Željko can and Željko do
Željko Lučic will sing Macbeth for the Met's broadcast and HD simulcast of the Verdi opera tomorrow afternoon, replacing Lado Ataneli, who is "indisposed."Labels: broadcast, la cieca ci guarda la cieca ci vede, met, sirius, telecast
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4:35 PM
37 Comments:
Suffering "Moffo-throat" perhaps...?
This is good news indeed. To me Ataneli is one of those youngish singers who have always sounded over the hill. But too bad guleghina didn't also catch this "bug".
I was at the hd-rehearsal performance two days ago....i'm guessing they saw how unconvincing a screen actor ataneli is. Guleghina was on better behavior than she usually is and ended the first act with a really spectacular D-flat. No matter what though, she will never be able to pull together a wholly satisfying performance due to her truly lacking technique. She also seems to have shed a few pounds. Speaking of HD-simulcasts, does anyone else think that the choice of programming for this year is a bit odd from a purely money-making populist point of view? It seems that it would have made sense to broadcast one of renee's performances since they always sell out, unlike peter grimes. I have a feeling a few of these broadcasts will be a wakeup call to gelb to pick and choose what he broadcasts more carefully. Who knows tho, I could be completely off. Another note, I watched my first complete HD broadcast last night by way of the netrebko puritani dvd and what struck me was the ridiculous ADD quality of the camera work. every two second there was a new shot!
I heard the SIRIUS broadcast of Macbeth on 1/9 and Guleghina was much better than she was during the first series of performances. That said, she will never be satisfactory in this role. She has abused her voice over the years and can not negotiate the agilita passages, and avoids using her chest voice which IMO is required for this role.
A Lady Macbeth without a chest voice? it really IS time to give Grace Bumbry a call ...
And what, by the way, is the subtle reference in 'Moffo throat'?
I know they used to tell stories about Ljuba Welitsch and costermongers in old Covent Garden, lawd luvaduck. Is it something similar?
I tried to get tickets to the Macbeth HD broadcast but I didn't look into it until about 2 weeks ago and they were sold out.
No one, by the way, loves Moffo more than I do. I think she is the be-all and end-all of bel canto lyric-coloratura sopranos. But... NYC opera fanatic has posted on his website a Lucia mad scene from '69 where she had, as he put it, a "melt down". I'm not sure if that was the reference to Moffo-throat, but it was horrible. You can hear hints of what she was capable of, but she couldn't sustain even the shortest phrase.
sanford - come to new york there's PLENTY of tickets left in the house
i too adore much of moffo's work. Simple, beautiful elegance.
Scifisci - On Saturday, The Walter Reade at Lincoln Center is sold out but may have standby at the box office. Union Square is sold out, and BAM doesn't seem to have any tickets left either. None of those venues are even listed for the Sunday encore. As much as I love Verdi, I would only travel upstate or across the Hudson to Jersey, if A: I had a ride and was going with someone, or B: Moffo or Caballe were singing.
"I'm not sure if that was the reference to Moffo-throat, but it was horrible."
"I'm not sure if that was the reference to Moffo-throat, but it was horrible."
Leave Anna Moffo ALOOOOOONE!!!!
I mean it!!!! Leave her alone RIGHT NOW !!!!
Ok, seriously, I was one of those who loved her. Her Rosalinda was just about perfect, as was her Violetta and I nearly wore out her recording of Rigoletto with Robert Merrill. I can't bear to hear her in bad voice and see how far she fell.
Please!!!
Leave Anna Moffo ALONE !!!!!!
{sobbing}
barnaba...on the right track...
acc. to Dr. Repertoire's glossary (in La Cieca's archives), "Moffo Throat" is "a form of mild laryngitis characterized by a husky, 'sexy' vocal sound," brought about by "fatigue, mild infection, smoke, alcohol, and/or sucking cock."
Of course, "proper treatment for Moffo Throat includes: vocal rest, steam, antibiotics, spending half a G on a laryngologist, 'Ladies and gentlemen, Miss Moffo is suffering from severe bronchitis, but, against her doctor's orders, she has consented to sing so as not to disappoint her many fans.' or swooning during the introduction to 'Caro nome'; it's effective if just a bit gaudy."
Moffo throat- I think you may have all hit on something here- do you think it might be a reason so many singers these days are having problems? I can understand the booze and ciggies but sucking cock damaging?? It's a wonder half the singers can sing at all!!
