another thrilling twist
… in the “Tenor-Go-Round” saga at the Metropolitan Opera. (La Cieca was going to say “Musical Tenors,” on the model of “Musical Chairs, but decides not to on the ground it’s an oxymoron. Anyway.)
So now, according to a photo from metopera.org, it appears that Edgardo will be sung tomorrow by…
… Neil Shicoff.
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No way. NO WAY!!
Dont’ worry. He’s joking. It still says Piotr Beczala.
I for one would be thrilled.
I — the ONLY one — would be thrilled.
Hint: look at the fellow at the right of the photo.
La Cieca! LOLOLOL…
‘Musical Tenors’ an oxymoron! hahahah.
Bitchy but, élas, often true and Very VEry funny!
Thank you!
PS: Does that man KNOW he is Neil Schicoff stand-in look-alike? He might be upset to find out…
Elvis Presley will come back from the dead and sing the Donizetti in his unmistakable Love me Tender style, the AP just reported. And instead of the Netrebko ghost walking on stage at the end, Callas’ real ghost will appear, Edgardo will die and she’ll then reprise the mad scene, this time in Italian.
The glass harmonica will be played by US Airways pilot Chesley B. “Sully” Sullenberger III.
Can you imagine the curtain calls? THAT’S a night at the opera.
I must admit that I didn’t read the posted item very carefully but just posted my reaction to the notion of Schicoff as Edgardo. Heck, I even thought that the extra was Schicoff. It’s Friday, I’m tired and I refuse to be embarrassed. LOL
Looks like Nicholas Cage!
La Cieca, don’t even think that–Neil Shicoff–ahime, vomir mi sento! Please tell us you are joking!
That is just cruel..i was actually going to get up and see that, but now i will just sleep in. If only there were more tenors like schicoff around
crazy or not that man can sing.
I guess it’s a Neil look-alike, at least I pray it is!
When was the last time Shicoff sang a complete performance?
I’m suggesting Paul Potts as the replacement tenor… Ha, Ha, Ha!
Personally, I’d like to see each act sung by a different member of Il Divo. Nude.
#14 – oooo for that I might endure listening to Maria Guleghina try to sing ADRIANA LECOUVREUR. Oh, wait!
my god he is a hack and she is the nag. That sucked as an opening aria/ no middle, no piani and sharp. Great music poorly served. the old man cometh
frontali have a pitch he likes? how about any,
Too many Otellos. I knew it would never last.
she is awful and he is more than respectful at over 70.
Is this Adriana’s grandmother singing?
wow, that was a disappointing io son….what is going on today with the voices
I heard that Julio Iglesias was standing in, but only if Sheena Easton was promised as the Lucia replacement… There will be cocktail service during today’s performace.
the off stage applause is short too. the baritone sounds like cowardly lion. jeesshsh.
lower or not, at least in Placi the old style lives/
No intermission.. .no time to escape. At least Borodina should be fun.
Does anyone remember the LUCIA broadcast with Devia the winter of 1988 when Shicoff cancelled the run as Edgardo? They combed the world unsuccessfully attempting to find a star replacement before giving up, and assigning the radio broadcast to the official cover, Allan Glassmann, who did a very respectable job.
If Kwiecien is ill, and cancels tomorrow, know that he renounced western medicine and medications some years ago (despite the fact that his mom was a nurse in Krakow). He’s all about herbs and eastern healing arts. Fine, I guess, if what ails you is viral, but antibiotics sure can make a difference if what you have is bacterial (i.e., strep).
wow, that was a subtle key change…….in the middle of phrases. brother/
Boradino and Maria sound like two screeching engines that are crashing into each other. Ah, for Caballe and Cossotto!!
Dear Jesus,
Please don’t let it be Shicoff.
Thanks,
Brad
Since I have special access to the great tenors of the past…I know for a fact that the covers for the Edgardo are:
Giacomo Lauri-Volpi
Mario Lanza
Perry Como
Eddy De Reszke
Stefan Zucker (well…he is sort of dead)
I hate to “pile on”, but that was a pathetic last act of Adrianna…oh for the days of Shicoff/Scotto!
