Tenor-go-round
La Cieca has just heard that Roberto Alagna will sing his first Met Radames tomorrow night, replacing the ailing Marco Berti. Which means, if you haven't guessed it yet, that Marcello Giordani is jumping into tonight's Butterfly. By the end of the season, Giordani will have five different roles in his Met repertoire for 2007-08: Edgardo, Roméo, Pinkerton, Ernani and des Grieux (Manon Lescaut.)
POSTED at
4:43 PM
56 Comments:
Good for Giordani-- he's taking over the Pinkerton, not Radames.
What the hell is Alagna thinking?!
Oh wow, I'm planning on getting rush tickets for Aïda tomorrow. Maybe I'll show up for the line a little earlier. I should be dreading this but I'm really just very, very curious....
Being based in the UK, I've only heard Giordani once in the opera house - in Don Carlo in Turin. He was most impressive and I am always interested to hear his Met broadcasts, even if his Rodolfo was clearly an off night. Is he maybe potentially a Radames?
(Not a question one even needs to ask about Alagna. It's completely ludicrous. He should be singing the Messenger. I heard a bit of his recorded Nemorino the other day and even that was strained ...)
Re: Radames, Numi, pieta... (on the Met audience)
wow, i may get standing room tickets just to witness this shitshow
Alagna is looking for redemption from La Scala's fiasko. Let's wish him well, hoping for the miracle and not the disaster of the Met's season.
I'll be listening on Sirius - shame they're not playing tonight's Butterfly.
BTW, was gibt mit Sirius? I thought they were supposed to Broadcast every live performance except repeats (shows performed more than once per week). The MET is doing Lucia twice this week, and neither performance is being broadcast.
I actually applaud all this last minute stunt casting to cover various indispositions. It shows that the Met under Gelb's watch understand when people are spending hundreds of dollars to see a performance they deserve at least an attempt to give them their money's worth - and good on Giordani and Alagna (and a few promising newcomers too) for playing ball with the management and making it possible - It actually hearkens back to the old days when the stars made themselves available for a block of time rather than a run of performances.
Yes, agree 100% with Steveac10 and Mr. Papas. Very good to see this kind of "juggling" going on. And big kudos to Mr. Alagna (and his very big chutzpah) for giving Radames a go. I wish him great success. I will certainly be GLUED to Sirius tomorrow night. Thanks for the info, Cieca.
I just love Alagna and his "wide-stance" vibrato. The whole Met should be just one big tearoom tomorrow night.
HAHAHAHHAA
Do you realize how much of a career bost Giordani is getting from all this cancelling. Not only is he picking up an extra few bucks, but he's also getting really good publicity for all of this. Do you think he'll sing Friday's performance?
I, too, applaud the Gelb's star replacement strategy. It creates drama and gets the Met in the news more often.
Who hasn't heard about the Tosca where Bing stepped in front of the curtain to announce that Tebaldi and Gobbi were both fine and would be singing but that the no-name tenor was ill and would be replaced by Corelli!
Oh, I love the Tenorama! We're up to four Romeos; if one more can take over, there'll be one for each act. The Met is lucky to have such protean singers in town.
I wish Alagna well. It is indeed an opportunity to make good on last December's fiasco and if he gets an ovation at the final curtain, he'll be up there all night. I hope Sirius cooperates--last time there was so much dropout and buffering that I turned it off.
BTW, Angela Brown is one statuesque lady--Roberto may need some extra lift in his sandals.
I saw Angela Brown at the opening night of Aida. She is not only statuesque but her voice filled the house and cut through the orchestra amazingly, and her pianissimos were breathtaking; the best Aida I've seen in years. Berti has gained weight and was stiff, although he sang well. Alagna, theatrically, is better suited with Brown, hoping to match her voice, too.
The MET is broadcasting 3-4 live performances per week. They never have said they would be broadcastin every single live performance.
Well, Marcello is great. I saw him do Cavaradossi at the Met a couple of years ago and it was... well, it was really GODDAMN good. It was literally the most beautiful E lucevan le stelle I have ever heard, live or otherwise. I am happy for him that he is getting so much good press for all of this, and I hope he is having fun!! And "a few extra bucks" is likely the understatement of the decade!!
