catch our act at the met
So you doyenne may better know the minds of her cher public, she asks you to participate in the following online poll. Which Metropolitan Opera performances this year do you consider the most sizzling Sternstunden, the not-to-be-missed evenings of musico-dramatic madness, or (to put it another way) those nights when you know everyone will be there? So take your pick, my dears, and remember that you are allowed to select as many as five performances before clicking the “vote” box. The poll is right after the jump.
Questions? Opinions? Predictions? Or just general discussion? The floor is open, cher commenters: what’s the new Met season going to be like?
I’m actually watching Doctor Atomic twice, but just because I adore Gerald Finley. Yeah, the opera is pretty dissapointing, but I am curious about how they’re going to do the new production. I’m also watching Faust and Travatore for Le page and McVicar, Salome and Thais for the singers. I voted Sonnambula because, well, everybody else is going.
ack!
sorry about the there/their error in my earlier post … with advancing decrepitude, I find myself increasingly screwing up my homophones online …
that line would have glossed quite differently in a younger day, i assure one and all.
“What’s the buzz (if any) on Damnation de Faust? [snip] Are Relyea and Giordani up to it?”
Relyea is a solid, musical singer with very decent French. He will make a deluxe Wagner. Plus, his strapping presence onstage guarantees a happy Tony T.
But I keep waiting for them to announce what big star they have hired to bring a huge personality and a memorable voice to MephistophelesРhard to step into the shoes of its early New York exponents, Pol Plan̤on and Maurice Renaud!
I checked four: Thais; Giovanni (what, nobody wants to see Schrott?); Sonnambula (I still have Dessay fever); Faust. Then I clicked the vote button and *smacks forehead* immediately realized I forgot to vote for my Dolora *smacks forehead again*
For the first time in the 12 or so years I’ve been paying attention, I actually think we have a more appealing season coming up in London than the one in New York. That said, I may well nip over for Thais and Rusalka, both operas I love that one seldom gets the chance to see. I usually enjoy Renee, so they look like good nights out to me.
Why anybody would want to see that Sonnnambula is beyond me – I agree, total snooze fest, and Dessay is just wrecked, a one trick pony who can only sort of half do her trick these days.
Poster #21…in my opinion…I don’t think any of the operas or productions are “hot” tickets. Some will have more appeal than others….but there is NOTHING there that I can’t live without.
“But that won’t be enough if you hate Sondra. Personally, I liked the way she sang in Chicago.”
I heard her in the dress rehearsal for Trittico in LAO just last night. It was my first exposure to her, and while she was not my cup of tea, (she was a bull in a china shop as Angelica), I can see why folks either love or hate her. Otherise, aside for some (minor) directing choices that I thought were off the mark here and there, LAO’s Trittico is impressive overall and I think the locals are in for a treat. It was still a rehearsal, but I liked what I *saw* here more than what I saw at the Met’s HD a year ago. We’ll see how it plays once they go all out and in full voice.
I heard Radvanovsky on a Met broadcast in Trovatore. I was only half listening as I cooked but eventually she had my full attention. I was blown away by her.
I know some people here have said she has pitch problems- not evident in that performance- but is that all people object to? She sounded the real deal to me.
You didn’t see her in Stiffelio in London, Armerjacquino? The voice, in itself, was impressive, but rather tense so that it sounded very driven. It was all rather monochromatic and loud. But what bothered me most of all was her phrasing, or lack thereof. She was about as musical as a brick – there was just no heart or grace. Pitch problems didn’t really strike me that night, but they were in evidence on the Met broadcast of Ernani earlier this year.
I didn’t notice any pitch problems with her last night at all; I just thought she was a bit much for Angelica, and her voice struck me as raspy. Tosca, Trovatore, Elena, maybe even Turandot? I could see that. Not Mimi, or Liu, or Angelica. But the test audience went wild for her last night and gave her a standing ovation, I have to grant her that. The man next to me was wiping tears at the end of Senza Mamma and then applauded like crazy.