# Parterre Box

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Parterre_Box
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Parterre_Box.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parterre_Box
> Source revision: 1356504435
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

{{Short description|Online opera magazine}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Infobox magazine
| title           = ''Parterre Box''
| logo            = 
| logo_size       = <!-- default is 180px -->
| image_file      = Parterre box cover.jpg
| image_size      =
| image_alt       = Scan of cover of ''Parterre Box'', issue #22, created by James Jorden.
| image_caption   = Issue #22 of ''Parterre Box''
| editor          = <!-- up to |editor6= -->
| editor_title    = <!-- up to |editor_title6= -->
| previous_editor = 
| staff_writer    = 
| photographer    = 
| category        = 
| frequency       = Bimonthly 1993–2001 in print.<ref name="parchive" />
| format          = 
| circulation     = 
| publisher       = 
| paid_circulation   = 
| unpaid_circulation = 
| circulation_year   = 
| total_circulation  = 
| founder         = [James Jorden](/source/James_Jorden)
| founded         = 1993
| firstdate       = <!-- {{Start date and age|YYYY|MM|DD}} -->
| finaldate       = <!-- {{End date|YYYY|MM|DD}} -->
| finalnumber     = 
| country         =
| based           = New York City
| language        = English
| website         = {{URL|parterre.com}}
| issn            = 
| eissn           =
| oclc            = 
}}

'''''Parterre Box''''' (often stylized as '''''parterre box''''')  is an [online magazine](/source/online_magazine) devoted to [opera](/source/opera), which cultivates an attitude that may be deemed to be campy, critical and opinionated with explicitly [gay](/source/gay) overtones.

The publication was founded by the New Yorker [James Jorden](/source/James_Jorden) in 1993<ref name="parchive">{{cite web |title=Making it that way again |url=https://parterre.com/2013/12/03/making-it-that-way-again/ |website=parterre box |date=3 December 2013 |access-date=19 March 2021}}</ref> during a period of under-employment as an opera director.<ref>{{cite news|author=Joshua Barone|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/13/arts/music/parterre-box-25th-anniversary.html|title=How an Underground Queer Zine Became the Best Blog in Opera|date=December 13, 2018|work=[The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times)|access-date=April 7, 2022}}</ref> It appeared bi-monthly from 1993 to 2001 in print form. It is now solely published on the Web,<ref name="parchive" /> where it is considered an influential opera [blog](/source/blog).

In May 2005, Jorden introduced the first regular opera [podcast](/source/podcast) entitled ''Unnatural Acts of Opera''. For this show, Jorden took on the [drag](/source/drag_(clothing)) persona of "[La Cieca](/source/La_Gioconda_(opera))", a gossip commentator. La Cieca introduced a single act of what she called "demented" opera, concentrating on live vocal performances from around 1950 to the time the acts started.

A highlight of the 2006 season of ''Unnatural Acts of Opera'' was the first ever podcast of [Richard Wagner](/source/Richard_Wagner)'s four-opera cycle ''[Der Ring des Nibelungen](/source/Der_Ring_des_Nibelungen)'', an event Jorden termed "''Götterdämmerung''". Jorden has also contributed a number of opera video clips to [YouTube](/source/YouTube), concentrating on his favorite divas, including [Renata Scotto](/source/Renata_Scotto), [Leonie Rysanek](/source/Leonie_Rysanek) and [Dame Gwyneth Jones](/source/Dame_Gwyneth_Jones).

The podcasts appear to have ended in 2009 and are known to be available via various services, including [iTunes](/source/iTunes) and in streaming form on the parterre.com website.

From 2009 to 2013, Jorden contributed opera reviews to the ''[New York Post](/source/New_York_Post)''.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
*[https://www.nytimes.com/1997/04/27/magazine/you-go-diva.html "You Go Diva!"], ''[The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times)'', April 27, 1997. Accessed April 7, 2022.
*[http://observer.com/2001/01/the-parterre-posse/ "The Parterre Posse"], ''[The New York Observer](/source/The_New_York_Observer)'', January 29, 2001. Accessed January 18, 2008.
*Lynn Neary, [https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1310841 "When Opera Fans Attack"], [NPR](/source/NPR): ''[Morning Edition](/source/Morning_Edition)'', June 26, 2003.
*[http://www.operanews.com/operanews/templates/content.aspx?id=2314 "Voice of the Opposition"], ''[Opera News](/source/Opera_News)'', July 2009. Accessed February 9, 2011.
*[http://observer.com/2009/07/the-bewitching-art-of-la-cieca/ "The Bewitching Art of 'La Cieca'"] by [Zachary Woolfe](/source/Zachary_Woolfe), ''[The New York Observer](/source/The_New_York_Observer)'', July 8, 2009. Accessed February 9, 2011.

== External links ==
* {{Official website|http://www.parterre.com/}}

{{Portal bar|Opera}}

Category:Magazines about opera
Category:Music blogs
Category:Magazines published in New York City
Category:Online magazines published in the United States
Category:Magazines established in 1993
Category:1993 establishments in New York City
Category:Zines published in the United States

---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Parterre Box](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parterre_Box) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parterre_Box?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.