OK, the guy in the photo is a wonderful tenor, and a member of the chorus. I guess he might look like Shicoff if you squint and stand far away from the computer moniter.
oh com’on, he looks better than shicoff…
Oh, he is MUCH better looking than Shicoff, and a much better singer, too.
ciocionono, Is he Jewish? Do tell…
I would be nursink Mariusz back to the health but he is just not beink into- how you say? – minge.
Netrebko was quite a sight arriving solo at the Met, chatting girlishly into her cell-phone, in a toe-length sable that would have set her back at least 100,000, discounted.
And how about those bright poison green patent stilettos? Only a star in a sable (or laCieca) could pull those off.
She looked good. Beautiful skin, nice make-up. Her up-do chignon looked a bit “impromptu” to me, but for all I know that’s what 2 G’s gets you at Frederic Fekkai. She dumped the sable in the coat room of the GM’s box (what else?) and plopped into her seat with an assortment of Russki buds. VERY short, puffy highwaisted Baby-Doll-esque dress. Very cute for the post-preg plump period.
She and her posse headed for the parterre VIP room after act 1. Lots of laughter and Russian speaking coming out of the box. Had liquor been involved. Just possibly. Well after all, she IS Russian.
It looked like she was heading to the door after act 2. (Not a bad idea.)
Erwin. Didn’t see him. Sadly. Looked like some sort of girls night. Maybe he caught the early show at SBNY.
Regarding the sable coat mentioned in #37, could someone please explain to me why these divas STILL wear fur? Bev’s blackgama ad makes me queasy, but those were the 70s. More than 30 years later, Trebs, et al, should know better. It’s just SO trailer park!
I am glad that there are still some artists who would take seriously an international HD broadcast and stay home and rest their voice and body the night before the performance.
#12 just two days ago in Vienna. It was “Manon Lescaut”
#39 oh, so you mean she should also give her baby away for some days around the HD broadcast because she has to fucking take it seriously? The dumbest thing I have ever heared. Do you stay home three days before you have an important meeting? Singing is her profession, so I think she has some routine in dealing with stres sor nervosity and it is not her first TV transmission either.
In another game of musical tenors – the management at La Fenice has finally come clean. After advertising Jonas Kaufman in their new Romeo et Juliette for at least a week after they had advised Travel Agencies that he would not be appearing they have changed the website and it appears Eric Cutler will now be singing in the “first” cast. Typical of Italian opera house management – advertised cast lists qualify as “works of fiction” and you often don’t know who’s singing until the night off.
spiderman protects Netty and Neil. Hmmmm. she wasn’t learning the music before the child. Let’s hope she does. For me she is the best, and that’s that.
#41: just like it seems to happen at the Met!
@37: There was someone who was the spitting image of Erwin outside ROH on Thursday, and a car parked outside the Stage Door with the registration T1AGO. But I’m fairly certain it wasn’t actually Senor Schrott, because he was piloting one of those bicycle taxis.
Why wear fur? Because it’s warm as toast and makes you feel like a zillion bucks.
In regards to #38…What would make me even more queasy is if Netrebko got her own Blackglama ad! No way does she belong next to Callas, Tebaldi, Sills and Scotto! And I still don’t understand why Gheorghiu hasn’t been asked to front a Blackglama ad campaign, yet Jessye Norman has! Strangeness!
So who sang Edgardo after all this turmoil?
In the new Deutsche Grammophone catalogue this Lucia appear as a new DVD release for 2009. Hmmm, I wonder if it will be wise to issue this unfortunate run.
Many Russian women wear furs. It is very, very cold there and the backlash isn’t like it is here. And if you wear anything you either wear Russian Sable or Chinchilla. I would think she would stay home and relax before an interenational broadcast the next day but that is me.
Re: 46 Blackglama/Gheorghiu
I haven’t seen a Blackglama add in a while. It was more of a 70s thing. But remember, there were never any NAMES in those ads. The subject had to be instantly recognizable as a “legend.”
