Parterre Box
 A scan of issue #22 of Parterre Box. | |
| Frequency | Bimonthly 1993 — 2001 in print.[1] |
|---|---|
| Founder | James Jorden |
| Year founded | 1993 |
| Company | parterre box |
| Country | USA |
| Language | English |
| Website | parterre |
Parterre Box (often stylized as parterre box) is an ezine devoted to opera, about which it cultivates a campy, critical, strongly opinionated attitude with explicit gay overtones. The publication was founded by the New Yorker James Jorden in 1993[1] during a period of under-employment as an opera director.[citation needed] It appeared bimonthly from 1993 to 2001 in print form, but it is now solely published on the Web,[1] where it is considered an influential opera blog.
In May 2005, Jorden introduced the first regular opera podcast entitled "Unnatural Acts of Opera." For this show, Jorden takes on the drag persona of "La Cieca", a gossipy commentator. La Cieca introduces a single act of what she calls "demented" opera, concentrating on the most exciting live vocal performances from around 1950 to the present. The podcasts are available through various services including iTunes as well as in streaming form on the parterre.com website.
A highlight of the 2006 season of "Unnatural Acts of Opera" was the first podcast ever of Richard Wagner's four-opera cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen, an event Jorden termed "Podderdammerung." Jorden has also contributed a number of opera video clips to YouTube, concentrating on his favorite divas, including Renata Scotto, Leonie Rysanek and Dame Gwyneth Jones.
Since 2009, Jorden has also been contributing opera reviews to the New York Post.
As of September 23, 2016, parterre.com had an Alexa ranking of 349,201.[2]
Sources[]
- Ruffling the Met's feathers – Parterre Box, a gay opera magazine. The Advocate, November 25, 1997. Accessed via subscription 18 January 2008.
- "You Go Diva!", The New York Times, April 27, 1997. Accessed 18 January 2008.
- "The Parterre Posse", New York Observer, January 29, 2001. Accessed 18 January 2008.
- Lynn Neary, When Opera Fans Attack, NPR: Morning Edition, June 26, 2003
- "Voice of the Opposition", Opera News, July 2009. Accessed 9 February 2011.
- "The Bewitching Art of 'La Cieca'" by Zachary Woolfe, New York Observer, July 8, 2009. Accessed 9 February 2011.
References[]
- ^ Jump up to: a b c "The Parterre Archives". parterre box. Retrieved 19 March 2021.
- ^ "parterre.com site info". alexa.com. Retrieved 26 September 2016.
External links[]
- 1993 establishments in New York (state)
- Magazines about opera
- Magazines established in 1993
- Magazines published in New York City
- Music magazines published in the United States
- Online magazines published in the United States
- Visual arts magazines published in the United States