E Susanna vien
La Cieca predicted a cast change earlier, and what do you know, so it came to pass! Soprano Lisette Oropesa will sing the Tuesday prima of the Met's revival of Le nozze di Figaro and at least one more performance. She is jumping in for the enceinte Isabel Bayrakdarian. Ms. Oropesa is not only a member of the Met's Lindemann Young Artist Development Program but (even more impressively) she is La Cieca's homegirl since she is a graduate of LSU in dear old Baton Rouge! It should be noted, however, that she and La Cieca matriculated in different centuries.
Meanwhile, in Chicago, Angela Gheorghiu has been fired from Lyric Opera's production of La bohème which is scheduled to open Monday, October 1. Thundered General Director William Mason, "Miss Gheorghiu has missed 6 of 10 rehearsals, including the piano dress rehearsal and both staging rehearsals with the orchestra. She missed one of the most critical stage-orchestra rehearsals when she left the city for New York without permission, a direct violation of her contract." La Gheorghiu was in fact spotted in the audience for the Met's prima of Gounod's Roméo et Juliette on Tuesday night.
The news is somewhat less dire for other members of the Gheorghiu famille. Those of you cher public who missed out on Roberto "Million Dollar Legs" Alagna's stylish Roméo this week may get another chance at seeing his collaboration with Anna Netrebko in the Gounod love story. La Cieca hears that Alagna will return in December to fill the "TBA" slots on the 8th, 12th and 15th, including the broadcast and HD telecast. Matthew Polenzani, La Cieca hears, will take over the role on December 20.Labels: alagna, cher public, chicago, la cieca ci guarda la cieca ci vede, met
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73 Comments:
Poo. I was looking foreward to hearing Schrott and Bayrakdarian together; I saw them in the roles a few years ago, and they have great chemistry.
too bad...first, roschmann and now isabel. and terfel will certainly soon start phoning in his cancelations!
what a horrible disappointment. what with lyric's possible union strike (i'm crossing my fingers they'll get it resolved today), this is NOT a good start to the season. poor bill mason.
has there been any dish, incidentally, about scotto as director for this production of boheme? i was delighting in imagining her politesse in directing gheorghiu, who should have taken this seriously and learned from a master. scotto must have been so annoyed / dismayed.
If Ms. Oropesa sings Susanna with half the grace, with and insouciance of her fellow alumna, she will be a most memorable and delicious Susanna.
-- Hans Lick (who won't be there to check till November 10)
Oops -- I meant "wit."
You failed to point out that Renata Scotto is directing this production of LA BOHEME. I would have loved to see Scotto deal with Gheorgiu. I am sure Scotto could handle this diva and wonder if she is truly happy to be rid of MS.G. I imagine G was not going to get away with any nonsense with Renata.Renata is a perfectionist and very demanding in that she expects complete professionalism from her collegues. Both Pavarotti and Domingo sited performances with her as highlights in their careers at the MET. What passes for professionalism and discipline today is a far cry from the sense of professionalism that singers like Scotto, Kraus or Freni showed. I think JDF is one of the only singers today who has that same sense of professionalism and commitment to his career.
Well, as bad news goes--I do like Bayrakdarian a lot--it's good bad news. Oropesa seemed awfully promising in the Met Council finals two (three?) years back.
AND TO THINK, I have been waiting with baited breath all summer to hear her Stradivarius sing heart rending arias, just infuriates me!!! The nerve of that woman!
I'm much, much too upset to continue... I think I'll jump off the Sears Tower, a la Tosca.
What a pity!
Frankly, I think Bayrakdarian is overrated. Her shrill soubrette really isn't what is needed for the role of the gentle, coy, smart-cookie-but-beautiful-in-every-way Susanna. Good for the new girl - I wish her the best for a huge success.
I had a sense that the Met would tap Alagna for the December performances, after all those glowing reviews. He sounded fine on the prima broadcast, if not shedding that annoying tendency to sing sharp.
