parterre Box
parterre box is an ezine devoted to opera, about which it cultivates a campy, critical, strongly opinionated attitude with explicit "gay" overtones. parterre box was founded by the New Yorker James Jorden in the mid 1990s during a period of under-employment as an opera director. It appeared for a number of years in print form, but now it is solely published on the Web, 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 all the usual downloading 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 Nibleungen, 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.
In recent years, Jorden has also been contributing articles on and reviews of opera to New York's Gay City News.