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.

Was the glass harmonica used or not? I doesn’t sound like it on the sound clip. But the review above refers to it…

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.

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!?

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.

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.

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.

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!

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!