Bel canto lushinghier
La Cieca thought that now that Puritani has opened at the Met, it's as good a time as any to review the company's (rumored) bel canto plans for the next five years or so. Remember, everything in this life is uncertain, so please regard these "predictions" as the gossip they are.
Anyway, La Cieca hopes you'll find plenty of fodder for discussion in the following grafs.
Next season (as you all know) opening night will be a new production of Lucia di Lammermoor starring Natalie Dessay. Sharing the role of Edgardo will be a trio of toothsome tenors: Marcello Giordani, Marcelo Alvarez and Giuseppe Filianoti. Further upping the hunk quotient will be Mariusz Kwiecien and John Relyea. The Mary Zimmerman production will be led (on opening night at least) by James Levine.
Next season (as you all know) opening night will be a new production of Lucia di Lammermoor starring Natalie Dessay. Sharing the role of Edgardo will be a trio of toothsome tenors: Marcello Giordani, Marcelo Alvarez and Giuseppe Filianoti. Further upping the hunk quotient will be Mariusz Kwiecien and John Relyea. The Mary Zimmerman production will be led (on opening night at least) by James Levine.
Per La Cieca's sources, Mad Lucy will pay a couple of return visits in following seasons, first with Anna Netrebko and Rolando Villazon in the fall of '08, and then with Mlle. Dessay again sometime in 2010. Ze French diva gets the unusual honor of opening two new productions next season, the Lucia, of course, and then a new Fille du Regiment opposite puppylicious Juan Diego Florez.
JDF and Dessay reunite in the fall of 2008 for a new Sonnambula. The tenor will reprise his Tonio during the 2009-2010 season, this time with Diana Damrau as Marie. And that pairing will be repeated in the Met premiere of Rossini's Le Comte Ory the following season.
Now, jumping back to 2009 again, that's when the new production of Rossini's Armida is skedded, featuring of course Renee Fleming and (among other tenors) Eric Cutler.
And then comes 2012, aka "The Year of the Jackpot," when just possibly we will hear the Tudor Trifecta (Fleming, Netrebko and Angela Gheorghiu) as well as a new Giulliame Tell (presumably for Giordani) plus revivals of L'elisir (Netrebko, Florez, Kwiecien), L'italiana and Semiramide.
Oh, and for Druid fanciers, the outlook is not quite so rosy: a single revival of Norma next season with Dolora Zajick, Maria Guleghina and Franco Farina -- or, as Mme. Vera Galupe-Borzkh might sum it up: "Can Belto, Can't Belto and Can't Canto."
Labels: 2012, barihunk, bel canto, damrau, dessay, diva, filth, fleming, florez, gala, gelb, gheorghiu, giordani, la cieca ci guarda la cieca ci vede, levine, met, netrebko, villazon
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11:22 AM
29 Comments:
...and, of course, another decade rolls by at the Met with no Meyerbeer operas. Those bastards!
WOW!--hubba, hubba.
If Podles sings the Arsace in "Semiramide," I will be happy. (Unless Nebrebko or Fleming sings the title role.) I listened again to the "Armida" with Fleming (was it OONY?), and I don't want her interpolating those dangerously high notes again. It doesn't work.
I still love "puppylicious JDF." How many years have to pass before you start calling him "horndawg JDF"?
Ya know...There is a fourth Donizetti opera with Elizabeth in it...."Il Castello di Kenilworth." It has one gorgeous soprano cavatina-cabaletta segment, but I guess people consider the rest of the opera so bottom-drawer that we're not supposed to mention it with its 3 greater siblings. Like Don Magnifico wants to mention only Clorinda and Tisbe, not Angelina.
I want all of this bel canto to happen. I also want "Lucrezia Borgia." And like Paul, I want some Meyerbeer. Podles in "Prophete." Everybody in "Huguenots." (After watching the "Dinorah" DVD twice, I've decided I don't want "Dinorah.")
