Ruth's no stranger to friction
DRAMA on the front page of today's NYT Arts section! Ruth Ann Swenson comes out swinging at the Met for "snubbing" her in favor of younger and less zaftig artists. Her current run of Cleopatras in Giulio Cesare is her final contact with the Met*, apparently the end to a 20-season career there spanning over 225 performances.
And now La Cieca is going to throw this one open to discussion from the floor!
CORRECTION: Swenson is also contracted to sing Violetta during the Met's 2007-2008 season.
And now La Cieca is going to throw this one open to discussion from the floor!
CORRECTION: Swenson is also contracted to sing Violetta during the Met's 2007-2008 season.
Labels: daniels, diva, gelb, la cieca ci guarda la cieca ci vede, met, nyt, ruth ann swenson, sad
POSTED at
10:42 AM
107 Comments:
I think Gelb is right--though the timing is unfortunate with Swenson's illness.
At her best, Swenson is a lovely singer, but always bored me to tears in dramatic roles. Her Lucia, for instance, was nicely sung but a cipher. Her Violetta had no depth or passion. She is always adequate, but has produced few thrilling moments in the last decade.
I HIGHLY disagree!!! This decision is a sorry comment on the devolution of opera.
Ruth Ann has always been a solid pro. Sure, she's better in some roles than others and can come off as cool, but, in the right roles, she shines. Though I haven't heard her in Handel, the reviews I've seen have been stellar. Her recent Marguerite had me in tears. The video of de Niese's Cleopatra is striking but her voice lacks the warmth and voluptousness of Swenson. It will also be interesting to see if her voice carries adequately in the Met - which is a tad larger than Glyndebourne, to say the least.
If reports are true that Netrebko showed up at the Met ill-prepared, that should have been cause for reconsideration of her contracts. I sadly suppose that Gelb would rather have a stunning soprano who can't sing all the notes than a still-beautiful reliable professional.
Sad-sad-sad...
Putting aside the question of whether Gelb was "right or wrong" to not include her in future plans - I think it was highly impolitic and very classless of the artist to make a public fuss like this and she seems to really be timing it to get the maximum publicity due to her recent health issues.
I mean is she trying to turn herself into the next Lucine Amara?
Her last ten years at the Met have been iffy enough to justify not re-hiring her. It's clear the Met is selling out to youth, looks, hotness and publicity so why is she taking it so personally?
There is no way they could hire her again now - but if she had handled it with more dignity, then he might have turned to her again in the future if the need arose, you never know.
But she must have friends in high places to get this interview in the NY times. Maybe Sills?
She isn't the first middle aged soprano to get pushed aside in favor of hotter if less accomplished newer artists.
I think it would have been better to accept it with dignity, keep on singing well, raise your PR profile, and put the focus ON the new places and exciting new roles you're singing and OFF the place that doesn't want you back.
I actually feel that Swenson’s press outing shows that there maybe a little more spark in the old girl than we’d previously been banking on.
I can recall, very fondly, her Puritani of, what, ten years ago? It was quite a performance and what we heard this year did nothing to erase some wonderful aural memories. Swenson has always been (imho) a terrific and satisfying Gilda, a fine Mimi, a wonderful Lucia….the list goes on.
She’s also a real singer with a real technique; something which is becoming rarer and rarer as time goes on. I’ll miss her.
Her Adina last season was delightful, vocally and dramatically.
RAS is not a GREAT singer but she's a very good coloratura who should be singing at the Met. I think there should be room for her there, even if there aren't as many regular engagements as before. It's not as if the Met is overflowing with coloratura specialists.
Part of the problem with RAS is that her voice has been lowering in recent years and is not as high as it once was. She's already said that not going to sing any more Lucias, for example. So, I guess that has her competing with other lyrics...
Well, I don't have TOO much to say about this. I always felt that RAS was a very good singer and one who (like June Anderson) should have stayed the bel canto route with a few minor excursions here and there. I personally always felt that RAS moving into heavier repertoire like Mimi and Micaela and certainly Marguerite was a mistake. This move into more dramatic rep is probably what 'lowered' her voice - ie. she pushed it in the middle and lost her top!
I think celtic goddess makes very valid points concerning the fact that AN showed up for Puritani and didn't know a single note in the score - RAS could have stepped in no questions! However, I also agree with dollylama that her steps in giving this interview and creating a bruhaha is a bit unprofessional.
The funny thing about this, to me, is that I'm shocked to know that she is 47!! I mean, I remember buying that one album of hers - I think it's of a purply/pinky hue - about 10 years ago and thinking that she was only 'up-and-coming' at that point! I guess I never knew that she had already been singing, not least at the Met, for a good 10 years before!!
La mia condanna ho scritta! Ruth Ann just wrote her death sentence. Bad move. Especially "he doesn't like me anyway, so I don't care".
Bad move on Gelb's part too. She's a superior Adina and Rosina than most who sang there in the last 20 years. I've always said Swenson is a Tosca who can do coloratura, a rare thing. Great volume, and you need it in that barn, ask Gheorghiu.
The MET is not the only opera house in the world, she'll get contracts elsewhere. NYCOpera always scoops up the MET leftovers, for one. One thing that bothers me about overweight singers (like Millo) is their wining. Go on a diet already and stop bitching.
AN showed up for Puritani and didn't know a single note in the score
Can we at least try for accuracy here? Netrebko admitted in an interview that she was not as well prepared for Puritani as she might have wanted. This probably threw people at the Met into a tizzy because under the Volpe administration NOBODY sang ANYTHING at the Met until they had done the role to death in every other theater in the world. Yes, of course, if a singer has performed Puritani for 10 years before she finally does it at the Met, she doesn't have much preparation left to do once she arrives in New York.
Yes, Netrebko could have used a good deal more polishing before launching her Elvira -- in an ideal world. But in that "ideal world" (i.e., Volpe era Met) she would have had to workshop the part in a couple of venues, get heard by someone from the Met's artistic administration, and then begin talks for a possible Puritani revival five years from now.
Callas learned Puritani in a week, in the middle of her Walkure runs. And she screeaaaamed Elvira the same way she screeaaaamed Brunhilde. I'd rather hear Netrebko, and Netrebko is not even my favorite Elvira.
I also think it is a PR mistake for her to air this in public. The opera world, the music world in general, in fact any endeavor in the public eye is prone to instability and caprice. I think those in such a position should accept their fate, try to reinvent themselves, and move on.
To take a prime example from the non-operatic world...I remember a certain point (in the early '80s) when the redoubtable Cher couldn't get a gig singing at a cat fight. That woman reinvented herself, put herself out there and became an even bigger star. I've never been able to stand her singing (she reminds me too much of Buffy St. Marie), but was impressed with her resilience and to a certain extent with her acting....
I withhold Judgement on RAS's merits untill I see her live tomorrow night (crosses fingers and hopes student discount or rush is playable), but I will say that the article makes her sound very petulent and tiresome, a Diva in the worst sense of the world.
I remember talking to Eric Halfvarson backstage after the last RIGOLETTO last year, and he informed me he was being released from his contract, and told me in no uncertain terms how disapointed he was about it. But, he said, there are more laces to sing than the Met, and he has some lucrative engagements with Los Angeles and San Francisco lined up in the next seasons. That's how to handle a firing.
another example: mariah carey after glitter and being dumped by her record label
sorry, had to do it. Besides my opera divas, she's my fav.
Also, what does RAN expect from the MET? They are doing everything they can to increase ticket sales. Just look at next season: netrebko in 12 performances, gheorghiu in 9 boheme's, renee all over the place, jdf in fille, debbie's isolde; where exactly does RAN fit in there? I agree she has artistic merit, but unfortunately at the glitzy MET that just isn't enough! Being PR shy does not get you anywhere at the MET. I agree with others here who have said that she should have just kept quiet and either reinvented herself or accepted whatever revivals gelb gives her. And btw, I am very excited to hear her as cleopatra, though I hope it does not negatively affect her health knock on wood!
