reviewer no longer to be confused by his notes
La Cieca’s cher public — and music lovers around the world — won’t have Bernard Holland to kick around any more. The veteran classical music reviewer is leaving the New York TImes after 27 years, though to us who read him regularly it has easily seemed twice that. Holland is one of about 85 NYT newsroom employees who have accepted a buyout offer intended to streamline the paper’s staff.
Remaining full-time classical music reviewers are Anthony Tommasini and Allan Kozinn; the paper also publishes reviews by James R. Oestreich (editor of classical music and dance) and freelancers Steve Smith and Vivien Schweitzer. [via musicalamerica.com]
Alastair Macaulay loves New York City Ballet. The company is going through a bad period right now, and it is Macaulay’s job to point that out. It is past time for Peter Martins to depart, but there is no one, anywhere, with the requisite knowledge of the Balanchine repertory to replace Martins. NYCB is caught between a rock and a hard place, so Martins is allowed to hang on for a while longer for lack of a better alternative.
Macaulay also loves Balanchine. He was the first British critic who acknowledged the superiority of Balanchine over Ashton, and his early-1990’s essay addressing and comparing both choreographers is probably the most important piece of dance writing over the last two decades.
I think Macaulay is by far the best of any of the Times arts critics. It was a real coup when the Times hired him–he is the finest observer of dance in the English-speaking world, by a long shot (I believe Arlene Croce considers herself to be retired)–and the hostility he has encountered in New York is very puzzling. He is head and shoulders above anyone who has ever written about dance for the Times, and head and shoulders above any other dance critic in New York (I do not consider the excellent Gottlieb at the Observer to be a full-time critic).
I have been told that Macaulay’s New York difficulties have been caused by the stringer who writes about dance for Newsday. She very much wanted the Times job, did not get it, and organized a very public cabal against Macaulay to try to drive him out. It hasn’t worked.
Macaulay is the crown jewel–the only jewel–of all Times critics.
You know, there was quite a bit about that Studer Lucia excerpt that was rather good. Yes, there was some off intonation, and the final e-flat was terrible, but as a totality it may have been an impressive or moving performance to those who were there. Plenty of tenors over the years have cracked climactic top notes in arias and still brought the house down afterwards, because most audience members are not there for the high notes alone. God knows how many times the Liebestod has ended on a flat f-sharp, and yet it could still have been a brilliant performance of the Liebestod, or of Isolde, and deserve a huge ovation.
I am in no way a Studer partisan, but I found plenty to admire in that MP3, and it strikes me as incredibly mean spirited to deride her out of hand over 1 note. I wasn’t there of course, maybe the whole performance was crap, but it sounds to me like it possibly wasn’t.
I promise I’m not Marshie using a psuedonym, and I am not going to be an apologist for her Hindemithon, or whatever other engagements she is currently undertaking.
Drew:
I wasn’t even aware that Macaulay was disliked or in “trouble” by other than myself–kinda interesting. I know NYCB hasn’t quite been the same since Mr. B was at the helm; and yes, Peter has made a real mess of things.
Macaulay –just in my opinion—doesn’t seem to help in pointing out the past glorys of the company whie harping on what he sees as its current ineptness. I’m in the audience a good deal of the time, and don’t see the dire straits that he does.
Still-that was a very informative and interesting defense you wrote
Cocky, I have to disagree with you here. The last F-sharp in the “Liebestod” is a written note; it has to be sung. In contrast, everything we hear in this excerpt is an interpolation, the traditional flute cadenza for high coloratura soprano, and not a single note of it is by Donizetti. The very nature of a cadenza is that it should be sung a piacere, tailored to the strengths of the specific singer.
In no way could Studer ever be considered a high coloratura soprano, and anyone could tell you within a measure or two that all the twittering tracery in alt was going to get her in trouble. She manages to squeeze out most of the traditional cadenza by tightening her throat and shutting down the breath. So the squeak that emerges at the very end is hardly a surprise. Nobody forced Studer to perform that cadenza or (for that matter) to sing Lucia in the first place. The filth quotient in this clip does not derive from lack of vocal ability but rather hubris in insisting on performing that ridiculous cadenza that in no way suits her voice — just because “everyone does it.”
