to swoon, cher public, as the Bayerische Staatsopera presents yet another of their hunk-o-rama webcasts, Eugene Onegin, starring Simon Keenlyside and Pavol Breslik.
Cobra Jewel Song
The annual Richard Tucker gala came and went at Avery Fisher Hall with the usual quota of gaffes, wardrobe malfunctions, no-shows, too-much-shows, substitutions and surprise guests (well, guest). And sandwiched between the routine, the egocentric and the just plain dull were moments of true dementia, the moments that we melomanes live and die for. Most […]
A big hand for the little lady
Sweet Betsy again rounds up the Saturday afternoon listenables. La Cieca leans toward Manon naturellement, but she should warn you that she’s off like Des Grieux’s cassock at 3:00 pm to jump on the Caramoor Caravan. After the jump (not onto the Caravan!) the complete list of what’s singing who.
Pop star
Romanian tenor Stefan Pop, 23, is one of this year’s first-prize winners in the Operalia competition. There’s a glimpse of the budding hunkentenor in action after the jump.
Top of the world
La Cieca hears from a reliable source that James Valenti is the 2010 Richard Tucker Award winner.
Peak performance
On this upcoming otherwise dreary Tuesday afternoon, La Cieca hopes the cher public will all be figuratively glued to their PCs and Macs for a live web telecast of Werther from the Opéra-Bastille.
The progress of a rake diverges
“I should make it clear here that neither have I married anyone with a beard nor have I ever murdered anyone. However, it was at this juncture in the early Noughties that my life hit rock bottom.” [The Times]
The smooth and the rough
Snippet from yesterday’s Carmen telecast.
Private dancer
Hunkentenor Giuseppe Filianoti performs a little “risqué business” in this trailer for a new production of L’elisir d’amore that opened last night at the Bayerische Staatsoper.
Lend me a tenor
La Cieca hears that bodacious Bryan Hymel will make his Royal Opera debut in June as Don Jose, jumping in for an ill (but recovering) Marcus Haddock. Two months before, Hymel will sing his first Énée for Netherlands Opera under the baton of John Nelson in a production by Pierre Audi.
pretty poison
Yesterday, a performance of Lucrezia Borgia was telecast in Europe (previously recorded during a July 6 performance). This Christof Loy production from the Bayerische Staatsoper features Edita Gruberova in her first staged Lucrezia, in the company of Pavol Breslik (Gennaro) and Alice Coote (Maffio Orsini). A selection of clips follows the jump.
scruffsucht
[kml_flashembed movie=”http://tr.youtube.com/v/VObRMs2QYMk” width=”425″ height=”350″ wmode=”transparent” /]
le coeur a ses raisons
In today’s Dallas Morning News, Scott Cantrell explains how Stephen Costello “steals [an] aging queen’s heart.”
regie we can believe in
Well played, Tannengrin: your guess of Lucia di Lammermoor for our most recent Regie quiz was right on the mark. Hunkentenor fanciers among you will be interested to hear that the shirtless stripling in the third photo is Edgardo, in the person of Vittorio Grigolo. La Cieca cannot offer even seminudity in this week’s quiz, […]
lucrezia, gorgeous
A new spy debuts in La Cieca’s service, reporting from the first night of WNO’s Lucrezia Borgia: Overall, I thought the opera was worth the price of attendance. The costumes of the main characters looked like something from Star Trek. Renée Fleming‘s hair looked like Tina Turner circa 1984. Fleming was impressive, especially in many […]
endless pleather, endless love
Washington National Opera has posted a preview clip of their Lucrezia Borgia (opening on Saturday), and La Cieca predicts they have a hit on their hands. Renée Fleming, though she looks far too young to have a grown son, seems to be singing in a more straighforward and honest way. Hunkentenor Vittorio Grigolo charms even […]
molto legato
If Wenarto, members of Cirque du Soleil and Rolando Villazón got really really high one night, this might be the result. [kml_flashembed movie=”http://ca.youtube.com/v/A6udHRk1llU” width=”425″ height=”350″ wmode=”transparent” /] (In fact, this music video stars Serge Desrosiers and was directed by Sandrine Béchade.)
world’s shortest tenor isn’t complaining
[In fact , this is Washington National Opera’s production of Les pêcheurs de perles with Norah Amsellem and Charles Castronovo, photo by Karin Cooper. La Cieca invites the cher public to supply their own alternative captions.]
I’ll take the fall
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).
Win a Free Ticket to Opening Night at the Met!
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!
