Breaking: David Daniels is the Met's Orfeo
The mystery is solved, and, as usual, La Cieca predicted it well ahead of the official announcement. Per the Met's website, David Daniels will sing the four performances of the new Orfeo ed Euridice production in May 2007.David joins a distinguished group of artists who have interpreted the role of Orfeo at the Met, including Louise Homer, Kerstin Thorborg, Risë Stevens, Grace Bumbry and Marilyn Horne. The revival of Orfeo will mark the Met's first performances of the opera since 1972.
The Met's website notes that the production is dedicated to the memory of Lorraine Hunt Lieberson.
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12:13 PM
21 Comments:
Well, at least we must not miss his Giulio Cesare. Personally, I prefer a mezzo in the role, but we must see what he makes with Orfeo. Would he sing the great bravura aria at the end of the first act?
Memories of Daniels in Partenope's showpiece "Furibondo spira il vento" indicate that the act I closer of Orfeo should be smooth sailing, technically speaking, though I don't know how they compare in terms of range. I must admit to voting for Podles in the straw poll, but am very much looking forward to DD.
not much has been made about the fact that levine is conducting, not a usual type of piece for him to do at the met. curious if lieberson was the draw for him, or the piece (certainly many greats have done it). i hope he doesn't bog it down--lightness in certain moments of the piece help the weighter, tragic bits land better. has he conducted daniels before?
I'm not looking forward to DD doing this. So sorry to disappoint.....not a huge fan. I also prefer a mezzo in the role.
Did anyone consider doing the French version with a tenor as Orfee? Many great historical tenors performed the role, and it would be quite a vehicle for Juan Diego Florez. He's already recorded the Act II aria...
papagenodz--
If Levine's Mozart and Rossini is any guide, Levine is unlikely to bog down in Gluck. If anything, there may be a risk of his steamrollering the music.
anothertenor--
I doubt that the French version was considered, at least at such short notice. Maybe for a revival--but there's a lot of new ballet music in the French version, which would require a lot of new choreography. And that would depend on Morris's availability. (Are the Mark Morris dancers going to be doing the dancing, or is Morris working directly with the Met ballet? The former might explain how the new Orfeo got scheduled for five performances in two weeks at the very end of the season.)
taminosboyfriend--
I'll go out on a limb and predict that we won't get the big first-act bravura aria. Mark Morris has directed Orfeo ed Euridice before (1996?) and it was the original 1762 Vienna version, neat; I wouldn't be surprised if Morris insisted on doing the same version this time around.
In any case, I'm looking forward to it. I like Morris, I like Daniels, and I think Orfeo fits Daniels's voice better than Giulio Cesare.
Very disappointing news to me. I saw Daniels do Orfeo at LOC and it was fine but it lacked power somewhat and I was looking forward to hearing it staged with a mezzo. They should have engaged Podles or any other mezzo. Daniels' voice seems to be getting smaller and I wonder if he'll be heard past the 3rd row?
I just wish it were going to be one of the Met broadcasts, but it isn't scheduled. I would gladly give up the opening "Idomeneo" broadcast if we could have the "Orfeo ed Euridice" instead.
Well I did vote for him, and I've heard nothing but wonderful things about his Chicago Orfeo -- except from those rather distant from the stage. (Chicago, unlike the Met, tends to fight voices in the upper balconies.)
But I wonder if DD can manage it so soon after the Cesares, a role with which he is very familiar these days, having sung it in ten different productions in the last six years.
I am not pleased to be having Levine in the pit -- Levine tends to bash his way through a score the first two or three seasons, and only lets up when he's really got it down. Gluck is not Wagner, and Daniels is not Nilsson.
Still, I am very pleased and would rather have DD than any mezzo currently on the Met roster in the role. (Although Blythe would have fun with it, and Borodina would sing the piss out of it.)
I saw Daniels from the top balcony at Lyric ... literally three rows from the back of the house...and had NO PROBLEM hearing him in this role. Sure it's not a plummy contralto sound, but it's gorgeous, and he really built the cries of Euridice sequentially so that, impossibly, each one had greater emotional impact.
I'm sure he won't sing that aria--Chicago used the sparest of versions, with next to no ornamentation, and he seemed to be very into that version both vocally and conceptually from what we heard and read.
rysanekfreak
I´m sure Orfeo and Euridice is going to be the last Broadcast of the next MET season, on May 5th, so you don´t have to miss Daniels in it
You know, Daniels is singing Ottone in LA in November. Isn't he usually Nerone, and isn't Ottone too low for him?
I wonder did anyone ever see Rise Stevens in Samson & Delilah at the Met? She is one of my all time favourites and I'm sorry there are too few recordings of her.
Baritenor, I think you're right about DD usually doing Nerone, at least that is the role he did in SFO's last Poppea 7 or 8 years ago. But I don't think switching to Ottone is unusual. Although I've only seen Ottone sung by baritones, it is frequently done by countertenors. It's one of those roles that can be cast either way depending on the performing version being used. Now, if he were singing Drusilla, I would be surprised.
i thought it was standard nowadays to have a countertenor as ottone in poppea? though the distribution of voices is always a matter of edition. last time i saw/heard poppea it was with a tenor as nerone and a mezzo as poppea. especially a mezzo as poppea didnt sound right to me, even though it was vesselina kasarova!
when it comes to orfeo i defo prefer a mezzo, the soundspectrum is just that much richer than that of a countertenor.
Unless the Met does 21 live broadcasts (excluding the archive one in January), they will not be giving us the "Orfeo." They are starting with "Idomeneo" on Dec 9, and the 20th broadcast is "Trittico" on April 28.
According to the website, the last broadcast is the Trittico. Damn.
Has January archive broadcast been announced?
My introduction to Poppea was also with a tenor Nerone, mezzo Poppea, and baritone Ottone. Now, some 30 years later, it remains on my list of all-time great performances. Troyanos was Poppea -- sexy, voluptuous, dark hair flowing, cleavage for days in her red and gold gowns, and vocally smoldering. Eric Tappy as Nerone was every bit her equal, virile and elegant. When they sang the "Pur ti miro" duet at the end as stars were illuminated behind them, I would have gladly joined them for a 3-way (well, OK, maybe I would have preferred Tappy and Stilwell). To top it off, Maureen Forrester was riveting in Arnalta's lullaby, transporting in her gentle, heartfelt eloquence.
This was in Raymond Leppard's realization, and the music was simply gorgeous. I know the purists will scoff but they can piss and moan all they want about the cuts, rearrangements, and concessions to modern performing practices. I have heard several historically "correct" versions with every goat trill and countertenor in place, and they have all left me cold. None have been as exciting as that Leppard/Troyanos performance.
In the Met´s Website and in press realeases, the Traviata performance on January 27 is not going to be Broadcast, just in order to Broadcast the Orfeo in May 5. There are two historic rebroadcasts for January 20 and 27
Here is their press realease
"The season closes on May 5 with Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice in its first Met broadcast in 36 years, with David Daniels and Lisa Milne in the title roles. Choreographer Mark Morris stages the new production. The Metropolitan Opera dedicates these performances to the memory of Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, who was originally scheduled to sing the role of Orfeo"
OK...I can live with that !!
No "Traviata" broadcast in exchange for the "Orfeo" on May 5.
Yes...I can certainly live with that.
Now, if we can just convince everyone involved that he needs to sing the bravura aria to end Act One.
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