Mostly mediocre moments
POSTED at
10:59 PM
02 December 2007
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37 Comments:
Dear La Cieca
Thanks for the five greatest moments. Renata Scotto always astounds me with her artistry, her supreme musicality and musicianship, and her formidable technique. I know someone recently said that she has been sainted in the last few years since she has stopped singing. I loved her even when she was being criticized for her Norma and Lady Macbeth. Fro me she will always remain as a reminder of one of the greatest generations of opera singers. Thanks again for inclusion of this fantastic artist's work.
Renata Scotto's art is like the most delicious and expensive wine. It is wasted on people who can tolerate cheap beer. Hence the exclusion form the greatest moments from the Met.
I don't know about you all but I find Peter Gelb strangely sexy...and of course I would love Renata Scotto to sing at our wedding...after he divorces his wife.
I AM SO MAD THAT THIS DIDN'T AIR ON PBS IN OREGON. I visited the Met website to check the cast list for the R&J HiDef broadcast on the 15th and saw the ad for this special and made a note to TiVo it...and then it turned out OPB wasn't running it. ARGH.
PS...that was hot. They were ALL in great voice.
My favorite Scotto broadcast was the Don Carlo; I'd have run the final Elisabetta-Carlo duet from it.
I was in the audience in the spring when in yet another display of "what can we do to honor ourselves" the Met presented thirty years of broadcasts on PBS. It was hosted by the Divine Debbie and Giggling Renata who looks younger than ever (I am not suggesting a thing). She was chirping and happy and melted like cheese on a griddle when the Fatf--k Levine suddenly appeared from the wings after a busy day (sans towel over the shoulder) and squeezed her shoulder--"Ooooh, Maestro" etc. etc. etc.) I came upon opera and Scotto in her latter years so getting used to her voice was like learning to like aparagus and Brussel sprouts as a child--not easy. BUT, one night I saw a televised performance of Suor Angelica with her and La Horne which I remember to this day--I was moved to tears. That performance made up for watching Sutherland move across the Met stage like a bejeweled refrigerator on a dolly or my beloved Caballe rustle her skirts and exit sharply stage right to simulate jumping from the castle in Tosca. Scotto's gift was always a combination of singing and acting and even when the voice was a bit battered her acting was first class--even as her Puerto Rican cha cha heels peeked out of the gown as she lay dying holding the poisoned violets in Adriana.
I have over the years collected almost all of Scotto's recordings (studio and live) and the one word I can use to describe her is integrity. The very first record of Scotto's was given to me as a child: La Traviata conducted by Antonino Votto. Someone recently slammed that recording on here. But to me her violetta as preserved by that record is utterly magnificent singing, both technically and dramatically. What soulful singing.
Has anyone checked out her Marschallin on youtube? It is amazing how idiomatic and well-sung it is.
Which Renata was robbed? Tebaldi? Then perhaps you guys have a point, but Scotto? Give us a break.
She's a minor leaguer compared to the singers chosen for the Top 15.
And Netrebko wasn't part of the countdown like some have complained, her Elvira was just a highlight of last HD season.
Let me remind you that viewers voted, not groupies, get over it.
Luisa Miller at the Met (1979): Scotto, Domingo, Milnes. Luisa Miller at the Met (2006): Veronica Villarroel, Eduardo Villa, Carlos Alvarez. Enough said.
I don't want to get emeshed in this typical either/or bullshit that constitutes discussion here. Both/and will do just fine. But what I do want to observe is that clips from Tabarro and Schicchi make invidious comparisons to last season's Met production inevitable. Scotto so sings and acts Guleghini and the Lauretta under the table as to be an embarrassment. In the duet with Luigi, rather that fling herself around to indicate passion, she very subtly indicates through gesture, phrasing, and modulation what this woman is really feeling. And that last look between the two of them says more about their relationship than all the pawing and staggering I saw on the screen this past year. As for "O mio babbino caro," Scotto absolutely walked that fine line between serious concern and manipulative minx. No question that this Lauretta knows exactly what she's doing here and what the outcome will be. What we saw this past year (and what we hear in all the versions of the aria various sopranos bestow upon us) is not at all what Puccini intended: a parody of the grand tradition. What I see here is a full realization of what de los Angeles implies on that complete recording with Gobbi. I'm not comparing their voices, but rather their understanding of the aria's context and purpose.
