“Instead of pondering moral issues, the audience marvels that styrofoam can be made to look so much like granite.”  Our Own JJ reviews the Met’s Ring in the New York Post. For the convenience of the cher public, La Cieca will point out that the Post has a section for comments following the review.

on May 04, 2009 at 8:18 AM

Following is the schedule for the Sunday afternoon/evening listening/viewing marathon. Chat away in the comments section, cher public!

on May 03, 2009 at 11:30 AM

Cue up your MetPlayer for a 3:00 pm start for La sonnambula (Broadcast March 30, 1963). You are invited to discuss this performance in the comments section below.

on May 02, 2009 at 3:00 PM

Something to enjoy during the between Cav/Pag and the 3:00 pm kickoff time for Sonnambulathis afternoon. [kml_flashembed movie=”http://www.youtube.com/v/ro6kC07cDn0″ width=”425″ height=”350″ wmode=”transparent” /]

on May 02, 2009 at 2:35 PM

Resilient soprano Christine Brewer has made a quick recovery from her knee injury, La Cieca hears. The soprano, missed so sorely this season in the Met’s Ring, will return to the stage tomorrow night for a performance of the Verdi Requiem with the Santa Fe Symphony. Ms. Brewer is jumping in (if that is the…

on May 01, 2009 at 10:34 PM

The Met’s season premiere of La Cenerentola. Discuss. Listen at 8:00 pm on Sirius or RealNetworks.

on May 01, 2009 at 7:25 PM

Cher public, here’s the schedule for group listening/viewing of the MetPlayer on Saturday and Sunday:

on May 01, 2009 at 1:12 PM

Now, cher public, you have the chance to vote which of your nominated performances will be included in the upcoming MetPlayer weekend listening (and viewing party). You may cast your ballot right after the jump.

on April 29, 2009 at 10:00 AM

Rolando Villazón “should be well enough to return to the stage by the end of the year” after having surgery “to remove a cyst on his larynx” according to his concert management. Among the engagements Villazón is expected to cancel are Werther in Vienna and Munich, Nemorino in Los Angeles and Paris, and a new…

on April 29, 2009 at 9:06 AM

As if we ever “came to order” around here! But anyway, La Cieca is throwing the floor open for a Listening and Viewing Orgy next weekend, when the MetPlayer will offer a three-day free preview. MetPlayer offers streaming of over 200 Met broadcasts and telecasts from 1937 to the present, including 20 in HD.  The…

on April 26, 2009 at 2:58 PM

And now, the last installment of the Met’s broadcast Ring: Götterdämmerung. Listen at noon EDT on Sirius, RealNetworks or your favorite internet radio station. Online: the libretto and the vocal score. Discuss. And don’t forget to check out La Cieca’s Amazon Deal of the Day: Hans Knappertsbusch conducts Der Ring Des Nibelungen (Bayreuth 1956), prices…

on April 25, 2009 at 11:00 AM

Life sometimes does imitate art, or anyway bad art. La Cieca notes in today’s New York Post a story about a wedding interrupted when the bridegroom’s boss suddenly shouted that she had slept with the groom. As any hack librettist will tell you, this is a great excuse for the big third-act concertato.

on April 21, 2009 at 5:01 PM

The New York Times, the Metropolitan Opera, and Comedy Central! Genius!

on April 20, 2009 at 1:24 PM

La Cieca hears vague rumors from here and there that there something major is going to happen with New York CIty Opera this week, possibly as early as today. According to an insider over the weekend “wagons [were] circling,” perhaps in reaction to the admission that the company has spent down over 2/3 of its endowment in…

on April 20, 2009 at 8:30 AM

La Cieca just returned from the HD of The Audition, a documentary about the 2007 Met National Council Auditions.  The film puts her in an optimistic mood about the future of opera performance, or at any rate opera performers.  Focus is on three young tenors who (spoiler) all end up winning the competition.

on April 19, 2009 at 7:04 PM

The Met broadcasts Wagner’s Siegfried this afternoon. Discuss. Listen at noon EDT on Sirius or RealNetworks or your favorite internet radio station. Online: the libretto and the vocal score. And check out La Cieca’s Amazon Deal of the Day: the complete 1953 Bayreuth Ring conducted by Clemens Krauss, priced as low as $39.87!

on April 18, 2009 at 11:00 AM

To the Met this evening, where Željko Lučić jumps in as Rigoletto opposite Diana Damrau and Joseph Calleja.

on April 17, 2009 at 3:33 PM

Nicole Cabell sings Adina at the Met tonight, replacing Angela Gheorghiu. (Those of you keeping score at home will note that of the quartet of singers originally announced for this performance, only Franco Vassallo remains.)

on April 15, 2009 at 12:08 PM

Dolora Zajick will sing the role of Azucena in the Met’s Il Trovatore on April 21, 25, 29, and May 2, replacing Luciana D’Intino who is ill. Mzia Nioradze will sign the final performance on May 8.

on April 14, 2009 at 12:22 PM

Why did Mary Dunleavy spend most of her day Saturday at the Met rehearsing and having a costume fitting for L’elsir d’amore? Is Angela Gheorghiu sick? Is Nicole Cabell sick? Is AG about to walk out of a performance or two because of the recent tenor switcheroo? Is NC fired?

on April 13, 2009 at 8:04 AM

New Kid on the Plaza Drammy writes: April 9, 2009. A traditional Otto Schenk production featuring Diana Damrau as Gilda and who cares but.. Frizza conducting, Viktoria Vizin as Maddalena, Calleja as the Duke, Frontali as Rigoletto, Aceto as Sparafucile. Stellar performances from the entire cast, excepting poor Mr Frontali. The set was phenomenal –…

on April 12, 2009 at 11:22 AM

The Met broadcasts Wagner’s Die Walküre this afternoon, featuring Iréne Theorin‘s Brünnhilde. Discuss. Listen at noon EDT on Sirius, RealNetworks or on the Metropolitan Opera International Broadcast network. (More streaming radio stations may be found at operacast.com.) Online you will also find the libretto and a vocal score to this music drama.

on April 11, 2009 at 11:53 AM

La Cieca hears that the Man of Steel‘s spring 2010 season will go something like this: 

on April 09, 2009 at 11:31 AM

Dimitri Pittas will sing Nemorino at the Met on April 11, 15, and 18.

on April 08, 2009 at 11:54 AM