The subjects of those ads were known even to people who did not attend performances. Callas was famous around the world. Nureyev and Fonteyn did one at the height of their fame. Sills was well known and loved from late night talk shows. Jessye Norman was so visually distinctive and uniquely unmistakeable that she qualified. Bette Davis did one I believe. Angela does not really have that level of general visual recognition. For the vast majority, it would be “who she?”.
I don’t think the Russians are particularly into animal rights.
A friend of mine asked Hvor why he was wearing fur, and the baritone became quite annoyed with her.
Feldmarschallin: it can be very cold here in Chicago too–and everyone doesn’t run around in furs!
As far as her being out the night before a performance, that’s out fun loving Anna–maybe if she rested, she’d have a good Eb for us ?
http://www.paperpursuits.com/advault/adcompanies.cfm?Company=Blackglama
Check out some Blackglama ads.
How could she not be there to pay tribute to Domingo and enjoy that wonderful occasion?
Quanto: How could she not be there? Easy!
“Wonderful occasion”? Really?
AKS # 26: Are you suggesting that Kwiecien has the clap?
klingsor2000: Since fur is somewhat out of favor in the US, perhaps Blackglama is targeting its ads more toward Eastern Europe and Russia where wearing pelts is still in style. La Gheorghiu is probably more a household name there than she is here in the States.
Is it still the “What becomes a legend best?” campaign, or is there a new slogan?
Anatema: You don’t get a reliable high E-flat from staying home for one night. Different singers have different routines on the day before a performance, day of and so forth. Look, Filianoti was at Adriana last night too (he was seated just a few rows before our JJ) and he stayed until the very end of the opera — even though he sings Duca di Mantova tonight.
It would be interesting to hear Maestro Domingo’s views on the subject of singers’ routines the day before a performance, though perhaps his unusal physical stamina has allowed him to do the same without compromising the quality of his art… I am sure we can all agree, regardless, that he is the exception rather than the rule.
1)Maestro Domingo was still partying up a storm at Fiorello’s at 2:00 a.m. last night when we stumbled out.
2)It WAS a wonderful occasion.
3)You bitter, vicious, jealous queens and fag hags need to stop hating on Anna. She’s the cat’s meow!
Yes, all sorts of singers have their pre-show rituals, which is a combination of physical and mental relaxation/focus.
For someone as gregarious as Netrebko, I can’t imagine staying at home and possibly worrying unduly about a big performance the next day is beneficial. Even if one *should* be worried, *being* worried rarely helps anything. Anxiety is one of the least useful primal emotions in a modern context.
Broadcast soon – I’m so curious!
As he should have been….a 40 year anniversary in this business is something to be celebrated. We should only pray that the opera tradition of a long career, whenever possible, does not disappear in his wake.
Incidentally, I found it very interesting that as recently as last night, WETA, DC’s classical radio station, aired a spot for the broadcast tomorrow, where Juntwait identified Villazon as the tenor performer.
La Cieca: I know that a singer can’t get an Eb from staying home one night–I was being facetious! LOL
But, Nebs does need to stay home and study!!
R54, no, I wasn’t implying that Mariusz has the clap, merely that he refuses to take antibiotics. If he is indeed ill, it’s one thing if it’s a garden-variety rhinovirus, which has to run its course, and another thing entirely if it’s bacterial (i.e., strep, which antibiotics could knock out handily).
Dang Anna can’t wear a fabulous fur without someone bitching about it. Wear your furs Anna I know if I had the $$$ I would strut around in J. Mendal Chinchilla mmmmmmmm.
Gosh you people cannot take a joke for anything!
wuuuuut? Dessay as interview chat hostess? This should be great!
I love her totally unhinged persona: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELdor8mQQ4Y @ ~52s
Lest anyone misconstrue my intentions,I am a big, big fan of Ms. Netrebko’s. I think she has an absolutely fantastic top up to a D – and I also mean it’s technically under her control – and I look forward to her Tat’yanas someday. I imagine she will offer a definitive performance in that role, which future generations will likely try to surpass. From everything I hear, Anna is a lovely person, as well. I wish her good luck today.
