One night only, one night only, she’ll be the only one One night only, one night only, she’ll be the only one

“New York City Opera will present, in a rare New York appearance, beloved soprano Aprile Millo in concert.”

Down in the depths on the ninetieth floor Down in the depths on the ninetieth floor

Teatro Grattacielo is New York’s homegrown organization to rescue Verismo operas from oblivion, one per annum, allowing for the occasional double bill.

She is a diamond She is a diamond

“La Cieca cannot imagine it is much fun to sing ‘Dove sono’ when you’re suffering a fresh case of the Reno jumpy-wumps.”

Richard is better Richard is better

The Tucker Foundation will be the subject of a special event on Wednesday June 27 at 7 pm, when WQXR’s Naomi Lewin (not pictured)…

Charismatic movement

Friend of the Box Zachary Woolfe follows up his provocative NYT article on charisma with an invitation to discuss this elusive quality with his cher public, a group of which La Cieca is sure you parterriani represent a significant subset. Let yourselves be heard!

Happy Birthday Aprile Millo

The iconic American soprano was born April 14, 1958.

A Verdi decision

“I must say choosing from among these finalists is almost impossible, as there are bits and pieces from each one I like and admire the thought process and the experience each one highlights for us. For me they are all intelligent and quite wonderful— skewed perhaps by their times and what is and is not…

Wordy for Verdi

In honor of the re-release of Presenting Aprile Millo – Verdi Arias on EMI Classics, La Cieca is delighted to announce a new competition for parterre readers. Details are after the jump.

Easter parade?

La Cieca hears that Opera Orchestra of New York’s 2010-2011 season will represent a step up from last two years of stopgap recitals as well as a step back from the three-opera seasons of yore.  

Sing for your supper

Those among the cher public inclined toward philanthropy and/or star-gazing will want to check out the details on a gala fundraising dinner and concert for the Marcello Giordani Foundation on May 7. The evening will feature performances from young singers and a litotic “Lifetime Achievement Award” presented to Magda Olivero (in virtual attendance via videoconferencing…

Bella

Colombetta, Colombetta, Apri l’uscio, non farmi penar Del balcon solleva il velo Apri amor se no qui gelo Colombetta, Colombetta, Arlecchino gelando si sta.

La Grande Duchesse dell’Altra Notte…

A funny thing happened to me yesterday. I was desperate to go to Aprile Millo’s long awaited recital but it simply wasn’t in the budget. La Cieca sent a posting mentioning she would give her extra ticket to the first one who e-mails her. I sent it, I got it, and the rest is history… 

An evening with Aprile

Attached you will find the song lineup for last night’s Aprile Millo recital, though as the saying goes, there were some changes to the printed program. The first half went more or less as planned, though after the R. Strauss a man exiting the auditorium tripped and fell in the aisle, hit his head on…

Where will the elite meet?

Far side of the lobby, near the big picture window overlooking the park.

Furia orrenda!

For no particular reason, La Cieca has been thinking of the duet “E un anatema” from La Gioconda, and for a very particular reason, she’s been thinking of Aprile Millo. Anyway, to get the discussion started for the weekend, cher public, how’d you like to share your favorite performances of this duet, YouTube style, down…

All fall down

Our Own JJ (not pictured) nominates the can’t-miss operatic and vocal events of the autumn of 2009. [NYP]

summer of love

The Divine Miss Millo sings “Pace, pace” in a concert from August, 1988. (Hey, don’t laugh: we all had hair like that then.)

snow job?

As commenter paddypig points out, something fishy seems to be going on with the Puccini 150th Anniversary Gala presented by Dicapo Opera Theatre, scheduled for this Monday night. As of this evening, the company’s website still advertises “Daniela Dessi, Fabio Armiliato, Francisco Casanova, Aprile Millo, Francesca Patané and others” even though certainly Millo is not…

tears in heaven

Another astonishing discovery on YouTube, pointed out by a very cher member of the cher public. Courtesy of tenore23, here is Aprile Millo singing “Tu che le vanita” at the Arena di Verona. [kml_flashembed movie=”http://www.youtube.com/v/hmDguWslDUs” width=”425″ height=”350″ wmode=”transparent” /]

rome if you want to

Speaking of Broadway, David Merrick once said (if La Cieca recalls correctly) that even though Pearl Bailey played Hello, Dolly! for only one season, the legendary diva managed to squeeze in two seasons’ worth of cancellations. A roughly similar situation may be observed at Opera Orchestra of New York, a company that does only three performances…

she looks like she might burn down a plantation

In what will surely be a highlight of the 2008-2009 musical season here in Gotham, mean, moody, magnificent (and blogorific!) Aprile Millo is set to perform the title role in Cherubini’s Medée with Opera Orchestra of New York under the baton of Eve Queler. Other presentations in the concert company’s repertoire do not perhaps set…

quel vino e generoso

Actually, La Cieca is not surprised at all that Aprile Millo is a fan of Amy Winehouse.

Generation gap

Astute Anne Midgette (glimpsed earlier this week among the faithful throngs at the Millo Tosca) wonders today in the Times whatever happened to singers like Richard Leech, Sharon Sweet, Susan Dunn, Francisco Araiza, June Anderson, Cheryl Studer, Carol Vaness, Aprile Millo and Dawn Upshaw. All these artists were mainstays of the Joseph Volpe 1990s at…

Happy Birthday Aprile Millo!

To salute the American spinto soprano, an assortment of podcasts from Ed Rosen, Charles Handelman and yours truly. Just click on the “play” button and turn up your speakers!