La Cieca, I don’t see why it has to be that complicated. Yes, the woman sang a lot of repertoire that wasn’t suitable for her, and all of it she sang with a great deal of tension that truncated her career. But the overwhelming majority of listeners are unaware of the tension. So, questions of hubris aside, as a performance in and of itself, the e-flat excepted, it is not filth – it just isn’t ideal, and as a complete Lucia experienced live in the theatre, this excerpt leads me to suspect it may have been quite acceptable.
Oh Goodness, that Lucia was awful. I saw it with Peter G. Davis, and sitting behind me were two windows from The Rights O’ Man, I felt a kinship with them because of… sob! Cheryl never got it together the entire evening. I suspect she knew she was in for a disaster — she was tight and out of tune continually, she had no grasp of the style and her fioreture generally flew into different keys from the one she started with (up and down). La Cieca is wise, Lucia come scritto is not a really high role, nor is it all that florid. She could have come up with a high lyric version that would have suited her. Instead she dared all and came a cropper. And as far as the bravi one hears, they drowned out the boos, and also many people were too shocked by how bad it had ALL been to have a vocal reaction.
Far from a basher, I saw all four Elettras at the Met where she was spectacular (so was Rolfe Johnson who did the original Fuor del Mar). She was a good Donna Anna — maybe not Steber or Joan but good. I saw her do two Empresses in Munich, the first with PG Davis and his sunt, they decided not to return because of Ute, but hell I thought Cheryl gave the most spectacular account of the role I had ever heard (and I AM Leonie Rysanek) — at least from a vocal perspective. I also saw her Elisabeth at Bayreuth and she was thrilling, again not Leonie in act three (she’d rip your heart out however badly she had sung) and not Jesseye who was absolutely spectacular in her 36 month prime (but who scared the audience to death as she came running downstage at her first entrance, people thought she was going to pole vault the orchestra pit and kill hundreds).
That Tann at Bayreuth had the wonderful Richard Vasalle in it — that was his big break after years of covering and singing all sorts of things in smaller German theaters and now and again in Spain and Italy. But his son had AIDS and when he took a turn for the worse, Mr. Vasalle gave up almost three years of engagements to nurse him personally (not sure when his son would die, he had to cancel a lot of things in advance). After that his career lost momentum and, cast in a small role, he died on the Met stage — horrible.
Mrs JC – a shame she didn’t get it together the whole evening. If the wayward intonation we hear at the beginning of that MP3 was ubiquitous throughout, it must have been pretty unpleasant. I was wondering if it was a momentary lapse but obviously not.
In fact though, Lucia come scritto is a high role at a=440 in terms of tessitura if not actual notes, because the mad scene, for instance, was written in F major as far as I am aware. That makes for rather a lot of non-optional high cs, and sustained periods above or on the upper passaggio. Not ideal for Ms Studer, but I do agree that it isn’t ideal for her in e-flat either.
Very sad story about Richard Vasalle. You did make me laugh on the subject of Jessye though!
For a less prurient recap of Richard Versalle’s life, see:
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F0DE1DE1339F934A35752C0A9609
No question about it. That Eb was atrocious. On another occasion she might have pulled it off but certainly it was not to be that evening. So maybe she should have never sang Lucia. But at least she tried. No big deal. It happens. Still, a wonderful and very unique soprano, this Cheryl.
Back now to the topic of Bernard Holland. Why did the Times retain Anthony “strapping” Tommasini, in my opinion one of the worst “critics” I have ever encountered because of his obvious biases for certain pet-cause singers of his. Not to mention his endless homoerotic slants that discredit him. For sure, both La Cieca and Albert Innaurato ought to be hired by the Times immediately, provided they first get rid of Tony Tom.
Mrs. Claggart, I am laughing myself silly:
” She scared the audience to death as she came running downstage at her first entrance; people thought she was going to pole vault the orchestra pit and kill hundreds.”
