parterre box

151 comments

• deviafan says:

  Per the comments on the wonderful young coloratura… we are speaking of Sarah Coburn (no matter who she is related to, she is a great artist). Here are some youtube clips… the Lucia is the French version and is from 2005 (for my ears she has developed more as an artist in the past couple of years, but it is still a beautiful mad scene).

  Lucia mad scene (with high F)
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOxXlMUNWic
  and
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5F4Qvf0Z0H0

  Linda di Chamounix
  mad scene
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ihFysVZBD4
  O luce di quest’anima
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxZQrF271lo

  I Puritnai
  mad scene
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BEBTAzcelY8
  Son vergin vezzosa
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkUogN3RnRQ

  on January 28, 2009 at 6:54 PM
• Lindoro says:

  Heard the clip. I feel for the guy but this has happened before and it is not the end of the world, so calm down and untie your panties people.

  As for the recover, he did what any one of us (and that i mean tenors) would do. The musical line goes A A# A G F# E. What he did was A -Burp- A etc. I see no issue with him returning to the A to get grounded and continue. The G would have been a much harder note to pick from the air. plue it been the pick up for the next bar it would have created a mess in the orchestra.

  Criticize all you want, in the middle of the chaos he made sure he returned to a place 1. that would ground him. 2. That would allow the conductor to catch up and get the orchestra ready for the next part of the ensemble. 3. A place that will allow the audience to ground themselves too.

  I say well played; it even fooled Tomasini.

  on January 28, 2009 at 7:10 PM
• paddypig says:

  I posted this on a more recent thread, but a little bird told me that the MET is negotiating with Damrau to fly in for the telecast if Netrebko still sucks. it would be similar to the arrangement with Meier for Tristan

  on January 28, 2009 at 7:20 PM
• Juan Díaz de Solís says:

  Sarah Coburn is indeed the daughter of Sen. Coburn (R-OK). He´s a very conservative Republican, but reputedly sincere in his beliefs (which I certainly don’t share!). He’s respected by his Democratic colleagues in the Senate, including the former junior Senator from Illinois, Barak Obama, who counts him among his friends. Sarah Coburn is also quite a talented singer. The last time I heard her was with the Washington Opera opposite Plácido Domingo and David Daniels in “Tamerlano” and she was terrific, both vocally and dramatically.

  on January 28, 2009 at 7:29 PM
• Nerva Nelli says:

  Coburn is indeed a vastly talented singer despite the monster father. But she is not a “great artist” ; a rather shallow and conventional actress, who sometimes works as if in a vacuum. She is thin– for many that means operatic acting these days. I enjoy her singing but she has a ways to go as an interpreter.

  on January 28, 2009 at 7:50 PM
• deviafan says:

  Nerva Nelli (115) I will not try to debate what makes an artist “great.” But I would be the first to say in the opera world, the “greatness” of the art should be judged more on voice than on acting. I have seen Lucia’s who acted the hell out of the role, but couldn’t keep the pace with the music, I won’t name any names, that would just start trouble. For me, and I am not trying to speak for anyone else, opera is an art of singing. When I heard Sarah Coburn in Lucia, I forgot the static staging and the rest, I was immersed in the drama that came with the singing, and thus Donizetti’s drama and music were served to their full advantage. That should be the goal of the art, to serve the music, not to serve the artist, or the conductor or the stage director.

  on January 28, 2009 at 8:04 PM
• Nerva Nelli says:

  Deviafan– And I love your name, I am a big Devia fan, and SHE acts with the voice– I am not so much speaking of Coburn’s physical acting as of her only basic engagement with text. She is “capable” but I find tis no spark no parola scenica. Maybe it will develop, but I have seen her about 10 times in different roles, including in that TAMERLANO, and never been moved. Impressed, certainly, but to me her singing lacks internality– as, say , did Anderson’s in comparison to Rolandi’s, maybe a less gifted vocalist but an *artist*.

  Just, of course, my take. Glad you enjoy her work.

  But

  on January 28, 2009 at 8:11 PM
• deviafan says:

  Nerva Nelli, yes oh yes… I am a HUGE Devia fan! I love everything she does. I think I have made that all too known on this blog. I know this is totally off topic, and I hate when people do that, but…. Devia has just announced to replace Alexandrina Pendatchanska in Serville’s Tancredi. Of course, Devia is a perfect match for Rossini, and this will be the first time in four years that she has performed a Rossini opera (the last was Tancredi in Rome 2004). Anyway, if anyone is going to be in Spain in Feb!

  http://www.teatromaestranza.com/secciones/prog/prog_ficha.php?id=288

  on January 28, 2009 at 8:18 PM
• isepo says:

  Lindoro,
  RV’s recovery strategy was a lot less complex than you make it out to be. The B-flat (as it functions here) is an interpolation that’s not in the score, he doesn’t have to sing it if he doesn’t have it. What the conductor is really listening for are the words that follow, “vi dis-PER-da!” (Some tenors e.g. diStefano actually just scream the words) Rolando could have sung them on Q-sharp, and Armiliato or most anyone else would have known when to bring everyone in. Instead RV took the Franco Bonisolli route and did the A over to save face, which certainly kept spiked some blood pressures and kept everyone on their toes, since it interrupts the forward flow of the music at the expensive of preserving his dignity. More risky in my opinion.

  on January 28, 2009 at 8:22 PM
• La Cieca says:

  isepo: You really must find some time to teach me how to read minds, as you seem to do it so well.

  on January 28, 2009 at 8:33 PM