Master class

In response to the recent lively(ish) discussion about the suitability of Maria Guleghina to the rigors of the role of Elena in I vespri siciliani, La Cieca has decided that she should demonstrate how this music should be sung. No, actually La Cieca is not going to sing it herself; rather, she will present Renata Scotto's peerless interpretation from La Scala in 1970. This will also mark La Scotto's debut with Unnatual Acts of Opera, and an overdue debut it is when you recall that she is La Cieca's favorite singer, ever. La Cieca once opined that Scotto is the nearest anyone ever came to being the Bette Davis of opera; for that matter, La Davis could certainly be called the Scotto of the Silver Screen. But La Cieca digresses. This gala Vespri also stars Ruggiero Raimondi, Piero Cappuccilli and Gianni Raimondi, under the baton of Gianandrea Gavazzeni. Maestro G. took a number of cuts in the score, which means that we have time for some delightful extras following the acts, with Leyla Gencer, Anita Cerquetti, Boris Christoff and Renato Bruson headlining. It all begins Monday on Unnatural Acts of Opera.

Monumentally ill-advised

La Cieca is borrowing a catch-phrase from dear Leonard Pinth-Garnell because she can't think of a better word to describe... Maria Guleghina in I vespri siciliani. Is there anyone who thinks this is a good idea?

Ramdom harvest

Just when La Cieca thought there could be no more opera this late in the summer, suddenly she finds out that something called REPO! The Genetic Opera opens tonight for a limited run at the Wings Theater on Christopher Street. The piece is described so: "a futuristic rock musical, Repo! takes place during an epidemic of organ failure and captures the resulting frenetic harvesting of human organs, collected by brutal genetic repo men." The website also promises "folding giant penis greeting cards," and it goes without saying you can never have too many of those.

Chi quel bong percuoterà?

Performers in the Neukoellner Opera House's production of Saint-Saens's opera La Princesse Jaune smoke pot. The man-bites-dog angle on this story, though, is that they smoke it onstage, as part of the mise-en-scene. And the artistic director of the company, this dude named Bernhard Glocksin, has encouraged audience members to smoke their own weed during the performances. Sweet, huh? This would so totally work at NYCO; La Cieca is totally surprised they haven't tried it yet. As reported on Ananova.

Little people to be thanked

James Conlon, Régine Crespin, Plácido Domingo, Susan Graham and Dolora Zajick are to be lauded at all-new set of honors, "The Opera News Awards," the occasion to be marked with cocktails, musical performances and other revelry at the dear Pierre Hotel on November 20. If La Cieca may offer just one teensy opinion (and who's to stop her?), it's that the title of this event is just not quite glittery enough. May she suggest "The F. Paul Driscoll Awards for Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Excellence?"

Mario, Mario, Mario!

It appears that La Cieca has finally acknowledged that there is more to opera than high-voiced divas: tenors can be pretty amazing as well. As such, we've declared Mario del Monaco week at Unnatural Acts of Opera. The celebration begins this evening with the first act of Puccini's La fanciulla del West, the 1954 Florence May Festival performance, also starring Eleanor Steber, Giangiacomo Guelfi and Giorgio Tozzi, with Dimitri Mitropoulos conducting. More of Fanciulla follows later in the week, along with scenes from a pair of operas "bookending" the peak decade of del Monaco's career. From 1950 in Mexico City, the tenor is heard in the Nile Scene from Act 3 of Aida opposite Maria Callas; then, from 1959 at La Scala, he is Paolo to the Francesca da Rimini of Magda Olivero in a passionate love scene from the Zandonai opera.

Renate Behle-s out NYCO

Soprano Renate Behle is jumping into the NYCO's Ariane et
Barbe-Bleu, replacing the "injured" Carol Vaness. And while you're catching up on the company's casting and repertory for the fall season, do make a point of checking out the NYCO's site's multimedia "trailers," written and narrated by dramaturg Cori Ellison.

Obscene and heard

Which suave singer, perhaps distracted by his not-so-noble legal problems, suffered a meltdown at a public master class this weekend, repeatedly snarling "motherfucker" at his startled students? Shocked witnesses swore that the event should have been retitled "I hear America swearing!"

Aprile's really jumpin' ...

... down at Carnegie Hall. Or will be, on October 14, when the soprano performs a solo recital at the venerated venue. Details are sketchy at the moment, but La Millo is always good for golden-age tone and demeanor. Diva-fanciers should find themselves either run ragged or in heaven that week (depending on the quality of their disco naps), since Carnegie also plays host to Renee Fleming (singing Daphne October 15) and Cecilia Bartoli (an all-baroque chamber music program on the 19th).