Greetings, La Cieca--You have scooped
Chicago Lyric's website, on which AG's face is still smiling, although in a manner more appropriate to an opera entitled "La Famiglia Addams"
than cozy old "La Bohème." Any word
on who will be coughing to death in
her stead? At least, Roberto is
earning some extra Met fees this season, so I doubt their grocery bills will go unpaid...
I wouldn't say that JDF is one of the few current singers who maintain high professional standards and discipline. Many singers are very focused and give their best. It's singers such as AG (and her aunt, KB) who get all the publicity.
The most endemic problems with today's singers are overbooking and taking on roles they aren't ready to tackle. And falling ill and cancelling, as a consequence. This is one area where I agree more (self) discpline is needed.
The topic has been discussed at great length here and in other chat areas, but we are preaching to the choir. The singers who need to listen up are too busy flying hither and yon.
The tought of Renata Scotto (total star goddess of mine, as, I recall, of my other divinity, La C. herself) and Angela G. - well, I would have given anything to be a fly on the wall (had AG actually been there!)
Terfel has already cancelled his London Wotans - claiming family reasons (as if other people don't have them).
A young soprano named Elaine Alvarez will sing in place of La Gheorghiu. I have heard this soprano on a few different occasions - an Operalia finalist, etc. She will DEFINITELY be worth seeing.
"baited breath"
Sorry Chanteuse, but you can only have this if you just ate herring. Everyone seems to spell this idiom that way,and for some reason it is my little bête noir. As the holy OED teaches us, it is in reality: bated breath.
:-)
Alagna taped ROMEO for video back when he was reallly good in it, with Leontina Vaduva.
Then of course AG demanded that they make their own excerpt film, less compelling.
I guess since audiences and critics failed to recognize the faults and deterioration chez RA, the Met felt justified in cravenly going with the recording artist "superstar" instead of a more daring choice.
Elaine Alvarez was very good in THE GREATER GOOD at Glimmerglass. One has to applaud LOC for taking a stand against the usual nonsense AG drags along with her.
OOOPS
I mean bête noire
See, I make mistakes too.
angela is out of control! Mimi is one of the few roles she can pull off really well...you'd think she'd relish the chance to show it to the chicago audiences! Her voice seems to become perpetually smaller and smaller...perhaps its all gone now? I wonder what she thought of AN, who's voice is most definitely not getting smaller! I can only imagine AG's jealousy at seeing her husband sing that role with a prettier, younger soprano with a better voice!
I agree, the ROH Romeo et Juliette is wonderful. Alagna sounds youthful and ardent and I love Vaduva's Juliette. The film with Alagna and Gheorghiu is a joke--it looks like Gounod vs. Bergman and the castle gets top billing.
If Polenzani is good enough for New Year's Eve, why couldn't he do the broadcast?
I suspect there must have been some behind-the-scenes conflict involving Gheorghiu and either Andrew Davis or Renata Scotto or William Mason. Lyric Opera Of Chicago's announcement bordered on the gleeful, which suggests that the conflict was with Davis or Mason.
I feel sorry for those patrons, like Opera Chanteuse, who bought tickets solely to hear Gheorghiu.
Maybe the whole story will come out, and maybe it won't.
I wait with bayted breath.
Regardless of spelling errors, it was a loooooong summer of waiting for this particular Boheme.
Drew80's suspicion of a "behind the scenes" conflict between Angela and her bosses is entirely possible.
I mean, Angela is frivolous when it comes to herself, but I don't think she's THAT frivolous when it concerns her career and reputation.
P.S. I did not bother to spell check the word "frivolous", I'm leaving that task to chacowacko.
We all wait with beyted breath on the real score regarding Madame's latest scandal.
I didn't detect anything gleeful about the LOC announcement. They seemed more angry than anything and who can blame them.
This isn't the first time she's missed rehearsals. Didn't Pappano vow never to work with her again after she missed all those Tosca rehearsals at ROH.
missing 6 of 10 rehearsals and, in violation of her contract, coming to ny, hardly sounds like "behind-the-scenes" conflict.
on the contrary, sounds rather "in-your-face"!
