Video vixen
POSTED at
12:06 PM
02 July 2007
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16 Comments:
I just watched this, La Cieca, and I still have goose bumps...Natalie Dessay brought SO many colors to this scene, passionate and searing. Her shriek of "Enfin!" was hair-raising. Villazon, too, was quite good but he can't come near to her acting.
That's far and away the finest St. Sulpice scene I have ever experienced.
Dessay is such a tragédienne. Fleming can only dream of such mastery, she inhabits this role like no one.
On this performance, Villazón cracked spectacularly and horrifically 3 times during Ah, Fuyez, then was incapable of singing the duet properly and avoided any high notes from that point onwards.
If he cannot sing this role (which is for a lirico), because it is obviously not within his reach neither technically nor stylistically, and cannot sing any spinto or dramatic roles either (as his voice is too light), what is he supposed to sing from now on?
Dessay, once recovered from her illness, was sensational both dramatically and vocally (although she held back a bit during her duets with Villazón in order not to obliterate/humiliate the tenor - the reason of many problems during rehearsals). This role might not be ideal for her type of voice, but she makes it hers, and how! Brava Dessay.
I for one have seen enough on-the-floor singing. We know they can sing while lying down, now let's see them singing standing up and facing the public. Did Callas ever roll around on the floor?
TDG:
Well, at least once.
Dessay was superb and Villazón had problems. In summary, it was a very good performance.
Caution! If you watch the video of the petite table you'll hear an ovation after it.
An ovation that didn't take place last Saturday.
How wonderful is semi-live boradcast !!!!
I've not seen Dessay live. She certainly sells her moments in the video clips, but, perhaps because of the sound quality of the clips, the voice doesn't sound particularly large or brilliant. I know that she was ill, but, to me, the tone has a bit of fuzz around it...as for Villazon, contrary to many of the comments, in the one scene, he does not sound "obliterated" by her. Further, I would like to think that if can sing neither the lyric nor the spinto roles, that there might be some small nitch in the opera world which il povero could fill...
Dessay: tierra caliente
Villazon: tierra templada (or to put it in not very good French, "ou sont le boeuf?")
I've watched the video up through St. Sulpice and Dessay sounds very very good. I also liked Des Grieux entrance, looking like a 50s horror film. Yes, the "Enfin!" is the most primal victory cry from any Manon I've heard. She's a much more conflicted Manon than Netrebko's portrayals and all are valid. As for o mio Rolando, ok, there were some cracks but I didn't hear them as "spectacular" or "horrific." (Shades of the Met Gala here...) What concerned me was that phrasing was uneven and that critical notes weren't sustained. He's a fine musician and if he's got the sense to back off the high notes, I'm ok with that.
But who designed his wig? Talk about a bad hair day.
And will someone please please tell him to take a month, or whatever it takes, and rest...
Virginblogger:
Though it was a few years back, I have seen Dessay live. Don't let the tape fool you - the voice carries. She sings pretty freqently at Lyric Opera - a large shoebox of a house - but I've never heard a complaint about the power of her voice. (If I'm wrong, others on the blog will surely correct me!
I'll testify that her Morgana was spellbinding, stealing the show from the superstar Alcina.
I guess I'm showing my age but I find the acting trashy. Many Manons have found a way to be alluring without actually raping Des Grieux on the sacristy floor. She sings it nicely enough, but (for example) doesn't perfume "tant d'amour" the way de los Angeles does. There's more sex in those two words (on a recording) than in this whole (live) performance.
I have seen Dessay in her first Manon in Geneva, where she sang most of Act II in a skimpy bra (did Callas ever....). Remarkably, she mangles the text here at the beginning of "N'est ce plus..." (should be "N'est-ce plus ma voix?/N'est elle pour toi?Plus une caresse/Tout comme autrefois...") All this writhing around and pawing runs completely counter to the text as he repeatedly rejects her.
Personally, I think this is overacted and oversung, charmless and crass. Hard for me to believe anyone would succumb to this shrieking harridan.
For a lesson in style and how to really seduce a priest, I suggest:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=WJAc1d8HRDs
Yes, very trashy. Unfortunately, this seems to be part of the Netrebko-ization of opera.
even in the twilight of her career, she could still sing manon like no other. Her dramatic instincts and masterful textual inflections make her my favorite manon of all. Dessay is good here but unlike sills I never feel that her manon is truly burning for des grieux's heart, only lusting after him.
Live from loggione:
buuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!!!!!!!!
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