Keep in mind the background exchanges that took place between Gelb and Swenson long before this article was written and the interviews were given. There's more to this story than either party are letting onto. For all we know, Gelb may have outright fired her and been fairly nasty about it, as prior reports have suggested. Despite what someone might say to a reporter, usually there's another whole angle to the story. At least we have Swenson for a few more Violettas. What about Millo? The April 14 "Chenier" will be her last appearance at the Met.
I saw Swenson's Marguerite in March and found it the best I've seen in many years - far better than Gheorghiu. I am disappointed in Gelb's treatment of this Met treasure, but I am even more distressed at the disappearance of the very great Hei-Kyung Hong, the finest living lyric soprano, from the Met's roster. Both these singers are moving to newer repertory - Swenson with Maria Boccanegra in Texas and Hong with Eva at the Met. Will the Met ever see Hong's Desdemona or Cio-Cio-San? I know Swenson has bookings elsewhere next year, but what about Hong? Where will she be singing without the Met?
The trend toward having "skinny" singers is disturbing. RAS is not a huge woman, but neither is she a size 6. Many of us who sing are not -- especially those of us with more dramatic voices. Singers should be judged on their singing, not their body type. RAS has consistently put out high-quality singing. I haven't seen her in awhile, so I'll refrain from commenting on the flat acting, etc. The comment about "going on a diet and top bitching" is also disturbing for the same reason mentioned above -- we're not all going to be tiny Natalie Dessays (she has had her own string of vocal problems in the past few years as well). The Met under Gelb is trending skinny, and that's worrysome. Look at how little major singers like Dolora Zajick have on the schedule over the next few seasons. We're singers Peter! Judge us on our singing, not our dress size!
There is right and wrong on both sides here.
Did we really need another eight Ruth Ann Swenson Violettas next year? No we did not. Her first Violettas at the Met were fine and had some the best acting she did outside of "sweet young thing" ingenue parts, her natural fach. However, the next two runs she did were a case of vocal diminishing returns. It is time for Netrebko and a new generation of sopranos to step front and center. But no reason to trash useful and still valid performers who have contributed much.
Should she be tossed out like smelly garbage? No she should not, Mr. Gelb. However, Rudolf Bing did drop a bunch of old-timers from the Johnson era including Bidu Sayao, Tibbett, Stella Roman, Frederick Jagel and many others. You know all these buyouts, firings at the dress rehearsal, last-minute major overhauls and wholesale changes of whole operas scheduled for next season must be costing the Met a fortune and creating a lot of ill will. Is Mr. Gelb a little high-handed and taken with his own new power and current popularity?
Ruth Ann, but for her unfortunate comments, probably in response to some unfortunate things said to her, would have made a useful back-up and second-cast singer for a few more seasons. However, I was told she was pressured hard several times to relinquish the entire run of Cleopatras and threatened to sue if they asked her again.
Brava, Ruth Ann for fighting back and hope you knock them on their asses at the prima!
What, you think we need 8 more Fleming Traviatas instead?????
And by the way, I heard this from the music staff at the Met: Netrebko really didn't know much of the score. No sugar-coating there...
Swenson's marguerite better than gheorghiu's? hardly. Hong the "greatest living lyric soprano on the MET's roster". Are you kidding? She's a great house singer, but has a markedly unglamorous sound as evinced in the traviatas, though her tenesta la promessa....addio del passato was great. I don't really see it as such a great shame that gelb is letting go of these two singers who are not exactly in the prime of their career's. There are many promising younger sopranos, such as siurina (who is not singing next year) and damrau, who deserve a chance to develop into great artists at the MET. I think it is great that Gelb is trying to foster new talent. BUT, I do not think he should be doing it so indiscriminately. After all, why oh why is zajick not singing lady macbeth?! It suits her large but agile, high mezzo quite well. In this case, I feel Gelb is horribly mistaken and probably chose Gruber because she would be able to "look" the part for the HD broadcasts. What a shame. Verdi wanted an ugly voice and ugly is what he's gonna get.
Call me 'fence-sitting' on this one. First, I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE RAS...15 years ago. I would, and still do, listen to her "Positively Golden" CD for hours on end. No one else had those HUGE high D's and E-flat's. Go watch her do the mad scene from I puritani on You Tube, and tell me that's not the biggest high e-flat you've ever heard (watch all her stuff - her technique is impeccable).
However, her foray into the lyric rep has indeed taken its toll. When I heard she was singing Mimi, I couldn't believe it. Like Sills I had heard that she was becoming bored with all the “-ina” roles and wanted to do something 'meatier.' Decisions like that have a price. I certainly would have preferred that she stay in her fach, but one cannot begrudge an artist when she wants to try something new. Which leads me to this interview...
It does indeed strike me as somewhat petulant, albeit perfectly honest (remember this is a New York Girl!!). I wish she would have just said "I hope to work at the Met as often as they'll have me, and look forward to a fruitful future with Peter Gelb." END OF STORY. Granted, much probably preceded this story, hell maybe they got her on a bad day?
For Gelb? Well, he certainly was diplomatic, if not entirely transparent. I TOTALLY get his position, it is called 'Show-Business' not 'Show-Art' or 'Show-Fun' or 'Show-we-want-our-artists-to-be-happy.' His job is getting asses in the seats. PERIOD. Hopefully he can balance the looming celebrity culture, with ACTUAL artistic culture. If you feed people crap and tell them its a meal, soon they'll believe the crap is a meal. It's the old 'If you build it they will come' thing. Maybe he can lure newcomers to see Trebs, and get them to come again for Radvonovsky/Zajick/Voigt/etc. On the weight issue, um…that’s pretty clear judging from most the recent casting. Thin is in! I may not agree with it, but it’s the current reality. People just have to do the best they can with what they’ve got. I did hear that Gelb told La Millo that she had a future at the Met, but she had to lose weight, alas her looming swan song is the upcoming “Chenier” on April 14. (Speaking of, we should all do something…eh, La Cieca? Suggestions?)
I'll leave it there as I feel like I’m rambling…
The Violetta I saw in London last year (possibly 2 years?) was disappointing. Unfortunately, she did look rather large in the costumes, she was dramatically weak and her voice seem stretched.
The Semele performances were a different matter. She was lovely. A singer transformed. It seemed she had found a role that suited her voice and temprement.
I'm afraid that she would not be my choice to sing many roles. Being reliable and having a good technique can sometimes translate as dull.
Maybe it will a chance for her to re-evaluate her future roles.
I think there is a real growing tension between singers and opera houses aorund the world. Look at La Scala and Alagna, and now RAS and the Met. I personally feel that it comes a lot from this lack of communication and the unwillingness on both sides to compromise. There's the old atage, make new friends but keep the old. I don't really know Swenson, but I don't feel it's right for her to be dropped like this.
Absolutely agree that RAS could have left the door open for herself. Even if she's not contracted to sing anymore at the Met, it doesn't mean that she wouldn't be called upon in the future. Let's say the Met has a cancellation and they need someone fast. The music staff would probably be able to convince Gelb that they should call upon RAS as a replacement. But after this article, Gelb would probably refuse out of spite.
I've never heard her Violetta but have heard that it is strangely not one of her best roles, despite being technically suitable(excellent coloratura skills, good-sized lyric instrument).
As for Hong, her best years are behind her. She had a gorgeous voice that has started to lose its bloom. I suppose she could sacrifise her voice and sing Butterfly but it would turn into another Cristina Gallardo-Domâs situation pretty fast.
I know I shouldn't bother with this, but how exactly does countess_zaleska know that Callas "screeaaaamed " Brunhilde, when there is no extant recording? Is the countess really that old as to have been in the audience? If she is, she should probably get off the computer because I bet the children with the therapy puppies are arriving at the home anytime now.
I don't think being upset about opera companies hiring younger, thinner singers is as simple as all that.
If you have two singers who are both great and have great artistry and singing to offer, and one of them is overweight, unbelievable in the role, and does not move well, and the other is gorgeous, thin, and a fantastic actress, who would YOU choose????
There are cases where this is clearly folly. Dolora Z is THE GREATEST DRAMATIC MEZZO alive today - the idea that a company would even THINK about engaging someone other than her for a role because she isn't 25 and skinny, is atrocious, and any company that does that should be ashamed of themselves.