I was at the Butterfly tonight. Gelb got booed when he announced "no Alagna," but the crowd perked up again after Giordani was announced as his replacement. Giordani had a great night. I prefer his Puccini to his bel canto.
What a merry go round. I will cringe tomorrow night after he finishes that first act aria. I can just imagine someone in jest yelling bravo and then booing to see what he will do. If it were to happen, we would not even need operachic's Italian tv show, we can hear it all live in MET-allic Sirius.
It is rather funny that after a season of being so happy with the 3-4 performances, we actually want more!
I too was at the Butterfly this evening and was a boo-contributor. I had tickets for an Alagna Boheme about five-six years back and he pulled out of that as well. Still have not heard him in the house. Giordani did well tonight, but I just can't get over that coarse sound and constant straight-toning. Top notes were spot on though. The biggest voice of the evening was David Cangelosi as Goro. A wonderful voice that carries VERY well. Brava to Pat Racette as well. A great show, minus the gaggle of middle-schoolers behind me who wouldn't shut up. Apparently, Roxie is an "anorexic bitch" and Steph's mom paid $1,200 for Hannah Montana tickets... I was oh-so-close to headbutting them all individually.
It's not written in stone that you have to applaud or boo after an aria, even in New York. So why not give Mr Alagna the benefit of the doubt on this occasion and save the ovations for the end of the act? The Scala Aida thing must haunt him, and will haunt him forever I suspect. It would be nice to think that the Met audience can be more gracious and generous than that of La Scala.
I must state plainly and simply - these goings-on are just not to my tastes.
Giordani has stregnths, yes, but they have never been Verismo opera. I believe his is wisest to stick with Donizetti and Bellini (to be frank, he might pull out a wonderfully lyric Pollione one of these days) but Puccini and Verdi just don't suit him. I remember a dreadful Gustav to a rather weak Amelia from Voigt a few years ago at the Met - and Gustav isn't even the heaviest of Verdian tenor roles! But Giordani has a voice that sits higher, hence why bel canto parts have always suited him. Romeo does suit him well.
Alagna is also singing Radames, I have noticed, in Barcelona (also Eva Marton will be in the production of Elektra - I wish I could hear that!). I think it is a grave error on his behalf to sing Verdi in general. The boy needs to stick with French repertoire - Romeo and Des Grieux and Hoffman work beautifully for his voice - the Italian repertoire seems to only do injustice and disservice - to himself and to those scores!!
LB: Giordani has stregnths, yes, but they have never been Verismo opera.
La Cieca disagrees. Two of Giordani's greatest New York triumphs have been Adriana Lecouvreur and La gioconda with Opera Orchestra of New York.
I didn't hear Angela Brown in the house but on the October 4 Sirius broadcast and that was some of the worst singing I have never heard: shrill, unwieldy, pitch all over the place. Truly dreadful.
I applaud Mr. Gelb for making all of these kinds of changes. It's about time that the MET paid attention to the audience who have paid a lot of money to hear star singers. Let's hope the days of nobody covers (Melo, de la Mora, unknown Russians) going on when there are better singers available and willing to go on are over.
I'm always eager to hear new singers and young singers but only when I've paid to do just that. Otherwise, save them for Orlando, Omaha, or Cheyenne.
Giordani was good last night, at least we could hear him, which is more than what can be said about the Alagna I saw last week. Racette was also in better voice.
Giordani is phenomenal in Puccini and Verdi, whoever said he should stick with bel canto is dead wrong. His Cavaradossi was heaven. His Riccardo in Ballo was pure gold. The Edgardo has many flaws, especially his attempt at piano singing in the the first act duet. When the voice is warmed up however, his soft singing in Tu che a Dio is effective. Still, not delicate and lyrical enough for the role, I can't wait for Filianoti in March.
First, I must agree with Mark - I thought Angela M. Brown sounded very poor on the Sirius BCast: unwieldy, wobbly, and at times, quite shrill singing. I was surprised, as I expected better from her.
