n’est ce plus ma chat?
La Cieca thanks all her cher public who participated in our first chat of the season.Â
Welcome, cher public, to Opening Night in Exile, a chat on the subject of the Metropolitan Opera’s gala first night. The room opens at 6:00 pm under the firm but fair guidance of tonight’s guest host, Enzo Bordello. Simply click on the icon below to begin your chat.
NOTE: this chat is now finished. La Cieca will see you all soon at another chat.
(If a new window does not open with the chat screen, please click here.)
The performance is broadcast on Sirius Satellite Radio and directly from the Met’s web site via RealPlayer.
Note, too, that La Cieca will be liveblogging directly from not-quite Lincoln Center (i.e., the videocast at Fordham U.) throughout the evening. Be sure to check back at parterre.com frequently for her latest reports.
Caro Cieca, this is the first time I have participated in a live blog during a broadcast. It was fun! Thanks for arranging it.
Gorgeous, Loved it! Voight in Times Square, Graham elsewhere;
Fleming so unGodly beautiful, so superb. Love HDlive, saw it in Florida, dynamics a little loud.
Dynamics a little loud?
I’ve been at many of these hd broadcasts and they are all horribly overmiked. It’s impossible to form any opinion whatsoever about the voices or the orchestra from the sound that’s coming into the theatre.
And the constant moving of the cameras and quick cutting makes it impossible to enjoy the action on stage .
Tonight’s broadcast was the worst yet.
What a depressing spectacle.
Saw the event at my local LA rolodex-plex. 1st time – I will definitely go again. Strauss fit her best, I think. She looked swell in everything, though I disagree with the whole concept of a separate designer from the production’s. Vargas not as thrilling as I would have thought. Hostae Graham & Voigt more entertaining than Hugh Downs used to be. Too much red carpet crapola, though… Bet Susie threw back the rest of Martha’s cocktail and two more before Capriccio… If opera is to remain a live theatre art form rather than a bunch of old recordings, its salvation lay in access via new media for new audiences to provide financial support. It’s good for opera. My theatre was full except for 3 front rows – regular transmissions sell out a couple weeks ahead.
Lyndon, you are a sour old poorsport (as we used to call people like you). Balance and sound dynamics were excellent here in Kansas City. If there was a transmission problem, it was so slight it was not worth mentioning. We did not get subtitles on until midway through the first Traviata scene. I did not like the cuts to Times Square during a scene. When I saw a bank bust moving news sign, it jolted me back to reality too fast. Regardless, it was an opera opportunity I would have never had without H.D., and with my depleted finances. Thanks Mr. Gelb. Renee, you were ravishing. Robet Lloyd, I liked you lots. Your french diction, as well as voice, were excellent.
P. S. I forgot to ask, what was meant by the interview comment about Vargas stepping in at the last minute? As far as I’m concerned, his Lenski in “Eugene Onegin” is far superior to what we saw/heard lst night. Vargas is a sweetheart, but he is not as convincing a lover as are some of his Latin colleagues. Lyndon, excuse my overheated remark above. I admit, the sound was often less than perfection.
wanted to note that while I don’t know how it came off via telecast, in the house the Manon aria was truly awful – she clearly has lost her fioratura technique, as well as her alt top – it was a sorry collection of mewing, straight tone, and strangled screaming in alt (and she never actually got to either of the D’s that are required). If this is any indication of the current state of her bel canto ability, I’d say that the upcoming Lucrezia in DC will be iffy, and that the Met should plan on cancelling that new production of Armida – I can’t imagine her singing Rossini at this point.
No, GiacoPucci, you’re quite right. I am rather a poorsport about this.
But in all of the broadcasts I’ve been to, the sound is turned up to such a volume that there are no pianissimos or even pianos, and there is consequently a very short range of dynamics. Everything is just mezzoforte.
I know what the sound is really like in a theatre, but how about those that are encountering opera for the first time in these broadcasts? Aren’t they being trained to expect to hear this unrealistic very amplified sound?
Don’t get me wrong – I’m first in line to buy tickets to the local broadcast; and I do appreciate the broadcast for what it’s worth. It just irks me that the sound is so distorted.
Or am I crazy?