If Gheorghiu missed six of ten rehearsals, there was probably something going on that she didn't like. Gheorghiu may be difficult, but I don't think she's crazy.
She may have disliked Andrew Davis's conducting or Renata Scotto's stage direction or William Mason's handling of her. Whatever it was, there was something that was not suiting her, and her concerns were not being addressed, and her means of dealing with this were to skip rehearsals.
That's just my take, nothing more. I very well might be wrong, and I am not defending her actions.
Without Gheorghiu, however, what else is there to attract anyone to that production? That physical production is ancient--it is from the 1960's, is it not? My parents saw that production in 1979, before I was born, and they said it looked old even then. In fact, that is the very same production the Met borrowed thirty years ago for its 1977 Scotto/Pavarotti "Boheme" telecast.
Andrew Davis is not a Puccini conductor. The other cast members do not look appealing on paper.
Without Gheorghiu, is there even a show there?
If I were head of that house, I would have found that the one essential person for that "Boheme" revival was Gheorghiu, not Davis or Scotto or anyone else. I would have worried above all about keeping her happy, not Davis or Scotto.
My instinct tells me that she and Davis did not get on and did not see eye-to-eye musically and that Gheorghiu saw that rehearsals were not accomplishing anything.
Of course, this does not mean that my instinct is right!
The aggrieved Romanian has issued a risible statement: How many times has Alagna sung Romeo????
I didn't make this up:
..........................
SOPRANO RESPONDS TO DISMISSAL
New York, September 29 Just days before opening night of Pucciniâs La Boheme, the glamorous Romanian soprano Angela Gheorghiu has been released from her contract with the Lyric Opera of Chicago by general manager William Mason. Gheorghiu was to sing the role of Mimi, a signature role the soprano has sung on most of the great opera stages of the world and famously recorded with her husband Roberto Alagna in 1999.
In response to the dismissal, Angela Gheorghiu has issued the following statement:
My husband Roberto is singing two major roles at the Metropolitan Opera. I asked Lyric Opera to let me go to New York for two days to be with him and they said no. But I needed to be by Roberto's side at this very important moment. I have sung Boheme hundreds of times, and thought missing a few rehearsals wouldn't be a tragedy. It was impossible to do the costume fitting at the same time I was in New York. Coming back from New York, I caught a cold- a most unfortunate coincidence. I saw the company doctor when I returned and he prescribed antibiotics. I just wanted to get well. My colleagues knew about this and were supportive. Of course, I;m very sad that this has happened as I was very eager to sing in Chicago.
Mr. Alagna is currently performing in Romeo and Juliette and Madame Butterfly at the Metropolitan Opera in New York.
Ms. Gheorghiu will sing Mimi at the Metropolitan Opera later this season.
..............
Elaine Alvarez? As in the same Elaine Alvarez that rocks out Fiordiligi's arias here?
http://www.myspace.com/elainealvarez
Exciting!
There are probably several factors involved here. Gheorghiou has probably sung more Mimi's than any other role and is not keen on changing her interpretation - dramatically or vocally. She may have felt she needed no rehearsals. Scotto as others have said here, is a through and through professional and will not see absences from rehearsals silently. And if we're going to guess, well, someone said that Gheorghio attended the Met's opening Romeo with Alagna and Netrebko... could she be more interested in keeping an eye on Roberto than in singing another Mimi?
A comment with regard to the opening Lucia on Monday. Those of us in La Cieca's chat room had a short discussion on the appropriatness of Dessay holding the note at the end of the first act after the tenor had stopped. Some said it's in the score. I just listened to the Sutherland - Konya Lucia from 1964 and she also holds the note longer.
Missing a few rehearsals wouldn't be a tragedy? That speaks volumes about her regard for her "supportive" colleagues. Two thirds of the rehearsal schedule doesn't sound like a few. One wonders if Alagna had plans to come to Chicago, missing a few Butterfly rehearsals in the process.
