Press quotes on the back of this new release from EMI of Georges Bizet’s masterpiece promise ”a stylish and cliché-free Carmen” and on most fronts I think it’s a fair assessment.
By Patrick Mack
“Taking the libretto’s description of ‘panther-like’ literally, Bacchus appears in a shiny leopard-print suit…”
By La Cieca
Live webcast from Salzburg, right now: the 1912 Ariadne/Le bourgeois gentilhomme.
By La Cieca
The diva must be a Diva in Adriana Lecouvreur. Fact.
By manrico
Yes, in this interview with Naomi Lewin, the word “fiasco” gets thrown around a lot.
By La Cieca
Now, it seems, OONY is returning to its star-driven roots.
By La Cieca
The very brunette leading ladies of Adriana Lecouvreur, Anita Rachvelishvili and Angela Gheorghiu, flank the practically strawberry blond by comparison Jonas Kaufmann during bows last night after Opera Orchestra of New York’s season opener.
By La Cieca
In preparation for tonight’s Angela Gheorghiu/Jonas Kaufmann Sternstunde at Carnegie Hall, La Cieca invites the cher public to share your favorite memories and YouTube clips of Adriana Lecouvreur performances present and past. (Photo: Alastair Muir)
By La Cieca
La Cieca is always happy (if a little envious) when another critic expresses exactly how she feels about a musical event (such as Jonas Kaufmann‘s recital last Sunday at the Met) because that means she doesn’t have to blather on and on about it. Instead she can simply reply, “Check out what Zachary Woolfe has…
By La Cieca
This may seem a bit of a stretch, cher public, but stay with me. La Cieca introduces a new feature on parterre, named after not Lois Lane (pictured) but rather Lois Kirschenbaum, legendary Gotham opera fan. This Lois is widely regarded as a bellwether of noteworthy performances; or, to put it another way, if Lois…
By La Cieca
Awesome Anita Rachvelishvili (top) will be the Principessa di Bouillon opposite the Maurizio of Jonas Kaufmann (bottom) and—presumably—Angela Gheorghiu in the title role of Adriana Lecouvreur for Opera Orchestra of New York on November 8, or as we call in here at parterre, “Die Nacht des Sternstunden.”
By La Cieca
Jonas Kaufmann has canceled a tour to Japan with the Teatro Comunale di Bologna in September in order to schedule surgery to remove a “node” from his chest. [Intermezzo]
By La Cieca
“Der Tenor Jonas Kaufmann… Im FOCUS-Online-Interview spricht er über Politik, Yoga und die Gründe, warum Sänger kein Sixpack haben.”
By La Cieca
Jummy Jonas Kaufmann and awe-inspiring Anna Netrebko team for the great duet from Manon, as heard last night at the Waldbühne Berlin.
By La Cieca
Our own JJ (not pictured) received a belated birthday present in the form of an excerpt from last night’s concert in Vienna in which Anna Netrebko spreads her wings for a performance of “D’amor sull’ali rosee,” assisted by the luxe Manrico of Jonas Kaufmann.
By La Cieca
A reminder to the Regie-fanciers among the cher public: this afternoon at 19:45 (1:45 PM EDT), the Munich Festival will present a live webcast of Fidelio featuring Anja Kampe (Leonore) and Jonas Kaufmann (Florestan) with Adam Fischer conducting the Bayerische Staatsorchester. The production is directed by Calixto Bieito! UPDATE: The webcast player is now on…
By La Cieca
An internet leak, quickly plugged but too late, reveals Opera Orchestra of New York’s 2011-12 projected season. On Tuesday, November 8, Angela Gheorghiu and Jonas Kaufmann will grace Carnegie Hall with Adriana Lecouvreur. Then, on Sunday, January 29, Ian Storey and Elisabete Matos headline Rienzi, presumably maestro Queler’s sole appearance of the season. The final…
By La Cieca
UPDATE, Tuesday, 7:45 AM: The Met sent out a press release at 1:27 AM New York time today announcing major changes to its roster for the tour of Japan this month. La Cieca has revised the following gossip item (which appeared at 11 PM last night) to reflect the Met’s confirmations.
By La Cieca
At long last, the most closely guarded secret of 2011 (besides, you know, everything about what’s going to happen to City Opera) is about to be revealed. Ladies and public, the Second Annual Parterre Cher Public Choice Awards!
By La Cieca
“The critical reaction to the Robert Lepage’s new production of Die Walküre at the Met leaves this contrarian reviewer in something of a quandary. Not only was pretty much everybody underwhelmed, but there was a consensus about what (they thought) was wrong: the clunkiness of The Machine, the lack of poetry in the latter part of the…
By La Cieca
In this new Decca DVD of Tosca we find a highly intellectual, even fascinating staging at odds with the visceral nature of the original melodrama but one that inspires its cast to great heights. Robert Carsen is a clever producer with an elegant visual palette. He employs the same directorial strategy as his famous Mefistofele…
“Director Robert Lepage’s obsession with eye-popping visuals showed little concern for the work’s complex intellectual and moral dimensions.” [New York Post]
By La Cieca
When La Cieca is asked the secret of a successful chat for the opening night of Die Walküre at the Met, her answer is “a comfortable desk chair.” And so, wishing you, the cher public, the best of luck with your Sitzfleisch, here are the details for tonight’s chat, which begins at 6:30 pm.
By La Cieca