Sorry, I didn't mean duet--it was the aria, with Luigi chiming in at the end. The point is, Scotto conveyed here more than just "I wish I were back there again but Luigi will help me get close."
TKLogan1809--
I don't want to degnify your remark with a response but do you really mean what you said and you ARE an opera lover??? If the answer is yer and if you really in your heart of hearts think that Scotto is a "minor leaguer," then you are totally stupid. Maybe you just posted your comments to be argumemtative (without really believing what you said) which makes you an asshole. In any case, you are either stupid or an asshole or more than likely both. Don't post comments like that. The only purose they serve is to illuminate publicly the depths of your ignorance. If you can't relate to Scotto's work it means you are a profoundly unmusical person. I know this is a democratic country and everyone feels they should have a public voice. But there IS such a thing as a moron within a democracy and free speech immediately reveals that. Since you are writing a blog within a high art forum you perhaps want to aspire to be a little less moronic. One is allowed one's personal taste. For example, I do not relate to Schwarzkopf's voice. But I certaily understand why she was a great artist. Just because I don't like her voice I don't call her a minor leaguer. Relating to the sound of a singer's voice is subjective. Relating to their artistry, musicality, and musicianship is not so subjective, it takes brains and a critical faculty that in your case is woefully missing. You are so stupid is sits on you like a halo.
I'm not a big fan of Scotto's voice per se - but the power and expressiveness of her performances are astonishing. She was entirely committed to the roles she sang. My favorite here is the clip from Suor Angelica - utterly mesmerizing.
TKLogan-
I will admit, after the 3rd place was aired, (Joan Sutherland's Lucia??? Don't remember which one it was.)My local PBS station started to have technical difficulties and the programmers temoprarily showed a show about making venision sausage... Ewww...
When all was well and they fixed whatever problem it was, I saw Netrebko with her hair over the edge of the stage and I said outloud, "You've got to be fucking kidding me..." So I actually never saw that clip given a space on the countdown.
So can anyone else confirm that Netrebko's Elvira really wasn't a viewers choice and it was just a highlight clip. Im sure the other viewers in Chicago would like to know.
TKLogan-
I will admit, after the 3rd place was aired, (Joan Sutherland's Lucia??? Don't remember which one it was.)My local PBS station started to have technical difficulties and the programmers temoprarily showed a show about making venision sausage... Ewww...
When all was well and they fixed whatever problem it was, I saw Netrebko with her hair over the edge of the stage and I said outloud, "You've got to be fucking kidding me..." So I actually never saw that clip given a space on the countdown.
So can anyone else confirm that Netrebko's Elvira really wasn't a viewers choice and it was just a highlight clip. Im sure the other viewers in Chicago would like to know.
The thing is, few people here "illuminate publicly" their ignorance.
It's only public if you 1. sign with your real name (like Alex Ross has - or so it seems) or 2. post a recent photo (which I used to do until Blogger's databse screwed up and no longer recognized my password).
Remeber the recent English list of the greatest singers of all time? There were some staggering omissions there too; some of my favourites were "minor leaguers" according to that British critic.
It's best to ignore flame baits and not dignify their attention seeking with a reply. Otherwise we'll give them exactly what they want.
One thing I always found about Scotto is the way she reacted to others on the stage. You just had to look at her, and not at whoever else was singing at the moment, to know what was going on. She projected the every aspect of the plot. Rudolf Nureyev is the only other artist I can remember commanding my attention in that manner. Well, not quite.
Another thing that I always felt (rightly or not) was that nothing else could make her happier than singing whatever it was at that moment. Many artists, regardless of their dramatic gifts, often leave me with the impression that they are just doing their job. Doing it extremely well perhaps, but it's just a task to do, an opportunity to show your talent. Not Renata. Even when in vocal difficulties, I always felt that that was where she wanted to be more than anywhere else. Again, the same with Nureyev.
These are the subtleties that make some performances stand in your memory. My memory, anyway. The kind of artists who can trascend the artificiality of the theatre coming across the footlights and grabbing you into the drama that for a few precious moments becomes real to you. Can't describe it. You either feel it or you don't.
Julio, the Puritani clip was not a viewer's choice. It was shown between the second and first choices. Not sure why.
