Il primo Rally di Giordania mondiale se lo aggiudica Mikko Hirvonen, con un passo da protagonista nella terza giornata che gli ha consentito di sorpassare il leader provvisorio Dani Sordo, che ha abbandonato l’ultima speranza di riagguantarlo dopo un errore nell’ultima speciale.

In mattinata Sordo ha avuto lo svantaggio di partire in prima posizione ed è stato scalzato dalla testa della gara dal finlandese, ma nel pomeriggio della ultima giornata aveva dalla sua parte il fatto di poter affrontare strade più pulite. Hirvonen ha però saputo risparmiare gli pneumatici riuscendo ad essere più costante dello spagnolo nella giornata più lunga dell’evento, così il finlandese ha preso il largo nelle prime due speciali del pomeriggio, forte di un vantaggio di 7,7 secondi che è cresciuto chilometro dopo chilometro fino al distacco finale di 1′ 15″7.

Sale sul terzo gradino del podio Chris Atkinson con la Subaru Impreza, grazie anche alla rottura nella SS18 di una sospensione della Ford Focus di Latvala, terzo fino a quel momento, mentre Loeb, sebbene fuori dai giochi per la vittoria finale a causa di un ritiro per rottura nella giornata precedente, si è aggiudicato tre speciali. Bene anche Gigi Galli, nono al traguardo ma sempre nella top 5 di giornata.

Con la vittoria in Giordania, la prima della stagione, il 27enne finlandese del team BP-Ford passa in testa al campionato con cinque punti di vantaggio su Loeb e sette su Atkinson.

Qui tutti i tempi.

[via: wrc.com || motorsportblog.it]

Queste sono le piadine del chiosco Marina (via Serra 1/A), che l’anno scorso ha vinto il concorso Piadina d’Autore, la cui finale 2008 si disputerà il 13 maggio al Castello di Sorrivoli. La piadina la conoscete tutti. Ma fate attenzione al piano di cottura. Quello di Marina Cedioli non è metallico, ma di refrattario, cioè di terracotta, lo stesso materiale di cui erano fatte le vecchie tegie (teglie) che usavano le arzdore, mitiche “reggitrici” della casa contadina romagnola.

La cottura – e non solo quella – è perfetta, come posso constatare dal mio assaggio di una semplice piadina, relativamente spessa, e di un crescione alle erbe (o guscione, o cassone, è una piadina ripiena, ripiegata in due e sigillata come un raviolo). Ma com’è che la piadina – o pida, o piada, o piè, a seconda del dialetto locale – da pane povero contadino è diventato cibo di strada?

Me lo ha raccontato Rosanna Smeraldi di Borello, una delle prime piadaiole di Cesena (chiosco in viale Mazzoni, 34). «Nel 1963 è stata chiusa la fabbrica dell’Arrigoni, dove lavoravo insieme a tante altre donne. A me e un’altra amica è venuta l’idea di venire a fare le piadine a Cesena. Allora ci siamo procurate un bidone per cuocere, una tegia, un tagliere per impastare e siamo venute qui una mattina. Abbiamo cominciato impastando 3 chili di farina. Stavano tutti a guardare. I chili da 3 diventarono 4. Qualcuno chiese se si poteva avere un po’ di prosciutto e così cominciò la storia».

Una storia esemplare: la crisi di una fabbrica poteva creare nuovi poveri, invece ha generato una piccola classe di nuove imprenditrici-artigiane, che col tempo sono diventate un’istituzione. La signora Rosanna mi dà anche gli ingredienti della sua ricetta base: farina, strutto, sale, bicarbonato e un po’ di dose (lievito). Ci sono anche quelle senza strutto con l’olio, quelle dolci (zucchero, vanillina, olio), quelle integrali, alla soia, al farro. Provo un crescione con le erbe e uno con verze e salsicce. Quest’ultimo, meno tradizionale, lo trovo memorabile.

