Opera Chic

Adi The Dog Sings Along With La Ceci

The secret of Cecilia Bartoli's global success?

Her fans are everywhere.

Donald Duck Drawn into Teatro alla Scala's Season Opener

"Topolino" (literally: "mousie") is not only the Italian name of that ubiquitous Disney character "Mickey Mouse", but it's also the Italian name of a Disney comic book that contains the adventures of Mickey, Donald ("Paperino"), Goofy ("Pippo") along with the rest of Walt's zoo.

Coming soon to an Italian newsstand near you (or not), the December 3rd issue of "Topolino" will feature a story where Donald Duck goes to la Scala's opening night (see cover above).

The outline? Donald Duck's doppelganger "DoubleDuck", a sort of ducky James Bond, goes -- all dressed up in black tie -- to the opening night to protect the conductor "Felino Felynis" from a possible spectacular kidnapping during the opera "Carlone e Beppina".

omg indoctrination! We already downloaded a leaked copy of it. DoubleDuck gets wasted on a hidden flask of Jager during the first intermission, passes out in the coatroom, and gets locked in the theater overnight. And Rosebud is the freaking sled.

Jørn Utzon, 1918-2008: Designer Of Sydney Opera House, Pritzker Prize Laureate

It's one of the most famous buildings in the world, one of those rare landmarks that transcend all -- you're probably familiar with it even if you have never gone to the opera once.

Danish architect Jørn Utzon, the Pritzker Prize winner who designed the iconic Sydney Opera House died today, in his sleep. He was 90.

Utzon drew up the design for the opera house in 1957 but quit seven years before it was finished after scandals about cost blowouts and design arguments. Government-appointed architects took over and the interior was not completed to Utzon's original plan.

Reuters dispatch here.

All Is Forgiven: La Scala's Lissner Invites Vienna's Holender To La Prima In Milan

This past February, Scala GM Stéphane Lissner had slammed in the Italian press the Vienna Staatsoper (Munich, too) "where they don't rehearse as much and this has recently been the cause of substandard shows".

Not to be upstaged in this childish pointless foodfight, instead of letting it slide, Ioan Holender -- Vienna's Staatsoper director -- shot back with all the ammo he could find:

"This (attack) is unprecedented between opera houses: it is very embarrassing to engage in a dispute with someone who cannot read music but I understand Lissner needs to distract the Italian press from what is happening -- or better yet, not happening -- at la Scala".

"To cancel a new production (ed: the Andrea Chenier Opera Chic wrote extensively about) because the director and almost all of the cast have vanished is quite unusual and unbelievable for a opera house. With such attacks against my work Lissner disqualified himself, since he knows that I have been leading for 16 years the glorious Vienna opera with more than 60 operas in repertoire and more than 300 shows every season. Monsieur Lissner's envy is understandable when one sees that these days on the Vienna podium we have Christian Thielemann, Seji Ozawa, Riccardo Muti and Zubin Mehta, who are among the world's greatest conductors. They are not at la Scala where, unfortunately, there is only Lissner: this is sad".

Nine months of frozen silence between the two managers followed; but now, in a honorable attempt to patch things up, Lissner has invited Holender to la Scala for the Dec. 7 prima of Don Carlo.

If unruly unions sink the show (Opera Chic wouldn't bet on it, even last year's Tristan was similarly threatened and the wildly overpriced  show -- that makes la Scala about 2 million euros in a single night -- regularly went on), Herr Holender will have the chance to go shopping in the Quadrilatero and sample himself some tasty seasonal Milanese cuisine (cassoeula a special favorite of the pork-eating gourmets here).

Anthony Tommasini's Opera Lesson: Casta Diva = Yesterday

Opera Chic seldom joins the legions of haters of poor Tony Tom, mostly because she's a live-and-let live kind of a girl, and now the New York Times is not even her local paper anymore -- Corriere della Sera ftw! -- but sometimes TT's shenanigans move us to action.

Yesterday, Tony Tom celebrated Black Friday by doling out a discount Cliffs Notes on a much worthy subject: belcanto, that most misunderstood of opera genres.

But the bel canto melodies that most captivate me are those that spin out in long, elegant, endless lines that almost disguise the phrase structure of the melody. For a modern equivalent, think of the Beatles’ song “Yesterday,”...

If you check out the story, there's much worse in there.

Oh, and he also writes that opera presentations are about to "bone up".

Opera Finds a New Muse: Anime Flows From Vancouver Opera's Mad Styles

(Above: Fidelio as immortalized in comics by Vancouver Opera's OperaLive!)

Opera sometimes needs a kick in the pants(role) every now and then to resuscitate the sluggish soup and get the blood flowing to all those necessary & lovely extremities. We want to tingle, we want to sweat...let's all agree that we like our opera rugged & raw.

We've found an unpredictable & successful mix between opera and pop culture via OperaLive!, the media-filled sister website of their more serious parent site, Vancouver Opera, who has already moved onto Plan B while everyone is cruising along with predictable Plan A.

Combining condensed versions of libretti with anime & manga, Vancouver Opera has created a slick promotional and education tool, the perfect elixir to sway the under 30-something prospective opera fans, and elucidate opera's timeless tales as a sweet chaser.

We hate to gush with lust for the VO, but this is one of the most innovative culture jams we've had for opera since the Opera Chic blog O_o We're just down on our knees thankful that they did just straight up manga. We don't want to see Fidelio in a little schoolgirl's outfit attempting physically impossible ~things~ with tentacles.

Via the always awesome Vancouver Opera blog, you can find anime/manga versions of productions past & present, and almost all are a collaboration between editor Roy Husada and Fiona Meng's artwork. 

Go visit for full comix of Eugene Onegin, La Boheme, Fidelio, Cavelleria Rusticana, L'italiana in Algeri, Pagliacci, and Tosca. [Click on "READ" from the main menu ---> Click on "MANGA" from secondary menu]

~*~(Above: La Boheme)

(Above: Eugene Onegin)

Baren-who? NYC Doesn't Care About Daniel Barenboim's Metropolitan Opera Debut

Daniel Barenboim, the 66-year-old conductor of many nationalities will settle into the orchestra pit at the Metropolitan Opera on Friday, November 28 for his first public appearance conducting Wagner's Tristan und Isolde.