ANDY from Oregon, *never* rely on the Met site for brodcast times. I think they only reference NY dates, which makes perfect sense of course. Had you gone to the PBS site, you would have found a broadcast date for Monday at 1 am on OPB. With any luck, they mean tonight (ie. Tuesday morning). If not, you're out of luck, as that's the rebroadcast.
The show wasn't aired here. What were the choices?
really TK? Scotto a minor leaguer? This from someone who works at an institution and watches it done. I regularly laugh at your crap, viscous about truly great singers you smug fu**. I disagree. and for voting/That was a friggin Gelb trick. No real opera lover voted for most of that drek last night.
Scotto was a great against the odds singer. Though she carried off the return Vespri of 1974 thrillingly, and did the two complete Tritticos in 75 fabulously, there after she was a little chancy. Yet only the Norma (and not all of that) failed to work -- and that was possibly because the claque booed her before she opened her mouth and for once she allowed it to shake her confidence. Later performances were highly 'chosen' (as to when she'd sing out) but full of nuance and imagination and it goes without saying better than what we've heard recently.
Someone mentioned her first Violetta as put down here -- what fool did that? That Violetta and its companion Boheme show her voice at its most beautiful (and it was a beautiful and distinctive sound) and her manner, less nuanced than it was to become, is still wonderfully musical and expressive.
Her Lucia recording (used to be on Ricordi) is outstanding, I think one of the best versions.
Her second Traviata is the greatest all around performance of the whole opera -- fantastically conducted with enormous sensitivity (Muti) and with an old and old sounding cast who none the less know their roles in their souls.
Her Verismo CD is fantastic, a total lesson in style.
In the house her Luisa Miller was terrific -- Caballe had some wonderful moments from sheer vocal genius, and Maliponte was wonderful too, it was also Riciarelli's best showing, but it was Scotto who had the arc of the entire role, from silly girl to tragic heroine.
The latish Tritticos were amazing, and she sang the end of Angelica fabulously well -- not a common occurrence and she was heart breaking with NOTHING to help her at the end.
She was a great Butterfly and Mimi (though not the sweetest sounding after a certain point). She was even a fun Musetta the first time out. Her Desdemona was one of the most memorable I saw -- only Leonie who didn't sing nearly as well and was booed -- was as moving.
Her Elisabetta was surprising, perhaps her best spinto role, strongly and satsifyingly sung and immensely understanding of an elusive character.
She was a great Marguerite in her best days, and I wish she had done Manon and Charlotte at the Met.
Needless to say she was a perfect Adina.
Her miscalculations in context are east to forgive, a Lady Macbeth too late -- though there is a Sleep Walking Scene from the same time that was telecast and is sublime.
I thought she was too calculating (or intelligent) for Adriana, and Gioconda was a mistake in the Met (but no one else at the time did it better, Scotto at least knew the style).
Anyone who puts her down is simply an ignorant fool. There were those who didn't like her 'spinto' voice, and she had her mannerisms on stage. Fine. But what she did was informed by a profound intelligence and sensitivity, and that extends to her Marshallin, which Kirshslager (the Octavian) told me was very special (in a good way) and which by the way is the one of the most accurate ever, and even her Kundry.
An amazing performer and a great career.
Mrs. JC: I will agree to disagree with you on only one point here, which is Scotto's suitability to Adriana. My take (hearing her in the part in Houston circa 1980) was that she conceived Adriana as a somewhat withdrawn artist -- rather than as a passionate woman in love. As such Scotto tended to underplay the "warm" moments such as the duets with Maurizio and the "Poveri fiori," the emotion restrained and internalized. There was a quality that recalled Garbo here, the sense that Adriana as an artist was not quite completely connected to the real world.
Again, everyone looks for something different in a performance, but I found that Scotto's restraint actually elevated the material in Adriana, giving the music a measure of nobility that I think I have not heard in any other soprano's performance. (This is not to deny the validity of Olivero or Tebaldi or, for that matter, of Millo in this part, but Scotto's approach to the character I think is unique.)
I have a recording of her Manon in Chicago. Not fresh, not the prettiest sounds, but boy what a lesson in technique. And she makes you listen to what the character is saying. Swenson, with all her voice, could not touch her.
Lovemontsy:
The SUOR ANGELICA you remember so well did not include "La Horne" as La Zia Principessa, but one Jocelynne Taillon. This TRITTICO telecast was never released commercially.