While I have generally been a fan of RAS (I have only seen her live twice - once in Manon that was a disaster, and once in Lucia that was DIVINE), she is not a Dolora Z type GODDESS singer that the Met can't do without. And so if they want to hire other people that are new, younger, and that might have something special to offer, that's their choice.
I think it's a shame that she has depended upon the Met for so many years, expecting work with them, and now suddenly they aren't that interested in her anymore - A place like that can feel like home, and then suddenly you find out you aren't welcome anymore, and you have no idea why. It should be a message to younger singers that people are disposable in this business. It WILL happen to Renee even someday if she doesn't know when to quit. She will probably retire before that with fanfare and love from them for the bucket-loads of money she has made them, but even so.
(And I agree - I am not interested in seeing Renee do more Traviatas - i couldn't even stay past Act II -it was so depressing to hear her singing so horribly)
But I agree. RAS should have maintained the higher ground here and focused attention on where IS singing, not where she's NOT.
And PS: I saw FOUR Carmens at the Met two seasons ago - with different conductors, different Carmens and different Joses - the only constant was Hei-Kyung Hong as Micaela, and let me tell you something, it was, every time, the highlight of the show - by FAR the most artistic, accomplished and beautiful singing of every show. I can't IMAGINE how she can sing roles like Aida and other heavier stuff like that, but she totally won me over with those Micaelas.
anyone who is talking about Hong being over-the-hill doesn't know shite - her Traviata was lovely, with the cleanest Sempre Libera done in the house in a long time, and the current Liu is her typical, gorgeous self, with a beautiful pp-mp-pp swell and diminish at the end of Signore Ascolta. This is the type of musical, technically accomplished singing that seems to be out of fashion these days. Gelb is making a big mistake throwing her overboard.
RAS,otoh - as honestly nasty as I can usually be, I'm loathe to disparage her, due to her sounding as acceptable as she did in the Faust so soon after chemo, BUT she opened the door. This is a reliable singer with mediocre dramatic ability, who has shortened her career by dipping into lyric repetoire she shouldn't be singing (Mimi at the Met - who is she kidding?), and I was never a big fan of her coloratura technique anyway - too lyrical, too droopy, not clean. Plus, she is too physically big at this point for the -inas and consumptive heroines she seems to want to do - she looked like Faust's grandmother. And now she's made certain that she's toast, so she'll have to live with that.
Plus, is there a bigger queen on the planet than her husband and "vocal coach", David Burnake? He follows her around like a puppy, trying to protect his supply of dogfood.
Balabanov-
I don't think attacking the support and questioning the sexual orientation of her husband is appropriate. Perhaps what he is protecting is a woman he loves and a singer he admires and whose artistry he supports. Don't be mean. You don't have to like how people sing, and have every right to be mystified at why people do or don't get hired by certain opera companies, but attacking their families is inappropriate.
I for one, think Hong's Liu is Killer.
As I've always said, if a singer knows her (or his) instrument and learns to use it properly, and doesn't abuse it by singing too heavy roles young, s/he can go on forever. RAS is 47, which isn't ancient for a coloratura soprano.
She has never been a top-rank singer -- the grand temperament is not there. For a certain range of role she has been splendid -- the Ines in L'Africaine was unforgettable, and she's the best Zerbinetta I ever heard (missed Dessay, alas). Adina and Amina were also great roles for her, and she handled the three Hoffman heroines and the thankless task of singing Rosina to JDF's Count. I'm sorry I missed her Gilda and Marguerite, of which I've heard admiring things from discriminating hearers, but her Lucia and Elvira were not good -- mere vocal exercises -- and I wouldn't dream of risking her on an acting role like Violetta or Manon or Susanna. I'm looking forward to the Cleopatras with some interest, sorry she didn't get to do a cover Rodelinda. (De Niese is a gorgeous woman with splendid technique, but I never get any sense of soul or meaning behind her vocalism.)
RAS can and no doubt will go on singing another dozen years (as a fellow Big-C survivor, I toast her moxie), and as a New Yorker, she wanted to stay around home base. But times change. Whether Gelb knows voices the way he knows marketing (we can all agree he knows marketing) is still up in the air. (I don't get Gheorghiu at all, I'm losing faith in Urmana, and I've given up on Reneigh.) It's good to see SOMEONE openly protesting what we all know has been going on behind closed doors, and the decision to come clean on the issue can't have been easy for RAS. I can only presume the MET casting dept (famous for their sensitivity as for their acumen) has been so nasty she figured she had nothing to lose.
But she IS a second-level star (you know: like Arroyo or Tucci or Peters or Mitchell or Anderson); her recital disk is almost unlistenable: plastic. Granted the Met has needed second-level stars, but maybe Gelb thinks he doesn't need them any more. (He'll learn.)
Didn't La Cieca post a video of Daniella de Niese singing V'adoro pupille several months ago? If that's the same girl, I think she could be a worthy successor.
I can appreciate the difficulty in Gelb's position, in trying to give the audience what they want. And it is always hard to balance the needs of the novice against the demands of the seasoned. Speaking of novice, I can't believe he replaced RAS with Renee Fleming. It makes sense from a publicity point of view, but once he gets those butts in those seats, are they gonna come back if they think opera is all about scooping and swooping?
As someone said in another thread, for every singer with a gig, there are at least 10 who are ready to take his place. So as much as it would be sad to see a long-time favorite get canned from one place (I'm a RAS fan myself), if she's being removed to make way for new talent, that's not completely a bad thing. Though it seems like Gelb isn't so much bringing in new blood and nurturing new talent as bringing in the names that look good in lime-lights.
Sorry but I have to do this: ChacoWhacko you have my vote.
I have heard RAS a couple of times and it was ok, better than many of the coloraturettes that are singing around the world today. Still, for me, the MET situation with coloratura sopranos is very strange: they got Damrau, who is in her prime, but they got Dessay far too late, and the other three great coloraturas sopranos of the world are not singing there anymore(Edita Gruberova, Mariella Devia and Sumi Jo). How can we explain that?
ChacoWhacko you missed my point, I don't have to be old enough to know that Callas screamed her Brunnhilde: she screamed everything else. In fact I wasn't even born when Callas sang her last operatic performance at the MET (1964).
My point was, criticizing Netrebko for not knowing Puritani very well before rehearsals is ridiculous. Callas had to learn Elvira in a week. And the fact that Netrebko gave us a compelling Elvira only attests to her talent.
But Netrebko had longer than a week to learn Elvira. Callas only had a week and managed to turn it into a career-changing move so obviously she did well in the performances. I have a recording of her singing Elvira's Mad Scene from 1949 and she sings it splendidly. Callas was a very hard worker (she probably worked too hard). Netrebko is not a hard worker and settles for good enough instead of going for great singing. It's a shame because she has the talent. There are lots of singers out there who will work much harder but don't have half the natural talent that she does. Oh well, I still enjoyed her Elvira though it certainly wasn't one for the ages.
Right now, I think Netrebko needs to show that she can do other roles other than the modern sex symbol-y things she's been doing. A Marilyn Monroe-ed out Manon, Red Light Disctrict Violetta... she knows her beauty is her strongest suit and she utislises it, thus making her very marketable. It may not get her respect, but it gets her noticed. On a world stage like the Met, I don't think that there is an excuse for not being prepared for a role. She may have been able to pull everything together in time, but the fraying edges stuck out a lot. I saw the first perforance and i saw the last, and it improved somewhat, but for someone who is supposed to be the "Greatest Living Soprano,"
(which is a ridiculous claim for almost any singer today. It's impossible to judge!)I was dissapointed, simply because the Met promotes the best there is, and what I saw was NOT the best.
I learned years ago never to get into the whole Callas defending game. It never ends. Besides some people also think the earth is flat, or that bad intel was really the reason Bush invaded Iraq. There is no arguing with this sort, and at the end of the day we are all entitled to our opinion. BUT what I want to know is: What are you voting for me for, (that's an awkward phrase) Facundo? Prom queen, class prez? I need to know so I can order my new stationary. :-) ---If I win of course.
