key mi frena in tal momento
For those who are interested, the following clip will help establish the tonality of Rolando Villazòn’s final aria last night.
(This clip was sent to La Cieca by a member of the cher public who prefers to remain anonymous. The clip is provided for discussion purposes only.)
well, unless there’s a modulation between the orchestral intro and the aria itself, he sang it a half-tone higher than Bergonzi in this clip:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJT8venvXP0
Is it me, or do some Parterre Boxers like singers to fail?
well, that’s certainly down a half-step. brilliant heading, btw.
I know that the ending is sometimes transposed down, but I’m not familiar with precedents for the transposition starting at the beginning.
Laughing my head off at that stupid clip!
Incandescent!
well, could we get some more excerpts from the actual singing? For discussion purposes obviously.
wasn’t he announced as sick? why such unnecessary glee?
Because Pierre, it sounds suspicious. He relied on an allergy announcement in London even though he had been working at the theater for weeks. He has been using the health excuse for a while.
Having the entire act, or at least the entire scene dropped down is a sign that his voice is deteriorating. Villazon and I are the same age, and we are both tenors; trust me the scene is a bitch to sing, but the tessitura is not unsustainable. There are issues there…
Aren’t transpositions planned in advance?
Perfidia: I would think that most transpositions are planned in advance. But a transposition that is done as often as the half-step in the last act of Lucia would be easy enough to get together on short notice.
That said, I would assume that Villazon generally sings the scene transposed down, sick or not sick, so in this case probably it was planned from the beginning.
Also RV didn’t get to NYC until the middle of January because he was singing 3 Verdi Requiems in Rome. The dates were 9/11/13 of January 2009. On the 16th he sang a concert with Terfel in Paris.
Then he comes to NYC. To rehearse his “comeback” which was barely 10 days later. Sounds to me like total vocal exhausation already. Why keep such a punishing schedule when you are already totally stressed vocally?
Wasn’t it that great baritone Placido Domingo who said “if I rest, I rust”. Maybe Villazon is out of wd-40.
I am trying to post the Mad Scene from last nights performance. It is on youtube but for some reason it won’t accept it.
“Aren’t transpositions planned in advance?”
Yes, well in advance. It’s a touchy issue.
Feldmarschallin:
La Cieca will work on the YouTube issue.
thank you darling Cieca. The e flats fall completely short of the note by quite a bit. Sloppy coloratura and what happened to the trill? No ovations for poor Anna.
Funwithiago – get your old talons off Placido. A tenor with a heavier tone is still a tenor, you old crone.
Bergonzi, one of the finest tenors and a frequent Edgardo, always sang the whole of the last scene (Tombe degl’avii… Tu che a Dio spiegasti..) in the transposed version. He wasn’t the only one; Several other tenors of the same period did as well.
As La Cieca says, he (RV) may even sing it always transposed as a matter of course and if he is either ill or allergic, or exhausted, or a hypocondriac, or whatever he is, then it sounds like a good idea to do so.
Or else cancel the performance… But then he’d be crucified for that too. Poor sod.
This is amateurish singing.
It’s so not the same without a glassharmonica! I guess they didn’t care this time. It’s nice to witness Anna’s return, but after having heard Dessay and Damrau, let’s just say it won’t make history…
Tweedeldee: The glass harmonica was there. Acuti wasn’t.
It seems that Sutherland was the last great Lucia.
There was one fine moment at 8:34 but the rest is substandard. If she had sung like this at an audition, she would’ve been asked to stop, even at the Westchester Grand Opera.
And what’s with that scream at 5:51? That was Dessay’s “creation”, how original Ms. Netrebko!
Well, the voice is still lovely, isn’t it? I don’t think she has an E-flat anymore and should drop the note (even in her Elviras, the E-flat was strained). Personally, I don’t mind if a Lucia lacks an E-flat so long as she sings the other 99% well. This singing isn’t disastrous but doesn’t have much to offer aside from an attractive timbre. It’s not really bel canto singing; it’s managing one’s way through a bel canto role.
Is the link to the clip gone? I can’t find it anywhere? THANKS!
well, considering the many wrong notes that she sang (in my country we call them Pedras) I was surprised at actually how well the voice sounds in some areas, I would say the color suits the role, if not the technique. This whole thing was a mess.
As for Sutherland being the last great Lucia, she was certainly awesome, but Massis has nothing to apologize to her. Laura Claycomb and Mariela Devia certainly could held their own in the face of Sutherland too.
Gruberova was (and is) certainly a great Lucia.
Andrea Rost for a few years anyway, was very effiective. I heard Mosuc is good but do not know her work.