Missing this many rehearsals isn't unheard of for many companies- for Domingo to show up for that many rehearsals would be frequently considered a miracle in many of the houses in which he sang over the last decade. At a Turandot I worked on, the director (a GD of a major house at the time) said he was waiting for the last three rehearsals for the title character to arrive and inform everyone of her staging, so this is not new- there must be another reason. A real probability is her refusal to cooperate with the stage directors wishes; in this case, it is likely that the director insisted on her replacement.
I sincerely doubt Angela is threatened Netrebko. One quality the lady has never lacked in confidence in her own ability, or desirability.
you know, maybe there wa s abigger conflict that made Gheorghiu simply unable to attend rehearsals or have the energy to do a show at this time? She's never been one to admit to some family emergency...remember in the 90's when she cancelled all those performances for no reason and it later turned out that erh sister had died? I'm not saying anyone has died, but I think Gheorghiu's personal issues go deeper than missing rehearsals to go shopping.
She "wanted to be by Roberto's side". hmm it sounds like a) she wants to keep an eye on him and Trebsolina (tho she doesn't seem like the outwardly jealous type) or 2) Roberto really does need her with him and there's a little sum'im sum'in deeper going on there.
heck maybe they're just back in that "omg i can't live without you!' phase.
ahh, it's like 1997 all over again! good times.
is roberto not wearing any pants in that picture w/ trebs!!! Angela may have been justified in wanting to "be by his side"!
No wonder he's been working out!!!
I'm one of those who was going mainly to hear Gheorgieu's Mimi--this old production certainly wasn't a draw. Thankfully, I was planning to call the box office this weekend to try to get a single for the BOHEME matinee on October 7. I'd like to hear Ms. Alvarez, but not for a hundred bucks and 6 hours round-trip on the interstate.
Still, Mr. Mason had no choice, it seems to me. AG will not stop this behavior until she starts losing engagements. I am massively curious about Madame Scotto's "take" on this whole affair. I'd give my left n** to be directed by her.
ITDG:
In the vocal score of "Lucia", in "Verrano a te", the final B flat in the soprano part ends three bars after the tenor part, but I find it really a bad taste issue! Also, the vocal score has a e flat in altissimo for Edgardo, as in the Caballé/Carreras recording
Legs? Alagna? Yeah, good haunch on the boy. Noticed that in Faust. Mind you, Cura's Samson was not behind (sic) in that department.
Another Alvarez? Is this a dynasty or just one singer whose voice changes a lot?
So tell me: Is nixing the soprano-flute contest during the Mad Scene Dessay's idea or Levine's or what?
- Hans Lick
Alex - Yes, it is the same Elaine Alvarez who rocks Fiordiligi's arias! I think that those who were hoping to see La Gheorghiu should go see a star be born in La Alvarez (à la Scotto replacing Callas in Sonnambula)! :)
The Lyric's management decides to put its collective foot down as a result of "total disregard for (their)dedicated personnel and for (the soprano's) fellow artists" and that their only course of action is to show the same disregard for their ticket-buying public by removing the headlining diva and presenting the understudy.
Pish-tush, there's gotta be more to it than that... La Gheorghiu has sung Mimi "hundreds of times" - after all what does Mimi need to be shown to do?
Not where the knife is or which parapet to leap from; not to climb into the tumbril as opposed to finding the steps to the guillotine. She just needs to enter, find the tenor or in one case, the baritone, and sing for four scenes.
In one she gets to sit at a cafe table and sing - in another, she gets to lie on a cot and sing.
Everyone knows the staging and no one does it differently. My money's on a diva clash with the spurned the directress.
Anyway, the losers as always in these cases are the cher public.
Elaine is wonderful and sings the piss out of the role. I understand the public's disappointment, of course, but I think that'll lessen some when they actually hear her.
And there isn't, as far as I know, any backstage drama. She just didn't show up, and she broke her contract. End of story. In fact, I remember being a little surprised at how nice she was when I first met her at the ONE rehearsal in which I saw her. She seemed to be on good behavior then.
I think the Lyric would have been a little more hesitant about firing her, had her cover been less qualified. But I think this is going to be a big success for Elaine, and that Chicago audiences will not be disappointed.
I'm guessing a combination of things (none of which do I have any evidence for!)