For those old enough to remember, when la Moffo (whom I also adore) appeared in the Harold Robbins shocker movie (The Adventurers?) there was a shower scene which was apparently cut where she went down on someone. One opera reviewer at the time made headlines by saying something to the effect that if Miss Moffo concentrated on her singing instead of doing rude nude scenes she would be taken more seriously etc
As this came at the end of her triumphs- perhaps it was a legitimate attempt to establish some other vehicle as the voice was already turning into a train wreck.
Hi scifisci
what does an hd rehearsal involve? is it a rehearsal that is mainly for the shots? if so, you mentioned the voices, do the singers sing full voice? I am so curious. Thanks.
It's the regular performance that precedes the broadcast one -- they just practice all the camerawork, shots, technical aspects, etc.
I should think sucking cock would be good for the throat.
I'm going to see "Macbeth" later today at a movie house just a few miles from where I live in the middle of England. It's my first Met live show and I am very excited -- and very interested to see how it is received by the audience (and the size of the latter).
On the MET Website, an interview with today's Lady Macbeth - she MUST be able to sing better than she thinks (or was she just put off by the way the question began?)
Q: Maria, you also play a queen this month. How would you compare the characters of Lady Macbeth and Norma?
Maria Guleghina: Lady Macbeth is ready to eliminate anyone on her way to the throne. But she has no children, and that is her great punishment from God. She is not doing this for her family — even though it would still be horrible to kill for your family! — but out of the desire to occupy the throne herself. Norma is trying to kill her children, but only because she wants to save them from being taken hostage. She’s a mother, and she tries to protect her kids.
Moffo was obviously a gorgeous woman, but her singing definitely has something too ... A lightish soprano with real sex appeal and intensity. Even her later stuff is compelling in its way. Certainly immediately identifiable as her work!
Fiora (take a listen on YouTube) was obviously beyond her ... but whom would we cast in that role today? The young South African Amanda Echalaz was superb in last summer's production of 'L'amore dei tre re' in London, but her sound is more Germanic than Italian - she'd be a gorgeous Chrysothemis, for instance. Maybe Ms Netrebko will be able to do it in a few years -- provided she isn't burned out and has learned to use words as an expressive tool. (No doubt she is fine with tools of a more, er, physical kind ...)
OK. Guys, i AM sorry.... but none of you know why lucic is really "replacing" ataneli.
the fact is that lucic has been engaged for this prodution for over a month now. BUT his frankfurt opera bosses (he is part of the ensemble there) didn´t allow him to sing at the Met on the 12th. ´cause he is involved with the Trittico premiere in frankfurt, which will take place on the 13th. Lucic decided to go anyway to NY, but probably requested the MET to keep it a secret, and so they were announcing ataneli as macbeth, even though they always new Mr. Lucic would be singing it...
Anyway, Lucic missed yesterday´s trttico´s dressrehearsal and people in frankfurt were going crazy. it was all quite funny actually.
Trittico premiere in Frankfurt. Hmmmm, I'll keep that in mind for the next Regie quiz.
First of all, cock is always good for the throat except in those "Gag The Fag" videos... or so I've heard; I, of course, would never watch something so degrading (at SX Video's streaming website... ooops). Anywho, does anyone know of a way for me to record the Macbeth off the streaming audio?
Supposedly Cecilia Gasdia said in an interview that fellatio is good for throat and excellent for singing. Interestingly after her divorce, her voice declined precipitously and no amount of penile insertion has been able to bring it back.
Ataneli was none too impressive last Saturday - his top lost focus in "Pieta Rispetta Amore" - also, Lucic was better integrated into the production and gave a more detailed musical reading of the role. I am glad he will on television. Supposedly Levine was very dissatisfied with this past week's performances and demanded extra rehearsals to get it up to snuff.
Sanford, those SX videos are nasty barebacking things. Some of those boys look young and like they got a lot to lose fooling around with their life and health like that! (Totally not a prude - totally the opposite - but the line has to be drawn somewhere...)
But everyone gets to draw that line for themselves, unless forced at gunpoint. Everyone makes choices. They may not make the choices you'd make. I'm pretty sure that there are people on this website that I "know' from J's Hangout, The West Side Club, The Unicorn, The Glory Hole, Follies, and any number of other places. I would never judge you for the choices you make; please don't judge me for mine.
by the way, la cieca ... brilliant title for this thread.
I agree... great title. I thought maybe it was about Zeljko Ivanek from OZ, but oh, well.
Oh, and Gualtier? Since you posted your response about SX videos last than an hour and a half after I posted my reference to them, I can only assume that you are familiar with the videos. And since I'm not "dating" at the moment, I use those videos as instructional videos to make sure that I keep up my skills for when I am "dating" again. And I can assure you, once I am, I will finish anyone, er, anything I start. TO completion. Which somehow brings my thoughts back to both the thread about sucking dick, and "Penetrating Wagner's Ring".
