Though the day is almost over, it should not go without marking that today is the 50th anniversary of the debuts at the Met of Leontyne Price and Franco Corelli, one of the red-letter nights of the Rudolf Bing regime.
Der Rosenkavalier is exactly 100 years old today, a century after the world premiere of the Strauss/Hofmannsthal comedy at the Königliches Opernhaus in Dresden. La Cieca invites the cher public to share favorite Rosenkavalier memories and YouTube clips.
La Cieca doesn’t know what to say here, which is absolutely okay in this case because the YouTube after the jump makes all, all clear.
If you’re like La Cieca, you’re snowed in today, so how about let’s pass the time recalling great operatic snow moments?
A loyal member of the cher public writes: “Very nice performance of Fanciulla last evening. Although I still love Debbie, and am quite willing to see her in anything she does, I think this was the best of the three Fanciullas I’ve seen so far.”
La Cieca wishes a festive and safe (if such a combination is possible) holiday season to all the cher public, who in turn are invited to offer each other such greetings in the comments below.
The Bulgarian diva was born December 15, 1934.
La Cieca’s favorite Puccini opera premiered exactly 100 years ago tonight!
The prolific “Swan of Bergamo” (as he is almost never called) was born November 29, 1797.
La Cieca has managed to nab a few moments of video of tonight’s performance of Vec Makropulos from San Francisco, proving that Karita Mattila is indeed today’s ideal interpreter of the role of Emilia Marty. [Video]
The spectacular dramatic soprano was born 74 years ago today in Pontnewynydd, Wales. She is seen below in one of her less familiar (though no less effective) roles, Hanna in Die Lustige Witwe.
Were the Swan of Catania as immortal as his melodies, he would be would be 209 years old today! Admirers of the “King of Cantilena” are invited to follow La Cieca’s example and post YouTube clips of favorite Bellini morceaux.
The original gay pirate is (sort of) 223 years old, since the Prague premiere of Mozart’s masterpiece took place on October 29, 1787.
At the risk of “pulling a Kathy Lee,” here’s a preliminary to tonight’s Met performance of Les Contes d’Hoffmann dedicated to Dame Joan Sutherland.
Congratulations to parterre fave Andrew Richards, who was featured in the staging named Best Opera Production of 2009-2010 in Opernwelt magazine: Verdi’s Macbeth, directed by Krzysztof Warlikowski at La Monnaie in Brussels.
Tamara Mumford (Flosshilde in Das Rheingold) explains the concept of the Met’s new production of the Ring.
Country wailer Patsy Cline and ex-farmgirl Birgit Nilsson.
And now, cher public, let’s put today’s singers, the Contemporary Divas, under the microscope. How do they stack up?
Maria Callas died 33 years ago, September 16, 1977.
Our Own JJ will have a news item or two tomorrow, but until then, a couple of YouTube clips follow: a remake of a classic and a reimagining of a classic. La Cieca is confident the cher public (pictured) will have opinions.
La Cieca has managed to obtain a few minutes of video, pirated at great personal risk, from a dress rehearsal of the Met’s new production of Das Rheingold.
That archetypical Leo, Mae West, was born 117 (or so) years ago today, on August 17, 1893.
La Cieca is always delighted when a legendary lady of the lyric stage reinvents herself. For example, who ever would have expected Montserrat Caballe to make a comeback as Radames?
The dramatic soprano (and soon to be belter!) celebrates her golden birthday today.
Tell us: What was the best of 2025?
Parterre Box concludes the thrilling first year of Talk of the Town by inviting your lightning rod opinions on several more categories of operatic argumentation.