A Cesena ci sono molti altri chioschi. Il mio ospitalissimo cicerone, Gianpiero Giordani (fiduciario della locale condotta Slow Food e segretario della Confesercenti Cesenate) mi accompagna anche a quello di Maria Pavirani (piazza Almerici 15), che è di fronte alla Biblioteca Malatestiana. La signora ci lavora da 17 anni, ma il chiosco è qui dal quel fatidico 1963. Se la sua collega Rosanna nei primi anni Sessanta aveva bisogno quotidianamente di 4 chili di farina, Maria Pavirani oggi per soddisfare la sua clientela ne impasta 25-30 al giorno.

Ultima tappa, San Vittore, piccolo borgo all’uscita Cesena Nord dell’A14. Ci rechiamo qui per visitare il chiosco di Cinzia Branzaglia, una celebrità. Perché, per seguire il mestiere cominciato dalla madre dopo la crisi dell’Arrigoni, ha appeso a un chiodo la sua laurea in farmacia. Perché ha vinto diverse volte il Carlino d’Oro, premio indetto dal Resto del Carlino (i lettori inviano un tagliando, indicando il chiosco preferito; lei abitualmente supera le mille preferenze). Perché oltre alle fragrantissime piadine, fa uno stupendo crescione zucca e patate, la sua specialità.

Like the Oscars, this years Las Palmas festival features an international house of operas: Lucia and Macbeth are both set in Scotland (even roughly around the same period), Thais in Roman Egypt, Barbiere (more familiarly known as The Barber of Seville) in Seville, Spain, and Andrea Chenier in Revolution-era France.  Not a bad way to cap off a day of lying on the beach.  Here's the great thing, though: tickets sit reasonably between 15 and 30 Euros a piece.  And while you may not be running around with a case full of money a la Josh Brolin in No Country (which, actually, is most likely a good thing), that price range is certainly do-able...

...As is Javier Bardem.  (Sorry, we couldn't resist.)

Thanks, elesar1!

Opera Las Palmas
Plaza de San Bernardo 8
+3492837 01 25
http://www.operalaspalmas.org

I imagine that the Met's almost 30 year old production of Puccini's Manon Lescaut was brought back as a vehicle for one of the company's star sopranos, Karita Mattila. If so it was a mistake. Prior to this run the Finnish singer had only performed one Puccini role at the Met - Musetta in six performances of La Boheme back in 1996.

She doesn't have the right vocal style for Puccini. There's a break in her register when she goes from middle voice to high notes. Her top doesn't have the ring one associates with Puccini's sopranos. Mattila's high notes in this performance seemed to have been imported from a Strauss opera. Worse, her acting was bumptious. In the first act she seemed to on her way to a convent fresh from a barnyard. In the second act she was a Rockette direct from The Radio City Music Hall. She concluded her dancing lesson with a split. She's obviously very proud of this ability as she did two of them before an astounded Renee Fleming during the first intermission feature. Fleming, in passing, is a very good TV interviewer and looks better than she has for quite some time.

Compounding Mattila's problems was video director Brian Large's in your face closeups which made one think that Mattila and Nancy Pelosi share the same plastic surgeon. Mattila's acting and singing did improve in the 4th act. There she was not required to be coquettish or coy. Her performance of "Sola, perduta, abbondonatta" was moving. But on balance I don't think the soprano will be glad that this performances is preserved for all time and that it's also on the way to the stars and beyond.

Marcello Giordani, on the other hand, was the right tenor in the right role. His voice is now a fully formed spinto. His Des Grieux was the best I've encountered since Richard Tucker. It was the late tenor's favorite role. Having heard Giordani in the house I'm confident that what I heard from the satellite was authentic. His tone was round and burnished. All the high notes were ringing. Des Grieux is a great part for an Italian spinto and Giordani got everything out of it. His acting was conventional Italian tenor, but with the way he sang that was plenty. In an age of super specialization, when a baseball pitcher is expected to only play half a game, Giordani voice was stronger and more vibrant at the opera's end than at its start.