To help you digest your turkey leftovers and soothe your Black Friday consumer angst, you can still find *plenty-o-tix*. WTF NYC? It's the Thanxgiving weekend, ok, and it's not the cool new Chereau staging we saw last year in Milan, but is everybody so stuffed with turkey buttz and gizzard gravy that they have more important things to do than witness Barenboim's Metropolitan premiere?

Also making their premieres are Swedish soprano Katarina Dalayman and hard-of-hearing German heldentenor Peter Seiffert, singing the title roles but apparently this gave NYC the lawls. René Pape, he of all things awesome will sing King Marke, reprising the role which he sang in the inaugural 1999 Dieter Dorn production.

We peeked on the page for la prima, and it looks like NYC has other plans tomorrow night...

We've got a nice assortment of production photos just for you!

(Above: Peter Seiffert as Tristan, Katarina Dalayman as Isolde, and Michelle DeYoung as Brangäne)

(Above: Seiffert as Tristan, Katarina Dalayman as Isolde)

**click on the link below for a handful of more shots!!**

Rolando Gets His Bambi On, Spazzes Out, Nothing Else is New

Rolando was spotted earlier tonight hanging out with Placidone The Dominger, Pink, Britney Spears, Keanu Reeves, Meg Ryan, Karl Lagerfeld, Tommy Hilfiger, Maria Furtwaengler, and lots of other German d00ds for Germany's 2008 Bambi Awards.

[UPDATE]!!! MOAR FOTOS!!

 

Placidones & Villazon...so cute! 

 

 

 

(Above: Placidone with Claudia Cardinale and Hardy Krueger)

Style Icons: Rosita Missoni. Genius Designer, Classical Music Lover, Birthday Girl

There's no better day to give a Style Icon shoutout to that Milanese (ok she was born near Varese, but she's been living here since like forever anyway) icon of cool, la signora Rosita Missoni, designer of multicolor, multilayered talents, creative mind of museum-grade greatness, pioneering businesswoman since the early 1950s, classical music lover who, together with her husband (of 55 years this year!) Tai and a bunch of adorable grandkids, is a constant presence at Scala concerts and operas.

La signora Rosita just turned an incredibly youthful and active 77: OC hereby states she can only hope to age, one day, half as beautifully as la signora Rosita is doing. 

Here, courtesy of Oprah.com three generations of Missoni women, Rosita with daughter Angela and granddaughter Margherita:

Below, one of our favorite Missoni dresses.

Roberto Bolle Can Be Yours For A Night: The Hottest Man In The World Auctions Himself Off For Charity

Break the piggy bank, sell your house, pawn a kidney, do anything (legal) that's necessary to ensure that you place a solid bid for the American Ballet Theatre's charity auction that runs from December 1 to December 15. And a dinner with Roberto Bolle can become a reality and not just one of your naughty, naughty, naughty dreams.

Bidding starts at a cool US$ 5,000; sky's the limit, obvs.

(via)

 

Unemployed Belgian Man Finally Finds Job In Spain

**Teatro Real lends a helping hand**

This is How We Wanna See Il Barbiere: Jennifer Rivera Spices Up Siviglia

(Photo courtesy Rob-Harris Productions)

o hai who's that secksay girl with the razor? Once in a while an opera promotional campaign comes along that just clicks...and leaves you wondering why no one had thought of it before -- nay, why you hadn't yourself. We're sorta getting that vibe from the playful new ads created for Opera Tampa's upcoming Barbiere di Siviglia.

Modeled after that famous 1993 Vanity Fair cover, shot by late/great Herb Ritts, our two young singers pose in homage to the gender-bending vignette of K.D. Lang getting a shave by Cindy Crawford.

In the photo above, American mezzo Jennifer Rivera as Rosina prepares to groom American tenor Greg Schmidt as Count Almaviva, publicizing the December 5th and 7th productions of Barbiere for Opera Tampa. La Rivera explains more on her blog, "Trying to remain opera-tional" (you can also go there for high-res images):

"Here in Tampa, we have a very short rehearsal period before the performances. They scheduled a photo shoot for the second day we were here, and since we didn't have the costumes yet, the PR guy had the very clever idea to copy a former Vanity Fair cover of Cindy Crawford shaving K.D. Lang who was reclining in an old time Barber's chair.[...]"

"[...]I am soooooo not a sexy vixen in real life, so this photo shoot was a big stretch for me, but he finally got some good expressions at the end of the shoot when I just gave up and stopped trying.[...]"

Please, girl...the secksiness has liftoff -- destination: Jennifer Rivera. Frankly, we wish that wardrobe & make-up could have been a bit fiercer (like smokey, sultry eyes/red lips for la Rivera paired with a couture/vintage dress & accessories) but we give it A+++ for effort for rubbing us in all the right places. We understand we're working with a limited budget here.

We hope to find Ms. Rivera in 2011 @ Teatro Communale di Bologna's La Clemenza in the reprisal of Graham Vick's masterful production we saw last May in Torino. We thoroughly lauded Monica Bacelli's Sesto (La Rivera was the secondary cast's Sesto), but are looking forward to sampling her skillz. Maybe like, a sultry Sesto? hmmmm...

The End Of The Prompter's Box: Peter Seiffert First Singer To Use Earpiece @ Metropolitan Opera

The NYTimes reports:

"But during rehearsals for the Metropolitan Opera’s production of Wagner’s 'Tristan und Isolde,' which opens on Friday night, the German tenor singing Tristan, Peter Seiffert, has been using a personal electronic prompter: an earpiece through which he can hear the cues directly. The only previous time a performer at the Met has used such a device came last season in a speaking role for the new production of Donizetti’s 'Fille du Régiment.' Mr. Seiffert has sung several major Wagner roles to acclaim, including Tannhäuser for his Met debut in 2004. When he sang Tristan in Berlin two years ago he also used an earpiece. A Met official said yesterday that Mr. Seiffert was still deciding whether to use the earpiece on Friday, when the conductor Daniel Barenboim would be making his Met debut."

