Thinly veiled at best blind item
Which Met prima donna recently enraged her maestro when she forgot (or refused) to bring him out a curtain call at his final performance of the run? In recounting the story of this obvious snub, the “always friendly and downright jocular” conductor becomes so emotional that he begins to gesticulate as wildly as he does on the podium. The sharp sword of karmic justice is swift, though, because the diva missed her own curtain call only a few nights later!
Why, this must be Gallardo-Domas who didn’t finish the 11/18 performance of Butterfly. They are supposed to “broadcast” that performance in January. What a hoot that will be!
Well, the Maestro must be James Levine. “Wildly gesticulating” and all that.
If it’s true, what an idiot- it would be as clever a career move as Michael Richard’s rant. She does have a long history of battling conductors who try to establish a concept rather than blindly follow the singer (which is all she would have gotten from Ascher Fisch).
No, the conductor would have to be Fisch, not Levine; Fisch’s final performance would have been before the last night of the run, because didn’t Levine take over only for the last two? La Cieca says “*his* final performance,” with hers being “only a few nights later,” when G-D sat out the last act (and thus “missed her own curtain call”).
According to the Met web page, Levine was the conductor for the last two Butterfly’s on Nov 15 and 18. It was at the last performance that Lawrence took over Domas in the third act.
She’d be crazy to quarrel with Levine; that would be the end of her Met career.
Levine was indeed brought out at the last Butterfly, and by cover Cynthia Lawrence, so it must be Fisch. And I think Jimmy keeps the gesticulating to a dull roar these days, no?
yeah – Levine barely moves on the podium these days, due to his physical problems and recovery from shoulder surgery.