Dwayne Croft seems to have settled into a career as a second banana. He was fine as Lescaut. Sean Panikkar made a good impression in the first act as Edmondo.

Once again James Levine's conducting was outstanding. He seems like a new maestro. The sound engineers had the volume turned too high on the orchestra making it out of balance with the singers. Nevertheless Levine's whip-like intensity was palpable. The Met Orchestra responded with their best playing which is just about as good as it gets. The three decade old production held up well enough though it appears its age.

So the Met revived the opera for the wrong soprano only to be bailed out by a great performance by a tenor who seems to have become the house's all purpose leading man. A masterly job by Levine also didn't hurt. Two out of three in the theater is pretty good. If Giordani continues to sing like this perhaps the Met will mount a production for him. If so, I hope Levine conducts.

Es una de mis óperas preferidas pero entraña gran dificultad para la orquesta y los dos protagonistas. James Levine hizo sonar la orquesta de maravilla. Las intervenciones de los instrumentos solistas fueron bellísimas y el dificilísimo final del segundo acto fue un modelo de precisión. Gran ovación para el maestro i la orquesta.

La Manon de Karita Mattila posee un fraseo elegante, una musicalidad excelente y unos pianísimos de ensueño pero tiene algún problema en el cuarto acto. Creo que este acto exige una soprano con facilidad en el agudo en forte y con la suficiente seguridad para abandonarse al canto desgarrado y conmovedor. Ahí encontré a faltar las versiones de Zeani, Freni o Guleghina.

El Papel de Des Grieux es un rol muy difícil vocalmente. Su intérprete debe tener un gran volumen, facilidad para el legato y grandes dosis de pasión. Marcello Giordani lo resuelve admirablemente, solo echo en falta un timbre más atractivo en el primer y segundo acto. En los dos últimos la pasión que imprime le lleva a convencer plenamente.

Muy bien el Lescaut de Dwayne Croft. Su voz es una de las mas bellas voces de barítono de la actualidad, lástima que su proyección no sea más contundente. Correcto Dale Travis como Gerente, espectacular el debut de Sean Panikkar como Edmondo y muy buenos el resto de los comprimarios. La producción de Gina Lapinski es tradicional con decorados espectaculares pero muy bien trabajada.

Al final ovaciones para todos.

Dandini

http://rapidshare.com/files/5452988/Maria_Slatinaru_1.zip
http://rapidshare.com/files/5453579/Maria_Slatinaru_2.zip

Habe jetzt auch weniger Zeit - bin gerade bei Konzert T-19 und die 2-getrennte-Strophen Version (damit während des Vortrags nichts passieren kann ;) ) eines Stückes ist gerade fertig geworden. Jetzt muss ich noch schnell das Programm für die Prüfung machen, aber es wird von dem unten nicht mehr sehr stark abweichen:

1. Perfidi!... Pieta, rispetto, onore (Rezitativ und Arie des Macbeth von G.Verdi; wow - I like it)
2. Behold, I tell you a mystery...The trumpet shall sound (Rezitativ und Arie für Bass aus dem Messias von G.F.Händel; englisch oder deutsch weiss ich noch nicht - mal sehen)
3. Odin's Meeresritt (Ballade von C.Loewe - eines meiner Lieblingsstücke; wenn Du das in einer Klassik-Jukebox siehst - sowas gibt's sicher irgendwo :) - schmeiss ein paar Cent rein und hör' Dir's an)
4. Zueignung (Lied von R.Strauß; was Romantisches muss auch dabei sein)
5. Caro mio ben (Arie antiche von T.Giordani; schluchz - mehr dazu unten)

Für meine Blog-Wartung habe ich heute dann nicht mehr so recht Zeit - muss möglicherweise auf nach dem Urlaub (ja ich habe auch einmal so etwas :roll: ) verschoben werden. Schlafen soll man ja auch vor einem Konzert - mache ich immer :D .