If your job is to sing beautifully at 11:30 at night, then having a late night routine makes sense. And if you have to keep your voice fresh, then sitting silently in a theater for most of the evening seems a pleasant and non-tiring activity.
Saying “X singer should do this or that” from our limited perspective might be a fun daydream, but we shouldn’t think we know better than the person who has actually trained and rehearsed.
are you bitches who complain about fur vegetarian? so you feel sorry for the minks, chinchillas etc. that are slaughtered for fur, but not for the cows, chickens, pigs, salmon and tuna that you eat?
How wonderful for Miss Netrebko to have the chance to sing this opera today with a tenor who is not on the verge of collapse at all times.
The duet is sounding really quite lovely. There is a fragility in her interpretation I rarely hear. It sounds like they have good chemistry, at least vocally!
Xix da Puta Yes, I am vegetarian! Are you!
Padre: You’re assuming that the people who comment on these boards have more of a limited perspective than most of them probably do
. These blogs are frequented by plenty of people on the “inside” of this world, thus they often know whereof they speak.
Netrebko has such a lovely voice, but it just doesn’t flow in this music. The vocal production sounds kind of stuck, and there were some weird moments in the aria when she tried to color the voice. I just don’t think this is for her anymore, although I am sure she makes more of an impact in the theater because the voice if first rate, and she has great presence. Oh, but Beczala was just lovely. He totally took her to school. Might this be the next great partnership?
good for you, anatema di porco. now, sugar, what do your cats and dogs eat? edamame?
Totally unrelated to this blog post, but
tis the 1st intermission of Lucia.
have been listening on the radio because when i got to the theatre all the tickets were sold out! Imagine, that many people like opera!
anyways, both beczala and netrebko are doing very well. I take back what I said about Damrau replacing trebs ;-]
Trebs colored her voice very lightly [right terminology?] during the duetto with Beczala, who is in excellent voice and sounds just sublime!
Belchalot is blasting like Kvetchin.
Syph is a whore
I hope all you people complaining about Anna’s fur eat only hydroponically grown veggies (farm harvesting kills) and enjoy sweating in your plastic shoes. She sounds great so does he and I’m happy to see a little less vitriol, towards her, on this site than usual. Could our Russian Winter be over?
williams: Go kill a pig and shove it up your wazoo!
PS “Less vitriol” because we are getting used to mediocre singing!
That baritone is a pig. Callas would have gotten him fired, and with good reason.
reserving judgement: your assumptions have assumptions.
I am aware that there are some very knowledgeable people here, but character assassination or ridiculous assumptions (AN would get an e-flat if she stayed home, studied, etc.) don’t contribute very much to learning about or enjoying opera.
padre: I was just joking about the Eb, but if she stayed home and learned to sing bel canto, that would be a big advancement, Eb’s or none!
For the life of me I can’t say if today’s Lucy is Leonie Rysanek incarnate (this is not meant as a compliment) or my own grandma. Help please.
Who’s the Arturo? He’s good. Abdrazakov did a nice job too. Anna was off on the high D at the end of the Enrico duet but nailed the C with Raimondo.
Yes, Anatema, one learns to sing bel canto by staying home and NOT going to hear other singers perform. Brilliant stuff.
I think she is a gorgeous voice. some really lovely stuff. I disagree, this is a lovely lyric Lucia. I am sure there are spots in the mad scene that will make me just that-mad, but I am sound whore. and she is really luxury today.
God, Cieca–I said I was just kidding–how many times must I repeat that???? Yes, it’s nice to hear other singers’ performances. Not as brilliant as you, I am afraid.
In that case Anatema, I just don’t get the joke, which seems to be based on the idea that Anna Netrebko is deliberately not singing up to your standards because she is lazy, or money-grubbing, or shallow. Or something.
So, tell us, what is the joke supposed to mean?
That was a pretty rad D.