Second, Lucrezia is absolutely wrong about Giordani in verismo. La Cieca has already mentioned his excellent efforts w/ OONY. But it is really the converse argument that carries more weight IMO - he just cannot seem to do justice to the bel canto rep anymore. The voice has thickened and his "mannerisms" (for lack of a better word) stick out all over the place in bel canto, whereas they tend to suit the more veristic repertoire. I agree that Verdi is probably too heavy, and Riccardo and Don Carlo should NOT be in his rep, but Puccini is perfect. Once upon a time, he sang a good Arturo in Puritani - and should have made a better Pirata than he did, but I think those days are over.
I don't think Alagna has performed Hoffman outside of the superb Erato recording. I wish he would do that instead of going after Radames. Maybe the Met will sign him up for next season's Hoffman or for the new production (even though Villazon is supposed to do it).
We should remember that Alagna managed a scandal-free Radames before being booed on the second performance of the run. While I think Radames is a bad choice for his voice (especially in a huge house), I think he'll manage just fine. And I'm sure he is prepared for any kind of reaction and will keep his cool.
As for Giordani, he may have been an ideal heroic bel canto tenor years ago, but he has been singing the heavier rep for a while and the results show in his voice. While his Edgardo was mostly good, some of the singing was a bit effortful to my ears. It's still a very strong voice but its becoming more and more suited for verismo.
I was also present at last evening's Butterfly.
Soap Box:I'm always appalled at all the booing and other sundry nonsense that the old coots pull at the Met. Let alone the two elderly assholes sitting next to me opening wrappers (in the quietest moments) and then proceeding to smack their lips (loudly) as they sucked on their Wether's original. I mean, come on. . .
I'm glad I didn't have to suffer through Alagna last night. I had the great pleasure of hearing Giordani in the role last season during the production's debut and he was fabulous then, and was just as fabulous last night. I think it's fantastic that we now have a tenor who is dependable enough to fill in for all these roles, and has an amazing voice and presence to boot.
As for Alagna, I'd be scared to be in the middle of Ms. Brown and Ms. Zajick. Obviously I never wish anyone ill, it must be said.
Pat Racette was fantastic. I don't understand the Times review about a lack of Italiante sound. Sure, there are a few "americanisms" to the sound, but overall a very Italianate performance. There's something very honest about her singing. Between her gorgeous singing and the amazing production (still stunning) it was quite an evening!
What no one has pointed out is the way the announcement was made. normally cast changes are posted in front of the house unless it is truly a last minute problem (singer sick in the dressing room and cannot go on.) Gelb obviously had been working on this shuffle (to prevent a Sirius broadcast of Aida from going on with a cover) but the audience was cheated by not being given fair warning. I was there, and whatever one says about Alagna, he was part of the reason I came, along with Racette's Butterfly, I wanted to hear Alagna's Pinkerton. I heard Giordani do it three times last season. The Butterfly crowd,because it was not a broadcast got screwed at the last minute, not to please the house tonight but to put a better face on a broadcast performance. Though the replacement, was definitely equal to the original in quality, that is not who I went to see and I booed because this was not a last minute cancellation but Gelb treated it like one. This is not fair to the audience. The posting should have been put up earlier in the day (before people waited three hours for rush tickets perhaps?)Whatever the qualities of the original and the substitute might be, Gelb's method of announcing this cast change showed a clear disregard for last night's audience
I wonder if have ever agreed with anything TK Logan has posted.
Giordani in BALLO "pure gold"????? Well, he was not at all bad, he had the bottom and the top together, but as usual he overfreighted the middle voice and was wanting in elegance. Good bronze, yes. But I am sorry. I grew up on Bergonzi in that part, and THAT (also Luciano) qualified as pure gold.
Especially given the way some stars are manufactured these days, have none of you ranting about "real stars" never heard a cover who replaced a star and was better?
Some recent example that come to mind: Sue Patchell, in her finest Met performance to date, replacing Jane Eaglen as Isolde; and Olga Makarina, a cover given two designated shows, singing rings around Elizabeth Futral in LA JUIVE-- as she doubtless would have done around her fellow Russian in I PURITANI last season if she had been given the chance.