She saw having to work with a famous director (who could sing and act a pretty mean Mimi in her day) as somehow casting doubt on her standing. I'm reminded of the story in Demented about what Milanov did when faced with a director trying to get her to become re-acquainted with one of her greatest roles.
She wants to keep an eye on hubby who's starring with a younger, more conventionally attractive soprano (who's also been getting more press than she has of late).
She also might think that a nice juicy scandale or two might not be so bad right now.
ANGIE
MADE OF MIMI A NO SHOW
AND FOR GIDDY PRISSY US...
...ANOTHER PROMO TRIUMPH UP IN SMOKE.
CALLAS-CLONE UNDERSTANDS THE ROLE
AS SMOKE AND MIRRORS
BLACK AND BLUE TOO
HOW DOES IT SOUND TO YOU?
CARA CARA
A TE O CARA
REMEMBER CHERYL
LA LA.
A TE O CARA
OH CHERYL RARA
TURN HOMO-MISOGYNIST CRAP...
...TO REAL DRAMA.
--------------------------
NATALIE
MADE OF LUCY A SOUBRETTE
BUT NOT FOR TONY TOM...
...ANOTHER TRIUMPH TO FORGET.
FRENCHIE UNDERSTANDS THE ROLE
AS POSTMODERN METAPHOR
ALL VAPID
WHILE LA VOCE FLUTTERED A-BANISHED.
COMES TO SHOW
OPENING NITE MEGAHYPE
NO ART SIGNIFIED.
CARA CARA
A TE O CARA
REMEMBER CHERYL
LA LA.
BANSHEE WAILED FLAT
PIXIE FELL ON HER ASS
BUT SILLY GIDDY US
HYPERVENTILATED RAP.
A TE O CARA
OH CHERYL RARA
TURN DRAG-QUEEN TRASH...
...TO REAL DRAMA.
Why can't this woman just honor her GODDAMNED commitments? I am soooo sick of hearing about her pulling out of this or that production. While I have enjoyed the few performances I have caught her in at the Met (okay maybe not so much the underpowered Boccanegra perforamnces)this whole DIVA business has become quite tiresome. While she seems to be a master of "bad publicity is better than no publicity" - is she really a voice that we will be talking about 20 years from now? I cannot wait for some younger soprano to take her place. OOOPS, I'm sorry - I think Netrebko is already doing that.
I saw Alanga leaving rehearsal a couple of times before the opening of R&J and he is looking quite fit these days. None of the paunch from his swimming/workout video on youtube this past summer. I am inclined to think that considering that people (especially posters on this blog) are already trying to paint Trebs as a man stealer maybe AG was smart to get her ass to New York and watch her man. Unfortunately I won't get a chance to catch the chemistry between Trebs & Alagna till December.
Oh dear God. That Cheryl Studer freak is back.
some of these comments are very ignorant about what goes on in a rehearsal. the days of "stand here, stand there", thankfully, are over, especially with a director like scotto, who i'm sure was eager to explore relationships and scene work. no matter how many times gheorghiu may have played mimi, she has a new rodolfo to collaborate with, a new marcello to establish a relationship with. mason is right on the money: the diva act won't fly, especially in a season with folks like fleming, futral, voigt, brewer, di donato, etc who turn in great performances AND play by the rules. i'll really miss her, and i was really looking forward to it, but if she was thinking of this mimi as plugging her well-established portrayal in without any thought as to its surroundings and her costars, that wouldn't make for a very interested evening. who ever made the milanov comparison was totally justified.
There are MANY very trustworthy singers out there---in fact the vast majority---who show up to their rehearsals on time and are supportive of their colleagues. The diva and divo fits are actually rare in this business, thankfully! the kind of atmospher that must have abundant during this rehearsal must have been nearly poison or else Lyric would have not needed to take this step---and I'm glad they did.
A question, are rehearsals normally a part of the contract?
I know in the bad old days (when the standards of singing were generally a lot higher) famous singers might jet in and be shown a picture of the sets (at most) before stepping on stage in one of their established star vehicles (as opposed to high profile new production of a new role).
