Point and shoot
Meet parterre’s new tutelary spirit, tenor August Schram, star of Metube.
YouTube
Happy birthday, Giacomo Puccini
“Il Leone di Lucca” (as La Cieca has never heard the composer called) was born December 22, 1858.
Turandot on ice, now with more breakdancing!
Those slackers among you who were not in attendance for Sunday’s chat/viewing of the Bayerische Staatsoper Turandot now have the chance to get up to speed.
Ugh! Neve!
La Cieca celebrates (if that is the word) the first snowfall of the season in New York in the traditional manner.
Once in half a lifetime
Then and now: the “Dio ti giocondi, o sposo” duet from Otello.
Out of the cradle endlessly rocking
No, not a Regie quiz—though that feature will return soon enough now that the season is up and running—but rather an image from the new Dmitri Tcherniakov production of Jenufa for the Opernhaus Zürich.
Window of opportunity
You may recall a couple of weeks ago La Cieca spoke to Giuseppe Filianoti about the “lost” aria from Cilea’s L’arlesiana he had reconstructed to include in a concert performance of the opera.
Huis Clos
That most operatic of all operas, Il trovatore, has been done many ways, but here’s a first: the warhorse as bottle episode.
You got a brand new key signature
You can call Robert Lepage many things (and the critics have!), but one thing you cannot call him is “inflexible.”
Re-entrance
La Cieca (not pictured) has just accessed a new feature in YouTube that imported a dozen or so “classic” parterre video clips from Google Video into the familiar YouTube interface.
L’Âge d’Or
A friend of the box just reminded La Cieca that tonight, April 22, 2012 is the 40th anniversary of the farewell gala honoring Sir Rudolf Bing.
Red all over
You’ve heard what it sounded like; now you can see Saturday afternoon’s HD of La traviata, thanks to YouTube.
Take the Monnaie and run
“Though Mr. Herheim’s work is rigorous, it is also fun, and this Rusalka is serious but the opposite of dour.”
Happy Leap Day!
YouTube yourselves into frenzy, cher public!
L’amour est un oiseau rebelle without a cause
Maestro Wenarto achieves video number 1,500 with this opéra comique take on the immortal “Habanera” from Carmen.
Happy Birthday Maestro Wenarto
Still going strong after (approximately) 1,500 YouTube appearances, Our Own Maestro Wenarto celebrates the anniversary of his birth today.
Turn the Regie up to eleven
No shortage of interesting guesses, but, alas, none of the cher public were only MontyNostry was able to identify last week’s Regie quiz by the three images chosen. The opera, in fact, was Pikovaya Dama, and that lady taking a nap in her corset in the third photo is none other than the title character. Some […]
Mite, gioconda, atroce
In preparation for tonight’s Angela Gheorghiu/Jonas Kaufmann Sternstunde at Carnegie Hall, La Cieca invites the cher public to share your favorite memories and YouTube clips of Adriana Lecouvreur performances present and past. (Photo: Alastair Muir)
No, after you!
The already notorious or celebrated or whatever it is version of the “Habanera” featuring (in alphabetical order) Maria Callas and Angela Gheorghiu: it’s been released, and you can experience after the jump.
“Dispettosetto questo riccio!”
La Cieca supposes that maybe the reason Angela Gheorghiu doesn’t include any music from Manon Lescaut on her new “Homage to Callas” CD is that she can’t quite identify with the character?
Atys for two
For those of you not fortunate or not conscientious enough to attend Atys at BAM this week, there’s a video document of the production (taped earlier this year) following the jump.
“Pity that it’s not a hurricane”
Since this lyric will not be sung in the Broadway revival of Follies this weekend (the performances are canceled), La Cieca has decided to invite the cher public to share their own favorite operatic hurricanes, storms and tempests. Your doyenne will start you off, after the jump.
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).
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!
