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]
Posts 29 and 4 – on your marks now :
http://www.amazon.de/gp/offer-listing/B00004R6KV/ref=dp_olp_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1226689373&sr=8-3
it seems that you can get ONE VHS copy from Germany (bizarrely imported from the UK – where there is none available).
It seems you can get a DVD from Amazon Japan – but my Japanese is a little rusty….
Anyway – happy hunting!
sorry – meant Posts 29 and 34
with all the pros and cons re Gherghiou and Fleming as Violetta, does anyone recall the lucious voiced, beautifully sung and touching Violetta of the late Marianna Christos at NYC.
Who the hell can be bothered to sit through four hours of dead people kvetching about the good old days under absolute monarchy?
Yeah, that was pretty much my take on it. I think many of the commenters have a point — replacing Ghosts with Traviata makes sense. The reason Traviata appears on the roster year after year is that it sells. It’s a simple, obvious business decision in very tough, scary times. A Gheorghiu/Hampson Traviata ought to sell very well. If you’re all so upset about Ghosts, then maybe you should send Mr. Gelb NICE letters saying you regret but understand his decision but REALLY HOPE that he’ll consider a revival at a later date when our economic outlook is better.
and regardless of how you feel about the Gheor-gon (and I obviously don’t like her), her portrayal of Violetta is by far her most successful outing – it’s not that the voice is spectacular – Stoyannova & Hong were far superior vocally. It’s the overall performance that is really quite good, and sells tix.
Dont forget Racette AND Radvanovsky sing Violetta too…
“Not sure who really gives a shit about one more Traviata revival.”
Maybe connoisseurs of the lyric art who venerate one of the masterpieces of operatic history?
Just guessing here.
All of the postings about what operatic losses the depression may cause have made me wonder why many of them seem to be relatively recent innovations. While there have always been new operas there hasn’t always been such a general interest in contemporary opera. I never thought twice about going to a tired old repertory museum piece opera for the umpteenth time when I was a young opera goer. It never bothered me that said tired opera was done in a ratty, old, stand and sing production.
I enjoy much of the current trend for eye/mind candy (expensive) productions. I have been involved in performing new/recent music for almost my entire musical career. I generally come to a new piece with an open mind, even if I don’t leave it with one.
For me, while the current generation of singers is generally well trained and performs as dutifully as their various abilities will allow, the general level of artistry has fallen. In the past I could see Aida (insert the name of your own favorite vilified repertory opera here) for the umpteenth time because, for me, the artistic level of the singers/conductors/orchestral musicians kept me involved in the drama that was happening in the music.
It was only later, when the well-meaning but somewhat dull and inept singers started finding their way into the casts of the prominent opera houses, that I found myself looking at my watch wondering how much longer before Mimi coughed her last or noticing that the church that Santuzza could no longer enter looked like the back alley at my neighborhood 7-11.
I’m not saying that there aren’t exceptions to this. I still find that there are current performances that are quite enjoyable. (Last Wednesday I saw a very enjoyable and quite well sung Cenerentola in our own little Austin, Texas. Bravo to Sandra Piques Eddy and colleagues for such an outstanding evening.) It just seems to be that a lot of money has been poured into opera production to make up for what’s missing at its core.
Comments 13 and 16: While I suspect you may a have a point about posters and their knowledge of the Ottocento, here is one who does know something about it. While I have never posted anything about Fleming and her performance of this repetoire I do have some issues with her treatment of the music of that period.
La Cieca screamed:
” 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?”
Brava DIVA! I can’t believe that anyone has anything good to say about this piece of meretricious, derivative claptrap, despite a few memorable characterizations the worst kind of gay right-wing nostalgia for l’ancien regime. The sensibility is approximately that of Nancy Reagan’s pal Halston.
To be honest, I will take anything by Corigliano over anything by Adams or Glass. I am disappointed that Ghosts will not be revived. I adore Traviata, but I stand by what I say: Gheorghiu is not my idea of what Violetta should sound like. I prefer a soprano with a fuller sound, almost a spinto, with an easy top range and flexibility: the kind of voice that was cast in the part 40-50 years ago and beyond. I cannot stand to sit through Gheorghiu’s quivering vibrato, the shallow and over-darkened timbre, her efforts at “over-acting,” and her inability to ever do anything stylistically correct or in tune. The only thing I’ve ever heard her sing that was actually worth hearing is her “Pleurez mes yeux.” I will have to offer kudos for that.