How many contracts (for big stars) require a singer to attend X number of rehearsals or face termination?
The rehearsal period is clearly defined in a contract. Some artists are able to get a "late start" for rehearsal due to their schedule or just as a general courtesy. This all has to be clear in the contract or by agreement with the opera companies. If an artist is to leave a city during a rehearsal or performance period, they are required to obtain a "release" from the company. This is always clearly defined in the contract. It sounds as Mrs. G doesn't have a leg to stand on.
I'm curious, Cieca, (or anyone else associated with the MET), when do you think they'll announce Roberto for the December performances of R&J?
This summer I attended a Summer School in the UK, and I worked with the teacher who's currently teaching Drama and Stagecraft at Covent Garden's Young Artists Programme.
We had a long chat on which I asked loads of questions about how it was to work with singers such as AG and the truth is that the Royal Opera House is trying to release AG from all her contracts. No one over there wants to work with her anymore. I don't recall the production, but she once showed up for stage rehearsal, stood up on a corner and would sing and don't move "because she didn't want her white jeans to get dirty". One other time, she left in the middel of an orchestra rehearsal "because she was tired". The maestro asked her to stay in order to mark a few tempos with her, she repplied "I can hear your tempos on a recording". Again, she didn't show up for a dress rehearsal, they called her and she was at jewlery store buying jewels to wear on the premiere.
Doesn't sound like someone easy and reliable to work with.
OperaChic has an interview with Elaine Alvarez. Sounds like she loves La Scotto as a director and teacher.
In the really grand old days they brought in an unknown singer (usually by boat) to stay at the house for two months or so, said singer having told the management what roles (s)he knew, and the house having told her/him which ones to have prepared (and costumed). Then the three most useful to both would be presented in the course of, say, six weeks: Norma, Aida and Gioconda, say; three or four times each. Everyone (management, conductor, audience, critics) had time to savor and consider how impressed they were and what would be useful. In the event of a success, a contract for the following season would then be negotiated (often including tour).
Today, you hear them once (often in some highly inappropriate part), and if they triumph, again in five years. But that inappropriate part is rehearsed and costumed to a fare-thee-well. If you care. If their press agent isn't a big name (much bigger than theirs), back they go to Rio or Vienna or Milan or some other hick town.
Never heard Scotto as Mimi, but I loved her Musetta.
- Hans Lick
I would like to say that I know and LOVE Elaine Alvarez. She is a lovely singer, a lovely person, and super sexy!! She will be a lovely Mimi, and I am extremely excited for her. GO ELAINE!! MAD PROPS FROM THE MONTEBELLUNA STRANGLER!!
In other news, yes, rehearsals are a clearly defined part of a contract, at least, in every house I have ever worked in - and most companies have pretty strict policies about releases. I think it is interesting that AG says in the statement posted here that she left for NYC to be with her husband at an important time, and OHMYGOSH they fired her!!
I am curious to know if she missed the other rehearsals before she left for NYC, or if the ones that she missed were due to the cold. She makes it sound like she was a model colleague, punctual, and consistent, and then had to leave for one day for some family emergency and they fired her. Does anyone know? Because if she had been coming all the time, and was spot on and everyone was thrilled with the work she was doing, and then she felt that she had to miss one rehearsal and a costume fitting to be with her family for something really important and they fired her, that would be a little strange.
Elaine Alvarez was one of the finalists at Domingo's Operalia competition in Valencia last year, which I was lucky enough to attend.
She's really got something. The two arias I saw her perform were 'Rendetemi la speme ... Vien diletto' and 'Per pieta' and she was magnificent in both. Lots of presence too - real dignity on stage ... and a top E flat. Mimi won't make full use of her talents (she seems more of a dramatic coloratura than a conventional lyric), but I am delighted to see Gheorghiu's loss being her gain. One to watch, definitely.
Again I say will we be talking about her 20 years from now? I don't know the woman and have only met her in public twice. The first time she was quite happy that she was recognized in a room full of filled with luminairies of "pop" culture. She and her her husband were very gracious on our second meeting.