To add:
Where is Jimmy Levine in all this?? Doesn't the artistic director have ANY say in casting and contracts and talent? I thought RAS and he were all paly-pally? Then again he was paly with Battle...
And:
Since when the hell(!!??) did Trebs become the "Greatest Living Soprano?" You've GOT to be fucking kidding me!! Did I miss a memo or something??
Operaguyny- BBC Music Magazine declared this statement a couple months ago. She was on the cover. It was a completely ludacris statement and the article was so biased that it made Ann Coulter look open minded.
It was ridiculous and I belive they got a bit of backlash for it.
It's really incredible what some publicists will do. And not only that, in the article, the author of the article went so far as to trash ANY other soprano who might be a threat to Treb's "title". Dessay, Gheorghiu, Matilla, and Fleming all got referred to as "other candidates". How can we judge this while all these people are still working?? Only time can give us the perspective needed to assign someone the Greatest anything! (Although, i sincerely belive that Netrebko will not be awarded it, but who knows?) It was the only time I really felt pissed off at a magazine. Luckily though, I don't think many people took it seriously.
Damn it, I meant ludicrous, not ludacris!
WOW!
I did miss the memo. Now that's SOME publicist - Christ! And I really like Trebs! But, C'mon that's utterly ridiculous!
its sad = seems like a suicidal move , that article. certainly it will make it very hard for PG to offer her anything...someone will have to convince him that there is no other singer around. but there must be something that happened backstage as eluded to by other posts here.
still sad to see this - almost like the NYT took advantage too - i dont remember seeing this kind of article on the arts pages... well, ever.
what did gelb say last night on Charlie Rose? anyone watch it?
I don't think the "Greatest Living (anything)" exists. It all depends on what your criteria are, and what your tastes are. I might concede that Netrebko is amongst the top-tier sopranos currently performing in major venues, but there are probably dozens of other divas that are equally deserving of being named "Greatest Living." I mean, Regina Resnik is still alive, and I think she used to be better than the majority of sopranos singing today, so doesn't that mean that Resnik is the greatest living soprano oh my gosh?!
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My thoughts exactly!
OH please don't take those stupid articles to heart. No one cares or agrees. We all have our own opinion of the great living this or that. It's just so silly and so overUSED. As far as this situation with RAS goes, I am a bit disappointed in her reaction. I realize that there must be A LOT more to this story than we are hearing, but I am fearful that she will get the reputation of someone who is difficult or disagreeable and no one will want to work with her. We sopranos operate on a very short leash b/c there are so dang many of us. It becomes apparent very early on in our career that we have to be almost superhuman in our reactions to things not to ruffle anyone's feathers b/c they can toss us out like old trash. I don't agree with it. I think she has a lovely voice. I don't like her as much in the lyric repetoire but she is a good singer. I just hope this doesn't backfire and complicate her future engagements.
Sorry, but I have to rant again about AN's showing up unprepared (at best).
Years ago, I was "hired" (if you can be hired when there's no $$$) by a below-shoestring company to understudy Puccini's Manon. During the rehearsal process, the Manon continued to show up to rehearsal without committed the role to memory. By week 3, she was fired and I made my principal role debut, thanks to my preparation.
If a no-budget SF opera company can exercise such artistic integrity, why can't the Metropolitan Opera?
Sure, because AN sells tickets. What a sad message this is sending out to young singers... If Gelb truly cared about encouraging new talent, he could have canned Netrebko and let her understudy take over. Something tells me the mystery soprano would have sung rings around AN. At least she certainly would have sung all the notes...
I have always thought she was a lovely singer, and the couple of times I've met her she was charming and very down-to-earth. The extreme top was never her best selling-point; what she has is a lyric coloratura voice that is atypically warm and opulent. She's naturally musical and the technique is solid; she has a great legato and she's not one of those singers who make you nervous. The trade off may be that she's not especially exciting, but there is A LOT to be said for beautiful tone and reliability.
Unfortunately, I have to agree with the above commenters who concur that the Times article is a bad strategy. I don't think Gelb can be shamed or guilted into offering her more; she might be lucky to keep the Traviatas.
i think the bigger scandal is the fact that gelb is getting rid of Hong. and the NY Times didn't devote an article to that?
and when is he gonna get rid of Gruber? that poor woman needs to retire or get some serious vocal coaching.
as for Trebs: it's unexcusable that someone would show up at a rehearsal without adequate preparation. but then Pav made a career of doing that (did anyone read that hatchet job by his former agent?)
swenson is announced for a handel opera at the ny city opera next season (agrippina, i think).
celticgoddess, anya's cover was supposedly fellow russian olga makarina, who was bought out for the last (1 or 2) performances to give way to futral. yes, makarina would have sung the music the way it's written but probably would not have sold out the house.
now does anyone remember the documentary about the chorus at the SF opera? wasn't swenson in it (she was engaged/married to a chorister)?
Well, I think ultimately, THAT's the mystery - WHY OH WHY do they keep extending contracts to singers like Gruber, and they buy out singers like Swenson?? This is the point I think we are all recognizing. It's that the singers that are being bought out are by NO MEANS horrible, or disastrous. Somehow, for some reason, (perhaps for a good one, we might not know), the Met believes in Andrea Gruber, and wants to support and help her. And for some reason, they have decided not to extend that same faith and support to Swenson - possibly because she's getting older. The idea that 47 is too old is ridiculous, but perhaps they feel she isn't going to grow anymore, and don't want to devote resources and time to her.
Who knows???
It would be nice if, for the most part, one could go to the Met and we could (for the most part) universally agree that the best singers in the world are singing there, and there is where the best singing is. I think it is sad that this is not the case.
In fact, it's quite the opposite. I think it is universally agreed that Gallardo-Domas was extremely weak as butterfly. It is a damn, crying shame when the weak link in a butterfly cast is BUTTERFLY. I have seen Carmens there which were similar, and others. This simply should not happen at the Met. There will undoubtedly be singers who are more thrilling than others, and singers whose names we all forget the moment we walk out the door. But no one should EVER leave the Met and think, "THAT was the best singer they could find?????!?!??" Are you f#*%)ing KIDDING ME?!?!!?!"
I find that this happens far too often at the Met, and I think that's why we fans and the scorned singers we love all go insane when they are out and someone worse is in. But can anything be done about it??
I just re-listened to the "Turandot" form last week with Gruber. Millo, even at this stage of her career, has NEVER sounded like that! Why would they put her out to pasture and keep Gruber? To me, the fat story dosen't wash, either. For one thing, MIllo has lost about 40 lbs or so in the last year. She's still big, but she is trying.
A great friend of mine in the business and therefore close to all these things wisely pointed out that twenty years of solid employment in a house as prestigious as the Met is no mean feat. Actually getting a singer a single contract at the Met is a huge achievement. Being invited back over such a long period is amazing. The Met is not, nor should it ever be, paternalistic in its approach. It should always aim to book the best available singers in the most appropriate repertoire and the casting guys have the whole world to trawl from. Good on Gelb I say. There are others too who should be on his hitlist. We pay good money to see performances at the Met and we deserve the best. I wish you had gone quietly Ruth Ann. Those friends you must have asked about whether going public about your gripes against the Met was a good idea are bad friends.
Todd--
RAS was in the San Fran Chorus video. I think it was early 90s?
Sugarmezzo--
"It is a damn crying shame when the weak link in a butterfly cast is BUTTERFLY." I laughed so loud when I read this you could have heard me anywhere. That is so true and so very funny.
I also agree with whoever said that it would be ideal for the Met to house the best singers in the world and we, the public of knows and know-nots, would be in agreement. Didn't that sort-of exist in the Sutherland, Tebaldi, Price, Nilsson, Caballe, years of the 60s and 70s? See, I'm thinking it did. But, that was yesterday. Dang it!!!!
Gelb should keep Gruber, Swenson, Millo and dump Hong who is cold as ice! Swenson's tone is warm, sparkling, something so uniquely brilliant. she's good enough. And her Adina with Vargas was fantastic - and all you Gruber haters, how wrong you are - she's got something in that voice reminiscent of late Tebaldi - even if it's only a hint - wait and see. AND, Gelb should keep La Millo around if he wants some exciting performances!
