paging albert da costa?
La Cieca hears that the Met is skedding tenor (erstwhile baritone) Gary Lehman for a Tristan staging rehearsal tomorrow. As La Cieca understands it, Lehman is a formal cover for the role (after John Mac Master) and so . . . well, just about anything may happen on Friday night. And thereafter, actually.
Cruz-Romo sang Tosca with the Met on tour. I saw her at Wolf Trab probably in 1979. She was quite good.
I agree with those who support cancelling Tristan when a tenor worth of appearing at the Met in the role isn’t available. Just matter of respect for the patrons. Having said that, I’ll be at the Met next Tuesday for T&I… who will my Tristan be? Jon Vickers is still alive…
I hear they have called Phillip Creech to cover the part!!!!!
PHILLIP CREECH?!!!
Levine’s personal request
Phillip Creech? Surely not. Perhaps Famous Quickly could cover…
To “cover” Levine or the role of Tristan????
Wasn’t Mr. Creech Levine’s BF at some point. Is he still? Is his nickname still Phillip Screech? Is Tristan about the only role that Domingo hasn’t already added to his rep?
I was at that Cruz Romo Tosca but knew Leontyne wouldn’t sing — she had luck with only one Puccini part, Butterfly, where she was overwhelming three times, despite her oddish stage manner (I can only compare it to dear Eleanor in Philly who couldn’t do the stage business either but sang gloriously, if without quite the impact of Leontyne, and Big Renata, polio and all, really did the business, but nobody did it like Stella who poured out golden tone even compared to Big Renata, and then there was Vicki who did it her way but was so heartbreaking and innocent she gave me a sex change right there).
Lee’s Manon Lescaut was a disaster of historical proportions (she went on for Kubiak, big mistake) and when she tried to act elegant in act two the audience at the first night roared with laughter, so did she!!!!!!!!! It’s true that on nights 2 and 3 she did a very good act four, but that was too late).
I LOVED Gilda, I don’t care what anybody says. She didn’t attain a high level of consistency but there’s not a spinto or even a big lyric in the world like her and when not crazy with fear she could be stunning — a Lady Macbeth with the also marvelous Carolli (in Hartford or NJ? I age I forget) was fantastic; she’s wasn’t quite Little Renata in Suor Angelica or my adored Kabaivanska (who tongue kissed me when I went backstage after the evening in Rome — but I had known her since I was 16 or so), or the very fine Soviero. She was however a terrific Aida (often with Ruben Ticker, standees would complain but to have that today!!!), and in fact she did the big Verdi roles very well.
Gilda gave up early, she got in her hubby’s 12 wheeler and took off for spaces unknown. A pity.
See, what I don’t understand here is: didn’t Cruz Romo know Forza at that time? I’m sure she sang it later on. And even if she didn’t know it, didn’t the Met have a cover? Was that during the period of Lucine’s absence?
It wasn’t Leontyne who backed out of that performance — it was Cornell MacNeil (the schmuck). From what Levine said at that Q&A session, they didn’t have a baritone to get on short notice who knew the tavern scene. And he wasn’t willing to cut the scene, hence the change to Tosca.