you’re an old smoothie
Plácido Domingo will sing the role of Maurizio in Cilea’s Adriana Lecouvreur at the Metropolitan Opera for six performances in February 2009, replacing Marcelo Ãlvarez, who, as we heard before, is jumping into the title role in the Met’s new production of Verdi’s Il Trovatore.
As the press release from the Met notes, “With these performances of Adriana Lecouvreur, Domingo returns to the role of his Met debut, forty years ago on September 28, 1968. Since then, Domingo has only sung the role of Maurizio once at the Met, in 1983.”
And, wouldn’t you know it, there’s YouTube documentation of that performance. Not only does Domingo sing “L’anima ho stanca,” he even kvells a bit with Beverly Sills, the Renée Fleming of her day.
[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/mijdI0dIfyM" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]
Generally, I find that of the music I’ve heard from today’s living composers, I much prefer the symphonic efforts over the operatic ones. In fact, often the operas that I don’t find particularly successful still have great orchestral scores. I just find that most opera composers today don’t write very well for the solo voice. I also believe that most opera fans use the solo vocal writing as their entry point into an opera. So, if they don’t like the vocal writing, they shut their mind to the rest of the work (or can only grudingly appreciate it).
It’s not just about hummable tunes; it’s about knowing how to write for the solo voice.
Kashania: That is true. Much of modern vocal writing does seem odd and UN-vocal, as if they are writing for a horn, or a flute, rather than a voice with words. It’s as if they don’t understand, or don’t care, what voices do well and what they don’t. And then they wonder why responses are lukewarm. It’s the equivalent of asking an actor like Jack Nicholson to play a role like Obi wan Kenobi in Star Wars. Sure, he’ll sign on for the check, and you could force/drag him through it with lots of rehearsal time to hash out a performance but it wouldn’t REALLY work out properly.
To me “organised noise” will never be music because it nether connects with the soul- nor does it move my emotions.
It it looks a duck- sounds like a duck… chances are, it’s a duck! …and when the composer dies, it will still be a duck!
I’m with Kashania on this too – I take every opportunity I can get to hear new instrumental music, but I am more circumspect with new vocal music and opera, because 9 times out of 10 (but not 10 times out of 10, mark you) as has been said, the vocal writing is terribly unsympathetic and so it fails to come accross well. That said, I don’t want the art form to stagnate and so I do try to support performances of new operas.
I find it very strange to see Placido spoken of as though he is just another singer- he’s way more than that and then some. There’s not another tenor in history who has given more of himself to opera and music – more performances, more concerts, more roles, more recordings, more films – worked in more opera houses, while still finding time to assist young singers, charities etc., and for all this, he remains a very decent, approachable human being.
The man hardly stops working- and the longevity of his voice is testament to the fact he has done a lot of things right.
I think to a certain extent he has been there so long and been so reliable, we almost take him for granted. We seldom hear about all the projects he has been involved with – but the list is quite staggering- all this in addition to his own performing schedule-it’s been an incredible record second to none.
As far as dismissing his up and coming performances of Adriana with that “too old” line- it brings to mind the performances of Mme Olivero doing Tosca when she was in her 70′s. The standing ovations were incredible and it was either in Tosca or Adriana that she achieved the record of having the longest ovation and curtain calls in history!
With a solid record like Placido’s – I wouldn’t write him off at all yet. If he says he will do something- he usually does- and WELL!
I would suggest its a good time to remind ourselves just how great an artist he is- and stop speaking of him as though he is “just another old tenor”- because nothing could be further from the truth.
Not everybody feels that way about him Ruxton, it is as simple as that. But fortunately for him, and for his admirers, it seems more people agree with you than with me.
Quite right, Kashania and CK: the vocal writing is poor and uninteresting in Birtwistle, Saariaho, Ades etc. I enjoyed the concert piece Gawain’s Journey much more than Gawain itself.
I’ve only heard a few honourable exceptions in new works over about 20 years: MacMillan’s The Sacrifice, Maw’s much-maligned Sophie’s Choice (which gets better by the act) and Adams’s Nixon in China (try Pat’s monologue for beauty of word-setting, and indeed beauty of text).
Cocky – you earlier asked the question why he is lauded so much and to that question you only need to look at the facts, some of which I stated in my post based on his achievements- more roles, more performances etc etc I’m not even talking about whether you liked his voice or not.
In every regard he has been such an exceptional artist – hardworking and going across the board. He has been a stunning ambassador for the music that we love- and not because he has only been a “stadium show pony” but because he’s gone “outside” the opera scene many times “to reach the masses” while still never neglecting the opera houses and still chalking up record numbers of performances.
While Pavarotti virtually abandoned the opera stage a very long time ago (to do the stadiums etc) Domingo was still doing something like 200 performances in the opera houses and concert halls – plus the stadiums. It’s very fitting that he deserves every accolade going.
He’s one of the few artists that has actually made our world more recognisable to the masses than almost any other I can think of. If our great ladies are Godesses – Domingo surely has to be one of our Gods.
Ps: of course 200 performances a year.
To me Ruxton, it adds up to quantity, not quality. Sure, a hell of a lot of performances, and a hell of a lot of roles. What does that say about the artistic accomplishments though? The volume of his output is impressive in a sense, but it doesn’t make him great in itself.
I would rather like him than not, really I would, partly because he is so ubiquitous.