PPig -
To the best of my knowledge, this has ALWAYS been the process at teh MET. I recall two different Fleming cancellations that were handled in exactly the same fashion. Peter Grimes (Carolyn James went on) and Pirata (horrible Macarena went on). In both cases, there was no indication anywhere that Fleming would not appear until just before curtain-up. I called the house in advance both times (Fleming had been sick in each case) and they twice told me she would appear. Only upon arrival did I find that a change had been made. I do think that sometimes there is a lot of wrangling behind the scenes, but I'm not sure the audience "right-to-know" is very high on their list of priorities.
Krunoslav if you ran an opera house it would be go bankrupt before the first season was complete. Opera is made by stars, even if the voices aren't perfect. Go learn about Pasta, Malibran and Duprez.
If Makarina had sung Puritani instead of Netrebko, nobody would've given a rat's ass, get a clue. Netrebko is stage animal and a great actress, people want to see that, she has charisma, a gorgeous voice, and that's why she's a mega star, while Makarina is just Makarina. Plus Makarina can't sell tickets, Gelb knows what he's doing.
Now if you prefer Bergonzi, the poor man's Corelli, as Riccardo, knock yourself out. I have his recording with Price and I think the sound is ugly, nothing golden there. I never bought this Verdian tenor image he wanted to sell. And his Edgardo with Sills is grotesque. I'd rather listen to Giordani singing both, and he's not even my favorite, not by a long shot.
ktlogan11809,
You set it right. The Netrebko phenomenon- even with certain vocal shortcomings- is a fact of life that all impresarios pray for all the time but most don't get that lucky. Bergonzi, a "styilist" the likes of Gedda and Kraus, was never a Verdian tenor. I sat patiently through his Manrico. It was a total disaster and I felt sorry for him, risking his reputation with a poor choice.
Evenhanded and Kashania seem to have caught most of my drift from what I declared earlier.
The sad fact is that now Giordani is able to handle the verismo operas because he doesn't have another direction to turn. He was wonderful quite some time ago when we heard him singing those Puritani's and such.
The voice has weathered and lost so much of its brilliance in recent years because of his push (and I do mean push) into heavier repertoire - Puccini and Verdi in particular.
I am certain that the Adriana would have been nicely done in his voice - Gioconda I have doubts - in either case, to compare concert opera and studio recordings with staged performances does attempt to bridge a wide gap. Perhaps what I define as great and successful singing is quite different from that of La Cieca, who I gather is a bit of a fan of Giordani.
I heard several of the Butterflies from Giordani last season and he only seemed as good as he did in the part because the soprano was so weak. Domas has a lovely instrument and unfortunately her album provided us and her, obviously, with false hope about her vocal weight and abilities. Lovely instrument, sings repertoire far too heavy. Her Suor Angelica is exquisite, yes, but would it be so if she sang Giorgetta immediately beforehand? S.A. is only 1 Act need I remind you! But it was clear to me that Giordani is an ill-fit for Pinkerton (not the worst fit, but clearly there are open seams, some loose strings, and some tight cuffs on that suit!) and he was able to capitalize on the fact that his co-star was very weak for her part.
Giordani's voice has been, each and every time that I listen to him (even on that Naxos CD of his in several places) he sounds tired, pushed, oversung, wide, and shallow in the larger repertoire - and then those qualities now impede his ability to be successful in the more lyric, less dramatic roles. Pitch is often questionable - the poor man just sounds tired. I would imagine Puccini for a non-Puccini voice would do that.
His Riccardo, to be more specific, was not intolerable, but it was less than satisfying! He was unable to sing the lower parts of his voice - an absolute necessity for Verdi in general and that role in particular! The middle was spread and pushed and while the top notes were secure, they never blossomed or had any direction. It was simply a consecutive series of high notes without intention or purpose. This my friends, is not what we should call singing.
