This is such natural casting La Cieca is ashamed she didn’t think of it earlier: Jakub Józef Orlinski as Harry Potter! Read more »
One of Our Own JJ‘s first mentors discovered this YouTube clip of Donna Murphy, exclaiming, “Use this when you are trying to explain what ‘personality’ means in the theater. She makes it into a mash-up of Cours-la-Reine and ‘A Great Lady Has An Interview’.” Read more »
Celebrated conductor William Christie, widely considered among the foremost interpreters of early-music for modern audiences, and his acclaimed ensemble Les Arts Florissants have delighted audiences at BAM (Brooklyn Academy of Music) for 30 years. On March 1st, they return with Rameau, maître à danser, featuring two rarely seen operas originally penned by 18th-century French composer Jean-Philippe Rameau for the court of Louis XV.
A pastoral atmosphere prevails throughout La naissance d’Osiris, a one-act ballet set to a libretto by Louis de Cahusac commissioned to celebrate the birth of the Duke of Berry, future Louis XVI; Daphnis et Églé tells the story of two lovers ignorant of their own love for each other, charming audiences with its use of classic European dance styles like sarabande, gavotte, gigue, minuet, tambourin, and contredanse.
Both operatic miniatures served as a symbol of the court’s opulence as well as a source of evening entertainment; together, as Rameau, maître à danser, they serve as a sublime showcase for Christie’s singular brilliance and the ravishing power of baroque music. At the BAM Howard Gilman Opera House Mar 1—3. Read more »
To those of you who have may recently have read about the birth of parterre box 25 years ago, a reminder that your doyenne’s origin myth must always be understood to begin with the bite of a radioactive soprano way back in 1976.
The ever-astonishing Cecilia Bartoli riffs on the Gershwins’ “Summertime.”
Ardent, astonishing, animated Anthony Roth Costanzo has just unveiled the music video for “Vivi, tiranno.”
La Cieca wishes to be among the first to congratulate Jessye Norman, who has emerged from semi-retirement to leap upon the musical theater bandwagon.
Here’s a set of comments that I think really captures the duality of YouTube — two criticisms of Jonas Kaufmann. I won’t say which I personally find more valid!
Legendary diva and long-time friend of parterre box Aprile Millo offers a gracious and witty speech in acceptance of the Verdi d’Oro Prize in Busseto.
Cher Public