I think MIllo is the one with hints of Tebaldi - Gruber has hints of John Deer.
Todd: Ruth Ann most certainly was in the SF Opera doc, "In the Shadow of the Stars." Her husband, David Burnakus, is a former SFO chorister. In the film, they explain how they met on a Western Opera tour - she was Gilda, he was in the chorus.
As for the Gruber question, surely the Met feels that it's far easier to replace a Gilda than a Turandot. There's something to say there but I, personally, wouldn't buy it.
As for Swenson having room to grow, she's recently successfully taken over Contessa Almaviva. She also received kind notices for her Liu. Any thoughts on her Luisa Miller? Her move into Handel is BRILLIANT. She's not compelled to sing high Es yet can display her still-formidable agility. I reiterate - I'd far prefer her voice in this rep than Fleming's. Hmm... Any thoughts on if Ruth Ann could sing Daphne?
Also, thanks for the insight on Netrebko's cover. Sure, neither could sell tickets like AN, but Gelb could have created an auspicious moment. About 15 years or so ago, a young soprano took over Gilda from June Anderson. When I was at the Met, all the buzz backstage was how superior she was to JA. The upstart? Ruth Ann Swenson.
I first became aware of Swenson when I went out to San Francisco for Marilyn Horne in Handel's "Orlando."
Everyone went in thinking about Horne, but they left the performance raving about this unknown new soprano as Dalinda... Swenson.
After that, I saw her quite a few times in San Francisco performances, and she was very popular there...and very good in the things I saw from Ines in "L'Africaine" to "Baby Doe."
Well, I'll make sure to check her out tonight. Will anyone else be at the prima?
re: Gruber
2 yrs ago or so i went to the met to see Aida. talk about an Aida without an Aida! it was the most disappointing evening at the opera ever.
about 2003 or 2004, i saw Gruber in Nabucco. she looked glamorous and sang up a storm. she kicked ass that night. it was amazing considering how hard it is to find someone to sing that. well, this Aida was absolutely awful. Gruber had no voice left, just a thin wisp of sound. she looked too thin and emaciated. she should have cancelled. the cover was Angela Brown, whose voice i understand, is a bit unpolished and wild, but would have done a better job. i feel bad for Gruber, because the voice did have lots of promise before. but she just can't sing anymore.
re: Gruber
2 yrs ago or so i went to the met to see Aida. talk about an Aida without an Aida! it was the most disappointing evening at the opera ever.
about 2003 or 2004, i saw Gruber in Nabucco. she looked glamorous and sang up a storm. she kicked ass that night. it was amazing considering how hard it is to find someone to sing that. well, this Aida was absolutely awful. Gruber had no voice left, just a thin wisp of sound. she looked too thin and emaciated. she should have cancelled. the cover was Angela Brown, whose voice i understand, is a bit unpolished and wild, but would have done a better job. i feel bad for Gruber, because the voice did have lots of promise before. but she just can't sing anymore.
oops... i don't know why my last comment was posted twice and i can't delete it.
my one personal experience with Swenson was in the mid-90's, she stole the show from J. Norman in the new Ariadne production at the met (Norman had also lost a lot of weight at that time -- without surgery, i assume -- and was rather svelte). both of them, and Mentzer, sang very well but Swenson i felt was the star that evening.
I feel bad for R.A.S. but if you look back into the history of the Met this sort of thing has happened time and time again. It creates publicity.
I hope that she can weather the storm and continue singing. There must be other American houses and quite a few European houses that would give their back-teeth to have her on board.
I guess everything and lots more has been said by now about the Gelt - Swenson - Hong - Millo - Radvanovsky ---- affair. That will not deter me, however, to add the following: According to the Gelb policy, as exposed on the newspapers, back in the mid 1950's, the Met would have let go singers like Albanese, Milanov, Steber, Tucker, Merrill, et al. They had all been with the Met for years, had sung in NY most of their core repertoire and had gained weight plus there were new and hotter singers in the roster (Tebaldi, Callas, Del Monaco, et al.)
Similarly, a couple of decades later, Mignon Dunn, Martina Arroyo, Rita Hunter, Regine Crespin, James McCracken, Shirley Verrett and others would also have been dropped.
Would the art and the music life of New York and the US in general been better served?
Ah, the operatic cycle of life...
TDG:
Of the singers you name, all had a very strong personal following at the Met, e.g., fan clubs whose members would attend practically every performance by their favorite. Further, all those singers committed to staying in NYC for most of every season and then touring with the company for up to two months every spring.
Swenson is not remotely comparable. She has never sung the core repertoire of an Albanese (basically every Italian and French lyric role, plus some Mozart), Milanov (the big Verdi heroines plus Gioconda, Tosca, Santuzza) or Steber (basically anything and everything she was needed for). She does not have a particularly large New York public: even when she sings only a few times in a season, none of the performances are sellouts.
A general manager does not simply stop hiring people for the principle of being a new broom. What he may do, though, is to review the roster and say, "How useful is this singer to the company over the next 5 or 10 or 20 years?"
In fact, two of Gelb's biggest soprano stars for future seasons came to the Met at the same time as Swenson: Mattila in 1990 and Fleming in 1991. He's in no hurry to sweep them out the door, is he?
Good points, La Cieca.
Gruber.
A VERY rough time of it since the Aidas, but I don't understand why so many ignore her successes. Even her recent Toscas were quite powerful.
She was hailed in NYC for her Abigailles, and had successes in Seattle as Lady M and Minnie and in SF as the Forza Leonora.
And she's still being hired--Abigaille at Verona upcoming.
She is wildly variable, but on good nights can still "bring it."
RAS is a great Handel singer. The Met is presenting her for the first time in a Handel opera.
Better late than never. She brings wit and pathos and phenomenal technique to Cleopatra,Semele,
and Rodelinda. Huge golden tone. Enormous Handel successes with the public in San Francisco, London and Dallas. Tonight she will give the performance of her career. The reviews for her Cleopatra in San Francisco were unanimous in their praise. David Littlejohn, in The Wall Street Journal, called her "the greatest Handel singer he had ever heard and that includes Sutherland, Horne, and Janet Baker." She and David Daniels are a golden age pair in this magnifcent opera.
As for the article and the reactions from all the etiquette arbiters, she showed truth and
honesty and outrage at her treatment by Gelb.
She had suffered cancer and would not allow herself to be abandoned without a fight. Brava.
I agree with La Cieca that Swenson brings nothing unique to the table, and most of the support here and on other sites seems to be of the "she was so fabulous that night I saw her in 1995" variety. I listened to several of the Fausts this season and was underwhelmed. She's also a member of the most competitive fach in Opera now that her high flying days are over.
Hong, I'm a bit more mystified by. She's still convincing as a young woman on stage and is never less than good, and often the best thing on stage (reference this year's Turandot for proof). To unceremoniously drop the house's longest running principle female singer seems a bit cruel (She's pushing her 25th anniversary with the company and I'd guess only White and Bunnell have sung more with the company in the last 20 years). She's also seemed content to spend the season and pull out the occasional Celestial Voice, so I don't think ego's an issue. Why they couldn't toss her an annual Countess or Liu is beyond me. Not letting the company's most loyal and dependable Soprano get her gold watch is a travesty.
RAS is a great Handel singer. The Met is presenting her for the first time in a Handel opera.
Better late than never. She brings wit and pathos and phenomenal technique to Cleopatra,Semele,
and Rodelinda. Huge golden tone. Enormous Handel successes with the public in San Francisco, London and Dallas. Tonight she will give the performance of her career. The reviews for her Cleopatra in San Francisco were unanimous in their praise. David Littlejohn, in The Wall Street Journal, called her "the greatest Handel singer he had ever heard and that includes Sutherland, Horne, and Janet Baker." She and David Daniels are a golden age pair in this magnifcent opera.
As for the article and the reactions from all the etiquette arbiters, she showed truth and
honesty and outrage at her treatment by Gelb.
She had suffered cancer and would not allow herself to be abandoned without a fight. Brava.