Wer will, kann ja noch den Text von Stück Nummer 5 lesen - (man muss aber ein bisserl italienisch verstehen ;) - Übersetzung habe ich keine)

Caro mio ben,
credimi almen,
senza di te
languisce il cor.

Il tuo fedel
so spira ognor.
Cessa, crudel,
tanto rigor!

Next season's hot ticket will surely be a rare revival of Ernani starring Marcello Giordani, Sondra Radvanovsky, Thomas Hampson and Ferruccio Furlanetto. That certainly sounds more fun than the new Macbeth "starring" Andrea Gruber, Leo Nucci. Carlos Alvarez, Marco Berti and Roberto Aronica. Will anyone be surprised at massive audience attrition following the second-act demise of Banco (John Relyea/Rene Pape)? Fans of Mr. Berti (if such there be) may expect to hear him as well in revivals of Ballo (shared with Salvatore Licitra, and featuring Dmitri Hvorostovsky's first local Renato) and Aida (alternating with debutant Nicola Rossi-Giordano in an otherwise dismal cast). Renee Fleming offers repeat engagements of La traviata and Otello, with Ruth Ann Swenson optimistically double-cast as Violetta and Johan Botha as the Moor.

Rumors of Ms. Radvanovsky's "buyout" should be dismissed once and for all since she is on the books for two high-profile assignments in 2008-2009, a new Trovatore (opposite Mr. Lictira) and her first in-house Traviata (alternating with Anja Harteros). Those two up-and-coming tenors Giuseppe Filianoti and Joseph Calleja share Duca duties in a Rigoletto otherwise notable only for Diana Damrau's Gilda. And speaking of tenors, Placido Domingo is supposed to cross over to the bass clef for the title role in Simon Boccanegra, but La Cieca will believe that when she hears it.

The big news of '09-'10 is the Met debut of Riccardo Muti leading the company premiere of Attila. There will be singers as well in this production, notably Violeta Urmana and less notably Ramon Vargas, C. Alvarez and Ildar Abdrazakov. Mme. Urmana will also join two other golden-age physiques, Dolora Zajick and Mr. Botha, for Aida. La Radvanovsky's career continues full-tilt in a revival of Stiffelio heavy on hunk-appeal (Jose Cura and Mr. Hvorostovsky), and the Gruber doesn't seem to be going away either: she's up for a repeat of Nabucco.

As we move into the twenty-teens, we can foresee new productions of La traviata (with Anna Netrebko and Rolando Villazon in the Willy Decker update) and Don Carlo (probably not with Angela Gheorghiu, though the rest of the cast seems firm enough: Mr. Villazon, plus Luciana D'Intino, Simon Keenlyside/Anthony Michaels-Moore, Rene Pape. Antonio Pappano and Nicholas Hytner will reprise their Covent Garden duties. Also: revivals of I Lombardi (Giordani) and Il trovatore (Fleming). That year may also see Mr. Hvorostovsky's Boccanegra.

The "jackpot" year of 2012 is still pretty much up for grabs, La Cieca hears, with only Falstaff (Bryn Terfel, James Levine) a definite maybe.

At least one former winner of the Tucker award won't be appearing, darn it, because she's just finished a gala benefit of her own at La Scala. It's Renaaay, of course, and the new (to La Cieca) blog Opera Chic describes the scene:

Interestingly, La Fleming had arranged to be basked in the glow of a peachy, pinkish spotlight. Hartmut Höll instead was replete in the flat, sterile, blue/white light, which by default, is implemented for every other normal recital. I mean, homegirl looked good, but it was like Liz Taylor and her vaseline filters.

La Cieca feels like she was there, I tell you, and wait until you read the breathless paragraphs detailing The Frock (by Gianfranco Ferré, of course.)

