gelb gives up “ghosts”
Official word from the Met concerning rumored cutbacks in next season is that Ghosts of Versailles is to be replaced with a revival of Traviata, rolling over Angela Gheorghiu and Thomas Hampson. No word on what happens to Kristen Chenoweth, but Peter Gelb promises that the new productions are going ahead as scheduled. [via NYT]
Stemme is definitely the most appropriate casting they have offered in Lady Macbeth since this production premiered. sadly the opera will never sell well no matter who is in it. I understand Gelb approached Madonna and celine dion to play the part
Ghosts for me means the wonderful Sylvia McNair in a red dress – one the best things I heard her do.
With all due respect, Nina Stemme in Lady Macbeth is going to bring in the 23 people who want to hear Nina Stemme in Lady Macbeth. (For what it’s worth, I’m not one of them.) Ghosts, had Gelb’s publicity machine touted it as a major revival of an important contemporary American opera, would have, I think, brought in a curious, perhaps non-opera going crowd. And Gheorghiu and Chenoweth would have brought in their own separate factions. Not sure who really gives a shit about one more Traviata revival.
dcrazmo: I wonder if even the most highly talented publicity machine could make Ghosts seem “major,” “important” or for that mattter “contemporary.” Who the hell can be bothered to sit through four hours of dead people kvetching about the good old days under absolute monarchy?
all the tourists from jersey and long island will buy traviata. It sells. Sometimes we forget that 75% of the audience is probably seeing La Traviata, or Tosca or whatever for the first time. and btw, I survived the bashing on the other blog. Kind of fun to sit back and read teh hysteria.
One other thing to consider is that Ghosts will need a significant amount of rehearsal time, which costs lots and lots of money. Singers new to roles will need to be coached, the orchestra and chorus members will need to refamiliarize themselves or learn the opera and on top of all that, it’s a HUGE production. Like it or not, most of the parties involved can do Traviata in their sleep – singers, orchestra, – I bet that even the production dept has it down to a well oiled machine with fewer stagehands than when the production opened. It will need significantly less rehearsal time than the Corigliano. I was at the Ghosts world premiere and thought it was wonderful. Every time I’ve heard it since then I’ve liked it less and less, so having it off the schedule in no great loss to me.
Didn’t say that I think it’s all those things, but if you’re going to go to the trouble of reviving a commission, you have to sell it and/or tart it up somehow.
And, paddypig, is there really anyone on Earth who hasn’t seen Traviata 4000 times? Hard to believe…
sarah pallin has never seen it I am sure
Sarah Palin may never have seen Traviata, but I am sure she has seen a number of Russian operas from her house…
dcrazmo: I am pretty sure that had Ghosts gone one, the Met’s PR team would have found interesting and original ideas for pitching it. What seems apparent is that Gelb is getting some kind of cost/benefit projections that show that even with the slickest publicity, the show is not going to sell well enough to justify reviving.
And, as for me, Traviata is definitely worth seeing again if and only if there is a great Violetta in the revival. Today, one of the few great Violettas in the world is Gheorghiu, so I will not fail to attend.