And I love the idea of more than 4 or 5 new productions per season. I can't wait for the first Sirius prima of a new production when the production team comes out to bow and the loud booing starts. How will Margaret J handle that? Will she ignore it? Or do they have a pre-recorded soundtrack of "bravo"s that they can quickly start up and use to drown out the booing?
I wrote my Met Diva wish list on my blog, just click my name twice.
It's astounding, the line-up, I mean. The age of bel canto at the Met is dawning!
I continue to be impressed by Peter Gelb. The bel canto revival at the Met is exciting beyond words. It's hard to believe that the Met has not staged the tudor Donizetti operas. In the 60s and 70s, when the revival was happening everywher else, and singers like Sutherland, Sills, Caballe and Gencer were available, the Met couldn't stage a single one? That's ridiculous.
Now that we don't have the great bel canto singers of that era, the Met is finding a way of making it happen.
As for casting, I'm most excited about Dessay and Flores -- two singers who can really deliver in this rep. Based on her Violetta, I would think that Anna Bolena would be a good fit for Gherghiou. Netrebko needs to really work on her bel canto skills if she wants to continue to sing this music at the Met. Fleming is techinically more assured that Netrebko when it comes to bel canto but goodness knows, she would not be my choice for Elisabetta.
Back to Netrebko, I'm really surprised that she's keen on Lucia. I would think the tessitura is too high for her. That role, more than any other, requires lots of high notes and lots of coloratura. I just don't see it being a comfortable fit.
The age of bel canto is dawning at the MET.
You know what I'd like to hear? A Sonnabula in the Malibran tradition. Von Stade used to do the role. Can anyone think of a mezzo who could pull it off.
As for Norma, Please tell me that Zajick will be the Priestess and Guleghina Secunda Donna. No? Damn. And let's hope that Farina meets with an accident between now and then...or at least retires and goes to live in a home for terrible singers.
I'm happy for all you bel canto fans, but what about the rest of us? I enjoyed Don Pasquale, but as my box-mate said, it's like a Broadway musical. Am I the only one sad about the cancellation of "Fanciulla" which hasn't been done at the Met in HOW long??!! If you're going to talk about French opera, what about more Berlioz? Only ONE season of "Cellini" and then it drops like a stone? And we have to wait how many more years for "Damnation of Faust" (that makes the Gounod look as deep as a mud puddle)? Just saying...
Guleghina sang two concert "semi-staged" performances of NORMA just about 2 years ago in Miami/Fort Lauderdale.
Against my better judgement, I attended.
Even with the score, Ms. Guleghina glossed over fioratura, stopped singing when she didn't feel like singing, and re-wrote numerous passages. There were no dynamics, continuous indifference to the score. Not to MENTION, the sad vocal state she was in then(which, by the way, was better than she is in now)
I don't understand why she WANTS to sing the part. She can't be THAT much of a dummy to know she isn't really singing the role close to correctly when she has to re-invent most of it.
SHe and the Met shouldn't even bother.
Vis-a-vis Mariusz Kwiecien: he is singing "Don Giovanni" here in Seattle next month, and I am all a-twitter. Hunky indeed, and a friend of Dorothy too--not to mention one of the best voices we have around today. Relyea is another fine artist (though I have seen him maligned on this blog). I am so pleased that Mary Zimmerman's work will be seen at the MET--I found her production of Metamorphosis fantastic at Seattle's Intiman Theatre a few seasons back--strange that Seattle Opera hasn't engaged her.
You call that bel canto? No L'Ultimo Giorno di Pompeii or Carlo di Borgogna (Pacini) or Il Reggente or Elisa e Claudio (Mercadante)? No Parisina d'Este or Belisario (Kwiecien would be perfect for that)? No Zelmira or Ermione? No Papian for Norma?
And no Stoyanova in the roles she would sing better than any other soprano now a-step?
As for Berlioz (this is way off the bel canto topic): I want Les Troyens back, early and often, with Borodina as Didon while she can still sing it, Botha as Enee, Zajick as Cassandra. But I wouldn't object to having Giordani's Cellini back. (Oh, and yes, I too regret Fanciulla.)
