Larger and more fun
"... Netrebko is the larger presence. She has an earthiness and impishness — a daredeviltry — that may prevent her from ever attaining the kind of rarefied, disembodied sainthood that has been awarded, for example, to the American sopranos Renée Fleming and Dawn Upshaw but that also makes her more fun to watch." Charles McGrath writes a gazillion words or so about "A New Kind of Diva" in this weekend's Sunday Times magazine.In other news, Renée Fleming is still not singing Norma.
POSTED at
12:45 PM
41 Comments:
Netrebko is the real thing. Fleming on the other hand, a musical fraud.
Manon Lescaut in 2012? I think I could actually hear that. But the author has the Puccini and Massenet Manons confused, which made me think that maybe Netrebko has a point when she tells him he doesn't know what he's talking about.
tklogan11809, troll of parterre.com, are you the growth that sticks off La Cieca's ass? Is this how you can be the first to spew your uninformed automatic hatred in this blog? Fraud? By your own words, you have revealed who the real fraud is.
And the "Letter Scene" from Onegin? She didn't sing that at Carnegie Hall! She sang the final scene with Hvorostovsky.
Also there is a very confusing statement at the beginning when the author seems to suggest that Alfredo sees Violetta for the first time at the party (he has indeed looked at her from afar for a whole year)
Not the best editorial job from the Times ...
Well, let's see. Trebs has poor technique, sloppy coloratura, no trill, poor French and Italian diction, and she sings sharp. Who is the musical fraud?
Twenty years from now, we can look back on the Anna years and say...well, she was fun.
Also, Nilsson wasn't exactly the world's most famous Donna Anna.
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One more error:
the Carnegie Hall concert was in May, not June.
So far I have found 3 factual errors (Manon Lescaut, The Letter Scene, the date of the concert) and a misleading sentence (Alfredo/Violetta).
Gotta love the Times.
Why not get someone with a classical music/opera background to write the piece, instead of a former book review editor.
Looking for Ms. Goodbar Norma!
With Fleming's pulling out of the Met's 2011-12(?) new production of Norma, no substitute has been announced. From all the sopranos around, none really "owns" Norma. Some will growl, some will swear, and some will put a contact on me.
What about Netrebko? Does she have the voice size? She does. Can she act the part? She can. Has she mastered the bel canto genre? No, she has not. Can she learn it? I don't know. Netrebko has been coached by Scotto the Great, who has sung Norma but not to an acclaimed success. If Scotto believes that Netrebko has the "chops," and five years to work on Norma, Anna may surprise us. As I said once before, Netrebko's Norma could be either a disaster or a triumph with nothing in between. The floor is open.
Now, I'll go for cover!
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The Carnegie Hall Netrebko-Hvorostofsky recital was on the 29th of May. The electricity and anticipation were phenomenal. Netrebko, with her encore "A kiss on my lips ia like wine" from Lehar's Guiditta, brought the sold out house to a frenzy. I'll never forget it.
Constantine -
I have been wary of suggesting this myself. I even went as far as suggesting Racette to avoid the pink elephant in the room. I too believe that with some serious coaching it would be a marvel to see and hear perform Norma. She'll be 41 at the time and just moving into her vocal prime. I am sure there are plenty of houses in Europe that will mount productions for her in the next 3 or 4 seasons so that she can work it out on stage and we all know that if she wants to do it in concert a dozen or so times before she will sell any venue out. Her Norma would be the highlight of any summer festival or concert series. Calling Eve Queler, paging Ms. Queler...
If, and this is a BIG IF, she commits herself to learning the role before she hits the stage of the Met she will be a success on acting alone. But then again why blow her wad that early in the game? I think her technique is solid enough that she won't be croaking in 10 years. She could pull out the stops then or pull a Renee and keep us waiting to see if she will ever do it. I think she has the balls to do it 2012 and I will be there, if and when it does happens. I say go for it. Oooh and just for the hell of it she should have her press agent start leaking things like future Roberto Devereuxs and whatnot. That will get the all of the girls out there panties into a knot.
She IS a goddess among mere mortals.
Netrebko, one among the 100 most influencial people in 2007- Time Magazine.
Netrebko, the musician for 2008- Musical America.