I’d say that Jessye’s prime lasted at least 20 years, from the early 70s to the early 90s. She is in marvelous voice on the Met Ring video which was from the late 80s (1989?).
Can’t agree with you there — until the mid 80’s (83/4?) I thought her production was tight, ‘held’ and not infrequently uncertain. Certainly she had not secured the rolling middle range she had at her best, nor was she confident on top. At her best in those years she seemed like a contralto — for the difference in size and richness of the lower octave was striking. I’m not saying she was bad or in trouble, but finally I didn’t think much worked for her. One felt there was far more voice in there than she was letting out and she was compensating with too much reliance on the white tone (sic), and these strange mannerisms.
But something happened around the Troyens. By the time she got to doing both parts she was overwhelming, she threw caution to the winds, let her voice out, dared big high notes and didn’t care if they weren’t perfect and above all abandoned herself to the emotion. As I mentioned on Hell, her Jocasta alone was a stunning example of outpouring, there were some great Sieglindes (and some not so great), the first run of Ariadne was amazing except for the very top and one could forgive that, and there was a run of Gurrelieder(s) that was thrilling. But surely by 1990 all had begun to fade; she lost weight and her voice got smaller and less reliable. The mannerisms (amazingly absent in Berlioz) returned, and so did her physical inhibitions, something she had put aside when she was bigger for those few years, She also began to have intonational trouble which I had not noticed before. I am talking BTW about live performances, not CDs or LPs, though I thought a fair number of those were so-so. The last great thing she did was Bluebeard’s Castle and Erwartung. The Kundry (91?) was frankly poor in all ways. It didn’t help when in act three there were these daisies everywhere on stage and when she stepped on a group they gave under her, then popped up as she moved on — I have, sorry to say, never seen a funnier third act of Parsifal. And the Makropulos (94–95?) was a return to the bad old days. In that six or so years were some great concerts — I’ll never forget her handling of the end of the Ives dyptich ‘Memories’ — the second song climaxes with an endless winding vocalise in slow tempo — everybody breaks it for a breath — she didn’t, spinning the sound around the hall until one was sure it would break but it didn’t and it was gorgeous.
Caballe made a recording of Lucia where she sang it as written (but with flute rather than the glass harmonica). I believe Jesus Lopez Cobos conducted. As much as I love the “traditional” high coloratura in the part, I would rather hear the part well sung as written, than badly sung too high.
Mrs. Claggart: I only know early Jessye through recordings (almost exclusively from the studio). Your comments have made me want to pull out a early 70s live Aida and give it a listen. I think it’s the only live opera recording I have from her early years.
Sanford: Yes and Carreras was her Edgardo.
I bought a very good Jessye Les Troyens CD where she sang both Cassandre and Didon at the MET. I got it at Academy Records in Chelsea. It’s the 2/18/84 broadcast. I’m not sure who put these CDs together. The sound isn’t perfect – it’s a recording from the radio broadcast, with Peter Allen doing the narration, but the performance is thrilling. (The bonus on the CD is a live performance of La Morte de Cleopatre with the Phila Orch/Muti in a radio broadcast.)
On a side note, I first fell in love with opera while watching Jessye’s Sieglinde in the televised MET ring in the early 1990 or thereabout. My life was changed at that moment, with Jessye as my first love. (I hope she doesn’t mind my current infatuation with Stephanie Blythe.)
So, off topic.
SFO this summer – Das Rheingold, with Mark Delavan and Jennifer Larmore as Fricka. Better still, Ariodante with Susan Graham, Ruth Ann Swenson, and Ewa Podles.
New York on the other hand, has Die Soldaten, which is aparently a Disney ride. The seating is on tracks and moves throughout the performance.
Discuss
I’ve got a recording of Jessye singing Aida, taken from a live radio broadcast in France (Paris I guess) with Cossotto as Amneris. I think it is around 73 or maybe 74. She certainly does it, but she doesn’t seem comfortable in the part. Certain sections are too high and in the big moments her voice wasn’t really that big (at least at that time). But she does achieve what she has chosen to do, unlike some others we know of (see mp3 above).