And did La Cieca mention that they're bringing back Big Gay Date Night at the Met? For just $95 you get an orchestra seat, pre-performance hors d’oeuvres, intermission champagne and dessert, and, just possibly, some post-performance nooky. Boheme is on November 21, but La Cieca thinks that the best husband material will be found at the February 2 Jenufa. (For that matter, surely the combination of Karita Mattila and Anja Silja will attract an upscale lesbian crowd as well.)

Plus: don't forget the Smart Singer Tricks on The Late Show With David Letterman tonight, beginning at 11:35 pm (US Eastern and Pacific time) on CBS-TV.

• Rigoletto (Siurina, Calleja, Pons) Wednesday October 25

• Cavalleria Rusticana/Pagliacci (Guleghina, Racette, Licitra) Monday, October 30
• Il Barbiere di Siviglia (Damrau, Flórez, Mattei) Friday November 10
• Madama Butterfly (Gallardo-Domâs, Giordani, Croft; Levine) Saturday, November 18
• Tosca (Millo, Fraccaro, Morris) Saturday, November 25
• Idomeneo (Röschmann, Deshorties, Kožená, van Rensburg; Levine) Wednesday, November 29
• La Boheme (Netrebko, Villazón) Tuesday, December 5
• Don Carlo (Racette, Borodina, Botha, Hvorostovsky, Pape, Ramey; Levine) Monday, December 11 (7:00 PM/EST)
• The First Emperor (Futral, DeYoung, Domingo, Groves; Tan Dun -- world premiere) Thursday, December 21
• I Puritani (Netrebko, Cutler) Wednesday, December 27

These broadcasts will be streamed with "support from RealNetworks®, the leading creator of digital media services." In honor of this innovation, La Cieca will host one of her legendary live chats tomorrow night during the Rigoletto streaming broadcast. Check back on parterre.com Wednesday afternoon for a link to the chat page.

Miss M herself began in slightly rough voice (nervous, surely), but after that note that Zinka spoiled for everyone, she settled in, and there was a lot of glorious singing, most especially the quiet introspective moments in the last act. She looks better than La Cieca has seen her for years, slimmer and handsomely costumed.

The acting was in the trademark Millo-grandiose manner. It's not perhaps what you'd want to see in a Minghella Butterfly, but this is a melodrama played on 40 year old sets, and Millo is not embarassed to play it big. La Cieca has heard the top in more consistent form, but it never lacked for power, and Millo doesn't tiptoe around the high C's the way Violeta Urmana does.

La Urmana was in the audience, by the way, and she's exotically attractive in person, far more so than in photos. Marcello Giordani was there too, and he is not exactly hard on the eyes himself. Ildar Abdrazakov showed up backstage to escort his Mrs. (Olga Borodina): she very blonde in a pink linen jacket and low-rider jeans; he just the right degree of scruffy. Onlookers viewing Abdrazakov up close agreed unanimously that Borodina is one mezzo who will never have an excuse to go lesbian. (As La Cieca left the building, Mr. A was being accosted by one of the autograph crazies in the tunnel. She -- the crazy, not La Cieca -- was cackling, "So, in Faust, do you have a tail? Do you have a tail?" La Cieca wanted to say "I'm sure he has all the tail he can handle," but you know one must be polite, even to crazy people.)

One bit of gossip to be passed along: Dwayne Croft is jumping into the Met's Pagliacci as Silvio, replacing the originally scheduled Pavel Baransky -- who departed after the dress rehearsal.

Oh, and another bit: La Cieca was told that Sirius now has about 6 million subscribers total, including approximately 440,000 new customers in the July - September period.

