The motley must go on
Salvatore Licitra, who took a nasty spill Tuesday night on the way to a promo event for his new CD, will sing go on and Canio tonight at the Met. The tenor reportedly tore a couple of tendons in his shoulder and will have to wear a sling during Pagliacci. Some of the staging will be altered to accomodate his injury. Fortunately, Licitra’s onstage partner is the cool-headed Patricia Racette, who can be counted on to remember not to grab the arm as the action heats up.
By far the most interesting part of last night’s Sirius intermission feature was Figaro’s announcement that Licitra would be “performing in a sling” (not a pretty picture). Gruber sounded like she fell off the wagon in a big way – disoriented and foul mouthed as well as coughing and sneezing in Juntwait’s face for the entire interview
maybe we will get more Millo Toscas then we planned. and I wouldn’t be that adverse to Licitra in a sling.
well, as of yesterday’s “dress rehearsal” of Tosca, Gruber had nothing above about an A, Cura was rushing the conductor the entire time, and they both ended the opera by marking the 3rd act down an octave. It’s going to make Sat. a very interesting performance.
I’ll swear I heard the “Licitra will sing in a sling” guy say that Licitra fell and injured his SHIN. Then, MJ echoed, “That’s what I heard.” Then, they said he would sing with his arm in a sling.
If they think he injured his SHIN, why would his arm be in a sling? Do they not know where a person’s shin is?
After hearing Gruber during intermission, I’ve decided we should have La Cieca as a regular intermission guest, pouring “hot tea” as we say. That would really spice up the night.
And about the “Rigoletto.” I can understand why they decide to go with No High Notes. Because Verdi didn’t write all the high notes we’re used to hearing. But if we’re going to be so faithful to Verdi, why continue to do those cuts? I particularly hate the cut in the first baritone-soprano duet. We don’t even get to hear the full melody properly before it gets chopped off. If you’re going to do only one verse of the tenor’s cabaletta…with no high note…what’s the point?
And speaking of Verdi cabalettas cut in half, I was surprised at the archive “Traviata” when MacNeil sang one verse of the baritone cabaletta. I did not remember hearing it when it was first broadcast. It’s not a very good piece of music, but it was interesting to hear at least half of it.
No high notes in that Rigoletto? B O R I N G
That final scene last night w/Licitra & Racette was one of the hottest things on stage so far this season!
Gruber was most touching, genuine, and vulnerable when talking about her recovery last night. My hat is off to her.
Now that I’m hooked on Sirius and the weeknight broadcasts from the Met, I went over to Bradley Wilbur’s Met Future Seasons to see what’s in store for next season….
Of the 28 operas listed, there is not a single Richard Strauss opera. Normally, they give us at least one Strauss per year. Very strange that they will do both “The Gambler” and “War and Peace” next season but they can’t fit in one Strauss.
I hope they mine the ore of the archives and come up with a bunch of previous Strauss broadcasts… all summer long, preferably lots of Rysanek.
I missed the broadcast. What did Gruber talk about?
Gruber referred to her self as a junkie and said that she wanted to open a recovery center for young women. She said that she listens to hip hop in her dressing room – she would like to “sample” an operatic track in a hip hop song and that she can rap. She wanted the audience to know that opera is not about fat people singing onstage but about people who have problems like everyone else. She discussed her recent back surgery and problems with pain killers – she could not remember knocking James Morris over at rehearsal. She was intelligent and interesting but also rambling, disoriented and coarse – she was battling a cold which sounded pretty bad -Juntwait gave her a “tissue break.”
for those who went to the rigoletto, how was the “trio of MET debutants”? worth seeing?
Calleja, yes, the other two, meh.