Orchestras playing too loud are one thing; singers going deaf for it are entirely another.

Furlanetto PGA 09: Golf This Way

The world knows him as the operatic bass with the monstah powah and the spotless
resume, the talent discovered by Herbert Von Karajan in the 1970s, the first and only Italian to ever sing Boris Godunov at the Mariinsky, an impeccable gentleman in an increasingly less and less gentlemanly business such as the opera.

But not many people know that Ferruccio Furlanetto's opera work is, actually, just his hobby.

What he really wants to be is a professional golfer, as the wonderful people at San Diego Opera, who are lucky enough to have him often there, explain us.

(Foto via ariaserious.blogspot.com)

Norman Lebrecht Gets Drawn Up in the Shanghai Review of Books

With a magical pen that farts miniature pianos, violins, and records, Norman Lebrecht was idealized for the current cover of the Shanghai Review of Books.

We're so in love with this little cartoon. Does it get any better than this? We hope not.

Renée Fleming Goes to More Parties in a Single Week Thaen You Do In a Year

The Beautiful Voice, Miss Fleming (if ur nasty) is warming up the hectic holiday social season a little on the early side. We're proud that an ambassador from ~the world of opera~ is making the rounds and reprezentin the dying habit of the old skool diva, who would flutter her golden butterfly wings from party to party.

Earlier this week, Renée was a guest of Her Majesty Queen Silvia of Sweden at the Waldorf Astoria's Mentor Foundation Royal Gala. She joined mainstay NYC gala scenesters such as Martha Stewart & Russell Simmons, and looked the part in a burgundy strapless gown.

Tickets didn't come cheap, ranging from $150,000 (for 2 tables for ten) to a measly $1000 single patron ticket, tho entry guaranteed a night of VIP treatment, and a chance to rub shoulders with luminaries like Queen Noor.

Next one of these functions, Renée should demand to be called "Her Excellency Majesty Royal Queen", and hire a retired jockey to hang out at her side, twirling his Fu manchu moustache and fingering his monocle.We ♥ you, Renée!

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Alexandrina Pendatchanska Will Bust Your Head Open Like A Coconut

(Photo copyright & credit: Ken Howard)

Opera Chic likes and doesn't like René Jacobs, that historically correct Belgian potato, a sweet man, a better countertenor than a conductor, a relentless nostalgic of museum-ready musical dogma who irritates us almost as much as the vinyl LP geeks who in 2008 still insist that CDs sound "flat", not to mention René is a staunch supporter of criminal endeavors such as slapping Sussmayer's recitativi in the middle of a Mozart opera (as if the Requiem wasn't enough bootleg Sussy-posing-as-Wolfie to last us for a lifetime). But oh does René have a long list of redeeming qualities: among them, his devotion to Alexandrina Pendatchanska, the dark-colored fearsome voice that lately haunts many of Opera Chic's favorite opera-listening moments (and who boasts a pretty bada$$, even if Flash-heavy, website).

Fact is la Pendatchanska, this week, is touring Europe like she's a character in some wacky videogame: together with Jacobs and the nostalgic bY0tches up at the Freiburger Barockorchester she's touring with Idomeneo (she's Elettra) all over Valladolid (Teatro Calderón, this past Sunday), Köln (Philharmonie, last night), Brussels (Bozar, Nov 27) and Paris (Salle Pleyel, Nov 29).

Valladolid seems to have gone down extremely well already. OC has a weakness for Idomeneo because, even more than La Clemenza, it tends to be overlooked and not get fully recognized as a masterpiece, because obviously the splendor of the Mozart/DaPonte trilogy can be blinding at times, and we are all in love with that crazy bird-catcher Mozart himself loved so dearly.

But Idomeneo nevertheless soars; and it's nice to have la Pendatchanska in charge of that, this time.

(Photo copyright & credit: Ken Howard)

Elliott Carter Will Probably Bury Us All

Even WWD kneels down and pays their respects to one of the great Americans, il maestro Elliott Carter now celebrating one cool century of awesomeness:

He realized he was destined to be a composer when he was 19, and first heard Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring at Carnegie Hall in 1928. “I thought it was the greatest thing I’d ever heard and thought to myself, I’d love to write something like that.” He laughs as he adds, “I remember half of the audience walked out and that’s what I liked, too.”

“It’s rather touching for me to see the halls packed today with people because there were times when I was lucky if I could fill one row at a big concert hall,” he recalls.

One, two, three: riot!

These Three Queens are Stealing the Gold: "Superwoman" Kathleen Battle @ AMAs

Queen Latifah, Queen Kathleen Battle, and Queen Alicia Keys sang at the 2008 American Music Awards in Los Angeles last night. So full of win! loooooooool what is this, any of this??? Watch the performance below! OMG PLZ GIVE IT UP FOR THE ~INCOMPREHENSIBLE~ KATHLEEN BATTLE:

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SUPAHWOMANZ!

**CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW** to be transported to magical KathyLand where tons more photos await to fulfill all your wildest Kathy paparazzi dreams!

Teatro Regio di Parma Launches 2008-2009 Season With Claudio Abbado's Beethoven, I Lombardi In Teh Haus

It's crunch time at Teatro Regio di Parma because the 08-09 season is about to start: Claudio Abbado on Dec. 1 will lead the Mahler Chamber Orchestra in a sweet all-Beethoven night, the Eroica and the Violin Concerto in D Major op. 61, Isabelle Faust soloist. To be followed two days later by a Radu Lupu piano recital, Beethoven/Schumann.

The new opera season begins in the name of their local hero Giuseppe Verdi: the season opener on Jan. 13 will be I Lombardi alla prima crociata, with Dimitra Theodossiou, Francesco Meli & Michele Pertusi, conducted by Daniele Callegari; the staging is by Lamberto Puggelli (dir), Paolo Bregni (sets), Santuzza Calì (costumes).

Lucia di Lammermoor (opens on Feb. 19) will be directed by Denis Krief, Dèsirèe Rancatore as Lucia, Roberto Aronica & Gabriele Viviani. Alberto Fassini's staging of Tosca will open on April 2 with Marcelo Alvarez, Michela Carosi & Marco Vratogna under Massimo Zanetti's baton.