Mme La Cieca, I'm not taking sides on this debate. I imagine there are facts we don't know about. I can understand Gelb's point of view and I've sure bitched enough through the years when singers I didn't care for were being pushed down my throat. I certainly like the Met to have the flexibility to hire new singers soon after they are discovered, rather than waiting for openings in the schedule many years later.
My concern has more to do with the taking of any policy to an extreme. In its attempt to be exciting and relevant, etc., I read some of Gelb's words as saying that the Met now intends to be a showcase only for the latest and hottest artists. Note the word "only." However, non-superstars can also have a following - some larger than others. And probably all - well, many of them - bring a unique combination of talents to appeal to someone, and if anything, provide a comparison point. I happen to find Hong a particularly fine singer. Yes, past her prime, but I think that she - or singers like her - should have a means to appear before the NY public. I don't go crazy over RAS, but she too should have the opportunity. And the same for Lopardo et al.
The 50's singers I mentioned - Albanese, Milanov.. - indeed had (still have) a devoted following (including me) but they also had detractors who felt that their time was past. I wasn't comparing them with RAS, but rather trying to say that the way I've read the Gelb attitude, it seemed to me that he would have let them go too. The line between reasonable and extreme may be very subtle.
Would we like a season featuring only Fleming, Gheorghiu, Mattila, Voigt, Damrau, Dessay and Netrebko in the leading soprano roles? It would probably sell very well, but... Chateaubriand for dinner every night anyone?
My slight concern over Mr Gelb's management is the style of glamour he is trying to bring back. Of course he should have Fleming, Netrebko, Voigt, Dessay who will sell out the house for him. But he should also have less known singers as well and MAKE them famous. A look at next season points to his seaming inability to LAUNCH a PR machine, only to sustain it. He has used the passed press of most of the singers he is using next year, but shows an utter lack of commitment in creating the stars of the future.
As far as Danielle de Niese is concerned, she sang an adequate L'Enfant at the Met some years ago. but Cleopatra that ain't. I have heard her (not through choice but situation) sing Cleopatra three times now, in different houses, and I am left unimpressed. The McVicar production in Glyndebourne was tailor made to her strengths. She knows how to dance and she looks great naked. But listening to the video of that production without looking at it underlines the glaring problems in her technique, the lack of color. On the other hand she is a FABULOUS musicican, simply remarkable, and far more intelligent than she will ever let a director know. But how will she fare in the the Met production, which is certainly not known for it's dramtic staging (especially when handled by some third rate production revival director at the Met)? If her Cleopatra in Paris was any indication, if was pretty boring, and the singing was not all that great. My guess is she'll look great doing the Met production, but she won't carry the show. She'll be OK, but at no point in the evening will she be fabulous. I think Swenson will give us at least a few moments of brilliance when she is onstage.
Justanothertenor-
I just came from the Prima. Swenson was...good. She sounded like she was pushing in all but the first aria, and I didn't care for much of her ornimenation, which was very chirpy. It was the Mezzos' night. Bardon and Coote sang like angels in the act one duet, and gave excellent performances of their arias.
I'm absolutely mystified by all this talk of what a professional RAS is, and how nice she is, and how indifferent to publicity she is. Try that one on record-company folks who've had to work with her. Or with photographers she's terrorized. Or OPERA NEWS, which some years ago swore they'd never feature her again for her wretched behavior over interviews, etc. She came across to me, on several unfortunate occasions, as the simple-minded ego-maniac who was so insecure that she had to run down everybody else. In short, the person she seems to be in that horrendous NYT article.
And the husband! Let one vignette illustrate: It's halftime at the Richard Tucker Gala. He is flouncing all over the Fisher lobby telling everyone he can collar how miserably they are treating La Ruth Ann. Imagine! She is being forced to share a dressing room with Bartoli! At a gala, where everyone shares dressing rooms. At that point in their careers, the management probably thought they were flattering the humdrum Swenson by putting her with the then-hot Bartoli. (I don't say this as a Bartoli fan, btw.)
So I don't get this carrying on about sweet, sweet Ruth Ann. She has been lucky to have the Met career she has had. I've worked for Gelb and am no fan. But at least he has a vision of some kind, which the Met sorely needs.
Dirkva,
what kind of vision does the Met sorely need?
I'm sorry, La Cieca, but no. If you're loyal to a house for 15 years, giving your personal best and giving solid performances, it is accepted that that house will be loyal towards you. And if they're not, then you make a fuss...
Also, have you ever seen this woman's Konstanze? It's awesome! I remember seeing it live in Europe some years ago. Not once did I think "this woman can't act". It was absolutely wonderful - acting and singing. I've loved her ever since!
I do a lot of press work in my job, it's like the way unnamed officials get their side out before the other shoe drops. The difference is that she had to put her name on it. No doubt RAS was told privately she wouldn't be singing at the Met anymore. Given the last comment in the article, far more had to have been said to her. So good for her. She can still go back if both parties want, and if Gelb is stuck he'll ask her if he has to.
I know that some have already said this and I certainly understand and have deep sympathy for RAS is going through with her health...BUT while she is a compentent lyric-coloratura - she has consistently gave me some of my most-mind-numbingly-boring nights at the Met for the past decade. The same for Hei-Kyung Hong as well - they seem to exemplify that bland "american" opera sound. Yes I know that Ms. Hong is Korean.
Ms. Swenson spent most of her career at the Met under the largesse of Volpe and had neither the inclination nor intelligence to WORK HER BRAND. Mr. Gelb has grander visions for Met than what she can offer - as simple as that. Does she have a career anywhere outside of the country? Is she a stellar singer? NO! For her to go an complain to the Times after a TWENTY year career at the Met sounds like she is a vapid as people say she is. How many people can say that they sang at the Met, let alone for twenty for 20 years? If her agent isn't smart enough to get her major billing at the "other" houses in this country over the next ten years then she should fire him. He is already headed in the right direction with her Agrippinas next season at NYCO.
Now does she really think that she will ever be hired at the Met again? Jesus, this woman is stupid.
Anyone who has seen the DVD of Glyndebourne's "Giulio Cesare" will know that Daniella de Niese is FANTASTIC. Like superb. A lovely voice, handled with great artistry from comedy to tragedy and revealing depths even Handelians had never imagined... and so much energy and acting ability it elecrifies the whole cast. So there is no dropping RAS for some bimbo - Daniella de Niese is top of the tree, and will soon be the name on everyone's lips. (All this apart, the DVD of GC is the BEST I have seen in ages - it is a real delight on so many levels I can't recommend it highly enough - and so many other FANTASTIC singers and actors in it!)
Here is my question........why do people camp out at the Met? Why do people camp out at any one house? Everyone knows that you are an opera singer and with that comes travel. I don't understand. I would if she had children or something like Fleming but she doesn't. I get tired of hearing the same old people in the same houses everywhere and it's not just the Met. It's regional as well. If you live in a particular city then you can guarantee that there is the "soprano" or the "tenor" there that gets all the good roles. it's silly. Step outside the box people.
Yes, but very few opera singers have the status to travel to all the different oepra houses. Swenson may be well known in New York and America, but is she well known overseas?
Speaking of Monsieur Gelb, did anyone catch him on Charlie Rose last night? I was annoyed that Charlie wanted to talk about Gleb's work for a famous pianist, the name escapes me, when Peter was about to ditch "dirt" on our favorite divas.
Um...the Millo thing. Has anybody heard her sing over the past few seasons? The voice IS NOT what it used to be and she is a rather large woman. Urmana, Angela Brown, Michelle Crider are not small women and they seem to be getting all the spinto roles that Millo was getting. The difference is that they still sound good singing in those roles. I think the Millo thing has more to do with vocal estate rather than size. No one can accuse the woman of not being dramatically moving (if not down right hammy). I love love love her, but after hearing her few-and-far-between outings at the Met over the past few seasons I have been very saddened and disappointed over what is left of the once fabulous voice. BUT the girl is smart enough to keep her mouth shut and keep getting paid to cover those roles she's not (and IMHO deservedly not) getting A-casted or B-casted for.