Madness takes its toll

The notorious 1969 Met broadcast of Lucia di Lammermoor, featuring Anna Moffo in, uh, unusual voice, will be webcast by Concertzender this afternoon beginning at 1 PM EDT. Sorry for the late notice, but this is worth at least a partial listen. For those of you who keep up with these things, Nicolai Gedda and Renato Bruson are also featured, in their usual excellent form. (This information gleaned from the indispensable Operacast site.)

Dead Ringers

Gold, Silver and Bronze Medalists
in the Helen Traubel lookalike contest


Goetterdaemmullet!

Leave it to Jane

La Cieca has to think of a new term that means "information I didn't previously know, but at the same time is not at all surprising." For example, Jane Eaglen belches backstage and wears peculiar shoes -- per Trrill.

Motezuma sings again!

Vivaldi's Motezuma, the opera that refuses to die, will grace the boards after all, says an article by Paul Moor at Musicalamerica.com. A court in Duesseldorf has held that the Altstadtherbst Festival in that city may stage the piece, regardless of a previous injunction against performances filed by the "copyright owner," the Berliner Sing-Akademie. (The court apparently regarded the case as rather urgent, since it took the unusual step of calling an Eilverfahren, a type of expedited hearing, to settle the matter.)

This is an interesting legal problem. The Sing-Akademie claims copyright under a German law that an ancient work that has never been published may be copyrighted by the finder. The Altstadtherbst lawyers pointed out that the existing copy of the Motezuma score originated in a Venetian copyist's shop. Hand-copying, they asserted, was the standard method of "publication" in Vivaldi's time, and so Motezuma could hardly be called "unpublished."

The Altstadherbst performances will proceed as scheduled beginning September 21. And La Cieca is still wondering: has anybody pitched this opera to Cecilia Bartoli yet?

Ariane abbandonata

La Cieca has just heard that Carol Vaness has canceled her performances of Ariane et Barbe-Bleu at the New York City Opera this fall due to "injury." The opening night of this Dukas production is scheduled for October 6, less than six weeks from now, and the word is that NYCO is scrambling rather intensely to find someone, anyone who knows this long, heavy and (above all) obscure role. (The only two names that La Cieca can think of are Geraldine Farrar and Grace Bumbry, and rumor has it neither of them is really enthusiastic about working with Leon Botstein.) Vaness's name is still on the NYCO's website, but her photo has been replaced by a symbolist logo of weeping eyes.

Snort!

"While humor and story telling can warm any occasion, a good scoop spreads through a room like an illicit and irresistible drug, passed along in nods and crooked smiles, in discreet walks out to the balcony, the corridor, the powder room." La Cieca is delighted to learn that gossip is the new meth, at least according to the New York Times. (The article goes on to explain why gossip is also sort of like being at a military academy, which frankly is just getting a little too stimulating for poor La Cieca on a sultry day like today.)

Tu la mia Stella sei

La Cieca is no longer alone in the podosphere. She has just been informed of the debut a podcast "designed for rabid opera fans everywhere" by a new girl on the block, Mme. Stella Maria Krazelberg von und zu Brabant. Details on the first episode ("As the Fur Flies - Bitchin', Brawlin' Biker Chicks") may be found chez Stella.

Monday, Bloody Monday

This week on "Unnatural Acts of Opera," a 1998 live performance of Gomes' opera Maria Tudor conducted by Luis Fernando Malheiro. The heroine of this opera (based on a rather improbable play by dear Victor Hugo) is the Queen of England known to history as "Bloody Mary." As depicted by Gomes, Maria is regal, highly conflicted and given to sudden plunges into open chest voice, which means that for Elaine Coehlo, the role is a natural. Hear Maria Tudor on Unnatural Acts of Opera

You've got to climb Mount Everest

Anna Netrebko is Anne Welles! Rolando Villazon is Lyon Burke! On the silver screen, every thrill, every shock of the best-selling novel by Jacqueline Susann!

Uh, make that "the best-selling opera by Giuseppe Verdi...

One from the provinces

This week on "Unnatural Acts of Opera," the kind of performance you just don't hear any more: a "provincial" production of Manon from the New Orleans Opera, starring Montserrat Caballe. Like I said, this kind of thing just doesn't happen these days.