Philip Gossett Invades Milan, OC Witnesses the Funky Lingo of the Maestro

How lucky for O.C. that she didn’t have to travel back in time and enroll herself in college again just to hear the world’s foremost expert on Italian opera, Dr. Philip Gossett (Jr, jr) do his thang. So no time travel in the DeLorean back to University of Chicago, where Uncle Phil currently lectures as the Robert W. Reneker Distinguished Service Professor of Music…that is, when he’s not traveling around the world, researching centuries-old scores in guarded tombs, compiling critical editions -- we like to call him the Indiana Jones of classical music. And with the possible exception of the latest issue of Vogue Nippon, of Lorenzo Da Ponte's Memorie, and Hans Werner Henze's autobiography, there's no book more often present at Opera Chic's bedside table than Gossett's "Divas & Scholars".

Milan’s Conservatorio di musica “G. Verdi” (you know, the ones who didn't accept young Giuseppe because he had apparently flunked his admission test, a slight he never ever forgave, and probably rightly so) wooed the elusive Herr Doktor as oratore for their weekend-long conference, which is the fourth & final stop of a 6-month touring conference, organized for the 150^th anniversary of Giacomo Puccini’s birthday. The conference circuit spanned from Milan (where he studied and lived for many years and worked) to Lucca (where he was born) to Torre del Lago (where he lived & built his villa), and brought in experts from every field to discuss all things Puccini. Philip Gossett treated the audience to a hour-long discussion, all in Italian language, on his vast work in the critical editions of Puccini’s manuscripts.

With a Steinway to his back, Gossett highlighted many musical examples by sight-reading passages with a theatrical flair. Gossett explained all the variables that go into common, accepted versions of scores being passed around, and how even stylistically, alterations to the original scores were done simply to ease certain interpretations, to adapt them into something that's generally considered more agreeable to the ear. One cool example that particularly caught OC's attention? In the opening notes of Puccini's Madame Butterfly overture, for example, the composer noted the violins with much less connectivity and legato, diverse from the way we've come to know it today.

Puccini had different phrasing, implementing a disconnected, staccato notation, which carried a much heavier, drowsier sense -- a sense of doom, of impending disaster. And frankly more modern -- much less "classical" -- to our 21st Century ears. But the legato simply was the way it was marked in the Ricordi version, and thus becomes the standard.

OC deems Philip Gossett a scholar worthy of his rock star status, as he wooed the audience and panel alike. After his presentation, he fielded a spontaneous Q&A session, also in Italian language. Young and old stepped up to the microphone, praising the doctor for his work.

Another highlight of the conference was the work of Ms. Gabriella Biagi Ravenni, President of Centro studi Giacomo Puccini, who displayed many of Puccini’s handwritten letters to his family, which were written in a very curious style. Young Puccini was terribly poor -- a Bohemian, really -- and therefore would only buy postcards to write to his family so he could save on postage rates. Because of space confinements, he would actually write his letters in two directions: first in a normal horizontal way as this post is written, but then he would write over it vertically.

Douche Of The Month: Gennady Rozhdestvensky

The week's early rehearsals had gone marvelously, he continued, speaking with occasional help from a translator. The trouble began on Wednesday during a rehearsal break, when the conductor and his wife took a stroll around Symphony Hall. They came upon a promotional poster that gave the week's soloist, the cellist Lynn Harrell, top billing, both with large print and a photograph. Rozhdestvensky's name appeared in smaller print as part of the program announcement.

Soon afterward, the conductor came across a copy of the orchestra's season brochure, a marketing tool designed to entice potential subscribers. He found a page with the heading "Artists who inspire" and a smaller section devoted to "Distinguished Conductors." That section, while including the names of two little-known conductors, did not mention his name. It appears only in a third section on the page under the heading "The Cello Shines," in connection with Harrell, this week's cello soloist.

"I felt insulted by the actions of the administration," he explained, "I feel not only slighted but I suffered what is called in Russian a moral insult, and I'm free to take any actions to defend myself in public."

The 77 year old maestro then proceeded to leave Boston in a huff. One hopes his airplane seats were of his liking, at least.

(Insert "in Soviet Russia, orchestra storms out on you" joke).

London Philharmonic Orchestra Tours Germany, Mr. Jessica Duchen Blogs About It

The London Philharmonic Orchestra tours Germany and they're blogging about it -- the orchestra's Konzermeister, jogger Thomas Eisner, aka Mr Jessica Duchen, is in charge of the blog.

Jessica, in the meantime, instead of throwing wild champagne-and-laudanum-fueled parties at her and her husband's place, has decided to embark in a complicated venture: an Internet poll to decide once and for all who's the greatest conductor of them all.

Vote early and often!

(OC said six months ago everything she felt she needed to say on the topic)

Bohemian Like Her: Elaine Alvarez Replaces @ Last Minute Cristina Gallardo Domâs In Teatro Carlo Felice's Bohème (With Audio UPDATE)

Live on Radiotre, Italian listeners have been treated earlier tonight to a live broadcast of the premiere of La Bohéme from Teatro Carlo Felice in Genova. Cristina Gallardo Domâs was supposed to be Mimì, only she fell ill a few hours before the show was supposed to start. Alerted in the late afternoon, young American soprano Elaine Alvarez -- who only fourteen months ago had never sung in a major opera company -- as Cristina's understudy came to the rescue the way she did when Angela Gheorghiu was fired from Chicago's Bohème last year and Elaine A., her understudy, stepped in and made critics swoon.

La Alvarez barged ahead with her trademark warm colors, displaying her blooming powerful soprano and -- judging by the audience's reactions, since we obvs had no visuals -- her knack for raw, emotional acting that made her Chicago Mimi such a treat.

After coming in from the wings to pwn first Gheorghiu, then Gallardo Domâs, we have only a piece of advice to sopranos she'll end up in the same production of Bohéme with: worry.