Netrebko, A New Kind of Diva- New York Times 12-2-2007.
Can all these be just hype as some claim?
NYCOQ-
FYI< Racette was born in 1965, so should would be 44-45 for the 2011-12 season. I'm just saying....
Ooops---Make that 46-47
Not to question Nebs appeal but I was part of the business for some time, and was on the other end for some time -- hype works like this. There are fewer people in the know than ever, there are fewer press outlets than ever, there has been a cultural shift, not all that slow, toward an emphasis on appearance over demonstrable achievement in all the arts. But then in America that was always a facet of arts coverage -- it was different into the 60's when there were 9 dailies, several influential in New York, and most major cities had two or three papers with real circulations. There were also more national magazines who had arts aware people on staff, rather than relying on free lancers to pitch to ignorant editors who've been told to rustle up an arts story and who will look at the pictures first.
When I first hit NY, the Sunday Times arts editor was Sy Peck who knew absolutely everything and had great taste; there were two people on the Editorial Board who went everywhere and made a point of meeting everyone in all the arts, the older Gelb was more limited but not much more and he was nobody's fool. They all read the paper cover to cover and took the arts coverage very seriously -- they were quick to jump on anything that looked like a press agent's plant or that seemed uninformed. The Times really earned its supremacy by being on top of everything of interest no matter how far out in NY.
Now it's a culturally impoverished paper, with much less arts coverage, editors who know and care less and tend to go with the flow. And of course its rivals are worse.
Nebs is safe -- very, very few people will have an informed idea of her strengths and limits -- but many will look at the pix and skim the text and feel they've had their arts serving for now. And rather than a mass of other outlets looking for their own discoveries, the few papers/zines out there that run arts stories will just imitate this, as will TV, where the picture is everything.
The mostly discredited Theodore Adorno warned in the 40's that mass culture would erode all standards. The dangling of pretty people to sell product would substitute for criticism, and those people and their limits would be part of a cycle of descending standards and awareness. He warned of the 'fetish' mentality, where fame was imposed by commercial interests and had nothing to do with mastery or even with talent.
Nebs, good or bad, for now in the unimportant world of opera will move some papers (or get an article looked at with its ads), she'll move a lot of tickets at a huge barn of a place, she'll move DVD's. She might really be lousy, or half finished and it won't matter -- she is now a fetish object.
And if she hits a real crisis like Ghoulegina there will be some queen writing a rave on a small opera blog about how wonderful she is -- in minds like that she's a fetish -- beyond criticism.
micaela,
Netrebko told the author "he didn't know what he was talking about" after he said that she sang the letter scene from Eugin Onegin at her Carnegie Hall recital. She did not, and it has nothing to do with either Manon. Actually, she sang the duet from the last scene from Eugin Onegin with Hvrostovsky.
The author also referred to the end of June Carngie Hall recital. It was the end of May, the 29th to be exact.
I got the impression from the other NYTimes article that Norma will be replaced by another vehicle for Fleming. Did anyone else read it that way? In which case finding a Norma is a moot point.
Netrebko taking five years to learn Norma? She'd be better off taking 5 years to simply learn how to sing consistently. Those that think she has a solid technique are kidding themselves. Netrebko herself admitted in the Times interview last December that she had yet to solidify her technique. Something tells me nothing's changed. Why study when one can shop?
mrs john claggart,
You made some valid points, e.g the person form NY Times, who interview Netrebko: he was not well prepared and had some facts all mixed up, like Netrebko singing the letter scene from Eugin Onegin at her Carnegie Hall recital!
I have a question for you: how hype for a singer can be created if there is no substance? For a product millions can be spent for PR and hype, but it will fail if there is no quality. Customers are not dummies, and truth eventually will prevail, and the product will be taken off the market,
I agree with Mrs. John Claggert. Yes, Constantine Papas, there has to be some substance to feed the hype. But these days that substance does not amount to a lot. As there is a move to "popularize" opera and make it more accessible to the masses, this kind of PR packaging is bound to happen more and more. Mrs. John Claggert is absolutely right when he/she says that Netrbko is safe and easy. I mean the "masses" will not discuss Brewer's voice. Netrebko the persona (not the person) is less of a challenge to the uninformed person who is starting to go to the opera. There is more common ground between what Netrebko offers and the lowest common denominator's reference points.