A more measured assessment comes from yet another of La Cieca's network of operatives:

"Well I am happy to say that today's affair was well worth the wait in line! To begin with, the Met has transformed into a sort of "butterfly cocoon," with a myriad of exhibits, pictures and a giant ancient chinese banner outside which reads "Cio Cio San". The new art gallery has some very interesting paintings relating to the new production, although I question the inclusion of a collage of lesbian erotica which represents Madama Butterfly (quite a ballsy thing for such a bastion of tradition!). The documentary and Q&A session after the performance were
substantive and informative. Even Mayor Bloomberg deigned to make a short speech.

"Now, as for the performance--it certainly lived up to the hype! The crowd loved it, although a few people were puzzled bythe use of a puppet for Butterfly's child. I, however, felt it heightened the drama in that it allowed for a greater expressive range and highlighted the child's powerlessness. Besides that, the production really stunned everyone. The striking use of lighting as well as the costumes added so much to the performance and made for what is probably the most dramatic interpretation of the final scene. The giant black mirror which reflects the slanted stage gives the whole opera a cinematic feeling: you can see things in the mirror you cannot see on the stage, e.g., something happening behind a screen.

"Unlike so many productions at the MET, the effects are never an end in themselves and are meant to highlight the drama in some way rather that just dazzle the audience. On the whole, the sophistication of choreography, staging, and creativity is way ahead of most productions at the MET. It had the feeling of an excellent small theater production in that it was very specific and pretty much flawless. However, in its own way it was extravagant -- without being overblown like those Zeffirelli productions.

"Now, as for the singing....that is somewhat of a mixed bag. Giordani knocked my socks off with his gorgeous and unbroken sound. Vocally, he and Croft were the best aspects of the production. Gallardo-Domas was, well, not great . . . . She has no variety or delicacy, but at least she has a big enough voice to fill the house. As an actress she is suberb. It almost didn't matter that she couldn't quite fill the shoes of the role in the way that Scotto or de los Angeles could, because the production was just so damn superb.

"Oh and the best thing is that one does not have to be especially close to enjoy it--the production actually has more impact from a distance. For those who like their productions traditional --do not despair! This Butterfly production, while essentially minimalist, is not some kooky Eurotrash kitsch. It has the best aspects of a modern production, but is essentially traditional.

"I applaud the MET for finally doing something right. The open house was exciting, informative and just a wonderful experience all around. I hope this is a sign of things to come!"

There isn't much point to doing La Gioconda in this day and age if you haven't got a cast who can put it over. Wonder of wonders, the Met has dug its ancient (1967) staging out of the basement and put it back on the stage for which it was designed with a worthy cast of singers and no attempt to update the staging for contemporary tastes that might not approve of this most old-fashioned of grand operas. At the dress rehearsal, though lighting cues were all over the place (is Act IV in day or night? Where does that spotlight aim? And shouldn't there be smoke machines full blast at the end of Act II?), what we got was a real live old-time Gioconda, minimal stand-and-deliver acting, fuzzy cues and all.

All honor first and foremost to Violeta Urmana, whose opulent unstrained soprano gave point to the enterprise and makes one hope the Verdi repertory (Aida, Stiffelio, Forza, Ballo) need not be consigned to the scrap heap just yet. A little unsteady on the floated pianissimi of "Enzo adorato" (I'm sure she'll have that down by later performances), she was passionate in well-supported flood everywhere else in this intense, verismo-foreshadowing role. Olga Borodina had no problems at all singing Laura, her mezzo foil -- if anything, she might hold back a bit to suit her character's more retiring nature -- but she seemed a bit confused at times about how to conceal/revealher identity and how much time she needed to swallow a potion and head for the catafalque. Irina Mishura sang a splendid La Cieca, a bit overdoing the arms-stuck-out-before-her blind lady bit.