^^^update^^^

Audio update: download the first act of last night Bohème by clicking here

It's a free Mediafire link:

http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=068976bd7ecefebed2db6fb9a8902bda

(photo above courtesy Kristin Hoebermann/CAMI)

Wherefore Art Thou, Gustavo? Dudi Does Shakespeare, Gets Swallowed By Merciless PR Machine

Gustavo Dudamel, always counterintuitive, learns English by immersing himself in iambic pentameter: (and as someone who once tried to learn Italian by reading the libretto for Ernani, Opera Chic has only this to say: bad idea)

"I was trying to read in English, like, (as) exercise for me."

Shakespeare in the original?

"The original Shakespeare. I hope it was one, because it was a very old book that my wife have, and she speak perfect English. Yes, because she was living in London. And this is also part of my little knowledge about English."

Then, young man of the people that he is, he proceeds to grant critic Tim Mangan -- who used to hang out with Carlo Maria Giulini when Dudi was in diapers -- all of 10 minutes of his time, until the fearsome MLFalcone Agency whips him, their new subject, into submission. To be fair, his PR people do rent him out in 10 minute installments, period, it's not personal; and, Dudi was probably late for a Duda Meal of tailor-made hot dogs. But he's happy to admit that the awesome Eloisa is the smarter half of the family anyway (she's also the taller half), so he's kinda forgiven, for now.

Danny & Jimmy's Carnegie Hall Adventure: The Fabulous Barenvine Boys

It's all Barenboim all the time for New York: the Israeli/Argentinian/Spanish/Palestinian/Whatevs maestro is in NYC to:

1. make his Metropolitan Opera debut on November 28 with Tristan und Isolde
2. play a solo piano recital at the Met on December 14
3. play with the Met music director James Levine on November 23 at Carnegie’s Weill Hall four-hand piano pieces by Schubert and Brahms

Whew!

What Opera Chic can exclusively reveal is that Barenboim, now that Mike Mussina has officially retired, will officially do a try out for the New York Yankees -- a lifetime of piano playing apparently gave Barenboim a mean, mean slider.

Where's Your PEOPLE Magazine Now, Huh? Bolle Does Vogue, The World Grinds To A Halt

Let PEOPLE magazine swoon for Australian cowboys -- such men are fit for the pages of a Marvel comic book; here is a Phidias sculpture in motion, the actual hawtest man in the world, Roberto Bolle photographed by Annie Leibovitz, Vogue USA, December 2008 issue.

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Revenge Of The (Piano) Nerds: Lang Lang Among PEOPLE's Sexiest Men

In a surprise move that will make piano nerds -- and generally scrawny, lonely, odd-looking men -- worldwide very happy, PEOPLE magazine included Communist piano man Lang Lang in their list of the world's hawtest men (no. 1 was that taurine piece of Australian mountain man, Hugh Jackman)

Lang Lang, according to the mag, is hawt.

Roberto Bolle, not on their list, is not hawt, in PEOPLE's universe.

FIALS Puts on a Face Full of FAIL: Scary Unions At La Scala

Earlier tonight in Milan, Scala workers had a nice union meeting in the opera house, since the sold-out performance of The Merry Widow that was supposed to go on had been cancelled by them anyway -- strike, baby, strike! 

Anyway, to keep up with the theatrics, a few union members (the hardline union FIALS that comprises all of 80 people refused to sign the agreement for a benefit package accepted by the vast majority of the 800 workers of la Scala, thus effectively vetoing the deal) dressed up as ghouls and decided to expose a big banner to express their distaste with, one assumes, the several million euros bonus package already offered by management and accepted by most unions.

The banner reads: "Futuro incerto alla Scala" (Uncertain future at La Scala).

Of course la Scala itself is 44.1 million euros in the red -- and that's red ink the Italian taxpayers, who already fund most of the theater's budget, will have to eat (memo to our American readers: Italy's heavily subsidized opera houses -- some of them already in receivership -- have created in the last few years a total deficit of about 400 million euros. Nevermind that the government, badly hurting in a recession, is trying to slash funding to the arts, opera houses included. That red ink again will have to be taken care of, eventually, by Italian taxpayers. Especially since most opera houses don't seem to be able to raise independently from private donors more than a million euros a year on average -- La Scala raises a bit more, 1.8 mil, but they spend 66.1 mil euros a year on wages only. If you're an American unsubsidized opera administrator, read this and weep, baby, weep).

The Scala union's solution to this mess: more strikes, if they don't get the extra benefit package they requested (the 11.5 million euros in 4 years package that most workers had accepted is not enough for FIALS).

Are you scared?

If you pay taxes here, you'd better be. Whether you like opera or not.

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lol @ the bald d00d in the right.

Breaking News: Alberto Vilar Convicted On 12 Counts Of Fraud and Money Laundering

Alberto Vilar, former opera maecenas, found guilty of fraud and money laundering.

Vilar was convicted of defrauding clients to pay debts, a scheme that prosecutors say began after a sharp decline in technology stocks hurt performance at his Amerindo Investment Advisers money management firm. He was found guilty by a U.S. District Court jury in Manhattan of all 12 counts he faced.
 Vilar's business partner, Gary Tanaka, was found guilty of securities fraud and conspiracy. Tanaka was found not guilty of money laundering. The two were arrested in May 2005.

Juan Diego Flórez Breaks the Silence & Speaks to Corriere, We Listen!

Just when we were starting to wonder what that secksay superstar Peruvian tenor was up to, Juanes sat down with Milan's Corriere della Sera over the weekend, and shared a few thoughts.

He spoke about the phenomenon of being called Pavarotti's heir to the tenor throne ("It made me really happy because he has been my idol forever, and I felt the responsibility of it all."); his new Sonnambula CD with Bartoli ("I admire her enormously."), his admiration of Bocelli ("He was able to open a new venue of music...combining a little bit of pop and a little bit of classical, although it's not really pop nor classical"); and his upcoming Puritani in Bologna.

Here are a few more ~intimate~ details (All translations are Opera Chic's interpretations & property):

The last time you spoke to Corriere, you said that Pavarotti was doing well. However, he died a month later. Were you trying to protect him?

"I remember well that day, I was at Pavarotti's place in Pesaro, it was the last time he ate at his house before he went to the hospital. Maybe I was trying to protect him. You could tell that he was suffering. But not even I would have thought that he would die so quickly. Alice, the little daughter, was running all around him, and was smiling sweetly."