Feldmarschallin, trill? I never hear Netrebko trill before. That was my main objection to her otherwise charming Juliette a couple of seasons back.
A couple of other comments:
I gather by the photographs that the Met held a full dress rehearsal for this run of four Lucias. I’m glad they did it, but that’s rather unusual in mid-run, isn’t it?
Sutherland was an extraordinary Lucia but not necessarily the last one. Scotto and Gruberova were excellent too.
I never thought Netrebko capable of doing justice to Lucia, but even if she had been, need to remember that she gave birth a few weeks ago. Pregnancy – like menopause – can have enormous effects on female singers. Scotto lost her facility with the topmost notes after the birth of her second child around 1972 and then rapidly dropped her coloratura roles. It’ll be interesting to see if Netrebko continues trying to sing the bel canto roles now. I wouldn’t be surprised if she were to drop the attempts at the high e flats for the broadcasts. We’ll see.
Who’s covering for Villazon?
I’m amazed- for all the “great collective knowledge” in here, and various criticism of Nebs’ singing of this role not one person has mentioned the thing that is most obvious to anyone with a good ear- in this clip she is actually FLAT as in “under the note” with two E flats.
The first time she manages to slide up into it eventually- but flat is flat is flat.
Last time a note cut right through me like that was Debbie’s final note in T & I – she also missed it and the queen who went with me to see it diced and sliced me for saying so later. Makes me think there are a lot of people about who aren’t as pitch perfect as others.
Several commenters mentioned Netrebko’s failure to reach the e flats. I have a terrible ear and certainly noticed but didn’t think necessary to mention it again.
Karnal, I think all of us noticed it….read the thread under “the beautiful room is half empty”
As for the photos….they were from the LA Lucia I believe so i don’t think there was a full dress.
For me bel canto boils down to two things: Can I relax and enjoy the singing and can the singing excite me—whether through virtuosity, beauty of phrasing, etc. Netrebko’s could not. The coloratura need not be spoken of and the cantabile moments were invariably marred by an unsteady piano note or hiccuped entry.
please, it’s not just that she’s nowhere near the Ebs, it’s that she’s out of tune thruout the entire scene, due to the unequale scale of her voice – flat here, sharp there, completely missing 1/2 step arpeggi, etc – her voice has no evenness of production, so she can’t be in tune with herself or the orchestra thruout the piece. Yikes this was awful.
Massis is acceptable but her sound next to Sutherland’s is minuscule. Sutherland was a virtuosic soprano, please leave her alone, don’t put her in any sentence with anyone else. Sills was the only one who came close, even if not that close. The tops were thin and hollow in comparison. Claycomb? lol. Devia’s a great singer but she sings everything so slow and carefully, bel canto is about speed and effortlessness, acting with the voice and virtuosity. Gruberova is excellent, but hers isn’t a phenomenal musical brain. But she has been (along with Anderson) the most interesting Lucia since Sutherland.
Remembering Netrebko last night, I can’t help but note how committed Sutherland was, after giving us all those incredible dead-on centered Ds and Es for 30 years, she would still fall to the stage twice in the mad scene, against her doctors’ advice. Her falls alone were worth the price of admission, THAT’s real opera acting.
iltenordigrazia- I take your point- because one post of Fieldmarschallin’s I somehow overlooked. To those of us who do have very accurate ears, there is nothing that stands out more when a note is “under” or “over”- it kinda cuts right through ya.
Sorry Lindoro – most heavyweight opera lovers including singers and administrators would totally disagree with your remarks about the last great Lucia. It WAS Joan, fullstop. The ladies you mention were certainly good- wonderful even, but even Marilyn Horne said she was totally blown away by Joan when there was “not one note out of place- it was truly great, great singing”.
I agree that she’s out of tune through a lot of the singing. And sometimes, the tone straightens out until there’s no vibrato, which to me is like nails down a blackboard. i also agree, though, that the color of her voice would suit Lucia, if she only had the technique.
Beautifully said Dorion- and spot on.
Karnal Jones:
“for those of us who do have very accurate ears”, those notes were not just flat, they were not even in the approximate vicinity of an Eb, barely even a Db, and as such so obvious in their failure they were not worth mentioning.
You don’t get “extra point” for spotting them, even if you “do have very accurate ears”…
Are we all forgetting that this is her second engagement after having a child? I can’t even imagine what that would do to your concept of support. She scheduled this Lucia prior to having the baby and maybe it was an ill advised move to go through with doing the performance if she realized that she was not totally back vocally but come on….cut her some slack. To judge her Lucia from this one performance is a bit out of line. As I remember her Lucia has been glorious in the past.