Terrible confession here, I didn't get the gag/reference in the header "Željko can and Željko do".
Cieca, Sanford - or someone else - can you enlighten me?
Merce, diletti/e amici/che!
Oh Sanford I have long suffered pangs of longing for Carlos Morales and couldn't pass up seeing him gang-banged, even bareback. But I rented the video, I didn't buy it. I have also frequented some of the places you mentioned, so maybe I "know" you too - but only safely!
As for today's broadcast - Maria started out in typical but good form for her. The top was working and she occasionally could do the little notes and modulate. Later on the top tired and she was in survival mode. The tiredness worked expressively in the Sleepwalking Scene but the last note was not a success. She should have opted for a slower ascent and/or used falsetto.
Barnaba: I think a clue to the gag has to do with a certain long-running and widely despised Broadway show... Am I wrong??
Another big clue - the music rips off themes from Puccini!!!
I love the mixture of subjects- I don't think in her wildest dreams our doyenne, la Cieca, could have ever envisaged such a lively mix, when she conceptualised Parterre.
For my twopence worth- on the rare occasion when my eyes have been forced to look at a screen to see two persons engaged in "horizontal folk dancing" - I only like to see things "au natural" and HATE the alternative, because I reason that they are professionals who are being paid to work it out somehow.
Off this afternoon to see the broadcast of "Hansel & Gretel" complete with wallpaper. I take the warning that it is probably the franger that I didn't want to see!
Gualtier ... is it the musical with the word 'Opera' in the title? All I know from it is the one big number (complete with, er, inspiration from Fanciulla) so maybe that's why the joke is lost on me.
Maybe I should ask my close friend Lord Lloyd Webber for some guidance. He is always game for a laugh.
Well, my first HD movie show and I had THE BEST TIME. It was superb. Just wonderful. Some fantastic singing, and even when Guleghina tired (as indeed she did) it was still far from poor. Željko was splendid, as was John Relyea. With only a very few caveats, the production was magnificent -- and the close-ups and dramatic angles served the music and intensified the driving drama. Everyone in the cinema LOVED it - clapping with the live audience and all the comments I heard at the end were ADULATORY. I overheard someone say it was so much more dramatic than the Shakespeare play --- and this was in Stratford upon Avon!
I just felt like going into my Nancy Reagan "just say no" without however the red Scaasi dress. I also own a lot of old Falcon movies which are also "au naturel" - I am just a big hypocrite! But I worry about those twinks in those SX movies - the epidemic isn't over bitches!!
Off of soapbox. Anyway, Barnaba, correct composer but wrong show!! This one I believe closed on Broadway after a nearly twenty year run!
Gualtier, do you only worry about the twinks, or do you worry about the daddies too? I adore the old Falcon movies (the ones after they started using live sound, instead of those horrid dubs and before condoms). I also wonder what La Cieca thinks of these posts. I know where he stands on freedom of speech, but still, did we get off topic, or what?
I just listened to the Sleepwalking scene, and it was awfully good. It didn't erase memories of Verrett, Caballe, or Sass (my fave Lady Macbeth), but still, after what I read here about her earlier performances, I was expecting a total disaster. I enjoyed. There was a lot to admire, and I didn't even think the high D (D Flat?) was too bad.
CATS! It was CATS! The musical for which T.S. Eliot won the Tony for Best Book for a Musical, even though he had been dead for about 60 years. CATS! Not Phantom Of THe Opera! Sometimes it really pains me to be a theater queen. And that brings me back to "Penetrating Wagner's Ring". Am I the only one who remembers booty bumps?
Oooh, Zeljko sounded quite ragged in "Pieta" in the last act.
I'm delighted to see a positive crit of Macbeth- we see it in a fortnight here. It just goes to show ya the divergence of opinion in here. In a more recent thread I notice Macbeth gets slammed by one contributor.
Also- we saw Hansel & Gretel here this afternoon and were generally delighted with it. The witch was wonderful and the witches house as "almost a serial killers warehouse" was inspired. I didn't mind the wallpaper forest at all and again it was far from what I imagined it would be after reading the crit on here. Just shows you- pays not to take too much attention to others and make up your own mind.
I wonder how much hush money they had to pay Ataneli to bow out of such a high-profile performance. I like the guy, I do, but a great actor he ain't. His performance style is kind of a throw-back to the Opera-acting of the past...the days where you could get away with just standing and waving your arms around, the days where directors wouldn't ask you to grope your co-stars or roll around on the floor. Ah, good times.
I missed the opinions about Hansel and Gretel at the Met. Did people like it?
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