When you were a teen, you sang Led Zeppelin covers in Lima, and you had a band called "Graffiti". But would you also do pop duets like Pavarotti did?

"I like that self-destructive English singer, Amy Winehouse. I would sing with my idols, Mick Jagger and Paul McCartney. It depends on the context. I had to do crossover with unlikely singers, and i asked myself -- what the heck am I doing here?"

You sing frequently with Anna Netrebko: Are you tenors happier singing now with sopranos who are more like top models? [...] What's la Netrebko like?

"Opera has become more and more a visual medium. A new wave of singers from Eastern Europe arrived who were really good and really thin, and their Western colleagues have been forced to follow their example. But it's not easy...anxiety after a show will push you to eating too much, and then you go to bed on a full stomach. If you're not careful, you end up getting fat."

"Netrebko is exactly as she appears to be. We are all normal people. We just want to work and sing well. Once upon a time, you needed to be a diva/divo. If you weren't, people wouldn't take you seriously. Today it's different."

Amy Winehouse? omg 2 kewl 4 skool. They tried to make me sing the Duke again, I said "No, No, No."

Renée Fleming in NYC, Hanging out with Nixon

Renée Fleming rubbed her fur-draped shoulders at NYC's Ziegfeld Theater on Monday night with the cast & crew from Ron Howard's latest film, Frost/Nixon.

The Ziegfeld hosted the premiere of the film adaptation of the Peter Morgan play, which is based on the 1977 interviews between David Frost and Richard Nixon, regarding his involvement & subsequent guilt in Watergate. The film opens in limited release on December 5, 2008.

Below, Renée posed with actor Frank Langella, who played Nixon in the film. Langella reprized his role from the original 2007 Broadway play, which ran 137 performances.

Alessandra Ferri Finally Relaxes...And Definitely In Style

Pensioner & former étoile Alessandra Ferri is finding lots to fill her retirement time from la Scala and the ABT. Here we see her in publicity for Italian luxury furniture designers, Poltrona Frau.

The ad was shot at Ferri's NYC loft, which she shares with fashion photographer husband, Fabrizio Ferri, and daughters Matilde and Emma.

165 Steinways Go To Cincinnati

The piano making business? It's recession resistant, apparently. Largest order ev4r for the Steinway & Sons piano company!

Casta D.V.Diva: Daniela Dessì Rips it up for Norma

It's druid fever up in ~casa O.C.~, as we snagged another edition of the "Passione Lirica - La Musica di Repubblica/L'espresso" series, now spinning the DVD of the Teatro Comunale di Bologna's Norma production from April 2008.

OC was lucky enough to be in the audience for the opening night 7 months ago in Bologna, not wanting to miss Daniela Dessì's first crack at Norma. Accompanied by husband Fabio Armiliato's Pollione & Kate Aldrich's Adalgisa, the entire cast did justice to the Bellini dream.

We were curious to see just how the post-production would excise the nasty sabotage of a rogue cell phone during the opening phrases of "Casta Diva", and we're happy to report that no trace of the shill mechanical ring can be heard. Bravo to the (lol) back-end team, and of course, la Dessì for her elegant grace under fire.

Next up, Fab & Dani are preparing for a NYC ^Gala Pucciniano^ with the Dicapo Opera Theatre, and soloists & members of The Opera Orchestra of New York.

Monday, December 22, 2008 will find the dy-no-mite Italian duo at Rose Theater for a Puccini 150th Anniversary Gala, celebrating the 150th birthday of the dead maestro.

Hosted by Renata Scotto, with appearances by Francisco Casanova, Aprile Millo, Francesca Patané (and others T.B.A.), the evening will boast excerpts from every single Puccini opera. Fo'realio? We humbly request that fake, self-adhesive Puccini-esque mustaches are passed out at the front door and worn by *everyone* in attendance, homage to that famous ladykiller!

Lissner Not Going Anywhere, To Remain At La Scala At Least Until 2013 (Make It 2015 For Expo)

Bad news bears for those (most of them in the Scala orchestra) who hoped -- against hope, because he really wasn't going anywhere -- that Stéphane Lissner, GM of la Scala, would leave his job next year.

La Scala today announced that it has extended to 2013 (but everybody knows he'll stay on to 2015 when Milan hosts the Expo) his contract with the General Manager appointed in 2005 after the mutiny that brought to an end Riccardo Muti's 19-year-long reign as Music Director. Lissner's contract was due to expire in November 2009, and he was being courted by other European opera houses (Teatro Real in Madrid among them).

Whether or not unions will allow Lissner -- and the rest of the audience -- to enjoy the season opener on December 7, a new Stéphane Braunschweig production of Don Carlo conducted by Daniele Gatti, remains an open question.

(In the photo above, a tense confrontation during one of the many unions/management meetings at la Scala re: the new benefit package)

Heinrich August Marschner's "Der Vampyr" Opens The Season In Bologna

Heinrich August Marschner's "Der Vampyr" opened the season of Teatro Comunale in Bologna last night: Roberto Abbado conducted -- quite splendidly, from what OC could judge listening to the broadcast in the cozy splendor of her home while sipping some chilled Henriot -- and Pier Luigi Pizzi directed the opera that for the first time in 180 years has been staged in Italy.

Taking part in the scary, hawt bloodsucking action a cast made up of Harry Peeters, Carmela Remigio, John Osborn and Detlef Roth that was massively applauded at the end by the opera gourmet down in Bologna -- a demonstration that a financial crisis doesn't mean one needs to dumb down the program to the usual big box office draws like Puccini. When you have an intelligent conductor and a talented cast, and you trust the audience, the success will come.

We're also happy to report that unlike their irresponsible colleagues at la Scala, Bologna unions -- worried as everybody is about imminent government cuts to arts budgets -- waited until the end of the show to mount two big billboards on stage, and, as the cast and conductor received their deserved share of applause, the two big billboards exposed on stage by the workers read "WE ARE NOT VAMPIRES". A classy way to make their voices heard , respectful of opera and of their audience. A lesson, really, for all of us who witness la Scala unions sterile, counterproductive temper tantrums.    