These are things I continually notice in Giordani over the past several years - and these are not issues that existed at one time. Clearly, with age, a voice is bound to suffer som erosion and noticeable change (unless you are Mariella Devia who is 60 and can still sing a High Eb better than Joanie could at age 30!! well, maybe, but I digress...), but as per the earlier Varnay/Ponselle diatribes from a previous posting, much of this kind of vocal decay can be postponed by a careful selection and planning out of repertoire over the legnth of a career. We see how Scotto in all of her magnificence changed her fach - she did not do so without certain consequences paid...there are many people who cannot tolerate the sounds that emitted from those chords after a certain point and in certain repertoire - and those opinions always revolve around the heaviest roles she undertook (Tosca, L. Macbeth, Norma). We all accept and believe and know and cherish her artisty and her brilliance of musicality and interpretation in those fierocious heroines...but there is always question regarding the vocalisms. I for one am a fan and can adore listening to her in whatever capacity, young or old! But the fact remains that much of the negative things that can be said of her voice later in her career could very well have been reduced, if not avoided completely, had certain roles not been undertook!
Back on the subject of Mr. Giordani. The Edgardo on opening night was also not intolerable, but it did find one wishing that he didn't sound as tired as he did from even his first notes. He had some nice ringing high notes every so often - but the performance as a whole left me wanting the Giordani we would have heard sing the hell out of Edgardo 10-15 years ago!
To conclude, a friend of mine in Italy who follows this blog sent me a review of Giordani's Tosca in Torre del Lago.
"Neppure Marcello Giordani, come nel 2006, riesce a restituire un Cavaradossi apprezzabile. Giordani ha intonazione instabile, suoni goffi e fiati corti; riesce pero' a salire negli acuti seppure glissando: della sua indisposizione fisica, apprendiamo ufficialmente solo prima dell'inizio del terzo atto. E' molto probabile, quindi, sia stata la causa principale del non soddisfacente risultato." ~l'opera - current issue.
For those of you readers who do not speak Italian, I shall translate:
"Neither M.G, like in 2006, could provide a Cavaradossi worthy of praise. He has unstable intonation, clumsy sounds and short breaths(phrases); he can however ascend to the high notes, not without sliding: Of his physical problems (literally his 'physical slight') we officially learnt before the beginning of the 3rd act. It is very probable that, therefore, his state is the main cause of resulting dissatisfaction."
I personally am not aware of what 'physical slight' the man is victim to...but I can't help but think that the reviewer here was correct in their assessment of his singing in a part like Cavaradossi and that they were trying to justify their statements by hazarding to guess that it may have been resultant of some physical problem.
To conclude (finally), I don't wish to ruffle anyones frills or lace especially if they are a fan of Giordani's, however I do like to...how do the young ones put it these days?...to keep it real? The Met might be doing very well at the moment by sticking in these 'stars' (deserved or undeserved) into other 'stars' cancellations...but I think the world of opera loses something very important and special if the hired covers are then not given the golden opportunities to perform in place of the 'stars' - it means that new stars are given less chance to birth and it may also mean that voices that are out there that are quite possibly much better suited to the role (of course the opposite is even truer!) than the given 'star' might go undiscovered. And a pity that would be.
I think the reason why so many singers are tempted into singing the 'wrong' repertoire has alot to do with the public's demand for 'famous' and 'popular' music. Every tenor should NOT sing Rodolfo just like every soprano should NOT sing Violetta and ever mezzo should NOT sing Carmen - but as long as maleducated audiences insist on buying tickets only for the 'popular' operas and ignore the ones that require a bit more intelligence and imagination (and no, that is NOT a punch below the belt to the composers no matter what way you try to look at it - I don't blame them!) then the poor young singers of today and tomorrow will forever feel that they must sing Boheme and Traviata and Carmen in order to reach a larger audience, to reach a larger fame, to receive a higher paycheck, to cut a record deal. This is just one thing that is serving to deteriorate the operatic art as we once knew it!
And for now I will shut my bocca and take my buca to the store where I shall open my borsa to pay for a new frock!
"Indisposizione fisica" means "indisposition due to physical illness." In other words, the management announced before Act 3 that Giordani was ill but would continue the performance.
Much as I don't consider Radames an appropriate role for Alagna, and don't find everything in his technique or musicianship to my liking.... I think his voice has sounded fresher lately than it has in the recent past, and is not in nearly such disrepair as some of the posters here are claiming! He should stick to the lyric repertoire though.
