Opera Chic is humbled to share the vast oceans of the classical music internet in the motley company of such distinguished, international music journalists. Which is why we've been thrilled this past week to be referenced by a handful of our favorite arts writers.
For The Guardian, Tom Service wrote about German conductor Christian Thielemann, who likes his Bruckner & Wagner like he likes his coffee: White, European, and Aryan, with half a packet of Splenda and a splash of Soymilk. Thielemann has just been announced as new Music Director of Staatskapelle & Semperoper Dresden starting in 2012, swapping out former MD Fabio Luisi, who goes to the swan-filled lakes and female escort-laden penthouse bars of Zuirch as MD of the Zurich Opera house. A (let's be diplomatic here) polarizing figure, Herr Doktor Thielemann's musical chairs charade is bittersweet, which leaves OC with the bitter cocoa bite of Peynet cioccolato's 90% dark in her mouth. Tom Service referenced our "cheeky" Thielemann post here, calling us out for our art department's sassiness.
Rupert Christiansen for The Telegraph gave us a shout-out in his recent article about the public drama of Roberto Alagna and Angela Gheorghiu's divorce (née "separation", calling them "Opera's Jordan and Peter" /lol/). You know, that same article where Alagna basically outs what OC has been saying all along: how the troublesome duo has been pimping themselves out for "vacation recitals" in exotic locals such as Japan, Singapore, and Abu Dhabi while pocketing exorbitant fees just for mugging on stage, slipping into a few form-hugging outfits (Alanga included), and crooning maudlin, Italian classics to the audience who eats it up like a plate of spaghetti.
Also referencing Opera Chic this week was OC's favorite Swiss paper, Zurich's Sonntag, where OC was described as, "Unsere Lieblings-Bloggerin Opera Chic brachte es via New York–Mailand in die Welt" in the Sunday Kultur pages, regarding Anna Netrebko's latest bid for a role-playing overhaul. We ::heart:: our Swiss readers! We're just not so sure about those swarthy Finns or haughty Icelandic readers, however...