Hun more for the road
La Cieca has the first top-secret highly classified eyes-only report from inside the hermetically sealed Attila dress rehearsal at the Met. Our spy (possibly pictured above) speaks out — after the jump, naturally.
Metropolitan Opera
The mothership and mecca of opera in America—and home base for Parterre Box.
Girl of the moment
It took the Metropolitan Opera decades to catch up with the rest of the world and finally stage La Cenerentola. Gioachino Rossini’s opera buffa, one of his most beloved and accomplished works, received its belated Met debut in 1997, amidst legitimate suspicions that the new production was less a genuine desire to add a belcanto […]
Some day her prince will come
I checked back in on the Met’s revival of Ariadne auf Naxos yesterday, after a messy first night one week ago that left much to the imagination. Tenor Lance Ryan had been sick that night, and the cover who took his place was not much healthier, throwing the whole cast into a panic mode that […]
“Boys” meets world
UPDATE: A press release has just gone out announcing “The Metropolitan Opera and the English National Opera (ENO) will co-produce a world premiere production of composer Nico Muhly’s first opera.
The People’s Courtesan
Like Liza Minnelli at the Palace or Nomi Malone in Goddess, Renée Fleming‘s Thaïs is better understood as diva event than Gesamtkunstwerk. It’s an opportunity to watch a star lady do her voodoo in a work that exists largely to showcase her glamour and appeal.
Make ’em laugh!
“A German, a Peruvian and a Kiwi walk into an American theater and start speaking French: that sounds like the premise of a joke, right?” Our Own JJ reviews La fille du régiment at the Met.
I would like a waffle
La Cieca preens proudly to present a peerless pair of protégés (left to right) Squirrel and Maury D’Annato. The bromancers attended (or one should say “took in”) last night’s Ariadne auf Naxos at the Met, and as of early this afternoon they were still deconstructing.
She’s no longer a gypsy, part deux
Angela Gheorghiu will not sing Carmen at the Met this season. Says the diva: “To make so important a debut as Carmen, I want to be as prepared dramatically as I am musically. Therefore, I will postpone my role debut until a later date when I can work intensely with the Richard Eyre production.” Kate […]
Joementum
“Joseph Volpe, who served as the Met’s general manager from 1990 to 2006 and authored a memoir about the experience called The Toughest Show on Earth, has been hired by Mr. Gelb, his successor, to represent the company in upcoming contract negotiations with its three major labor unions.” [New York Observer]
Kam der neue Gott gegangen
La Cieca hears that Lance Ryan, scheduled to make his Met debut tonight in Ariadne auf Naxos, is indisposed. Subbing as Bacchus is Michael Hendrick.
Three things I learned from Werther
1. Webcast technology has been refined enormously in the barely two years since the pioneering (and frustrating) effort at streaming a performance of Il Sant’Alessio. The embeddable (!) player didn’t skip once that I could see, and the sound was consistent. Neither, obviously, was exactly HD quality, but the experience felt quite seamless.
‘Zoo story
No, Ann Murray will not perform the role of the Marquise de Berkenfield at the Met, as announced previously when Felicity Palmer withdrew from the role. With Jean Rigby and Rebecca de Pont Davies booked up years in advance, the Met will muddle through somehow with Meredith Arwady, who hails from a place implausibly called […]
Warhorses and Lullabies
Diana Damrau joined James Levine and the Met Orchestra at Carnegie Hall on Sunday afternoon for one of Levine’s typically overloaded – er, generous – orchestral feasts. But this deeply involving marathon of German warhorses rewarded those who would submit to its somber, festive intensity.
Diversifying
“In two Verdi operas per formed less than a week apart, legendary tenor Plácido Domingo revealed that, as a conductor, he makes an OK baritone.” Our Own JJ reviews Simon Boccanegra and Stiffelio at the Met. [NYP]
Ophelia’s Posies
There’s something happening at Zankel Hall. Lieder recitals are not what they used to be. Christine Schäfer threw us for a loop Wednesday night in a recital program juxtaposing just two composers – George Crumb and Henry Purcell – who have what, exactly, in common?
Abreast of the new season
Spring must be near, because the little birds are beginning to sing! After the jump, some very specific specifics about the 2010-2011 Metropolitan Opera schedule.
Dark side of the moon
Gotham Chamber Opera presented Haydn’s Il Mondo della Luna on Tuesday evening at the Museum of Natural History’s Hayden Planetarium, in a production that took advantage of the museum’s NASA constellations and a multitude of other more economical yet impressive stage and lighting effects. Despite cramped quarters and inhospitable acoustics, the company made a strong […]
Rosa’s turn
“Unlike Ms. Garanca, Ponselle was among the many Carmens who have tried some real dancing.” Why is La Cieca not surprised that one of the few intelligent and detailed surveys of the dramatic element of the Met’s new Carmen should be written by a dance critic? [NYT]
Youth will have its chat
Welcome, cher public, to discussion for this afternoon’s Met broadcast of Der Rosenkavalier. The performance begins at 1:00 PM.
Out of ordure
“Ray Dull of Fresno, who recalls in the 1940s hauling manure as a teenager on his family’s Ohio farm as he listened to the Met’s Saturday radio broadcasts, understands the appeal of being up close in the movie theater.” [The Fresno Bee]
Future tense
La Cieca has just been entrusted with a veritable cornucopia of future lore about our beloved Metropolitan Opera. You must remember, my friends, future events such as these will affect you in the future. And what happens in the future stays in the future. Anyway, shall we? La Cieca thought you’d never ask.
Votre chat, je peux vous le rendre
The last parterre chat of 2009, Carmen from the Met, begins at 6:00 pm for a 6:30 curtain.
Wagging Tales
David Pomeroy makes his Met debut tonight as the eponymous boozehound in Les Contes d’Hoffmann, replacing the ill Joseph Calleja. Meanwhile, La Cieca hears, Brandon Jovanovich is on a rehearsal stage getting brought up to speed on the Carmen production in case he has to go on for Roberto Alagna tomorrow night.
La Cieca and her saga prove that you are gaga
Your doyenne guiltily just realized that she has not yet taken a moment to pen a “thank you” note to that member of the cher public who sent her the George Steel watch as a holiday gift. In the spirit of that timepiece, La Cieca would like to update yesterday afternoon’s open-and-shut, 100% certain, no questions asked posting […]
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!
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).
