The Met’s $25 weekend ticket program this week features Adriana Lecouvreur. Though La Cieca is naturally remaining mum about this revival until Our Own JJ‘s review appears, she’s more than interested to hear what you, the cher public, think. So if you can get into the Friday night performance via the lottery (or any other…
38 comments
Sponsored
Win tickets to Piotr Beczala at Carnegie Hall!
pb—with our friends at Carnegie Hall—is giving away two tickets to PB’s December concert. Enter now!
… in the “Tenor-Go-Round” saga at the Metropolitan Opera. (La Cieca was going to say “Musical Tenors,” on the model of “Musical Chairs, but decides not to on the ground it’s an oxymoron. Anyway.) So now, according to a photo from metopera.org, it appears that Edgardo will be sung tomorrow by… … Neil Shicoff. Â
Is it possible that Our Own JJ could ever complain about too much drama at the opera? In his review of Lucia for Gay City News, complain he does!
Which undeniably talented artist (of a race La Cieca affects to despise) had to be shushed repeatedly during a recent Metropolitan Opera performance because he was loudly laughing and dishing what was transpiring onstage? Perhaps this scruffy fellow’s obstreperous behavior can be blamed on his overindulgence in preshow cocktails — the fumes of which, one hears, were…
La Cieca has just heard a very soft whisper that there may be another cast change afoot for tomorrow’s HD telecast of Lucia from the Met.
In honor of tomorrow night’s role debut at the Met.
A member of the cher public reports that a note in the program for tonight’s concert performance of the Der Rosenkavalier in Paris reads: “Renee Fleming wears a dress by John Galliano created specially for the Gala Opening of the Metropolitan Opera on September 22, 2008.”
Piotr Beczala will sing Edgardo in Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor on Saturday, February 7 at 1:00 p.m. for the Met’s broadcast and HD telecast, replacing Rolando Villazón who is ill.
One of La Cieca’s most trusted spies wangled his way into the house last night for the surprise cast change in Lucia di Lammermoor, and here’s his report: Perhaps it is the side benefit of low expectations, but I was not offended by Anna Netrebko‘s performance on Tuesday night. Though certainly not a bel canto…
La Cieca unfortunately has been offweb since just before the announcement was made that Giuseppe Filianoti would be jumping in to tonight’s Met Lucia. (According to the Met’s press release, incidentally, “Mr. Villazón is still scheduled to sing Edgardo on February 7 matinee.”) Anyway, as Providence would have it, La Cieca has one of her…
“He said he knew something was wrong when George Steele stopped answering his questions after their parachute deployed.” [The Press Association]
Dr. Jonathan Miller‘s “keenly awaited” new production of La boheme for the English National Opera has been postponed for two nights due to a blizzard in London. “Having made enemies of virtually every individual in the human race, I have concluded that, at 75, I should move on with my life,” Dr. Miller whinged. “My…
In all the hoopla about casting at the Met, everyone seems to have forgotten that today was George Steel‘s inauguration day as General Director of the New York City Opera. Day One: No news.
This is from last night. La Cieca should note that she was not at this performance (1/29/2009), but a member of the cher public armed with an iPhone was. The clip is presented for the purposes of discussion. Tombe La Cieca will begin the discussion by noting that the scene is performed down a half…
The operatives were busy over the midnight hours: “Act 3 was a mixed bag. The opening showed Villazon in much better form, with solid phrasing. The Mad Scene started out beautiful, Netrebko spinning out haunting legato. She was completely involved and engaged. Then she fell apart at the flute solo, sounding under supported and wavering…
UPDATE: And now the reactions to Act 2: “Villazon continued to struggle. Pushed upper register and passaggio. High notes he seems to accomplish (or in some cases misses) by sheer will of force. Aside from a beautiful legato in the sextet, his voice is very worrisome. Netrebko has bloomed in this act, acuti seemingly in…
La Cieca hears that tonight’s Lucia at the Met will be the criterion for deciding whether one or both of the leads might be replaced for the final two performances of the run including the HD telecast February 7. La Cieca, alas, cannot be in the theater tonight, drat that pesky root canal, so she…
La Cieca has obtained some exclusive footage from the first camera rehearsal for the upcoming HD telecast of Lucia di Lammermoor from the Met. Extra rehearsals, she hears, have already been called! [kml_flashembed movie=”http://www.youtube.com/v/6Wg04e24UPc” width=”425″ height=”350″ wmode=”transparent” /]
To finish the run of Lucia, including the HD. Just a guess, mind you.
A new feature just introduced on the Met’s website allows customers to view and select exact seats available for a given performance. It’s handy for those of us in the audience who prefer a certain row or area, but another less obvious benefit is that the online maps offer a snapshot of how ticket sales…
All the way from exotic Portland, Operaman writes: Yesterday I attended the Met HD transmission of Orfeo ed Euridice and, once I have told you my reactions and feelings about this show, I cannot wait to hear what members of your cher public who saw or heard it have to say about it. And I…
La Cieca is naturally drawn to a headline reading “Upheaval at the Opera House” as bees to honey or ugly to a bear. Imagine her surprise, then, when the titular upheaval has nothing to do with Dallas Opera, the New York City Opera, La Scala, or even the Met. So far as she can make…
Is there a grassroots “Draft Placido Domingo” movement afoot, or is there genuine hostility to Peter Gelb somewhere in the Met administration? Page Six goes on the rant today, with quotes from a source who is already mourning the demise of that Franco Zeffirelli Tosca, nine months before it’s officially out of the repertoire.
Karita Mattila in the HD telecast of Salome starts here in New York on Channel 13 in ten minutes. DVRs set?
Sponsored
Reach your audience through parterre box!
parterre box, “the most essential blog in opera” (New York Times), is now booking display and sponsored content advertising for the 2023-2024 season. Join Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Warner Classics and many others in reaching your target audience through parterre box.
Sponsored
Win tickets to Piotr Beczala at Carnegie Hall!
pb—with our friends at Carnegie Hall—is giving away two tickets to PB’s December concert. Enter now!
"*" indicates required fields