And did you hear about the 16 year old who sang Carmen last week? The 16 year old boy, I mean?

Purché porti la gonnella...

"When his career began, he was singing opposite women old enough to be his grandmother, he said - but female leads are now young enough to be his granddaughter." Thanks, Leporello, make a note of that in your book, will you? Placido Domingo is close to retirement.

Remember filth?

La Cieca has been listening to so much good singing lately that she almost forgot there was such a thing as filth. Don't worry, it's still around, and filthier than ever. Mara Zampieri, anyone?

One more insane queen

It occurred to La Cieca that she might be well advised to listen (with her mind and with her ears?) listen to the music files she's posting into her podcast "Unnatural Acts of Opera." Not that there are technical problems with the source materials, oh, no, never that, but rather she thought she could start commenting in more detail on what is coming up in that day's episode. You know, sort of the way that charming Robert Osborne does when he introduces the movies on TCM. ("When Joan tested for the part of Mildred she showed up in a little cotton housedress that she'd bought off the rack at Sears. Director Michael Curtiz took one look at her and snarled, 'You and your damned Adrian shoulder pads!' Then he ripped her dress from neck to hemline, only to discover -- Joan's shoulders were still there. They were real!")

Now, where was I? Oh, oh yes, previewing the operas. Well, this morning La Cieca was riding into the city on the soon-to-be-trendy 7 train, Ipod earbuds firmly in place, and she got a major earful of Act 4 of Maria Tudor. That's the Gomes opera, you know, about yet one more of those impossibly temperamental British queens, and, let me tell you, Maria is a Dementodiva dream role. Starring in this performance is the Brazilian soprano (and mainstay of the Vienna State Opera) Elaine Coehlo, who is, shall we say, not exactly shy about using chest voice for effect. (That's her in the photo -- as Salome.) It came as no surprise to La Cieca to hear that the soprano is a product of Leyla Gencer's studio, where apparently Coelho majored in glottal attack with a minor in baleful glares.

Amazing stuff, and it's coming soon on "Unnatural Acts of Opera." This week we finish off Il piccolo Marat (starring Virginia Zeani) and then on Friday night we'll hear a brani scelti program, also featuring La Zeani. Next week.... no, not Maria Tudor, not quite yet. La Cieca thought first we should refresh the palate with something lighter and more delicate: Massenet's Manon, with Montserrat Caballe in the title role.

Cieca alla Casablanca

Due to the sensitive yet detailed nature of the following item, La Cieca thought it would be amusing (not to mention safer) to present it in the enigmatic manner of "One Blind Vice," Ted Casablanca's gold-standard column:

Leggy Artiste commandeers a whole range of roles, French and otherwise, but lately she's been panting for a change of repertoire. So she asked for (and got) a concert production of one of her warhorse operas. But this time, Leggy would wear the skirt!

The Fach change shouldn't be such a thorny problem; after all, Leggy is famous for her silvery tones. The remaining cast was hand-picked; Leggy's pet maestro was hired on. Those in the know were already predicting that this event would set the whole town on fire.

But then La Leggy changed her mind, and the whole project crumbled like a handful of .... shall we say, crackers?

Sternstunde alert

La Cieca's fingers are trembling as she types these words because she has only just learned that amazing, awesome, authentic Aprile Millo will take on the title role of Leoncavallo's Zaza for New York's Teatro Grattacielo this fall. This latest installment in La Millo's matriculation at the School of Verismo transpires November 12, 2005 at Alice Tully Hall. Glance at the details, but for heaven's sake, buy your tickets now, because this, my dears, is an event. (La Cieca will most assuredly be among Le tout New-York in attendance for the hot diva-as-diva action!)

There are none so blind...

Which intendant was hoping to steal away from the city of his current post, either to that American A-house, that chic summer festival, or even that international theater so beloved of Alberto Vilar -- but, alas, lost out on all three deals owing to a bad case of loose lips?

Digital Dementia

La Cieca notices that those lovely people over at Berkshire Record Outlet are offering what might fairly be called a plethora of opera performances on DVD, for just $8.99 a pop. Particularly drool-inducing selections include La Grande-Duchesse de Gerolstein (Regine Crespin), Lakme (Joan Sutherland), Carmen (Denyce Graves, Roberto Alagna), Un ballo in maschera (Carlo Bergonzi, Antonietta Stella), Norma (Montserrat Caballe, Tatiana Troyanos), Faust (Alfredo Kraus, Renata Scotto, Nicolai Ghiaurov) -- and even a 1988(!) La Gioconda starring Grace Bumbry and Fiorenza Cossotto! Now, you all know how quickly great stuff like this sells out at Berkshire, so what are you waiting for? Get over there now!

