Leave it to cleaver
If I’d gotten an hour less sleep you’d now find me mixing everything up and writing about Mrs. Lovett making her entrance on a bronze horse like Peter the Great.
san francisco opera
Stop me if you’ve heard this one
Gala this; gala that; who knew rich people wore clothes so badly?
Dinner for schmuck
In celebration of the impending retirement of San Francisco Opera’s head honcho David Gockley, La Cieca proposed a quick midweek competition, with a first prize of not having dinner with San Francisco Opera’s head honcho David Gockley.
Rolling along
You might be surprised, though, when that title turns out to be Show Boat.
Warhorse
Three blocks from the opera house is a terrible time to realize there was homework.
Married to the mobcap
I have an idea (soon to be angrily debunked in the comments section) that Le nozze di Figaro is rarely a source of unalloyed bliss to the chronic operagoer.
Fou fighter
It is easy to become overly identified with opera—as a cleverer friend of mine once noted: being a sports fan is an interest, but if you like opera, everyone thinks of it as a crippling obsession.
The devil is in the details
Certain operas are better in theory than practice.
Natural born Miller
Cast changes (already) for San Francisco Opera.
Star, crossed
The key to enjoying Bellini’s I Capuleti e Montechi is to do a hard factory reset and reformat your brain to forget all other works based on Romeo and Juliet.
The opposite sextoness
The San Francisco Opera has just done the big reveal for 2015-2016 and here’s what we have in store.
An old-fashioned wedding
Jungfer Marianne Leitmetzerin notes: while this performance of Janácek’s Jenufafeatures the same three principal singers from the legendary Carnegie Hall concert of 1988, the fact that it is a staged performance raises the temperature even higher.
La vie de broham
Imagine the good fortune of attending La Bohème with someone who’s never seen it!
Angelina’s ashes
Kitsch is alive and well in Rossini’s La Cenerentola at the War Memorial.
Vissi d’artist
The San Francisco Opera is batting a thousand where young singers are concerned this season.
Top hatters
Christopher Alden‘s production of Handel’s Partenope is so erudite and theatrically audacious and also such a rollicking ride, it’s hard to believe it isn’t crap.
Stockholm syndrome
The big news out of the Bay this week, of course, is that David Gockley, after ten years at the helm here and over forty in opera, has decided not to pull a Bloomberg/Galupe-Borszkh.
Running, jumping, or burning Gaul
Far be it from me to join the Schadenfreudian chorus of “Bye, Bye, Berti!” you may have been hearing in certain quarters, but the first thing I am duty-bound to report about San Francisco Opera’s Norma (of which three performances remain) is that they’ve hit the jackpot, coverwise.
The virgin Einspring
Jamie Barton will make her San Francisco Opera debut as Adalgisa in Norma for five of the opera’s seven performances on September 5, 10, 14, 27 and 30. Ms. Barton replaces Daveda Karanas, who has withdrawn from the production for personal reasons.
Porgy on the bay
A new DVD of The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess features an enjoyable live performance from the San Francisco Opera from June of 2009.
Mamma mia
Goddess Anna Caterina Antonacci takes the “Sophia Loren” starring role in La Ciociara, a new work premiering at San Francisco Opera in June, 2015.
Eyes on the prize
La Cieca (not pictured) is delighted to hear of the success of Friday night’s vigil by Gays Without Borders for LGBT citizens of Russia at the opening night of the San Francisco Opera’s new season.
The other gospel of the other Mary, Mary
San Francisco Opera’s marketing leaves La Cieca at least momentarily speechless, so she’ll have to rely on you, cher public, to take up the slack with discussion of off-topic and general interest subjects.
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).