She sounds tired and bored. When she’s *on* she’ makes some beautiful sounds but I think she should give up the bel canto, have never felt it was a good fit for her……
Sean the baby comes out the fanny not the mouth
Karnal, your American readers all just went “huh?” Remember, “fanny” means something different to us.
I don’t know about everyone else but…..i use my whole body to sing. not just my mouth….
Ah right Pavel- thanks for that. They say “beaver” don’t they, whereas we say “pussy” or “twat”. These are such weighty issues- we do need to sort them hehe
Yikes, tough crowd… I agree that the E flats were very D-ish and are probably a bad idea at this stage, and also that there are some moments of dodgy tuning (far fewer than this thread would lead us to believe) but I think there’s some lovely singing here too. It’s certainly not an amateurish mess, and before you accuse me of being a flag-waver I should add that I can take Netrebko or leave her. As for the scream ‘belonging’ to Dessay- surely it’s part of the production?
Has Villazon ever sung the scene in key? I remember seeing clips of the final scene from when he was younger and it was already down a 1/2-step. I think transposition is perfectly acceptable as all voices are different. However, Villazon has a light voice, on the lighter side for this role, and never should have needed the transposition by this point in his life. I am not sure why the Met thought he was the best choice.
Before I discovered La Cieca, I had no idea how much off-key singing was done at the Metropolitan Opera. Boy was I naive.
let’s face it:
Netrebko is singing wrong FACH.
Villazon is singing wrong.
Well I guess the media pressure on Netrebko is probably too great for her to take the “lyric soprano route” with this role, as others have done (Ricciarelli, Caballe) and eschew all the interpolated coloratura and sopracuti (maybe also compensate by bumping the keys up to the original d-F in the mad scene? Anyone know if people do this?) Not quite as flashy, but in my opinion has the potential to be equally valid dramatically.
And no mention of Moffo’s awesome Lucia, so I’ll do it.
the “scream” does not belong to the production…as neither Ms. Massis nor Ms. Damrau were STUPID enough to do it. That belonged to Ms. Dessay alone who (being the “actress” that she is) felt we needed to “hear” more of her madness.
well as most of us know, or the ones who have scores at least, the high notes are not written by Donizetti. Most but not all Lucias have sung them to some extent. Lucias who great upper extensions like Callas or Sutherland have sung the high notes and others like the ones mentioned above haven’t. So she could get away with singing the Lucia with the acuti and few would notice the lack of trill or the smudged coloratura. She isn’t Damrau who comes from the high coloratura and who can easily popp out a high E flat effortless. Even Dessay today has to strain and put effort into those e flats and then they are more or less screams. Massis has them as well but the voice is not very large and I know how much the Met audiences like their large voices. Nothing wrong with a good b flat ending a duet and preferable to a flat high note anyday.
there are tons of lucias who screamed at this point even before dessay… to say this BELONGS to sombeody just to insult another singer is nonsense.
Meanwhile, Voight and Forbis are sounding fine to me in T&I from Chicago, streaming live on WFMT.
They sound fierce to me on FMT, but that could be the miking. More as matters progress.
What is really strange is the lack of ensemble between Trebs and the flautist. Could it have been that the lovely Anna did not want to make time for a special cadenza rehearsal?
Did the Russian divette not want to deal with the glass harmonica in the cadenza?
What was that shiek in the bridge section before Spargi? Something inflicted / suggested by the director.
Close, but no cigar!
I own 30 Lucia recordings and I never heard that silly scream, who are you fooling? That’s Dessay’s brilliant “contribution” to bel canto and hers only.
Yes Donizetti didn’t write Ds or Es but if they’re cut, the score must be sung in its original key. Trebs can’t do that either. Andrea Rost did it at the MET in 1999 and Caballé recorded it with Carreras.
The whole score is always transposed down so the final high notes can be added, a practice that started even before Melba’s time. Lily Pons sang it in the original key AND added Es and Fs to the finales.
gee whiz, fellows! It’s not just that Netrebko missed her e-flats, she just does not have them. In the Mad Scene both were literal screams — not balanced tones on the breath, flat yes, but also ugly — not musical sounds. The rest of her voice sounded good! She was clearly unnerved by the first bad Eb, and her singing thereafter suffered, then the denoument came and, alas, she held it too long. Transpose, sing as written, or don’t sing the role – those are her options as I see it.
Pretty clear to me Lucia is not a role for A. N. Damrau, with coaching, could sing rings around anyone else just now. And she has the amplitude of tone, as does Netrebka — up to a point.