I regret Fanciulla as well, especially because in a weird way it's quite castable right now.
Don't forget Voigt in the Troyens mix. She always triumphs as Cassandre. I vote for Troyens as often as possible--what glorious music.
I'm surprised Renee doesn't want to do Anthony and Cleopatra and just get it over with.
Werther has been gone since Hampson did it, right? Time to bring it back with a tenor!
And what's the buzz on no more Sumi Jo at the Met? Crutchfield used her recently, and I saw her do Bellini in Minnesota. God knows she's not the best actress in the world and her voice isn't huge, but she is/was a popular recording artist, has an ethnic draw, and most importantly, sings this music MUCH BETTER than Anna Netrebko.
Hello, Sirius people, can we at least get Les Troyens on your broadcast schedule? The upcoming week is, to my mind, the most disappointing to date on Sirius.
We didn't get Borodina at the Met (she was originally cast and then withdrew because she was pregnant, I think). But then again, instead we were treated to Lorraine Hunt-Lieberson - so no complaints.
I consider myself very lucky to have witnessed LHL's Didon. And I too can't get enough of that opera. Voigt was a good Cassandre and did some great singing but the part lies just a tad too low for her. Plus, she wasn't terribly exciting and frankly, that role is scenery-chewing type stuff. I would love to see Zajick in the role. And yes, Borodina would be a luscious Didon. I could take either Heppner or Botha as Enee.
I'm with you all who want more Berlioz. I too saw the Troyens with Lorraine Hunt-Lieberson and Voigt, and remember it as one of the most magical nights at the opera. I just love that piece.
...and I was looking forward to Fanciulla. Why was it cancelled?
Werther came back a couple of years ago with Alagna and Kasarova. I thought they both did quite well.
And yes, somehow Fanciulla always gets neglected. It's a gorgeous score and the plot is not worse than most other operas. Hard to cast Minnie, though.
As for the Sirius schedule for next week, I suggest you don't miss the Trovatore with the young and very good Millo. That performance took place when her star was rising and we all expected her to be the Verdi soprano of this generation. She wasn't doing verismo yet.
I echo the call for a Troyens revival. I couldn't get enough of it - LHL and Michele de Young were both superb as Didon, and I adore Voigt's Cassandre. (Although a Zajick Cassandre would rock.) Polenzani's Iopas and Gregory Turay's Hylas also were high points.
Baritenor
Based on her British performances, and especially the loveliness of her soft singing, how about Joyce Di Donato in the Malibran version of Sonnambula?
And what about Britten, OTHER THAN GRIMES!!!!! Have we forgotten the incredible production of Billy Budd, with Barihunks Gunn and Keenlyside isn't time for a revival of that magnificent production. Anthony Dean Griffey should be a stunning Vere by Now and Pape as Claggart. I am drooling!!
I had the great privilege of hearing Diana Damrau in Munich singing Die Entfuhrung and was amazed. I, for one, would prefer her voice in the bel canto repetoire. I think she is technically a very solid artist with a very nice size voice capable of singing difficult fioratura. She really is astounding. I have a funny feeling though that the Met will prefer the bigger names, a la Netrebko and Fleming simply because they are more noted stars in the states. I don't know what anyone else thinks about this singer but I believe her to be first rate all the way. Does anyone else agree with me on this?
That Farina as Pollione thing is such a bummer. Miscast Norma, offend the opera gods, whatever...but don't make it lame. That guy just sucks-- no more, no less.
While I am happy that the MET finally seems to be willing to stage bel canto I am certainly worried about the unitelligent casting choices of some of the works and about the MET cutting these scores to shreds. After all, this is the same house that in the 21st century routinely cuts the "Veglia o donna" duet in RIGOLETTO. Perhaps the MET thiks its audience has the attention span of tsi-tsi flies, or they think 100 minutes of music is too long and the audience will miss the last train home to thesuburbs. In any event I expect ANNA BOLENA to be butchered beyond recognition. Perhaps we might be treated to a single verse of "Coppia iniqua".