Natasha, this was a viewer's choice, which means popularity. In terms of popularity, compared to Pavarotti, Domingo, Carreras, Sills, Sutherland and Nilsson, Scotto is indeed a minor leaguer, it has nothing to do with her 'art'. Just check the number of commercial recordings these singers released. Your calling me names won't change numbers.
You think I'm not an opera lover because I don't like Scotto? Now that's rather foolish.
And calling the choices 'mediocre' just because your fave didn't win is also foolish.
TKLogan--
You are so in your own bubble that you can't see anything on the outside. I never said anything about the choices being mediocre. My post is still up. Don't make up words that I did not say. You know very well what YOU said and you know very well what your intentions were. I called you on your bs and now you are back peddling. Anyone who calls Scotto a minor leaguer is a big fat FOOL, regardless of your personal feelings for her voice. You probably posted what you did earlier just to get a rise out of someone. If there is a thread posted by opera lovers and initiated by la cieca paying respect to a great artist and someone comes along and out of the blue calls her a minor leaguer, he/she is being an asshole. You may not be an asshole all the time but you most certainly were in this case and anyone who has read your post knows that. Now it is time to be silent. Don't reveal your idiocy any further. You have already done a fantastic job.
AFAICT Scotto really was the last prima donna to fully understand (not just Italian) opera utterly and completely.
There've been some nice (and not so nice) voices since and some pretty good performers but no one who understood down to her toes and in her bones how to make coloratura serve character, how Verdi should be phrased or what makes non-Puccini verismo and 20th century Italian works special and worth being staged.
I love that Luisa excerpt in part _because_ of the (very italiante in spirit) heckling and how she rises to (and above) the challenge of singing to a hostile audience.
Yeah, she sang some ugly notes (yeah, a _lot_ of them) but give her her due, she could also deliver musical drama like no one since Callas before her and literally no one after her.
I really wish some forward thinking company had thought to stage Rondine (with Trittico and Fanciulla my favorite Puccini) for her around 73-74.
May I make a suggestion here that may get us onto another topic and away from the merits of Scotto who I think the majority agree was an intelligent singer at least. It was my impression in her latter years that one of her greatest problems was the enormous bear hug that the Fat f--k Levine had her in and would not let go. Whether it suited her or not he stuck her in everything and in his usual arrogance played over her voice which at that point was not in its prime. But then that is Levine. Yes, he has made the orchestra a marvelous musical machine but one wonders how many singers have hastened their vocal decline trying to sing over that orchestra in that huge house. When I saw--and heard--Mazel conduct the Vienna Philharmonic in Elektra with Marton and Voigt I realized how we were getting screwed artistically at the Met. Productions are only rehearsed properly when His Holiness is in the pit. Otherwise singers need a GPS to get on and off the stage and the chorus looks like a football team reclaiming the field after halftime. The tempi are glacial--music at the Met is either Wagner or Wagner light (has Mr. Levine never heard a recording of Bohm or even Sir Colin Davis conducting Mozart?) No one is scouting future singers until they are already well known in Europe and other American cities even though the Met annually hosts the Met auditions (yeah! they're even called "Met auditions") And then singers like Scotto are kept around forever when they should be allowed to go gently into that good night after all they have given. The words James Levine and Artistic Director are one of the great oxymorons. One of the most nauseating moments of my life was when I saw him cross his arms and pat himself with self indulgent delight at the Fat F--kathon after Iliana Cotrubas sang--after he practically chased her from the house.
natasha you have a thick brain honey. This isn't a thread "posted by opera lovers and initiated by la cieca paying respect to a great artist".
This is a thread entitled 'Mostly mediocre moments' *bitching* that Scotto wasn't chosen among the top 15. And my point was, Scotto wasn't chosen because she's less popular with the public than others, why can't you accept that? I repeat: in terms of popularity, compared to Pavarotti, Domingo, Carreras, Sills, Sutherland and Nilsson, Scotto is a MINOR LEAGUER.
And calling the choices last night 'mediocre' wasn't done by you, I was referring to La Cieca.
TKLogan--
firstly, don't call me honey. There is something about your manner that is off-putting. You have several interpretations for every damn thing that you say and you pull out whatever interpretation you deem appropriate to your intentions of the moment. The thesis that you are proposing about Scotto's popularity vs. everyone else's is hard to prove. It is not as simple as you your most recent interpretation of your original claim. Other than La Cieca, no one here complained that Scotto was ignored last night. The rest of us simply expressed our admiration for a great artist.