Sounds like she swallowed some of Schrott’s tainted jizz before singing this aria!
Netrebko made it to the second high Eb, but soon aftter, slowly flatted down to a Db. It seems to me that when she felt her voice start to give, she would have stopped. But NOOOOO, “let’s just see if I can fix it.” So we get the Poulenc edition of Lucia: ending on a sustained flatted 7th.
She was NEver a bel canto singer. The Norina was heinous and Puritani was a pudding.
Our friend’s review is out on the NYT’s website:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/28/arts/music/28luci.html
This is my favourite line:
“At one point he (Villazon) turned an aborted high note into a dramatic coup.” Really!?
“Also RV didn’t get to NYC until the middle of January because he was singing 3 Verdi Requiems in Rome. ”
The horror …
“let’s face it:
Netrebko is singing wrong FACH.
Villazon is singing wrong.”
Perfectly said!
those reviews for that Verdi Requiem in Rome weren’t all that positive for RV. Of the 4 principles his were the worst. Regardless, EMI recorded this Requiem.
Just the two cents of someone who was there last night. In Act I, Trebs seemed a bit nervous, or uncharacteristically unsure of herself when she came out. I felt (based on absolutely nothing, except the feel) that she anticipated some sort of applause when she first came out (which Villazon received in fact upon his entrance). There was none and it seemed to be an awkward silence (again, completely my feeling). She tentatively sang her first aria and was not perfect but had a lot of warmth, good phrasing. At the end of “Quando rapito” she nailed, and held the D. It was all going just fine. Then when Villazon first started to crack, she completely adjusted her singing in their duet. It really threw her off, which those of you more knowledgeable when it comes to voice, stage, etc, would be better able to speak to. The two are obviously close, and she didn’t want to drown him out. There were issues, the most obvious being when he kissed her to stop her at the very end of the act. The second act was good, much more suited to her voice, until the obvious near death of Villazon’s throat. By the Mad Scene, Trebs frankly seemed worn out, as if she had nothing left, vocally obviously but certainly not physically as she usually does. This is sounding like more of an apologia than I wanted it to be, but it is just how I experienced it.
There was a small applause for Trebs, about 20 seconds into her entrance, which was weird. The same for Villazon, maybe a bit louder, but I wouldn’t look too much into it.
Re Lucia – I posted comments # 71 in another column but having just read the NYT review on this website just want to reiterate again I thought of all the singers the most disappointing was Kwiechen particularly in Scene 1, Act 1 – blustery, no freshness of voice which he was pushing, no lyricism just alot of bellowing – why does he bother with these roles? He was a bit better in the second act with Netrebko when one could, on occasion, hear the lyrical voice which so impressed as Don Giovanni in Vienna some years ago. But the NY Times liked him. Netrebko and Villazon had many merits and at least have bright atractive voices – though she faltered in the mad scene (no Gruberova here) and his voice had a few very obvious bad patches (particularly after the Sextet when he croaked, paused, cleared his throat and then began the note again). Until the mad scene I quite liked Netrebko but her mad scene fell a bit flat (in more ways than one).
Cyrano – in the old days it was rather traditinal to applaud the harp solo just before Lucia’s first entrance and then the applause would linger as Lily Pons appeared. There was a scattering of applause at that moment last night but it did not lead to a groundswell, just trickled away. Actually the applause for the mad scene was rather tepid and not of great duration – not at all the ovation that a Sutherland or Gruberova always experienced and Gruberova indeed still does.
Bill – Thanks for the information about the Pons Lucia’s. And I certainly know/noticed the lack of applause after the Mad Scene. Particularly this production, where they halt on the stairs, waiting for the big ovation which never came, it was striking I thought. And again, I didn’t want to make excuses for her unpreparedness, more to state that it seems like her lack of preparation (due to baby, no rehersal, laziness, whatever) was exacerbated by the other goings-on on stage. I read somewhere today, forgive me if I paraphrase you without knowing who you are, that bel canto for them involves being able to relax and enjoy the music. There was absolutely no way, anyone at the Met could have relaxed last night. Listening was unenjoyable simply because you never knew if Villazon was going to make it. That had to be tiring for those on stage as well, and by the Mad Scene she literally had nothing left. When she came on as the ghost during the final scene, it seemed to me that she was not even trying to act (which for her is saying something). She just walked on, knelt down, stabbed him. The end. Maybe it was embarrassment, maybe exhaustion, who knows.
Cyrano – actually I liked Netrebko for the most part, particularly her ability to just hit a high note directly and on pitch (not the end of the mad scene, however) and the purity of some of her notes.