In a "show-biz" sense I have no problem with Mr. Gelb's decisions. Trebs will be yesterday's news and we won't have to worry about whether she knows the notes or not if she doesn't start building a rock solid technique. That's the nature of the entertainment industry - it's all about the latest hot, young thing. Time will tell if she is the Neely O'Hara of opera. People said the same thing about a lot of singers who are now revered.
Half of the singers that I heard about when I really started paying attention in the late 80's to early 90's are nowhere to found. I mean I love love love Ashley Putnam and she had blown the voice out before she was 45.
Did the women and men on Mr. Gelb's "hitlist" think that they would just go on at the top tier oepra house in country forever?
As for Levine he is doing what he has always done...being passive. He has his "pets" and he seems to not really be able to "work" for them when the chips are down.
NYCOQ--
I heard Ms. Millo in Tosca last summer at Cincinnati Opera. I looked forward to her performance because I'd heard so much about her, about her stage presence, etc. You get what this is building up to: I was disappointed. Intonation was all over the place and Vissi d'arte started well below the starting note, working its way up. The costumier didn't do her any favors, either--in that empire waistline number, she looked like The Little King. I heard she got better but this is the tragedy of live performance--one chance for the performers to do their best for the audience, most of whom won't return and whose judgments will be based on that one-time experience.
Mark Delavan was Scarpia who was too much Mr. Nice Guy. Everyone, including Millo, was upstaged by the lustrous-toned, moving performance of the Caravadossi, Antonello Palombi--the very same who came on in jeans and a t shirt when Alagna walked off at La Scala.
A little late in the game, but I'd just like to add a few comments. I have never heard RAS live, but enjoyed her immensely as Ines in L'Africaine on video. Since then, I've mostly had to rely on Met broadcasts for my experience of her singing. Most recently as Marguerite, she sounded like she really had to work for the topmost notes, although the rest of her range sounded in pretty good shape. Maybe it's this kind of effortfulness, along with the general consensus that she isn't the most galvanizing performer that has ended her contract at the Met for the moment. However, I feel there is a bigger issue at hand, which others have already allued to. There are many singers out there at mid-career, in their mid to late 40s, who sing very well and are at their peaks. OK, they may no longer look the part of the ingenue or young, romantic lead, but they have reached a point where their vocal technique and acting have been honed and polished by years of experience. I am increasingly disturbed to notice that many singers somehow disappear at this stage, when they are really at their artistic peaks. Even note Renee Fleming who I saw today in the repeat of the Eugene Onegin simulcast. As interviewed by Sills at the end of the first act (another story altogether, these awful, ill-prepared, interviews which I suppose are supposed to get us "behind the scenes" but only come off as insipid, with the singers looking like they just want to leave), Fleming mentioned she had sung Tatiana before when she was much too young. She obviously feels she needed the intervening years of vocal and stage experience to really do this role justice. Now, with Gelb's "new look Met" she's ok, since she still looks wonderful and sings beautifully (I know, I know, not everyone on this site will agree with the latter!), but pity the poor mid-career singer who may have put on some weight, and doesn't necessarily "look" the part anymore. My fear is that with the simulcasts and all the attendant media attention, there won't be a place for singers who don't fit the mold of a Netrebko, deNiese etc. These two singers sing very well, but I suspect a lot of their current popularity and employment is based on the fact they look good in a slip! (deNiese sang Rodelinda here in Toronto a couple of seasons ago, and yes, a good voice but you can bet the director didn't miss a chance to have her change into a flimsy slip with her back to the audience). Anyway, I should finish here, but from a Canadian point of view, I lament many Canadian opera companies' underuse of such fine singers as Tracy Dahl, Linda Maguire, Jean Stilwell, Judith Forst, Lyne Fortin, all very fine mid to late career singers who are largely absent from our stages. I am certain a similar list of American singers could be made. Interesting that this mostly seems to be a phenomenon with female singers - largely the same problem that Hollywood actresses of a certain age have. I applaud the Met simulcasts, they are wonderful events, but am concerned that their larger-than-life format will start to dictate casting in favour of looks over voice. As a singer myself, and as anyone out there who has studied voice seriously can vouch, it takes a long time to build a techinique. Some women might have a solid technique by their late twenties/early thirties - for men it tends to be a bit later. So, nowadays, does that mean that singers who have worked so hard, for so many years can only expect a 10-15 year career if their looks fade???
I guess having read the 80+ so comments, I still feel there is something to be explored on this subject. I can agree with all the differing points of view so well expressed except one: That this is because Gelb actually has some sort of vision to save opera or the Met for the future. If bringing somebody like Chenoweth and hooking her up a PA is the vision, well, the Met doesn't have a future as an opera company. Sorry, I think CC is a darling and talented, but I can't stand hearing her sing, and she isn't an opera singer. Of course, arguably, most modern opera isn't really opera, but thats another can of worms...
The firing/denying of RAS and press wars between opera houses and singers are hardly a new thing. Some singers, in spite of deplorable vocal states, but due to their stellar past and good following have stayed on far longer than they should. Tebaldi and Callas I think qualify here. Some singers have been pressured into unsuitable roles for them in their career by egotistical power brokers only to be abandoned when their usefulness wore off. Karajan anyone? Schwarzkopf managed the ordeal with her voice almost unscathed, but Janowitz was a shadow. And companies, with an eye to an economical but secure balance have kept their rosters close, such as the Met under Bing. He had Della Casa and Steber, he could survive without ES.
The difference today is that as we see singers of dependable ability being removed, they not really being replaced with something truly wonderous and up and coming. As wonderful as I think ES was, was it REALLY a step down to have Della Casa fill the void at Salzburg? Hardly. Damrau is a wonderful singer, but I don't really see her as a replacement for RAS in a role such as Lucia.
And as a singer here has noted, voices take a long time to develop, and we see less and less time being allowed for that. From what I have been told, in the US 30 is supposedly the magical cut off date for having the 'ability' to sing. Nonsense. Especially if no one is building voices like in the old days. Beverly SIlls took five voice lessons a week for five years before considering an audition. Thee days, on one voice lesson a week,a student would have to study for 25 years to receive the same level of instruction.
If Peter Gelb were really interested in the 'future' of an opera company, he would start investing in young singers just like the German houses did when Elizabeth Schwarzkopf was a very young woman. He would hire the teachers who taught Marcello Giordanio and Aprile Millo to sing- she sang very well for many years and had a hell of a high C- to teach young men and women to sing, giving them 4 voice lessons a week. The company coaches would be working with these singers so that they wouldn't be unprepared. He would develop thoroughly schooled ensembles by encouraging the stay put sort of behavior RAS has shown. People who bounce all over the globe every month are neither in psynch with their colleagues now and are also simply too tired to give refined performances.
Then you would find more bottoms wanting tickets than the house can serve. And the movie theatres will be full.
But he won't do that, and I expect fewer and fewer companies to do that as time goes on. And the delcine in singing will continue, in spite of the amount of real talent out there.
On a closing note, I look at the situation based on my feelings from the opening night of Lucia, in 1998 with RAS. I had never seen the opening night of a new production before at the Met, and was happy when a friend's father scored me a ticket when I was in NYC on business. It was Grand tier center, first row, and I was VERY pleased, thinking I had really lucked out.
Long before the end of the first act my neighbor and I were joking about throwing ourselves over the edge to alleviate the boredom. Sumptuous sets, well rehearsed orchestra, chorus together, but the principle singing was simply sub par. The ONLY principle who was showing some real quality singing was RAS and her voice was sounding tired form the heavier rep she was embracing. ( And I don;t find her voice very unique.)The rest of the principles were dull as ditchwater. And I mean that. They all moved and sang as if they were automotons, and had been cloned.
I was....disappointed. And my interst in the Met, its live broadcasts, and its general roster began to wane from then on. THere has been little to make think much has changed. There are singers, like Marcello, whom I will always go and see, but these days the majority of my live opera attendance goes on on other continents. Not only is it simply more convenient, I can have special fun in the smaller houses listening for voices that are still allowed to be unique, and the acting itself is more natural according to the story. Generally the singing hasn;t been any worse, and in the case of managing to catch Devia, well, thats as good as it gets today.
I have yet to see Peter Gelb offer anything better in the form of something like Netrebko, and I saw enough of her to know I won;t be spending money on tickets to any more of her.