Tales of the Bizarro World

Imagine a world where alarm clocks dictate when to go to sleep.... where ugliness is beautiful... where it is a crime to make anything perfect... and where the cheap seats at New York City Opera cost $45.00. Welcome to the Bizarro World, arriving this fall at the New York State Theater. NYCO has jacked up the price for the Fifth Ring; that is, the sides of the top balcony with at best limited visibility of the stage. These cheap "nosebleed" seats were priced at $12.50 last season, so we are talking about an increase of 360% in just one year. By contrast, seats in the vast expanses of the Met's Family Circle are only about $30.

La Cieca is particularly puzzled by this massive bump when she recalls that she hasn't seen a sold-out house at NYCO in years. And, while she's geared up for a rant, La Cieca would also like to recall the NYCO's mission statement:

Ticket prices have always reflected the company's initial commitment to making the finest opera available, regardless of the prospective audience member's economic status .... always-reasonable individual ticket prices have made City Opera a viable option for the widest possible audience.

So let's get this straight: price-gouging in a theater you can't fill is supposed to bolster your argument that you need a brand-new and more intimate place to perform? Anyone care to guess how exorbitant NYCO's tickets prices will be then (when and if)?

Nipped in the Budd

At first glance, the photo from San Francisco Opera's Billy Budd looks like any other opera featuring Nathan Gunn, i.e., pug nose in profile, chin a-jut, freshly waxed chest front and center.



But on closer inspection, it turns out that Billy is getting a tweak from Mr. Squeak:


"Warm as a sailor's pants, gay as a hornpipe dance..."

La Cieca wishes to thank Albert's World of Artsy Fun for the revelation about Nathan's nips, and also for pointing her to SF Mike's Civic Center, which features lots of photos of the campy Pecheurs de Perles production and other sights around the War Memorial Opera House.

The revolution will be podcast

This week on La Cieca's podcast Unnatural Acts of Opera, we hear Virginia Zeani and Giuseppe Gismondo scale the verismo heights of Mascagni's Il piccolo Marat. This 1962 performance also stars Nicola Rossi-Lemeni and Afro Poli; Ottavio Ziino conducts.

Darling, je vous aime beaucoup, aber...

La Cieca has sneered quite a bit at Anthony Tommasini lately for his slipshod coverage of the Met's archives and a really repellent obituary of Piero Cappuccilli. But it's not like Tony is alone in his bumbling. This morning's Newsday included a wire-service obit of legendary cabaret diseuse The Incomparable Hildegarde, who departed this world last week at the age of 99. But Newsday illustrated the piece with the following file photo:

Now, obviously this is a headshot of Hildegard Behrens, who just as obviously is alive and well. Given that the photo dated 1998, you have to wonder how a copy editor thought it was supposed to represent a 90 year old woman. (Both Hildegarde and Hildegard did a certain amount of maintenance along the way -- so La Cieca hears -- but, honestly! La Cieca thinks this photo of Behrens -- born 1937 -- looks damn good for a woman of 60!)

Well, anyweg, the passing of (T. I.) Hildegarde reminds La Cieca of a couple of stories (what doesn't?), so here goes. Did you know that Hildegarde was the baptismal sponsor when Jacqueline Susann converted to Catholicism? No, really! This happened back in the late 1950s at The Church of St. Paul the Apostle, a couple of blocks south of what was to become Lincoln Center. And after Jackie's baptism, the two ladies repaired to the Plaza for cocktails; reportedly La Susann raised her Martini and toasted, "Well, here's to Jesus!"

The other story is a little less elaborate, but oddly ironic in this context. Back during the period of La Behren's rocky vocalism at the Met around 1990, some of the disgruntled Wagnerians started calling her "The Intolerable Hildegard." But I'm sure that even the worst of her detractors are happy to know that she is still among the living.

In other news, Hildegard von Bingen is still dead.

Oh, ya know, it just occurred to La Cieca that (T. I.) Hildegarde and Hildegard (B.), besides their vocal accomplishments, have something else in common; but I will leave it to you readers to work that out. Hey, who knows, maybe it's true about Hildegard (v. B.) too -- though you didn't hear it from me!