However, THAT IS NOT EVEN THE POINT. Neither I, nor I suspect you are in a position to defend or revile a world class artist whose place in the opera world is firmly established. The point is that there is something about your manners that is rude and has a vicious and vile subtext. You were not stating facts, nor were you simply expressing your opinions. YOU WERE BEING NASTY AT THE EXPENSE OF OTHER PEOPLE. You posted what you posted to be hurtful, not to express yourself or a make a point. That is the precise definition of an asshole. There are many people on this site who are on to your weirdness. Now shut up and go away. I will not give you any more attention because I am sure that is precisely why you published your original post, like a child who does something unruly to get noticed. I suspect you are a frustrated performer. I can't be sure, but I have a hunch.
I agree with the attack on "Jeemie". No one gets to where he has gotten without spectacular technical skills and he has them; but he has NEVER been an interpreter of special distinction. The Wagner is fake Kna, thick and clotted and draggy without the latter's very special sense of forward movement and melody -- other composers are adequately served -- but there's nothing wonderful. To hear Abbado live in the opera house was nearly always an incredible experience, I feel the same about Muti (and both are spectacular concert maestri as well), Thieleman has his eccentricities and is not always a nice man or tactful in what he says (I like him very much actually) but his Frau with "Jeemy's" Met orchestra was fantastic, suddenly all this clarity and lightness -- the density of the writing was not short changed, but the songfulness that must be there was, as was the propulsion such a long work needs. And his Berlin Fanciulla was simply a revelation. Of course we had Carlos Kleiber -- he wasn't always supreme at the Met (apparently a lot of his energy was taken up by his NY girlfriend, the reason he came to the Met)-- the Traviata (which first Gruberova than Carlos fled) was odd and I didn't like his way of getting the singers to whisper a lot of Otello (that's one reason why when I saw him do it at Scala the logione yelled 'povero Verdi' as he appeared for the third act)-- but his handling of the orchestra and of tempo was amazing and he was an utterly irresistible Rosenkavlier -with a charm and wit in inflection that "Jeemie" can only dream of. Viotti was a much better Italian opera conductor and Luisi is terrific. And although ALL the Italian maestri I know laughed about Sinopoli -- I heard a fantastic Ariadne with glorious playing and a stunning songfulness all evening. And his Frau, with an inferior cast, was nothing to sneer at either.
However, I don't think he should have let Scotto go before he did -- perhaps Norma and Gioconda could have been saved for other houses and maybe an entire Lady Macbeth was beyond her by that time; I believe she could have done a great Minnie and Manon before 1982. I loved the Francesca -- others didn't -- but I thought she was utterly fascinating. Not everyone but many realized that something special was going on when she was on stage -- even her last Butterfly as I've said before, by no means really well or easily sung, was profoundly moving.
I have been attending the Met for 36 years. That gives me no particular authority, but I include it only for orientation.
I was far from being a fan of Scotto when she was, as people above put it, being forced down our throats by Jeeemie's bear hug (to mix two indigestable metaphors). But I'm now quite shamefaced about my disdain for her then. Both what I hated and what I now admire are (separately) showcased on YouTube at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRHj7u2Hj38
I'm not one who says things were better then than they are now. Or vice-versa. Last week I heard by far the strongest Figaro cast I've ever heard at the Met. I consider the Iphigénie above praise (except for the ear-defiling basse). But Scotto had qualities that we now badly need -- certainly in the vile Normas that are infecting our ears.
I might also add that I love Scotto as a human being. After her Met years were over I interviewed her for one of the record companies and otherwise met her a couple of times. I adore her. I also told her of a group of queens who have a party every year in San Francisco on her birthday. She asked me for the phone number and phoned them during their next party. Imagine.
(Dare I ask how many of you are having a party for Renée's birthday this year?)
Thanks for that lovely story about Scotto, DirkVA. She is a wonderful person and a great artist. In 1980 (I think) when she was singing Lady Macbeth at the Met and was being citicized by everyone, I wrote her a fan letter and she sent me a hand written letter in response.
EEF you haff to CUT something, you haff to cut TK Logan's posts-- NOT MINE.
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