I was falling asleep during the Enrico/Lucia duet, but woke up right at the end…did Kwiecien hold out his last note past the last chords of the orchestra? Did that really happen?
She totally dropped off during the ensemble so she could do the D. And it wasn’t that great. But again, I think this is a voice in transition. I hope she is smart about it. I would love to hear her in “Thais.” I think she can make a lot of that French repertoire work. So much of it depends on personality.
Comment 89: Yes he did. As I said above, that was just piggish.
I was expecting more of the Lucia/Enrcio duet. I’m sure that there was great chemistry on stage but vocally, the duet didn’t catch fire.
Yeah, Ortrud–Callas got Sordello fired for that when he did it.
Cieca, why are you getting so worked up by a silly thing I wrote. As if you never indulge in silliness. Let me clue you in, my “joke” has no hidden, deep meaning.
I have no idea what the cause (s) for Nebs’ “problems” in bel canto are; all I know is that IMO, she is not a good Lucia. If she’s lazy, money-grubbing or shallow–you said, it not I.
She may be all or none of the three, I couldn’t care less.
I am enjoying the opera– Netrebko sounds definitely better today than on opening night (although, was I wrong or did she drop out for an inordinate amount of bars before the D at the end of Act II?).
She may not be the best bel canto stylist, but she’s stll an A grade singer, and it is a beautiful voice.
So I don’t know why some people on this forum have been so unkind to her.
I was in the house the night Leonie gave her final performance as the Countess in Pique Dame. She was an incredible performer who I am happy to have experienced. Her thirty three tearful curtain calls that evening (she probably knew she wasn’t long for this world) went on for almost an hour. Thank you, Marshie, for mentioning her and bringing back fond memories of a great artist.
I remember these quizzes being more difficult. But then again, the last time I remember paying attention to them, I was like 8 or something.
Did she drop part of the sextet? Seemed a little off.
@ All the Netrebko haters, she sounds _good_ today. More than adequate, even! Let’s await the impending mad scene before we judge her [harshly, as is inevitable]. Her voice really doesn’t sound crappily dark/heavy/whatever-adjective-fits ; kudos.
Unrelated: Dessay sounded like she was reading the interview questions from a script – lol. And I’m listening, not watching in HD so I wouldn’t know how it all looks.
Yes, she did drop a bit of the end to sing the D which isn’t unusual. Overall, I enjoying it a lot!
re:
Yes, lots of them drop out for a bit, but she seemed to drop out many lines before.
Regardless, she does sound good. Nice to hear a Lucia with such a full voice.
Well, folks, to these tired ol’ ears, this isn’t too shabby. Yes, Netrebko slid up to her acuti in Act II, and Kwiecien was in over-drive in I/i. But she’s done much lovely, warm, stylish singing, Kwiecien settled down, and Piotr and Ildar are very elegant, technically adept interpreters. And Colin Lee as Arturo had a sweet sound. All in all, I’d say this is an upgrade by a fair margin over Dessay and Filianoti last season, at least as experienced over the airwaves. It’s all gone down smoothly while I’ve been prepping to replicate a recipe from Le Bernardin (monkfish filets over a bed of braised cabbage) for dinner this evening. Let’s see what happens with the Mad Scene.
Hey, it could work. When La Netrebko is in the midst of her Mad Scene, Shicoff strips his clothes off and goes crazy too! Quelle surprise!,he has a Prince Albert. Then he joins her for the jumpy (or humpy) cabaletta.
TinaTat
Anatema: Humor is based on truth. I wanted to try to get at what truth you were trying to express in your “silliness.”
It seems to La Cieca that Netrebko gets a lot of criticism for not being serious enough as an artist. Whether she is or she is not is not something I think I can give an accurate opinion on. What the criticism seems to be based on, however, is not reality but perception. Unlike certain other singers, Netrebko does not put on a show of “seriousness,” talking all the time about how hard she works and complaining how she never gets to do this or that because of her impossibly demanding schedule.