I have seen quite a few Lucias starting with several with Pons as a youth , Callas, Sutherland, Moffo (when she was pretty good), Scotto, Sills, Brooks, Rost, Gruberova and a pack of others – mostly all with some redeeming features which made them truly special. Others in Prague, Budapest and even at the Met have been quite routine. That said, Pons, who was said to have transposed the Mad scene UP, when I heard her which was late in her career, always sang the climatic high notes quite flat, Callas (her Lucia seen only once in her first season at the Met) was terribly squally on high, wobbly with a very slow vibrato (but then her runs were so deliciously differentiated – Pons, Delores Wilson, Peters never could do that). But I surely do not remember any Lucia performances in my lifetime lasting until just before midnight though many had far far more applause at the end than we experienced last evening. Maybe all of us were fatiqued just fervently wishing all evening for that extra something which makes a performance truly special.
wow bill…that’s quite a list, i am envious to say the least! Just curious, but among that illustrious group, which were your favorites? Just based on recordings I find it hard to choose between callas, sutherland, sills, and scotto.
“Maybe all of us were fatiqued just fervently wishing all evening for that extra something which makes a performance truly special.”
well put, Bill. Last night actually marked just my third year of going to the Met (not that young, just that late to the game) and having read so much about the “golden years” of the Met, here and other places, I find myself wishing for that quite often, and unfortunately being disappointed more than not, which is a different discussion.
Tommissini’s review is a joke. A real critic would not have written the way he did.
“Her earthy, subdued expressivity had me thinking of Callas.”
With her imprecise use of vocal colors, so bland her monotone
use of no word expressively, he DARES to compare this industry hoax with a pretty face and a warm voice to the greatest architect of music in the world of opera? When does he experience shame this piece of fluff that writes for the times. The AP was MUCH more accurate.
I just read the review in “The Times.” It seems Mr. Tomassini and I were at different performances.
I question the accuracy of this recording.
The shifting around of pitch is not only the vocal line.
The orchestra and chorus seem to warped in pitch too.
Can someone with a good ear comment on this?
AP review, Mike Silverman-
It should have been the most glamorous of nights at the opera: the return of Russian superstar soprano Anna Netrebko, reunited with her longtime stage partner, tenor Rolando Villazon.
Instead, their joint appearance at the Metropolitan Opera in Donizetti’s “Lucia di Lammermoor” on Monday night proved nearly as ill-starred as the fate of their characters in this tale of love, betrayal, madness and murder.
Netrebko, fresh from six months of maternity leave, looked ravishing if a bit plumper than before, and opened the night in splendid form. Her penetrating sound, cushioned as if by a thick coating of honey, was as striking as ever. If anything, her voice seems to have grown in size without losing any of its allure.
Her characterization was well thought-out, too. Though she appeared too happy and healthy to be at risk of madness in her opening duet with her beloved Edgardo (Villazon), in subsequent scenes she persuasively showed Lucia losing her grip on reality. In one memorable image, after her brother, Enrico, has tricked her into believing Edgardo is unfaithful so she will marry another man, Netrebko crumpled to the floor and tried to scurry away on her back from Enrico’s outstretched arms.
But “Lucia” is all warmup and no payoff unless it climaxes with a dazzling Mad Scene, and it was here that Netrebko disappointed.
Appearing in a blood-drenched wedding gown after she has killed her bridegroom, Lucia holds forth for 16 or so minutes of solo singing that combines plaintive strands of melody with extreme coloratura fireworks to mirror the unraveling of her mind.
Netrebko simply lacked the vocal agility to pull it off. She stinted on much of the usual ornamentation and failed to hit the final high E-flat squarely. The applause that followed was surprisingly tepid for a scene that usually stops the show in its tracks.
For Met audiences who have heard both Natalie Dessay and Diana Damrau triumph as “Lucia” in the last 18 months, the question is why Netrebko should undertake the role at all when her voice is so much better suited to other repertory.
As for Villazon, he sounded in bad shape from his first entrance, an ominous rattle infecting his high notes. During his solo outburst in the wedding scene, his voice cracked and he froze for several seconds, then continued a half-tone lower. Before the curtain rose for the final act, general manager Peter Gelb announced Villazon “was not feeling well” but would continue. He made it, just barely, through his final scene, but the ovation he received was surely more a sympathy vote than a true endorsement.
It’s especially worrisome to hear this once-promising Mexican tenor in such ragged shape, since he suffered a vocal crisis nearly two years ago and stopped singing for several months. This was his first Met appearance since he resumed his career in early 2008.