I have a nice ticket to Ariodante in San Fran (and Nat in Lucia) Why do you bring it up, Sanford? Good news i hope as im looking forward to it…
I was reading the NYTimes this sunday and saw those tantalizing bits of casting news.
Well, Ewa is ill with bronchitis and has cancelled ; Sonia Prina will be taking her place. Also in the cast: Richard Croft and Veronica Cangemi.
“Veronica Cangemi” sounds like a great name for a commenter.
MALEDIZIONE! MALEDIZIONE!! MALEDIZIONE!!! I JUST A-FREAKIN-DORE EWA…
I can’t quite imagine anything by Zimmermann amounting to a “Disney ride.” But that said, I also can’t quite imagine why the moving tracks of audience seating are necessary. Has anyone seen the original production at the Ruhr Festival?
jfmurray3: I have a recording of that Jessye double-header in Troyens as well and she is simply stupendous. The 3-minute ovation she gets after “Adieu fiere cite” is huge. What’s amazing is that she sings her heart out throughout the whole performance, never holding back as Cassandre and with plenty of voice left for Didon. Too bad her Enee was Ed Sooter.
“It is past time for Peter Martins to depart, but there is no one, anywhere, with the requisite knowledge of the Balanchine repertory to replace Martins.”
What about Sean Lavery?
“I also can’t quite imagine why the moving tracks of audience seating are necessary.”
Probably not necessary, but possibly useful. Have you ever been in the Armory? It runs all the way from Park Avenue to Lexington Avenue. A big opera house if you’re wearing heels!
Hey thanks for the nod, above, jfmurray3. Nice of you to say!
Indeed Macaulay and his ilk were suckled on the venomous
tit of Arlene Crotchrot. Martins’s preservation of a wide spectrum of work by established masters is unique in ballet history. He is the world’s greatest living CLASSICAL choreographer and has a body of work of great distinction.
DirkVa: Sean Lavery has only been successful in developing male dancers. Lavery is a very serious dance master, and he works very closely and very successfully with Peter Martins, but neither Lavery nor Martins seems to have any luck in developing female dancers. That is probably the single most critical concern right now.
Jack: Not everyone thinks highly of Martins’ choreographic skills. What do you think is his finest ballet? I have no candidate to name, other than “none of the above”. And I am not a Martins hater, I assure you. He has excellent administrative skills and has kept the company in excellent financial health for a quarter century. Not everyone could have accomplished that.
Jack:
Company moral at NYCB under Peter M. has reached epically low levels…, he is , indeed a good fund raiser…but a horrible successor to the Balanchine Style..
I would love to see…but know it will never happen–Susanne Farrell take her rightful place, as custodian of Mr. B’s works…
I WOULD be very interested in hearing what you feel is a good Martins dance-work—and no flame intended to you…or for that matter, Mr. Martens (who danced like a dream , in his day….
I like Maury D’annato’s writing so much I might change my name to Jfmaury3. Seriously, I would love to see MauryD and JJ take over some opera writing at the Times.
On a side note – superb performance this evening by Kelly O’Connor in Lieberson’s Neruda Songs with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at Carnegie Hall. The last 3 sonnets in particular were exceptional. (Haitink and the CSO brass brought down the house in Mahler 1.)
Drew and brooklynpunk: Suzanne was – along with Callas and Gould – among the performing artists who, consumed my life and therein reigned supreme . As an administrator she is challenged on every level. She has no achievement of distinction in that realm.
As to Martins’s many masterworks, I offer another trinity -
‘Morgen’ ( Richard Strauss songs), ‘Les Petites Riens’ (Mozart -classicism of the highest order) and ‘Fearful Symmetries’ (John Adams – in worldwide repertory.) There are many, many more.
Save for a brief time in Baryshnikov’s tenure and extending into Balanchine’s dotage, company morale was never particularly ‘high.’ Many got the big thing – most did not.
(Many ballet goers and dancers STILL don’t.)
Lincoln Kirstein was fond of quoting Samuel Goldwyn -
‘Happy companies make bad movies.’
I don’t agree. I can imagine an enchanted order.