parterre box

151 comments

• Erstegeiger says:

  Don’t recognize him, but if we could get Damrau to replace Netrebko I would be happy! I am a much bigger fan of Diana than Anna. Let me qualify that…… I am a much bigger fan of high e-flats at the end of my mad scenes when they are in e-flat.

  My $.02

  Drew

  on January 27, 2009 at 5:35 PM
• sterlingkay says:

  BECZALA!!!

  on January 27, 2009 at 5:39 PM
• Feldmarschallin says:

  Diana is busy doing Rosenkavalier in Baden-Baden and Muenchen. Thielemann is conducting and it is being taped for DVD release. One of the performances is either on the day of the broadcast or the following day. Massis would be another option if Nebs cancels. It is not like top singer are sitting at home waiting for the phone to ring.

  on January 27, 2009 at 5:41 PM
• Loretta di Frankly says:

  Yes – Piotr Beczala – who’s singing Lenski in Onegin at the MET right now. And from all accounts, sounds FANTASTIC.

  on January 27, 2009 at 5:42 PM
• All-Knowing Seashell says:

  Massis would be great, and has the advantage of having succeeded in the production already, but she’s in Nice singing the four HOFFMANN heroines at the moment (having barely recovered from bronchitis in time for the recent opening). And I doubt that they could procure an 0-1 visa that fast from the hopeless U.S. INS.

  on January 27, 2009 at 5:51 PM
• Joey says:

  I highly doubt they’ll pullout, there’s been so much hype about them two finally collaborating, especially for the HD broadcast. Gelb has too much riding on this. Plus, I’m curious to see what they sound like, I hope they do perform for the HD broadcast.

  Fine singers, but Anna and Rollie need to stick to the lyric rep. to show what they’re made of.

  on January 27, 2009 at 6:00 PM
• All-Knowing Seashell says:

  It would also be a shame if pressure is exerted on one or both of them to sing the HD performance should one or both be in rough shape, just because of their “star power,” thereby necessitating another pre-curtain announcement by Gelb about one or both artists being “indisposed, but determined not to disappoint the world-wide audience.” Gheorgiu sounded legitimately under the weather for the HD RONDINE transmission, but the fact that she sounded so wan, and looked so uncharacteriscally nervous, during the critical first act undermined the overall impact of the afternoon.

  And, speaking of Massis, Villazon was already struggling mightily with Edgardo’s final scene (still in the original key) when he sang it with her over five years ago in Pittsburgh. It saddens me to see and hear a tenor who started with such a bang, and had enormous potential, give way so quickly to vocal difficulties.

  on January 27, 2009 at 6:23 PM
• Thackeray Gnomey says:

  It’s not the first time I’ve said this, but Villazon’s production has always sounded forced and uncomfortable to me — as if he’s about the burst a blood vessel. I am not an expert on technique per se, but I think I know a healthy sound when I hear one. He’s always sounded dangerous. Beczala might lack a bit of thrill in his sound, but it’s much more natural and reassuring.

  on January 27, 2009 at 6:43 PM
• T1 says:

  Beczala’s schedule lines up pretty nicely for this—he’d have a performance on Thursday in Onegin, jump in for Saturday’s HD broadcast of Lucia and then back to Onegin on Monday. Hey, if he was up to it, he could even grab a Rigoletto after the Lucia broadcast.

  on January 27, 2009 at 6:46 PM
• tom222 says:

  I’m sure now Netrebko will go on for the HD – maybe in a diffrent key, but Villazon most probably wont. I feel very terrible about that, but I do not think this voice can be saved.

  on January 27, 2009 at 6:55 PM