The other soloists fared better. As Enrico, Polish baritone Mariusz Kwiecien pushed his polished sound to its limits, but he created a powerful study in cruelty. Russian Bass Ildar Abdrazakov sang sympathetically as Lucia’s tutor, Raimondo, though his lowest notes were barely audible.
As Arturo, Lucia’s hapless husband, tenor Colin Lee made a promising debut, singing his few phrases with fresh and ardent tone and all but stealing the scene with his memorably self-satisfied demeanor.
Marco Armiliato conducted with a few ragged patches, understandable since the new cast didn’t have the benefit of a full orchestra rehearsal.
There are three more performances over the next two weeks.
Scifisci – it would be tough to choose the best Lucia even only among the ones I was fortunate to see. I think at first the great revelation was Callas after seeing only canaries – not for the high notes a few of which were wretched, but for the sense of drama, the glistening slithering runs, every note articulated, and of course the second act scene with Enrico (Enzo Sordello who Callas later supposedly had Bing fire as Sordello held on to a note longer than she had – he actually did so)- one hadn’t really paid much attention to that scene before with Pons or Peters or whomever. I remember Moffo on a Christmas Night performance being in particularly good voice. I liked Scotto also. Sutherland was vocal perfection though in a non-specific way. There was not alot of intensity in her performance and not much tension for the listener as you KNEW she would hit all the notes (except in her last Lucias at the Met – with a bit more strain) without fail. I was really excited by Rost in Vienna when she suddenly replaced Gruberova because not that much was expected from a Zerlina and she was (then) a formidable and delightful surprise – the audience knew it and reacted accordingly. Brooks was always a wonderful actress -quite moving as Lucia – her voice was just slightly covered so not as bright as the others. Gruberova was not an intense actress but maybe the one vocally I appreciated the most as her technique is so enviable – there was such ease in her execution – even just two years ago at 60 – and yes she always has a few too many squeezed notes, could be a little shrill or mannered up to a point, but after each aria was over one just felt one had heard a special rendition of it from Gruberova (and she has missed one or two high notes in her day as well), and one had heard a few vocal nuances from her which even Sills or Sutherland could not achieve. I did not hear Gencer (ever) and I skipped Dessay and so far missed Damrau but no doubt will catch her someplace or other. In summation, at least for me, there was no ONE Lucia -that is the joy of going to different performances with varied casts – the differentiation in vocal qualities and in interpretation keep the opera fresh for further hearings. I am no specialist in Bel Canto operas – much more fond of Mozart, Strauss, Wagner, Weber, Janacek, Smetana, Gluck, Dvorak, Haydn, Beethoven, even Kalman, and more embarassingly perhaps, even Andrea Chenier. Many others on this blog would be much more lucid and musically knowledgable regarding Lucias, and obviously some truly memorable Lucias just never crossed my path.
Bill — thank you so much…your recollections are very much appreciated by those of us not lucky enough to catch the greats!
Dear Parterre Readers,
Quite frankly I’m complacently unsurprised and nonplussed at the outcome of this casting and the “filth” of the performance being discussed. To put it simply, Villazon needs to get a teacher and Netrebko needs not only a stable and good teacher but also needs to move far away from anything considered “Bel Canto.” It is a grave disappointment that the “stars” who sell tickets are seemingly incapable at delivering barely decent singing; forget expecting great or stupendous.
Both Dessay and Damrau were spectacular in this production, albeit in extremely different ways yet both outstanding actresses and both vocally secure (even if Dessay is not quite in the same shape she was a few years ago, she knows how to make her resources work to her advantage).
The demands of the operatic industry today are truly singer-suicide. As I have told many of the vocalists I’ve worked with on numerous occasions: No one cares about your voice more than you should and it’s up to the singer to take care of themselves because no one else is going to do it. Teachers and coaches are here to (hopefully) offer advice and positive assistance, but it is up to the singer to preserve themselves and make the correct decisions concerning vocal health and career choices. Anyone who jumps from one corner of the earth to a nother in a matter of days singing extremely varied repertoire is not taking the correct or professional steps at taking care of their instruments or themselves. They do a grave injustice to themselves, to those who hire them, to their colleagues, to those who are forced to listen to them, and to the music. It is always better to cancel in the event of illness than go out and “fare una figura di merda.” You end up being a huge disappointment to everyone involved and shoot yourself in the foot. I say: let the queens and critics speculate all they want—if you know that you are doing what is best to keep yourself healthy and sane and vocally fit, no amount of slander can harm you. Villazon, once a promising voice and talent has proven to be nothing more than an extremely foolish and arrogant personality who , much like Miss Gheorghiu, lacks the appropriate education in handling oneself professionally. I am referring to his famous interview where he states that he does not have a teacher or coach and that when he took time off to recover from his vocal crisis, how he boasted that he didn’t sing a note prior to his performance of Werther upon his return to the stage. It is simply unprofessional and disrespectful and idiotic. The issue is not whether he chose to sing the final aria transposed down (although I am personally against many such choices and many tenors of old have resorted to doing so: Corelli in Trovatore, Pavarotti and Valletti in Fille, various individuals in Les Pecheurs or in Boheme) but the fact that he seems to have such little regard for his vocal health and his ability to successfully execute a role after making some of his repertoire and schedule choices.