Muti Gets His Eat On!

Remember the "Wall of Fame" in Do the Right Thing's pizza joint?

Well, it's not exactly Sal's pizza place because that's not how Opera Chic rolls, but one of OC's favorite restaurants here in Milan, La Torre del Mangia, has a wall of fame where, among various celebrities, soccer stars, writers, politicians, TV personalities, hanger-ons, and general skanks, the severe visage of Riccardo Muti reigns supreme. Hopefully, the maestro didn't spill any spaghetti with baby clams on that fancy silk/cashmere scarf!

OC Exclusive: Festival Mozart In La Coruna Will Have Its S#1t Thoroughly F*cked Up By Graham Vick

Did you know that Paolo Pinamonti, a long-time Vick collaborator, is now running the Mozart Festival in La Coruna? Well, what you don't know is that he's planning a VickFest next May/June, 2009, with 3 Graham Vick productions: Idomeneo (new production) Mitridate (the Covent Garden one) and Werther (the one from Lisbon).

Last time Pinamonti & Vick teamed together, they ripped the seats out of the glorious Sao Carlos opera house in Lisbon to stage a totally off tha hook Die Walküre.

It's opera for teh peoples, by0tches, you'd better get ready.

Scala Unions Have The Solution To Opera's Financial Troubles: More Strikes. Three Replicas of "Merry Widow" Canceled

Glorious American opera companies on both coasts shut down, even the mighty MET is hurting for the global financial crisis, Italy's heavily-subsidized, deeply-in-the-red opera houses -- some of them are already in receivership -- face deep budget cuts in government aid, and what's the solution found by la Scala orchestra's increasingly unhinged union, FIALS?

More strikes. Three nights, actually.

The final three performances of The Merry Widow (Die lustige Witwe), that were supposed to take place on the 19, the 21 and the 23 of November at la Scala, have been cancelled.

OC Says Jump, You Say How High: Associated Press Gives Credit Where It's Due

Big props to Ronald Blum over at the Associated Press for being so kind as to namecheck OC in his story about the MET's troubles, happily surprising us:

"Gelb responded to inquiries about the change in plans a day after the Web site Opera Chic said the Met intended to cut four unspecified productions from next season's schedule."

Coming soon on the AP the words: "Mr. Keri-Lynn Wilson" instead of "Peter Gelb". Then OC's mission will be complete.

The screencap:

Gelb Comes (Partially) Clean, Confirms "Ghosts of Versailles" Is Out. OC Says: Three More to Get Axed

Funny how yesterday we said that the Met would cancel four operas from the 2009-2010 season, due to financial pressure.

Little more than 24 hours later, the Met has finally acknowledged that cuts will be made. Unfortunately, as of now they are only saying that John Corigliano's "Ghosts of Versailles" will be canceled:

Angela Gheorghiu and Thomas Hampson, who were to appear, instead will sing in a less-costly revival of Verdi's "La Traviata," Met general manager Peter Gelb said Thursday.

"In looking at ways to economize, that was an unfortunate sacrifice," Gelb said in an interview. "It's a much more expensive revival than most."

Gelb said all eight new productions will proceed as planned, but that some revivals may be replaced with less expensive ones.

Of course, this cancellation luckily relieves Angela Gheorghiu, whose repertoire is even smaller than her voice, from having to learn a new role (Violetta she has more or less committed to memory, at this point).

Then let's help out the shy peoples over at the Metropolitan Opera.

And let's say it for them, then.

The three other operas that are going to vanish from their roster for '09-'10, besides the one already confirmed by Mr. Keri-Lynn Wilson are:

*Lulu
*Lady Macbeth
*The Nose

Bolle's Nature-Defying Abs Soon To Be Contained In A Book: Opera Chic Exclusive!

Hark the ballet angels sing! Does physique like this even exist in human form? I feel like I'm looking at one of those genetically defective whippits.

The December 2008 issue of American Vanity Fair is carrying a Bruce Weber photo of Golden Roberto Bolle on Florida's Golden Beach, and Sarah B has the full scan!

It is now the perfect opportunity to let all those rabid Bolle fans hear *exclusively* from Opera Chic: Roberto and Bruce Weber are currently collaborating on a book of photographs that will come out at the end of 2009! We have no doubt that this will be one of the most sizzling compilations from that maestro of young/nude/male photography and controversial A&F Quarterlies.

We last bloque'd about Weber & Bolle's 2-hawt-2-haendel photos from a special installment of Arena Homme. You know you wanna F5 your memory!!

More Rake's Progress Photos Than You Can Shake a Rake At!

Here are a few more images from tonight's la prima of Stravinsky's The Rake's Progress @ Vienna's Theater an der Wien.

Too bad there are no previews of the alleged 18+ content from director Martin Kusej. We'll just have to use our ~imaginations~.

Anne Sofie von Otter shows the Wiener Symphoniker what's what with her sultry, divaesque mezzo, Baba the Turk.

In bocca al lupo ragazzi!

♥ ♥ Click on the link below for a whole mess of filthy pics...

Catherine Deneuve's Choice: "I will say Mozart because I want to stop crying"

The Film Society of Lincoln Center magazine, Film Comment, asked ultracool French director Arnaud Desplechin to interview film and style icon Catherine Deneuve, Opera Chic's beloved French aunt. They also talked about music.

Beethoven or Mozart?
Oh dear… You see, I could draw a line down the middle and say: that’s my night, that’s my day… I will say Mozart because I want to stop crying.

Opera Chic can imagine an American actress interviewed like this. Ask Angelina Jolie Beethoven or Mozart and she'll be probably be all like, "Yeah, Beethoven, the big dog movie, we watched with the kids and loved it! Charles Grodin's kinda lame tho'!".

We take La Catherine every day of the week, thank you very much. Even if she'll destroy your apartment (see photo above).

Little Strange Homunculi, String Quartets Come Together In Esa-Pekka's New Work

Leave it to that deliciously witty, quiet man, Esa-Pekka Salonen, to write a string quartet about sperm.