What makes it interesting is that he'll probably be trying to prove a point after the Scala disaster. But in these big roles he tends to push past the beauty of his tone.
Also, I think at this point Verdi and Puccini are the right rep for Giordani, and that he excels in verismo, rather than should be staying away from it.
My, some foolish things are being posted.
Bergonzi "not a Verdi tenor"? "A disaster" as Manrico? "The poor man's Corelli"?
I would say Corelli was the man with poor taste's Bergonzi. One can just imagine how Corelli would have yelled and sobbed through LUISA MILLER, TRAVIATA , RIGOLETTO, MASNADIERI, LOMBARDI and all the other Verdi opera Bergonzi recorded so memorably. We can hear some of his screamy BALLO in the duet with Crespin.
And there evidence as to Bergonzi's Manrico is on the Serafin studio set, the Met broadcast with Simionato and the Youtube selections of the performance with Stella.
BTW, TK Logan, `Makarina was not set to replace Netrebko ( unless Netrebko partied too much, and/or slid head first into the pit during her 'dramatic coup' )- she had a performance to herself, taken away and given to Futral, supposedly more of a star, but she didn't sell any tickets anyway.
Someone gave the very good example of Arroyo- previously known as a comprimaria at the Met- having gone on for Nilsson as Aida in 1965. Sometimes, the cover earns the right no longer to be a cover.
I, too, was surprised at how bad Angela Brown sounded. It was truly awful. I did expect so much more from her.
I see/hear Racette this coming Friday and am looking forward to it. But the photo in the Times made her look "Millo-like" in her heftiness. What happened?
A friend who was at an earlier Butterfly performance said it should have been renamed "Madama Mothra."
to evenhanded, disagree with you. The MET has done this on several occassions but normally has not done this. I have been going to the MET for more than thirty years and spent many an evening in front dumping a ticket when a star I wanted to see did not show ( Stratas often, when Villizon cancelled Rigoletto, Leontyne Price cancelling Ariadne broadcast, etc. Voigt for Millo in Trovatore) the MET for the most part has announced most cast changes within a reasonable time. the cast change the other night was not unplanned on the MET's part. They knew about it sometime that afternoon yet chose to wait to the last minute. this was and always will be wrong and a total lack of respect for the live audience. Gelb --I hope you are reading this.
I too see Racette this friday and am quite excited!! I am also anxious to hear alagna....i've heard such contradictory reports on the state of his voice that I await to make my own decision. I just hope there aren't any last minute cancellations....mostly with regards to butterfly. in general i honestly couldn't give a rat's a$$ who sings pinkerton.
I was there last night.
Racette was absolutely painfully and stunningly real as Cio Cio San.
Giordani showed once again that when he's on there's nothing that can touch him for sheer fantastic highs, and man, was he ever on last night.
(Missed the chemistry between them both though!) Oh well, you can't always have it all.
This production should be seen.
Is anyone listening? I hope he sounds better in the house than on the radio. Some lovely patches and some ugly moments. Angela Brown isn't breaking my heart.
I can´t find why is Angela Brown singing "Aida": she has severe technical issues to master, the voice isn´t well placed and her diction is poor. I heard her in the first Broadcast on Sirius this season: the high C near the end of "O patria mia" went very bad and there was only polite applause
Who can sing Aida now? I saw it at the Met a couple of seasons ago with Norma Fantini, and between her, Franco Farina and Irina Mishura, they just about put me off Aida for life.
There are reasonable opinions, then there is idiocy. I heard Bergonzi from two years after his debut until his last performances at the Met. I heard him in Philly, Hartford, Boston (heartbreaking Rodolofo with Tebaldi when she was having problems), La Scala, Rome and Vienna. He had a good sized, very well projected voice (not an opinion) and powerful and easy high notes, up to the C, which was pealing and thrilling certainly until the mid 70's (not an opinion). I saw about a dozen Manricos, in none of which he was in any trouble whatever, his lyrical line was innately musical and elegant, unlike Corelli who did not sing muisically, Bergonzi trilled, sometimes twice (as requested in the score), beautiful trills, Corelli could not begin to trill. Bergonzi could sustain and vary a 'float' through a long piece of difficult high singing ('ah si ben mio for example), Corelli could not.