Now here's a fantasy for you:
What if Peter Gelb and his fellow-travelers succeed and Tom, Dick, and Harry (and their boyfriends) all start coming to the Met? What if they like it, for whatever reason? What if they keep coming back and start learning about opera? What if they start buying and listening to classic recordings of the greats? What if they thu s start seeing the limitations (vocal or otherwise) of some of the people whose spin first lured them in? What if they (and the rest of the crowd that came in under this new dispensation) start demanding better singers?
Wouldn't that be the irony of all time? The Met succeeding to the point of having to think about singing and prioritizing it?
With singing back on its throne, would we still have the very lighting designer put ahead of the leading singers in the bios in the Met programs?
I used to work for Peter Gelb before anyone dreamed he'd ever be considered for the Met gig. His disdain for serious singers and for opera was a daily thing we had to deal with. He is doing good things for the Met now. But at some point other values are going to have to kick in or the whole thing will become a Potemkin village. He's a wiley guy and may just adjust. His tastes may be developing as I type.
I'm not betting the rent money on it, though.
wow, that article is infuriating. Netrebko must have been astonished at the blatant idiocy of her interviewer! Was it not even proofread by a music critic?! Actually, it wouldn't surprise me if it was, since most of them shouldn't even be allowed to teach a high school music appreciation class. ( i don't care how good tommassini is at reading scores, his opera reviews SUCK).
I think manon lescaut is a much safer bet than Norma for trebs. She really is a great singer in the lyric rep and eventually will be in the lyrico-spinto rep. I really hope she actually is continually improving her technique like she says. She seems wise enough about pacing herself.
I don't think the hype is based on nothing, but it certainly is not pushing netrebko to make herself deserving of it.
I think it is also damaging when you have so few singers garnering so much attention. There are many other excellent singers out there and i'm sure they are very much discouraged by this disproportionate amount of attention fleming/netrebko/occasionally gheorghiu get. It makes it seem hopeless for anyone who does not have the press machine behind them or the size 4 dress to even try.
amazing. Claggart so far wins the debate.
for me? Netremko is a success in a mediocre world. She is an attractive singer of modest accomplishment. She sang Puritani with a minium of coloratura properly learned. And they all cheered because she threw her hair over a proscenium. she smiled. she flirted. she is young. It is okay for a Julliard student, come on. Frenzy was not reached in her concert with Dmitri. HE got the best applause. Constantine really. Have you no shame when you hype someone? She is merely good. We will see what it becomes. As for Manon Lescaut. IF you really like her voice, hope she doesn't push in that heavily layered orchestration. If so, that will be it for her. Norma? to what we have come in that . that would be a no for her in Norma.
Constantine Papas:
"I have a question for you: how hype for a singer can be created if there is no substance? For a product millions can be spent for PR and hype, but it will fail if there is no quality. Customers are not dummies, and truth eventually will prevail, and the product will be taken off the market"
What about Andrea Bocelli et al?
the conversation about who replace fleming as Norma is a waste of time. the MET has already said they would find a more suitable vehicle to mount for Madame Fleming in 2011 (Maybe PORGY AND BESS or RENT???)
I think Fleming should follow the great example of La Stupenda and start out with Clotilde and work herself up. That is the only solution.
bocelli isn't hired by opera houses and when he is/was, it can never be spun into a success.
I was at the carnegie concert, and Netrebko was the one who got more applause, but it was not embarrassingly drastic or anything. Hvorostovsky was great that night, though he had some projection issues in the beginning.
bess would be an ideal vehicle for fleming...it is much more in-line with her natural "musical" instincts.
and btw, i still cannot understand all these ppl who insist that these recent traviatas were excellent. She may have reduced some of the mannerisms as compared with her 2003 performances, but to my ears it was still grotesque in many places. Honestly though, I hope they replace her norma with Capriccio or Arabella.
erste bratsche,
Well, you copied, varbatim, the question that I asked John Claggart. That's all right. I take it as a compliment.