It is clear from Dottore Malatesta's posting (if it is true) that a lot of opera houses are tiring of this behavior. It is sad that a truly gifted artist has not conquered those "diva" issues. Real "diva" battles should be fought over artistic issues and not defined by capricious whims. I predict that if she doesn't clean it up soon it won't be long before she disappears from the scene altogether. For every Gheogiu there are a hundred Alvarezes chomping at the bit to get an opportunity to show their stuff. I hope Ms. Alvarez'run is a triumph. You can bet she'll be on her best behavior for her Met appearances. Gelb hasn't had to slap the whammy on a diva yet, but we all remeber the General Managers who have taken a hard line with divas of yore. What will Volpe be remembered for? Firing Battle and telling La Gheoghiu that "The wig goes on with or without you".
To Hans Lick: You missed a superlative Mimi. Scotto is the only soprano I've ever heard sing the high C at the end of the first act pianissimo as called for by Puccini. Once you've hear that you never want to hear it screamed as loud as possible as is usually done.
AG is already a singer on the descent. She needs her head examined if she thinks she can still get away with this crap anymore. Her statement was an insult and as usual she should have kept her mouth shut.
Interesting, Anonymous.
I just think that's strange and sad.
There are so many people that are so gifted and work so hard in this business.
There are times when opera companies seem to be a little harsh - I DID hear a story once (I don't know if it's true) of a singer with a major house who's father-in-law died, and they wouldn't release her from two days of rehearsal to attend the funeral because he wasn't "immediate family". THAT is pretty ridiculous, if you want my honest opinion.
But for me personally, the WORK is the best part of this job!! I love the rehearsal period - the performances and applause are icing -it's freakin' AWESOME icing, but it's still just the icing. I can't imagine why someone would want to miss rehearsals. Maybe she was legitimately really really sick??? I don't know. Hopefully, something positive will come from it, which will be the super-stardom of lovely Elaine.
you never heard freni .... holy crap it was a gorgoeus ntoe.
iltenoredigrazia said...
"Scotto is the only soprano I've ever heard sing the high C at the end of the first act pianissimo as called for by Puccini. Once you've hear that you never want to hear it screamed as loud as possible as is usually done."
.....
Not having been present when Melba did so at Covent Garden, I'll just say that the only Met Mimi I ever heard pull off this indeed lovely feat was not Scotto (in 1977) but Linda Zoghby (in about 1983)- a lovely vocalist who apparently didn't much enjoy the exertions that an operatic career entailed. Excellent voice, though, as can be heard in some of those Philips Haydn opera sets.
A clarification. I heard Scotto do the pianissimo high C with Domingo as the Rodolfo. He sang the lower note printed in the score for the tenor, which allowed Scotto's note to be heard. With tenors who joined her the high note she had no choice but to sing it full voice too. (e.g., Gedda, Pavarotti)
I also referred to Mimi's I have heard. I have no doubt that other sopranos may have also sung the note softly. (I would expect Caballe to have done it.)
As for Freni, she was indeed a beautiful Mimi. But the few times I heard her Mimi, she did not scream the high C but she did not sing it pianissimo either.
Lovely artist though she was, I'm not sure Freni was ever much good at floating top notes. On her recordings I always feel they've been tricked up by the technicians ... Scotto's voice wasn't as pretty, but was more of a precision instrument.
Scotto's Mimi at the Met in the late 1970's: I wept, wept, wept. That season - 77/78? She sang too often. I remember 1 week with, I think, 2 Mimis and 1 Leonora. Scotto in La Clemenza a few years later. She really couldn't sing the Mozart by then but the acting! She was apropriately slightly comic in the 1st act and then dead serious in the second. The second act opened in darkness with Scotto draped over the prompter's box.