Something I happen to love about Netrebko is that what she does onstage does not seem to be the product of long hours of effort, because, again unlike certain other singers, she does not telegraph that “hard work” to us in her body language. She is there, she sings, and I don’t have to feel guilty all the time about what her hard, hard life as a prima donna. Instead I get to see and hear joy in performing, which I have to say among American artists is very nearly nonexistent.
That joy, I honestly believe, is the reason so many Americans in particular resent and dislike Netrebko, because we have been conditioned to believe that singing is supposed to be hard, unpleasant work, and if the “work” doesn’t show onstage, then the singer has been shirking his job.
Which is not to say that I think Netrebko is a perfect singer. I agree that she could be more disciplined as a performer, though I think that discipline will more likely happen if it is imposed from outside, e.g., when she works with a great conductor or director and she is challenged. But, imperfect as undisciplined Anna is, I get a great deal of joy and emotional satisfaction from her performing. And that’s something I can say about very few singers today, sadly.
Is Neil wearing eyeglasses or an oxygen tank?
La Cieca,
Bravissima!
I think she sounds lovely…definitely better than Dessay & Damrau and, of course, Beczala is much better than the two other Edgardos I’ve seen in this production, Giordani and Filianoti.
Very good performance so far…
well said La Cieca. I think Netrebko is an artist who has to give something on stage, and while she clearly is far from perfect, espescially as Lucia, I think there is way space for a more lyric approach to Lucia beside the reigninig coloraturas Dessay, Damrau and what’s their name of our time…
uuh, madness starts…
I would be thrilled if she hits the Eb at the very end, as Dessay did. Without it, the mad scene does not climax, and, oh, how I love a climax!
La Cieca, Well done. Loved your response.
what an odd end to the scene. she seemed undecided as to whether she wanted sing the E-flat…
My general preference is if you’re not going to go up, then don’t trill on the b-flat as it sort of points the phrase to the e-flat.
(but it was very good otherwise).
The Ardon gli incensi was musically and dramatically brilliant, the trill was beautifull and the colouring throughout was just superlative.
I saw Dessay pass on the e-flat at the Lyric in 2004. Most of the audience had no idea and gave her a thunderous ovation. It killed the scene for me. But Netrebko’s tone was so welcoming, so lush, I didn’t care.
I don’t think she’ll sing the Eflat. She’s been having a clearly awesome night and I don’t think she’s gonna risk it.
I would love to see the video of this. Vocally it is incredibly uneven, but I am sure she gave it her all. It’s just time to retire the part. Oh, and she hit the Eb in the second part. Gutsy!
BITCH! SHE NAILED IT!!!!
she did it and it was an e-flat! (if screamed or not, who cares… dessay screams it to if necessary!”
I’m so fucking happy for her!
Very exciting .. she did a very good job… she did run out of breath at some odd places but the singing was compelling overall.
I actually preferred her to Natalie Dessay’s as well as Diana Damrau’s Lucia.
this shows at least that she has nerves of steel!
Brava!
I didn’t think she would attemept it because you could clearly hear she was exhausted on the second repition of Spargi d’amaro pianto, but crap! She nailed it! Brava!!!
Was that scream after “Ah perdon, ah perdon…AH!!!!” intentional?
It came just 2 lines before Spargi d’amaro pianto starts.
The mad scene was missing a few high notes, but who cares?! Her voice still sounded beautiful though it appeared [to my untrained ears] to fall apart a little bit during Ardon gl’incensi.
Tair: I agree. She seemed to be toying with the idea of going for the high note. Dramatically, I prefer the low ending but the singer has to sell it. Netrebko made it sound like she changed her mind at the last second. That low ending can be very moving if properly executed.
Other than that, I thought she did much better than the opening night. It was far from perfect but the pitch was more secure and she sang movingly. She smudged the scales too much and I think she should be able to sing those more cleanly but, all in all, she got it together for today’s performance.
Beczala just sang the most gorgeous recitative. Crap, this Lucia is being hot!!!
Drammy: I think that scream is part of the production. Dessay did it too. Don’t know about Damrau.
Sometimes an opera hangs on a single note. Lucia’s Eb is one of them.