It's not a contest, Corelli was thrilling in his own right and irreplaceable, but I don't think for a minute he could have matched Bergonzi in Luisa Miller, Ballo in Maschera (where B was spectacular) or even as Rodolfo, where Bergonzi's sensitivity to nuance and detail, as well as his sweet float were marvelous for a long time.
Angela Brown had a wonderful voice both as a mezzo and later as a soprano. She seems to be aging less than well and I suspect at the least she is really uneven.
Giordani is better than most in a rep where there are no great singers; he too is uneven. The Lucia I saw this season began well but be was struggling at the end and I have heard his voice slip into a hard, ugly sound mid range too often. The Ballo mentioned with praise was mediocre and only that good because the Met has presented worse in the opera (Araiza pretty much met his Warterloo in a run of Ballos).
Thank you Mrs. Claggart - I had totally forgotton about that Ballo with Araiza - hideous beyond description!! Wasn't that also Zajick's one and only Ulrica?
That was Roberto Alagna singing Radames? Are we sure it wasn't Andrea Bocelli?
Bergonzi was one of the finest Riccardos in Ballo ever. He had an elegant tone, exquisite taste, excellent diction, and technical security. He was a recording staple, on several labels, for good reason. If he chose to sing certain roles just a bit beyond his grasp, as all singers will a few times in their career, that doesn't erase his achievements where they were so clear. I only heard him once, at the end of his career, in Forza. Not great. Nor did he cut the most virile figure on stage. Comparing him to Corelli is unfair to both parties, and irrevelevant. But a "disaster" as a Verdi tenor? Hardly.
and btw evenhanded, I had a ticket for the Pirata in which Makarina substituted for Fleming, and it was announced on the board outside, because ( not knowing how bad Fleming would actually be) I wanted to see Fleming I sold my ticket out front and went to Tower to buy some CDs with the money.
Paddy -
OK, OK, OK already - you made your point. I didn't realize the SUPERFINE line you were trying to draw regarding the exact time and manner in which substitutions were announced. PLUS I was AGREEING with you for God's sake - I wasn't picking an argument. Your point was made, I was wrong, whatever - can you let it go now? Sheeeeesh.
"Indisposizione" generally has the connotation of something that affects you, rather than your inability to do something. I might very well have misinterpreted the sentence - Italian journalists are a difficult breed to understand in general - but normally 'indisposizione' does not refer to the congitive English word 'indisposition.' Rarely do they conincide.
For example...Sensitivo means Psychic, Sensibile means Sensitive, Intelligente (among others) means Sensible...Morbido means Soft and Morboso means Morbid.
Furthermore, I translated according to what I remember having heard concerning Giordani's physical health. I have heard rumor that he has a bad back - whether this is true or not is beyond me and I have not given it more thought because quite frankly I don't like gossip and rumors as most of the time they are false to begin with.
I won't even comment about what I heard last night other than that Dolora was stunning and as for Brown, I have heard her sing the role beautifully and evenly so I hold nothing against her.
Thank Goodness Krunoslav came along and helped to slow my palpitations after I read those dreadful Bergonzi comments- then delight of delights- dear Mrs John Claggart also entered the fray and goia oh goia- I realise I'm in great company!
Now I feel sufficiently empowered to say I agree- MR Bergonzi, was no poor man's Correlli. I loved his Pinkerton and Manrico and thought his Ernani was wonderful to say nothing about many of his other roles.
He can put his muddy boots under my hammock any day!
La Cieca seems mercifully quiet of late. Is she perhaps dead? One can only hope so.
Speaking of substitutions, does anybody know who's singing Radames on Friday (11/2)? It's still TBA on the Met website and the poster outside the Met lists 4 different tenors. Help! (If anyone is still looking at this thread.)
Yessssssssssssss, La Ciece passed away yesterday evening, upside down in a gentleman's lavatory. Apparently she was trying to look over the partition when her feather boa became caught up in the chain of a rather ancient toilet. Please do leave your condolences, and let the party commence.
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