Netrebko, too, should stay home, be a mother and completely recover physically, work through the vocal changes affected by her various hormonal alterations, and learn from the mistake of other singers who have suffered vocal crises at the result of intense body modifications (Voight). It’s simply atrocious to walk out on stage and sound like that.
My last thought: Sutherland was certainly one of the greatest Lucia’s, but both Gruberova and Devia have carried that torch and both are able to do things that no one else is capable of executing. It is foolish to draw comparisons. Certainly one can state that one has a preference for one soprano’s rendition over another, but to withhold due credit to other great interpreters of a part (and I believe that with regards to recent history, both Dessay and Damrau have achieved such stature) is immature and ignorant.
I have spoken.
Stay warm!
I think Chevalier Dupin is quite right. I also think ArmerJ at about #44 is quite right too – Netrebko is surely mis-cast, fails at the e-flats, and doesn’t sound terribly interested in what she is doing, but some of the basic singing is not without redeeming features. I think the case against her is being over-stated.
there is an idiot coming to the USA who says the only really great singers are Dessay and Renay.
Jazz and white tone. I will try to remember the freak’s name, but he told a young student who worked a few things with him that the way to sing bel canto is like dessay and Renay.
So, let’s al;l get this straight, lush gorgeous tones mean nothing. You must sound white, straight toned, ugly, reestablish the legato on every new word, throw in vocal screams wherever possible, leave portamenti out, what do all those Italian composers know any way.
Anyone who finds Dessay on any chart at any level passable is forgetting what food sound and singing is supposed to be about. Forget Renay withher hideous misuse of a great sound, forget it entirely, when she behaves it is still possible to care. BUT I mean are we crazy to think some freak teacher is coming here from london the land of the white ugly voice to tell us Dessay is better than Callas!
Coming to an HD near you!
What a bummer for you guys in NYC!
It’s a pity that Rolando’s voice still is in decline (started four years ago…).
It looks like Anna Netrebko has to get another manager, who knows better what to do with the voice (learning and daring to say “no” to Mr. Gelb).
Best whishes from overseas.
Well, other than 4 more Lucias in Vienna, Netrebko is spending the rest of the season singing far more congenial repertoire – Giulietta in London (still bel canto, but a bit more of a realistic prospect), Traviata (lets hope she doesn’t go for the e-flat!), Mimi and finally, thank God, Iolantha in Baden-Baden for which she is pretty much ideal. Lets hope Iolantha is well enough received to indicate to her management that THIS is what she should be using her talents for. I love the opera in any case and it would be great if it got a bit more of a foot hold in the repertoire, troublesome though its length is.
What do people think the chances are of either Netrebko being replaced as Anna Bolena, or an alternative opera being mounted as Netrebko’s season opener in 2011? They’ve probably made too much of a fuss about it already to substitute anything (or anyone) now, and it isn’t as wide of the mark for her as Lucia is, but I’d still prefer somebody with a more dramatic voice and a more precise approach for Anna Bolena.
“Ms. Netrebko was spellbinding. In the hushed pianissimo passage when the delusional young woman believes she and her beloved Edgardo are at last united, she created vocal magic, imbuing lines with spectral colorings that matched the eerie sounds of the glass harmonica, played by Cecilia Brauer. Her earthy, subdued expressivity had me thinking of Callas.”
How can this man not be ashamed to be a shameless apologist for Gelb’s stsr system and the record company darlings?
The LUCIA review is proof if ever such were needed that Tommasini is not fit to review operatic performances.
Previous Callas comparisons by him include Flanigan and Hunt Leiberson, plus there have n=been more, along with all those “cool Nordic sounds”.
A disgrace.
Something I mean quite serious:
Why is everybody bashing Netrebko left and right!? We all know she is no second Callas, we all know where she delivers her goods and where not. But at least she gives a little attention to opera. If there are about 100 people who get really interested in the art form we all love so much, isn’t that a good thing!?