Brava, show them you got the balls! Not the greatest ever but dammit I felt Lucia, and it worked. this tenor is quite good with an ordinary voice. real bel canto style.
She sounded fantastic…a friend of mine who has worked with Netrebko in Vienna says she is the most fearless singer he has ever coached…
And now comes an even harder scene…go PIOTR!
Beczala is ON!
I’m curious how an opera can “hang on a single note” when that note wasn’t even written by the composer of said opera?
Damn, he’s good, and in D yet. I wonder what he looks like.
the music for the chorus is so silly… I never heard anyone so happy telling other someone is dying…
I simply don’t understand all the carping and repetition of the old canards. Her mad scene was engrossing dramatically and beautifully sung.
I would like all those who say she has no idea how to sing bel canto (just as they condemn Fleming who isn’t as clean a singer as Netrebko) just how they know exactly how bel canto was sung. There are no sound recordings, of course and written descriptions are notoriously subjective and open to a lot of interpretation. What we do know is that the music was treated with a tremendous amount of freedom and personal eccentricity.
I agree that Mariusz oversang–grotesquely at times–but not that she was a dull, uninvolved or poor Lucia today. I’ve heard performances by Callas that were far more problematic vocally–and Callas never had to sing as much of the opera as Anna did today.
Well said, Will!
DAMN, I love a gutsy risk as much as the next guy and a work call interrupted the Spargi d’amaro pianto section all the way to the last notes.
FUUUUUUUU — someone quickly summarize!
@ Alex, Piotr Beczala was incredible in the last scene. Aural ecstasy. Netrebko was Netrebko, but she did have the balls to sing Eb.
That’s my 2 cents. Anyways, from the sound of the applause for them the Met -loved- Piotr [justifiably] and Netrebko [hmm...fine it was justifiable].
I applaud Netrebko because she actually moved me with her singing, something that she rarely does for me. I always love her voice but find her phrasing generic. Today, she was able to move with just her singing. I’m sure that when I see the PBS broadcast, I’ll be even more impressed. And she event went for some trills. They weren’t great but most singers today don’t even bother with them and Anna did during the HD broadcast. She’s gutsy.
But the star today was Beczala. Bravo!
I think that Gelb can be quite happy with how this broadcast turned out (and the ensuing DVD release).
Kashania, when is this available on PBS? Seriously? Whatwherehow? I assume you mean a few months..?
Yes about Beczala! Finally a tenor who doesn’t grate on me – saying something considering the entire Fach sounds a bit unnatural to me.
I thought that her Mad Scene was much better than the first, which was dull.
felt like a real opera today. I agree with Kashania, I was moved as well. Rare for me as well, I am usually in awe of what they try to do vocally. She actually made you aware of Lucia, intentional or not. So much drama with this show. Glad the tenor was an anchor of style and class. not a pretty voice but solid and very musical in his phrasing. satisfying. Brava netty and Piotr.
Drammy: Yeah, in a few months. First, the cinemas will do an encore performance in a few weeks, and that’ll be followed later by a PBS broadcast (scheduling varies depending on individual stations). For example, tonight, the Buffalo/Toronto PBS station is finally showing the Mattila Salome.
There was definitely an electricity about the whole performance that I was not expecting and that has been sorely lacking from the MET broadcasts this season. Just a joy to hear!!!! Glad to know that opera can still bring me to tears after all these years.
So much for Rolando. Nobody is indispensible.
Moving right along, is it me but did the name Villazon go unspoken throughout the entire broadcast? It’s as if he is being shoved out the back door. And what are the prospects for his Elisirs? I believe he is sharing them with Calleja whom, given the currant state of affairs, I would much rather listen to. Finally, Bravo Piotr, bravo!
Tim: It seems to me that the policy is (or used to be) if a singer performs instead of the one listed in Opera News, then there’s an announcement at the beginning of the broadcast, and that’s it.
Since the broadcasts are publicized in a lot of different ways besides ON these days, maybe they have changed that policy on the broadcasts.