The men were not quite of this quality, but nothing to sneeze at. Debutant Zeljko Lucic, another strapping baritone (let me get that in before Tommasini does), sang a thrilling Barnaba, almost too suave to snarl. Aquiles Machado, built like a fireplug and every bit as sexually alluring, attended the same school of acting as Francisco Casanova, but he manages the romantic phrasing of an Italian tenor part with a grainy but attractive sound. (I can't understand why the Met did not give Giordani this role -- I gather he will take it over later in the season.) Paata Buchuladze sang Alvise with a cavernous sound not, methinks, ideal for Italian opera but not inappropriate for this unpleasant figure. Among the many small roles, I especially liked Ricardo Lugo's Monk -- he'd make a good cover for Alvise. And let me not forget Angel Corella, borrowed from ABT, who makes a galactic star turn out of the Dance of the Hours.

Bertrand de Billy conducts with genuine old-fashioned excitement and no condescension to Ponchielli, one of the few composers of his day willing to admit the influence of Verdi and much admired by him in return. True opera lovers can be distinguished by the fact that they love every silly note of this opera, and they will be in pig heaven at this revival.

The first operatic solo of the evening ("La speranza" from Semiramide) goes to Juan Diego Florez. Further highlights of the first half include a duet from L'italiana in Algeri (Ildar Abdrazakov, Olga Borodina), "O mio babbino caro" (Ruth Anne Swenson), "Una furtiva lagrima" (Ramon Vargas), "Ah non credea mirarti" (Natalie Dessay), the Count's aria from Figaro (Dwayne Croft), "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man" (Denyce Graves), "Tacea la notte" (Renee Fleming [!]), "Je vais mourir" from Les Troyens (Waltraud Meier), the Prize Song (Ben Heppner), and Marietta's Lied (Kiri te Kanawa[!!]).

Frederica von Stade, Salvatore Licitra and Domingo (who sings, too!) will also perform a few songs in this segment, and after a "gala film" is shown, la Voigt will return to perform "Pace, pace."

Susan Graham is first on after intermission with another Moore ditty, followed by Stephanie Blythe ("Ah, que j’aimes les militaires"), Thomas Hampson (Pierrot's song from Die Tote Stadt), Samuel Ramey (Mephisto's serenade from Faust), Dimitri Hvorostovsky and Rene Pape in arias from Don Carlo, and the double-barrelled mezzo excitement of Dolora Zajick's "O mon Fernand" and Ms. Meier's Easter Hymn from Cavalleria.

Two numbers from Così fan tutte follow: "Ah guarda sorella" with Mmes. von Stade and te Kanawa, and "Soave sia il vento" with Fleming, Graham and Hampson. The baritone returns with Karita Mattila for selections from The Merry Widow, and then the audience will take a well-deserved bathroom break while the Met Ballet performs a jolly polka. (UPDATE: further clues suggest that this number will accompany an "open" scene change, so the audience will finally learn the meaning of all that yelling and banging that goes on while we sit in semidarkness for ten minutes at a stretch. It's important that we see this now, because that spoilsport Peter Gelb has vowed to use some sort of voodoo "technology" to facilitate instantaneous scene changes, the way they do on Broadway, at the NYCO, in every European opera house, and, well, basically everywhere in the universe besides the Met.)

James Morris will then lead the Gods into Valhalla, and Susan Graham will bid us all farewell with "Parto, parto." But wait, the show's not over yet. In what might best be called the "TBA Segment," we will (or perhaps will not) hear tenors Roberto Alagna and Marcello Giordani in arias from Cyrano de Bergerac and La gioconda respectively. The legendary Mirella Freni is penciled in for an aria from Alfano's Risurezzione and a Puccini song, and then comes an item listed merely as "(34. L. Pavarotti)."

Returning to the scheduled program, Mattila, Heppner, Pape, Morris (and Matthew Polenzani) bring the curtain down with the finale to Fidelio under the baton of Maestro Schneider. At this point, La Cieca assumes, Rudy Giuliani will present Volpe with a plaque or something and perhaps make a joke about how he's expecting Joe to be on time for work. And then The Beautiful Voice will be heard once more asking the musical question "When I Have Sung My Songs."