father figure
La Cieca’s spy, just returned from the Metropolitan Opera Guild luncheon at the Waldorf-Astoria honoring Franco Zeffirelli, reports:
Lynn Redgrave did the voiceover for a video retrospective of Zeffirelli’s life, beginning with his origins as a “love child” (news to me).
But the highlight was Angela Gheorghiu. After performing two Romanian folk tunes nobody knew or really cared about, she did a very moving “O mio babbino caro,” literally singing it into his ear. Zeffirelli did a little comic bit of wiping his eyes and blowing his nose before embracing her. Nifty!
Zeffirelli and Gheorghiu are pictured above at Saturday night’s gala Bohème at the Met. Note also Paul Plishka (Alcindoro) and unidentified scruffy super.
armer js,
I wouldn’t call Netrebko’s red dress a mini-skirt but rather a cocktail dress hemmed right above the knee, unless you use an exaggeration reference to prove your point with which I totally agree.
Miss Netremko enver leaves the “skirt” alone….it is constantly raised, shimmied, tussled, it oculd very well be at the knee, not that it stayed there.
also watched the HD broadcast of Boheme. My problem with AG is similar to one I had with AN’s Mimi, they are both too interested in being divas and not that interested in the character. Zeffirelli staged the first act with Mimi seated for Mi Chiamano Mimi, it is a conversation she is having with Rudolfo.(Renata gave a lovely explaination of this aria at a master class several years ago. Basically she said that the first half must be very conversational because you are talking to Rodolfo and it is only when you start thinking about the first kiss of spring in april that you get more absorbed in yourself and than sing out. You are overwhelmed by the joy of spring coming and get a chance to sing out more to the audience. It is Mimi’s most estatic moment in the entire opera, a true act of the character exposing herself) AG did none of this. AG and even more obnoxiously AN turned this into a showpiece for themselves where they were more interested in flouncing around the stage then communicating with Rodolfo. It was a harsh reminder of how things are a pale comparison of what was meant to be when the MET chose to show the clip of the love duet with Stratas and Carreras during the itnermission (I saw their performances twice and they are still the greatest Mimi and Rodolfo I have ever seen. Also loved Scotto and Freni’s Mimi. ) AG is a real step down from the great Mimi’s of the past and honestly I would prefer Domas or Hong as Mimi today. Found both of them much more effective than AG. I also got annoyed by her death scene. She is not a strong enough actress to carry it off my staying in bed under the blanket so she had to jump up into Rodolfo’s arms . I will say Vargas really inpressed me with his sense of commitment to the role. He was the real thing. But AG just never communicates with any of her fellow performers, makes no attempt at interacting with others. It is all about her. Ultimately she left me cold.
PerPieta, no one hear, to the best of my knowledge, and certainly not me, has advocated for bad productions, horrible stagings, stupid costumes, etc. However, what some of us have said, is that there is room for both traditional and non-traditional productions. Would you not agree that that is what we have said? Giselle is a wonderful ballet; is there only one way to choreograph it? Macbeth is a great play; is there only one way to stage it? In fact, Patrick Stewart (still one of the sexiest men alive – Jean-Luc, I wait for you!) is having a great success in NYC right now in an updated production of Macbeth. Sweeney Todd, in its original production, was terrific. Sweeney Todd, in its John Doyle revival, was equally terrific, but very different. Joel Grey and Alan Cumming (great name for a gay man, by the way) were too completely different MCs in two very different Cabarets; was one less valid than the other? If your issue is with bad updated productions, I’m with you. If your issue is with updated productions altogether, whether good or bad, I don’t know what to say. Art isn’t, and shouldn’t be, static.
That should be, “no one here”. Oops.
wait, did anyone else notice how during the HD broadcast interview, AG said something bitchy to fleming about her being a cover or something? hehe, what a bitch!!!
It is true that Gorgeous is more obsessed with BEING the diva than taking care of business. It’s the reason why she’s sung things inappropriate for her, and pushed her voice so much. I was pleasantly surprised that she sounded good on the broadcast on Saturday, but I also realized she sounded small, even on the radio. Some of this diva quality still pervades her singing, though I think it was a generally lovely account. Certainly the character could have been played a bit more honestly too. I’ll still like her voice though for its rich palatte of colors. I find her voice alluring.
jejeje – never noticed a bitchy moment, but I can’t always understand her English either.
Sanford – How I’d love to see Stewart in Shakespeare. He’s got such a great voice and speech cadence for it, and is an interesting actor (Star Trek aside – I mean, who can forget that one episode in which he started bawling in a ridiculous manner, lol).
I saw the Boheme HD too and hated Gheorghiu’s performance. Her fussy and fidgety arm movements and facial expressions drove me nuts in the first two acts. She calmed down somewhat after that, but at that point I didn’t care.
Vargas, while not a great actor, had an emotional directness, simplicity and sincerity that was much more moving.
Paddypig, whooever you are–I have to agree with your observations of AG’s Mimi. I too would preer to see Ms. Hong as the “little seamstress,” not an ungainly, course interp. Frankly, most of the regional Mimis I hear/see here in Kansas City ware dramatically superior to AG. Mimi and Rodolfo’s individual areias in Act I are conversational (as someone here has observed) not histronic. When I stage direct student Mimis, we have a conversation about the Mimi of Acts I & II, and the Mimi of Acts III & IV. She must have and innocents and lack of pretense in the earlier scenes. Of course, the standard I grew up with was the Bidu/Albanese Mimis. Buth were fine vocally, but Albanese certainly overplayed her coyness. Back in the 50s I saw a couple of Albanese/Bjuerling (sp) “Bohemes.” Most satisfying.
May I add one more thought? I served taught three years at a mission school in Romania. Saw a lot of inexpensive opera throughout Central and Eastern Europe. Short of sounding racist, I have to add that Angela has the course look, demeanor, and the less-than-gentle ways that Romanian women have. There is a self-absorption.