Villazón out for two months, at least
As La Cieca whispered earlier this week, Rolando Villazón is going to cancel at least the fall portion of his Met Roméo engagement. This morning PlaybillArts.com says the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette is reporting a statement from the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra that the tenor is "ill and has been instructed by his doctor to cancel all performances for the next two to three months in order to make a complete recovery."In happier news, Anna Netrebko's lissome larynx seems to be healing nicely, thank you. The diva (reports PlaybillArts) plans to go ahead with a four-city German tour this month, albeit minus partner Villazón. Subbing opposite the soprano in various venues will be Marcelo Álvarez, José Cura and Ramón Vargas.
Labels: la cieca ci guarda la cieca ci vede, netrebko, villazon
POSTED at
7:58 AM
16 Comments:
I'm sorry - I know this has absolutely nothing to do with the post, or even with opera, for that matter. It's actually a general gripe about Bernard Holland. I'm just wondering if anyone else who read his entry on Minimalism in the Times this morning got the impression that he's on crack. Try telling John Adams that "Minimalism is a musical art that says very few things over long periods of time" and see how he responds to that. And for that matter, why does everybody always beat up on Saint-Saëns? Sure, he's not exactly Sturm und Drang, but still...
Mr. Holland is most definitely on crack!
I think that Villazon will be sick many times in future if he continues to sing just with his throat pushing his voice desperately.
Greetings, La Cieca--
Many apolos for being off topic, but when Berni reviewed Hildegard's first night of the then new "Elektra" at the Met some moons ago (Behrens was astonishingly musically inaccurate), he wrote her a RAVE in Tomorrow's Litter Box Liner of record. Peter G. made a derisive remark (without naming names) of his fellow critic's competency to review opera in his remarks on the performance in "New York" magazine. I thought for sure that Berni was going to get canned or at least taken off the opera beat permanently. But neither came
to pass, perhaps demonstrating the
the Sulzbergers' indifference or
even hostility to arts coverage.
Some critics lead public taste,
all right--right into the sewer--
and their employers let them.
miss johnson: La Cieca is pretty sure that the reviewer in question was Edward Rothstein. It is true, though, that Holland is about as banana-eared as it is possible for a human being to be, which I assume is why the NYT promoted Tony Tommasini to first-string opera reviewer.
Holland isn't all bad. He's actually not bad in reviewing instrumental music.
Dear La Cieca--I just checked Lexis-Nexis and you are absolutely
right--Rothstein not Berni wrote
the review in question. If I were
a big person, I'd send Holland
flowers for smearing him--anybody
know where I can get a human size
Venus flytrap cheap? ¶Thank you for correcting me and thank you for
referring to himself as banana-
eared; I will be chuckling into
my first glass of vino since I see
it's already nine minutes past four
and haven't even uncorked bottle
one yet! ¶Yours is a wonderful site--brava.
Villazon has signs of hyperactive thyroid gland (Graves' deaease). Check my note under "Wherefore."
Tristes apprêts---that Rameau aria makes me WEEEEP!
-GP
Apropos of Rolando...his September recital in Berkeley has been cancelled...at least according to the CalPerformances website.
Manprano- I know, it's GORGEOUS.
On the comment about Mr. Holland being "banana-eared." Having banana-shaped ears is what judges of llamas look for in rating llama beauty. I doubt most NYT writers would know a llama if one would walk into the reporters' lounge.
The Royal Opera is ominously listing Stefano Secco and Vilazon as Nemorino in the upcoming L'Elisir. Covering their bets?
Yniold
Secco has been announced for a long time. I presume he is covering all the performances and was given a couple at the same time.
Secco has indeed been announced a long time ago for the ROH Elisir performaces on Nov 19 & 24. I have a ticket for the premiere on the 13th but I would be massively shocked if Villazon is anywhere near Covent Garden on the day. I have no inside knowledge of course, just a hunch. It's a bit of a shame, as I was curious to see if he is as good live as he appears to be on the DVDs. But otherwise I'm reasonably indifferent. Better for the fellow to recover his health and sing properly for many years, even if a silly CG patron like myself gets screwed out of 165 quid by his no-show!
However, if the *other* half of the "traumpaar" even DREAMS of cancelling any of her Traviata dates in January, I will definetely blow a major gasket. She's already cancelled one and a half perfomances on me this summer. It's all those skimpy dresses, no wonder she caught a cold, the silly cow :-).
Aaaaanyway, I think that Villazon's December Met engagements are the first that people should seriously hope for him to meet this year.
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