All the major artist companies pretty much don't take 30 year olds in the US. That is a sad but true fact and I'll fight anyone on this. But, like Hollywood, people have become accustomed to changing the year on their birth certificates. I think it serves them right. What can they do? If they say people falsified their birth certificate you could always turn around and scream discrimination. It is a sad day in opera when we no longer care who sings the best. At the end of the day, it should be about the music, everthing else is just a highlight.
Having said that.......if you know opera is about looks and that Gelb is going in this annorexidonna mode then why not go on a freaking diet? I mean, really. I love to eat as much as the next person but I realize that I am selling my own company (ME). Go and cry into your corn flakes. But for Heaven's sake don't let weight be the factor that is keeping you from having a remarkable career.
operachanteuse: VLADIMIR HOROWITZ ....not exactly a nobody in the music world.
Devia_Fan said:
Then you would find more bottoms wanting tickets than the house can serve.
Please leave sexual politics out of the discussion.
Tops would, in all likelihood, want tickets too.
Devia_Fan said: Then you would find more bottoms wanting tickets than the house can serve.
Yes, let's have more bottoms at the opera!
Thanks, Posa26! You brought one singer to mind: Isabel Bayrakdarian. She'd be a stupendous Cleopatra at the Met. She's just as lovely as Ms. de Niese and an even finer singer. Still, de Niese IS a product, I believe, of the Met's young artist program.
As to agism in the houses, the posters aren't far off. The cut-off age for most training programs, especially for sopranos, is 30. Even the programs that don't specify an age limit obviously take that into consideration. Though it's near-cliche now, is it really any wonder that there are fewer spinto/dramatic voices? Those with the potential mostly either burn out early or are never discovered.
As to weight, Divina Due has a point. Fleming looks better than ever but it's thanks to work. After her career took off (and the divorce), she worked hard to slim down, even though she wasn't particularly heavy. It may be fair to say that she took the "package" aspect of her career very seriously.
Seems to me I reported this many months ago and was told I had no idea what I was talking about. Anyone care to admit they were wrong and apologize? Nah, I didn't think so ... that would make some of you "men" and we know that's not possible.
What are you talking about Bill Bookbinder? Are you talking about the weight or what are you talking about? The topic changes so frequently on these blogs that it's hard to keep up. What exactly are we supposed to be apologizing for?
I saw Bayrakdarian's Cleopatra in Toronto several years ago (just before she started to become famous outside of Canada) alongside Podles's Cesare. I agree that she's wonderful in the part and I prefer her to de Niese, whom I saw as Rodelinda a few years later. de Niese is a lovely performer but her tone is kind of non-descript and she doesn't have a trill. Bayrakdarian has a nice silvery quality to her voice and she has a trill. Both are very attractive physically and are good actors on stage. Bayrakdarian's "Se pieta" was heartbreaking -- one of the highlights of the production.
Ruth Ann did a few great Handel performances in San Francisco, with a voice that made you want to listen. With Jerry Hadley, she created one of the most charming "Elixir of Love" performances imaginable. And then somewhere along the line, probably at the Metropolitan, she became a loca diva.
Last time I saw her, a year ago, trying out the role of The Countess rather than Susanna in "Le Nozze de Figaro," she was a disaster. And backstage, she was just plain crazy and sort of scared people.
Something has gone very wrong.
When RAS' weight became an issue? I saw her some time ago, in the late 80s or early 90s, singing Liu in a concert performance of Turandot with the Cleveland Orchestra in Blossom, the orchestra's summer home. She was as thin as a pencil and sang well.
Opera is going through a theatrical/visual revolution, and Epicureans demand synchronous satiations of all pleasures and not one- singing- at the expense of the other -appearance. A 250 pound soprano will look silly, even with a glorious voice, portraying Mimi, Manon, and Violetta. Callas, one of the most intelligent singers ever to grace the opera stage knew it, and she fought her weight problem and won.
The revolution started with the Salzburg 2005 production of La Traviata with Netrebko. Many love it and some hate it. The bottom line is that the commercial success was unprecedented. The Deluxe brand-new DVD, if you can find one on amazon.com, is listed for $290.00!
Gelb is a marketing mogul and he wants and cares only for sold-out perfomances, and he will use the Netrebkos and Flemings at the expense of RAS and the rest to meet his goals. Is artistic integrity going to be compromised in the process? He would care less as long as the Met is making money. If Netrebko and Fleming stop selling, they will follow RAS' fate, and Broadway Pete will change his modus operandi and look elwhere for business.
Talking about Nertebko, she brought something mystical the opera audiences, not critics, have been waiting for a long time. And her impact is not from PR or hype. I have seen the majority of the great sopranos of the last 35-40 years, like the Suthelands, Scottos, Frenis, Nilssons, Moffos, to name a few. Netrebko is not better but totally different dramatically, vocally and in looks.
As for you, my devia_fan, I'm glad you're fed up with Netrebko and you'll never attend her performances any longer. That's a bleesing, for another opera lover may secure a so hard to find ticket.
As form me, I'm looking forward to cross the U.S.A., from Texas to Carnegie Hall, to attend the 30th of May Netrebko's debut recital. I was lucky to get one of the last remainig tickets, ten minutes after the Box Office opened.
Rysanekfreak -- I don't think Horne ever sang Handel's Orlando. Are you confusing it with Vivaldi's?
Anthony Tommasini comes to Ruth Ann's defense in the NY Times:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/12/arts/music/12gelb.html?ref=music
when is he gonna advocate for Hong and others far more deserving artists?
I can't imagine Bayrakdarian singing the role of Cleopatra. How high is the role without interpolated notes?
I agree that she looks good and moves well onstage; however, when I've heard her live, she's left me completely unimpressed. Her Pamina at the Met was unremarkable vocally. And she was the only person whose spoken lines could not be heard.
She does not sound good on this Mozart album. She sounds overparted in the selections as Donna Elvira and Fiordiligi.
I saw Swenson Tuesday night and it was an honorable performance - certainly not a Sills level Cleopatra but decent. However, the role is Cleopatra and in my mind, Cleopatra is not matronly or pedestrian -where was the allure -the playfulness? In the first act Swenson put her hands on her hips and stuck her tongue out at her brother which was an unfortunate choice. Her seduction of David Daniels in act 2 was not a pleasant sight- I think Gelb knew what he was doing by bringing in the lovely DeNiese to play Cleopatra and I think New York deserves to see her in this role which has generated considerable excitement in Europe. In any case, it would be a shame to miss the intense and superb Alice Coote.
Bayradarian is a Zerlina and Despina, not an Elvira or Fiordiligi. Cleopatra is a lighter role than Elvira and Fiordiligi and she sang it beautifuly in the 01-02 season at the Canadian Opera Company. I had no trouble hearing her.
What I don't understand about this issue is the idea that there isn't room at the Met for certain singers. What company in North America puts on more performances of more productions than the Met? I can see that Peter Gelb prefers some singers over others but why say goodbye forever to Swenson and Hong? They don't have to sing there EVERY season but the door should always be open...
I should add that however little the door was left open, Swenson effectivly slammed it shut and locked the bolt with her comments to the NYT.
Horne did sing Handel's "Orlando" at SFO, a glorious production with Valerie Masterson, Ruth Ann and Jeffery Gall. I was there and here's the proof: http://archive.sfopera.com/qry3webcastlist.asp?x_OperaID=805&z_OperaID=%3D%2C%2C
Visually and aurally, it was near-flawless. For me, Gall just about stole the show. David Daniels still being a pup, I'd never heard a countertenor sing with so many colors to the voice. He was also handsome as hell. Masterson, whose Violetta bored me to near-death, was wonderful in Handel. I also enjoyed her Cleopatra opposite the incomparable Troyanos.
Maybe playing Cleopatra at the MET has some sort of curse. Battle, McNair, now Swenson..... Honestly though, RAS is a fine singer but I have enjoyed performances of less able singers with some stage presence. I just can't get excited hearing her live. I can't say I think her departure is really a big deal. I am sure if people were snatching up tickets to see her she would be offered more roles.
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