I have two other suggestions for Lucia, one of which will most assuredly get me flamed, but I don’t care.
Erika Miklosa – she already looks a little crazed when she sings and she’d have no trouble with the coloratura.
Young Ok Shin – She’s sung Lucia at the Met already
Or…. how about transposing it into mezzo keys and letting Bartoli claim it’s the Maria Malibran version.
Sanford: YES!!! A Bartoli Marlibran Lucia is the real answer. Bravo!
For those of us who were there, the Times review really does suggest that the write is either deaf or bribed! Many have long felt that theTimes reviews are aimed at the masses who have NOT seen the performances, so they can write freely. And for the few who were there and know how false the Times reviews are? — “so WHAT”!!?
There’s a more accurate review in today’s The Washington Post by Ms. Midgette.
Was the glass harmonica used or not? I doesn’t sound like it on the sound clip. But the review above refers to it…
It was, in the mad scene, just not for the cadenza, which used the flute for some reason. You can just hear it in the background in ’spargi d’amaro pianto’ (sp?).
Yes, Midgette’s review is far more exacting and much more reflective of the audio clips I’ve heard on this site. Midgette has become a changed writer since leaving the NYT, which makes me wonder even more about the NYT and the editors. How much of non-specific, bland, let’s-not-criticise-anyone “criticism” is actually the result of what’s been taken out of the NYT’s reviews by the editors?? I’ve never been one for conspiracy theories but I’m starting to believe that this whole Gelb influence on the NYT theory may not be so far-fetched.
Okay, now I’ve listened to the clip.
No, the E-flats were not good, and she’d be wise to take them down. Also the shriek is ridiculous and NOT bel canto. But I don’t see why people are so fierce about this. It’s no sort of disgrace.
I recall my first Rigoletto (9/19/68, debut of Aragall and Judith Forst), when Peters ducked the high notes after Caro Nome and the quartet. I was very disappointed (I was a kid and I’d been listening to the first Sutherland recording), but I knew even then that they were not written by Verdi. And Peters just didn’t have them any more. Did she owe me a pie in the face? She did not. (She sang wonderful Adinas and Oscars that same season.) Ten years later, when I knew a bit more, I heard Ashley Putnam’s Ophelie at NYCO and was impressed that she omitted high notes she didn’t have. The result was a far finer performance. Netrebko should consider that, or simply transpose it down. (As Sutherland transposed the Queen of the Night, by the way, never having had a reliable F.)
Other than that, Netrebko sounds rather lovely here – I’d certainly rather hear her Donizetti than Dessay’s. But I’d rather hear Damrau’s Lucia than either of theirs (it was a very good one last fall the night the set broke and she had to improvise a new staging of the mad scene), and I’d rather hear Devia’s Donizetti than any other soprano now singing him (to my knowledge). Based on the Maria Stuarda last year, she has perfect command of the style, the technique and the POINT of the whole thing.
Has Radvanovsky ever sung Lucia? It’s higher than Lucrezia, and more exposed, but not by that much.
It is sung down a half step, which is the exact key that the following tenors always sing this piece in in live performances: Pavarotti, Domingo, Carreras, Bergonzi, Tucker, Peerce, Labo, Konya, and many more. The only tenors I recall singing this is the original key are/were: Gedda, Kraus, Giordani, and perhaps one or two more. It is virtually tradition to lower this 1/2 tone. It is NOT lowered a full tone as some were saying before the performance.
I further think it is a terrible thing to publish this on Youtube, for, IMHO, the sole reason of being vindictive to Villazon. I have published live performance recordings for more than 40 years, and would never publish a performance- not even a note- that showed any singer off badly. This was done with purpose and a nasty kind of glee, and it disgusts me completely.
#87 “deaf or bribed…” the writer in the Times. Well, in a way both, Mr Klingsor — and I commend your brief posting: it’s on the right track.
The Times is very beholden to the NY business establishment, for obvious reasons beginning with advertising, and the want to “sell” NY arts performances. It’s just about that simple. Tony T. hears what he wants to hear and writes pro-establishment reviews that always put a favorable twist on things. I have often written this here and I’ll say it again as regards Tommassini: He is whore to the New York arts business establishment.”
Shocking, but true — and in the end, very boring.
I love your postings Klingsor and Hans Lick. Keep ‘em coming.
OMG the Malibran Lucia version is cracking! Don’t get the Bartoli machinery started, dunce!
There is nothing quite like tearing down the idols we once build and worshiped.