Bocelli, with all respect, does not belong here and in the opera world. He's a very successful commercial crossover singer, a troubadour of Luciano Tajioli genre-a very successful Italian crooner of 50s-60s. Bocelli has sung only one opera: Werther in Detroit with Denyce Grace. He was panned by all: crtics and patrons alike. When he recently auditioned for Gelp, the outcry at this blog was loud and clear. Nothing has been heard every since. If Netrebko were to follow Bocelli's path, with her looks and acting skills, she would have become the godess of pop music and make zillions in a jiffy. To resist the temptation, it takes guts, artistic integrity, and dedication.
you called it. Right now she is the goddess of the pop world, after all the prose reads today how she outsold Beyonce! Please. Callas never did a music video. we are supposed to hold this against her? She was part of a much more serious time of respect for music. So what? what netremko is right now is an attractive face for all those to fixate on who attend opera to please their wives.
correction : dmitri had the biggest applause. sorry.
With fans like Constantine, who needs press agents. Seriously, Bocelli auditioned for a possible off-season concert, not for an opera. That was made clear in the press.
I'm glad Fleming bagged that stupid opera. Whoever sings that role will always be criticized by every opera queen. Look at the abuse the three Met Normas have been subjected to over the past few weeks. It's a no-win situation for any soprano. You can throw out names for days. No one will ever be good enough.
In the past three weeks the three singers got abuse because they sucked not because they were been criticized by queens, Lola.
A te la male pasqua
First correction is up on the NY Times website. They fixed the date of the concert. Let's see if they fix the others.
Just so there is no confusion (erste bratsche) my enthusiastic post was for a Netrebko Norma.
Constantine A. Papas said...
"Netrebko, one among the 100 most influencial people in 2007- Time Magazine.
Netrebko, the musician for 2008- Musical America.
Netrebko, A New Kind of Diva- New York Times 12-2-2007.
Can all these be just hype as some claim?"
Yes, can be and is. It's not that Anna isn't very talented. It's that she is not the new Callas, not a great musician, not the first soprano to look like a movie star, not a competent linguist in French (or German), not a great actress-- even if she has phenomenal presence and is stunning, that does not make her an actress), in short is being sold as a bill of goods beyond her real, considerable worth-- a beautiful woman with a ravishing lirico-spinto voice who should stay away from coloratura and learn to sing French, at least.
Sadly she is a model for female singers all over the former Soviet bloc. And a magnet for the kind of Middlebrow Straight Boy editors who assign this kind of puff piece-- "Cool, a babe!" And by the way, how much ad space do you think her record company buys for her product in the NYT, MUSICAL AMERICA, GRAMOPHONE, etc?
What is so wrong about being a mega successful opera singer. Those that really have the goods last and those that are hype flame out. In my 20 plus years of attending opera I have seen the 5 year cycles. Battle, Bartoli, Millo, Cura et al. The media spins through the cycle and moves on to the next thing. Some of these singers are still singing and There's always the latest hunk du jour or beautiful diva with the ravishing voice. Some of the people that used to get my juices flowing are just no longer around or were at the end of their media cycle/career when I first started attending performances. One thing that no one here is being honest about is that we are being more critical to the ladies than we are the gentlemen. I have seen wash board abs after wash board abs on quite a few male singers of dubious technique and sound and no one is cry bloody murder. The thing that I love the most about "critics" are the ones that lambasted the same people (when they were singing) that are now the sacred cows of opera (once retired). Look at Scotto for example the last 5 years were not so pretty, but when you look back at the full career she emerges as one of the divas of the late 20th century (IMHO). Give Trebs a break she works hard - whether it's at her technique or her publicity - she still works damned hard.
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I think we all agree that her focus should be hard work at the technique. BTW the way someone mentioned Renee possibly doing Capriccio. I think that would be a fabulous choice. The only thing I can tolerate her singing is Strauss(and by tolerate I mean think she is stunning in this rep). Plus the Met production of this opera is georgeous. It was the last thing I saw Te kanawa in. If she does this opera I hope that she doesn't demand a new production. Her final scena in that draw-droppingly beautiful white beaded gown will be amazing.
I believe Renee is doing Capriccio in Vienna next summer, so maybe she's gearing up for a Met run. Hope so.
Another Arabella, too, please.
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