Happy Birthday Victoria de los Angeles
Today is the 86th anniversary of the birth of the beloved Spanish Catalan soprano, November 1, 1923.
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Pyramid scheme
A special Halloween trick (or is it a treat?) for the cher public.
Une femme de mon nom
Felicity Palmer has withdrawn, alas, from the Met’s spring revival of La Fille du Régiment. In her place, alternating in the role of the Marquise de Berkenfield we will hear Ann Murray (pictured, with friend) and Philip Langridge. (Oh, all right, La Cieca is being silly. Not Philip Langridge, actually, but rather Meredith Arwady. But […]
Furry ‘Liese
Okay, La Cieca has just revised her standard for “Gayest Thing Ever.”
First, do no Carmen
They should have overlooked the cell phone, but arrested her for this video.
Happy birthday Edith Head
The legendary costume designer for film was born October 28, 1897 in Searchlight, Nevada. Miss Head dressed practically everyone in Hollywood, including Helen Traubel, seen after the jump in an outtake from the 1961 comedy The Ladies’ Man.
Will the dancing Marguerites please wait in the wings?
P.S. The old site will be back tomorrow, promise!
Shoot Your Shot
Maestro Wenarto shows us how Tosca should be done… as directed by that exciting Regie wunderkind Luc Bondage.
Knight und Träume
Jonas Kaufmann in his role debut(!) as Lohengrin. This is a great, great artist.
I’ve never seen such beautiful shirts before
So, as I understand it, Don Giovanni is the Great Gatsby?
The Cistern at the Top of the Stairs
A different look at Salome — from the Deutsche Oper am Rhein.
Dance: Ten; Voice: Three
La Cieca realizes it’s not quite fair to judge an artist from a few minutes of video or from what is apparently a dress rehearsal. But it doesn’t seem to be going out on much of a limb to say: this Nadja Michael can’t sing.
Happy Birthday Luciano Pavarotti
The legendary singer was born October 12, 1935.
Crossing swords
This is the best production of Siegfried ever!
Everything’s coming up Rose
La Cieca has a review coming (slowly) of the new Decca DVD of Der Rosenkavalier, but while we’re waiting, here are some clips from the telecast upon which this release is based. Feel free to discuss while La Cieca continues to scribble.
Stage Fright
La Cieca has managed to obtain this exclusive snippet from the camera rehearsal for Saturday afternoon’s Met HD telecast. Note the “Hitchcock” influence in the cinematography. (Extra points for the first member of the cher public to detect La Cieca’s cameo appearance!)
Looking for Trouble
That little Pinkerton brat is all grown up — and now he’s formed his own opera company.
Boheme in the burbs
[kml_flashembed movie=”http://www.youtube.com/v/_032vNxDrEI” width=”425″ height=”350″ wmode=”transparent” /] Puccini’s opera performed live on location in the Gäbelbach low-income housing apartment complex in Bern. More about this television project.
Done that!
Sting is hoping to attract new fans to opera with his latest release, a film in which he and wife Trudie Styler tell the story of composer Robert Schumann. [BBC News]
The Grey Lady Has an Interview
The New York Times, in its never-ending quest to find more expensive and less relevant ways to cover the arts, has dispatched Daniel J. Wakin to Rome for an in-depth conversation with the man of the hour, Franco Zeffirelli. The legendary stage director, conceding that he has not had a fair chance to tell his […]
“merry” is not precisely the right word
And this is so not someone I expected to turn up at the Embassy Ball.
Wild pitch
Goodness knows, and La Cieca does too, that not everyone can achieve the precision of intonation of our dear Dame Nellie Melba, as I’m sure dear Dame Nellie would be the first to remind us. But even without perfect tuning or even because of perfect tuning, certain singers achieve a more viscerally thrilling effect than […]
Split screen
Now, here La Cieca is somewhat confused. The music is obviously from Tannhäuser, but so far as she can tell the scenario for the video is derived from the 1964 Bette Davis vehicle Dead Ringer.
Win a Free Ticket to Opening Night at the Met!
Quinn Kelsey and Lise Davidsen star in the Met's new Macbeth. We're giving away one ticket, so screw your courage to the sticking place and enter now!
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).