The Johannes String Quartet will give the West Coast premiere of his new work “Homunculus” in Samueli Theater on Nov. 19. OC (ie Orange County) dude and friend of OC (ie, Opera Chic) Tim Mangan laid his hungry hands on Salonen's program notes for the piece, in their entirety.

Here's a little, ahem, taste:

I have long been fascinated (and amused)
by the arcane spermists’ theory, who held
the belief that the sperm was in fact a “little
man” (homunculus) that was placed inside a
woman for growth into a child. This seemed
to them to neatly explain many of the mysteries
of conception. It was later pointed out
that if the sperm was a homunculus, identical
in all but size to an adult, then the
homunculus may have sperm of its own.
This led to a reductio ad absurdum, with an
endless chain of homunculi. This was not
necessarily considered by spermists a fatal
objection however, as it neatly explained how
it was that “in Adam” all had sinned: the
whole of humanity was already contained in
his loins.

I decided to call my piece Homunculus
despite the obvious weaknesses of the spermists’
thinking, as I find the idea of a perfect
little man strangely moving.

In the meantime, and for those who won't be able to make it to LA on November 19, here's a taste of another piece by Esa-Pekka, from his LA Variations, here Rapidshared for your pleasure. Just click, or copy the link below:

http://rapidshare.com/files/163370821/la_variations_1min_fanscape.m4a

No homunculi there, at least. More listening pleasure at Celebrate Salonen. 

Baltimore Opera Company Bites The Dust? Florida Grand Opera, MET, Sweating As Well.

NYCO sweating bullets?

Heavily-subsidized Italian opera houses in panic facing the knife of government cuts?

Bad times in Baltimore as well. After losing longtime general director Michael Harrison, the Baltimore Opera Company seems to have reached a very bad spot financially, nearing bankruptcy: Opera Chic is told that the chorus for Norma is facing the news that the company "is funded through November and that's all they know at this point...".

Florida Grand Opera is also cutting down two of its operas, and then, even the MET is about to excise four from their 2009-10 season as well.

La Berganza: "The Directors Are Destroying Opera"

Teresa Berganza, in an interview with Peru's "El Comercio", joins the krankykinz of the opera world -- Franco Zeffirelli and Lorin Maazel -- in attacking directors who "are destroying opera", who "don't know about music".

(Via leading Peruvian opera blogger Maldito Candelabro)

Theater an der Wien's "The Rake's Progress" Gets a R-Rating

(Alastair Miles as Nick Shadow & Toby Spence as Tom Rakewell in Stravinsky's The Rake's Progress @ Vienna's Theater an der Wien)

English tenor Toby Spence and English bass Alastair Miles are poised for tomorrow's opening night of Stravinsky's The Rake's Progress in Vienna's Theater an der Wien. The production will be conducted by that hawter than hale, dewy-skinned, man-gawd Nikolaus Harnoncourt, who will sweat through the Martin Kusej production with the Wiener Symphoniker.

Theater an der Wien is promising such a spicy production, that it is carrying a warning for kids younger than eighteen years old, to shield their innocent eyes from an explicit naked brothel scene and some secksay stripping. If things get too hawt, we've got Anne Sofie von Otter playing the bearded wife to extinguish the flames.

And You Thought NYCO Was In Trouble: Italian Opera Companies Swimming In An Ocean Of Red

It's murder by numbers in Italy's troubled opera houses. The numbers have been made public earlier today, and it isn't pretty.

Teatro Comunale di Bologna will close the 2008 season with a 5 million euro loss; in Venice, La Fenice is down 2 million; Carlo Felice in Genoa and Arena di Verona are both in receivership; and in Naples, the San Carlo has just gotten out of another receivership.

Italy's thirteen "fondazioni liriche" are sweating bullets. Especially now that public money will dry up -- the Berlusconi government, via its Minister of Culture, has announced that government funding will drop by 17%. Even financially-healthy Opera di Roma and Scala in Milan and Palermo, currently in the black, could then begin hurting.

La Scala's case is an illuminating one: the Milanese opera house has a huge budget, 105 million euros in 2007, 34 millions of which (there were 38 in 2008) are part of the central government's financing package that will be cut down, in 2009, to "only" 29 million. The City of Milan gives an additional 6 million, other province and county government entities (good luck figuring out how the Italians technically run their country, the Italians themselves have long ago given up on this) give some more money and, in the end, la Scala can count on 40% of its budget to be taken care of by the government, in its various forms.

The remaining 60% of course must come from ticket sales and sponsors (among the sponsors there are many corporations owned at least in part by the government, so, again, this means that la Scala survives on government handouts for more than half of its ginormous budget). Most of la Scala's expenses, interestingly, come from the monthly paychecks of their 729 full-time workers + 150 part timers, all heavily unionized (as la Scala's frequent strikes painfully demonstrate). The 2008-2009 season that begins on December 7 with Daniele Gatti conducting Don Carlo (unions willing) will mark an increase in ticket prices of +10%. The effect of the pricing spike on attendance numbers, obviously, remains to be seen.

Arena in Verona is in receivership and its "commissario", Salvo Nastasi, is also the chief of staff of the Minister of Culture and the former "commissario" of San Carlo di Napoli. Arena suffers from total losses of 8.4 million euros in the past two seasons. Arena has 375 full time workers, and 825 part time workers for the summer season for a total cost of 30 million euros a year.

Maggio Musicale Fiorentino has been in receivership for six months in 2005-2006 and since Feb 2006, the general manager is Francesco Giambrone. In 2007, Maggio Musicale made 39.6 million euros (21.3 from Rome, 3 from the City of Florence, 1.9 from Toscana region, 3.7 from the board of trustees, 3.1 from ticket sales, 15,000 from various sponsors). But in the same year they spent 41.5 millions (26.7 for worker wages and 8.7 for productions. The workers are 483 (374 of them fulltime).

Thankfully, at least Opera di Roma under General Manager Francesco Ernani -- in place since 1999 -- is doing good and is solidly in the black: the workers are 630, costing the company an average of 55,400 euros a year. A single night's show costs the company on average 70,188 euros. The government gives Opera di Roma about 27 million euros a year. The much-awaited event of this 2008 coda will be, on December 4, Riccardo Muti conducting Verdi's Otello.