It's good to hear someone shout up for Britten -- and I'm a lover of bel canto and verismo and Verdi and Wagner too, Pelleas perhaps not but that's another story (; ... I saw thatg production of "Billy Budd" in the early 80s and was blown away. It literally embodies all the levels of meaning of the opera. Keenlyside has said he is dropping several of his roles (Pelleas and Billy among them - he is preparing Wozzeck among replacements, so how about getting him to do THAT!?) but Nathan Gunn would be perfect. he's sung the role in at least two other productions, I think (perhaps he'll discuss the possibility on his blog!!) And to have Rene Pape play the cruellest sadist in all of opera, Scarpia notwithstanding, God, it would be like leather heaven -- could Claggart have a German accent...? (:
I have to say it would be great if a major house like the Met wanted to revive its "Death in Venice". It was a big hit when they did it the first time, but it is so much more widely known and understood in itself and in relation to Britten's life and work. And it is a superb sing for the modern tenor voice (not to mention an agile Baritone) - and a new choreography for Tazio would cap it off.
There are so many un- and under-performed works that a wish-list could go on for ever. In reality a major house could not be expedted to do them all, especially if the forces called for are small or highly specialised. But it is so long since Meyerbeer was reconsidered that "Huguenots" must surely be presented some time if it can be cast. All the comments for Berlioz are right on too. I am fascinated by the fact that "L'Amore dei tre re" was performed regularly at the Met till mid-century then just dropped never to be seen again. Is is worth rediscovering?
Nielsen ("Maskerade") and Hindemith ("Mathis der Mahler") are among the C20 masterpieces that would greatly benefit from a Met production, while "Nabucco" would be such FUN, and could really allow some BIG voices to really SING. And who knows, someone might think of a way of using the on-stage band in Pelleas!
Mary Zimmerman directing at the Met should be a gift from God. She is brilliant. Her way of working (as I experienced it) was more along the lines of on-the-spot inspiration than minute pre-planning, but this woman is brilliant. She has a lot of heart and the smarts to know how to translate emotion in a practical way to the stage. Get ready for a stellar Lucia. Now I finally have something to really look forward to in the upcoming seasons.
Speaking of Britten: The Met has a terrific production of A Midsummer Night's Dream that it could easily revive. When I saw it (directed by Tim Alberry), I couldn't believe the level of ensemble acting in the production.
I agree with the comments on Damrau. I am shocked she has not received more buzz for her rosina. It was daring, funny and thrilling. Her zerbinetta last year was done to perfection and she is so obviously talented! Her voice is quite sizeable, flexible and capable of ascending comfortably to an F. SHE should have been the one singing puritani, not netrebko. If the MET has any common sense, they will do for her what they do for fleming, netrebko, etc.
Looks like Damrau is singing in Barbiere folks, so that's a start for working her into bel canto at least. She's trading off with DiDonato, so you have your choice between the soprano version and the mezzo version.
I too don't see why Sumi Jo isn't used more at the Met; however, based on some of her latest stuff I've seen on YouTube, the voice doesn't appear to be in the best of shape either. The high notes are becoming a bit harsh. But the times I've seen her, she's delivered the goods. Probly sung too many Koenigins though...
As for French stuff. YES!!! More of it please! Werther is a HUGE fave of mine, and why not some other Massenet as well? Berlioz, for sure.
I'm not the biggest Britten fan, but I don't recall the Met doing a lot of his works, and considering their popularity amongst opera aficionados, they really should do them. Not to mention, they're in English, and it might help attract wider audiences based on that fact (although the music isn't to some people's tastes).
Another thought too... what about some operettas from time to time? It's lighter fare that people tend to enjoy...
Is it just that Vienna et al. tends to have things such as Die Fledermaus locked up throughout the season, or what???
By an interesting convergence, Damrau was splendid in the Vienna "Fledermaus" on New Year's Eve. Did anyone else hear Austrian Radio's stream? Her trilling stood out (cf lack of that from you-know-who!) But music made up only about half the show.
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