There is a reason why they call AG LA VAMPIRA. While she basically has a lovely voice and is a beautiful woman, I have rarely been moved by her performances. What passes as acting is usually diva posing. Her Violetta was the only thing that she really seemed to work on and give a committed performance. Scotto on her worst day was infinitely more moving that G on her best. AG always reminds me of a second rate Cotrubas. I loved Cotrubas despite a voice that wasn't always beautiful. listened to her Violetta again the other night (from 81) still a much greater performance with more humanity than anything AG ever did. Scotto's Violetta can be seen on a video from Japan (chubby Renata from 73 in awful costumes, but agreat performance with Carreras) anyone who has not seen Scotto's Lucia should buy the new VAI disc with the performance from 67 from Tokyo, this is what LUCIA is about. Growing up seeing Renata, Freni, Stratas, Caballe, and Cotrubas in roles that people like AG claim to be so wonderful in, Is it any wonder I may be a little jaded with the current opera scene. As a friend of mine said when we watched Renata's SUOR ANGELICA, "I never wanted to be one of those people who says it was better twenty years ago. but it was, and this is the proof." (Compare it to Fritoli's wallflower Angelica if you want to see what I mean) I say bravo to chicago for not putting up with AG. I am sure Alvarez will give a more subtle performance having listened to Renata's coaching.
I attended Romeo et Juliette's second performance on Saturday. As matter of fact, I flew from Texas to be at the Met. Netrebko vocally, dramatically and theatrically was outstanding and brought the best out of Alagna who sang and acted well. This blog crucified Netrebko for her Il Puritani's Elvira but it gave her no credit for her Juliette. I bet you Angela was jealous when she saw the passionate love scene, with Netrebko riding on top of Roberto! I think antics of singers they will affect their careers. Angela, so it seems, does not understand that "divadom" is gone and dead. Alagna divorced himself from La Scala, and now Angela from the Lyric Opera of Chicago. With this kind of attitude, lack of professionalism and artistic discipline, and with so many good singers around ready to fill in, there will be no more opera houses left for Angela to sing.
I love how Angela needed to be with her husband "at this important time". What? Did he need hand-holding? He's sung many times at the Met and Romeo fits him like a glove.
I've read mixed things about Netrebko's Juliette. Some people have raved about it and others weren't so impressed.
Whatever the story. If it was me, I would have rather seen Gheorghiu, under rehearsed or not.
How many singers can you name that have a voice like her? Sack her and replace her with Furtal? I wouldn't spend a minute thinking about it.
Who would you rather see?
There's something missing from this story.
Listening to the live broadcast from Lyric tonight. Elaine Alvarez is a kickass Mimi. Angela who?!
Actually, listening to the broadcast, one hears a young singer who sounds 25 years older than Gheorgiu, with a painfully forced, spread top. Her bflats in the Act 3 duet are barely there. The pipes are interesting, like a young Villaroel, but that isn't saying much, isn't it? Davis can barely hold the show together, and if this is an example of what Donald Nally is going to do with the chorus- good luck. What a mess.
Interestingly, although Alvarez is a real disappointment, Cabelle sounds lovely, very detailed. She's been getting a fair amount of bad press, but she sounds (on radio)highly professional. One can hear how the basic darkness of the voice might be problematic for a role that sits as consistently low over heavy scoring as Musetta, but her interview in the pause revealed a very intelligent woman who knows hat Musetta is not ideal for her voice. For me, she is the revelation of the broadcast- far finer than her Decca recording shows.
Is that Montserrat Cabelle?
Is that Montserrat Cabelle (sic)?
Seriously, though, does anyone else think that Nicole Cabell sounds like a less sumptuous version of Leona Mitchell?
Why don't American opera companies hire in the American soprano Ruth Ann Swenson to sing the roles that Eastern European/Slavic/Whatever Angela Georghiu is too lazy to rehearse. Or any other American soprano, for that matter. There are plenty who sing and look and act just as well and who would show up for rehearsals.
Uhh, xenophobic a bit?
that's like asking why La Scala doesn't ONLY hire Italian sopranos, or why Covent Garden doesn't ONLY hire British sopranos? Opera is supposed to be an international experience. And for the record, there are plenty of American sopranos getting their dues. Look at Renee Fleming, and I do believe that Swenson has a role at a company coming up.
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