Either way, the most Villazon’s name would have been mentioned is once.
This broadcast is deffinitve proof that Gels is reading comments on here. All these people clamoring for Dessay and Damrau and he manages to have all 3 of them: Netrebko as Lucia, Dessay as a host and Damrau briefly as a ghost from the well. Awesome
I thought it was great in the cinema. Anna sang great even though her coloratura at times was not there. But the voice sounded spectacular. And she did not look fat at all. I loved the mad scene. I prefer mad scene that is not crazy mad like most sopranos do it. With Anna it seemed as if she was getting unhinged as the scene went on. I think with a better director she could be great dramatically in this role.
Piotr was great. Very involved dramatically and a good actor and a great voice. I am hoping we get to see him more. He looks like John Vickers a bit. Kinda sexy ugly.
Kwicen (sp?) is very handsome but the way he sings he is not going to last very long. He did held the note longer than Netrebko at the end of Act II. He is totally gay!!! Yeeeah. During the interview with Dessay some girly mannerism was apparent. It was great. Loved it
I didnt care for production. It seems that the singers are lucky nobody got hurt while singing on this set.
This was my first HD in a a theatre. I was interesting. I thought the performances were excellent. Anya was in control and her acting came across well, despite the camera moving in tight enough for her face to fill the screen in the movie theatre. Bigger and closer than opera glasses. I was disappointed with the sound and the HD didn’t impress me as very HD – looked like a movie.
Natilie comes off like an air head cupie doll of opera. She’s blond now and did read from cue cards. The HD broascast productions needs something, but it’s worth a look see. I prefer the live performance any day.
Trebs nailed in my opinion, but what do I know. It was well worth the $20 and 4 hrs.
Regarding Villazon he was mentioned several times by Dessay during HD transmission in cinema. Don’t know about broadcats
I liked the HD moviecast very much. But I must say Netrebko is a damn wonderful actress. Her dramatic instincts are unbeliavable!
Just got back from the HD broadcast. As much as I like Villazon, his getting sick was the best thing that could have happened. Beczala was fantastic, my new crush. Ardent, handsome, heartfelt, and the voice is golden. Villazon, with his caterpillar eyebrows just wouldn’t have been as romantically believable. Beczala and Netrebko were matinee idol glamorous today, and it was great. I thought she did beautifully, even if this isn’t the ideal role for her vocally. And that sturdy peasant stock just doesn’t mesh with my idea of a fragile, sheltered Scottish teenager. Definitely preferred Dessay’s interpretation. And I do love the production, the ghosts aside. From the opening moment with the wolfhounds to the mad scene with that oppressive full moon, it really pulls me in. And yes, I even like the photo op in Act 2. All in all, I had a splendid afternoon.
I just returned from the movie theater. I have been reading the comments on here all week but never the less I tried not to do the Schadenfreude thing but to go with a fresh ear as though I had never heard the singers or the piece before. And I had a good time. By and large I thought AN sounded terrific and hey, let’s be honest here, if she were a man we would have to accord her balls the size of water-melons; that woman is fearless! In Act 1 I found her to be touching and convincing and I just loved her sound. Piotr Beczala sounded very nice but I don’t buy the whole star-is-born thing. I liked Mariusz Kwiecien as well. SO I was pretty excited when the mad scene was due. And I was disappointed. I can’t put my finger on it, I just felt somewhat flat. Odd. I haven’t figured that out yet. All in all a very, very entertaining afternoon. And props to the harpiste!
Just a note about Dessay’s Lucia in Chicago in 2004:
She didn’t skip the E-flats; she sang the mad scene in the original key of F. So, she sang it as written. Almost all Lucias (including Sutherland) sing the scene in E-flat, so they can pop up to E-flats rather than Fs.
I watched the HD broadcast and I have to say it came across very well. She takes the cabalatta of Regnava nell’silenzio quite slowly and I thought it was going to be Lucia-Made-Simple, but she negotiated the coloratura of the Mad Scene more than respectably. attempted passable trills and, yes, she nailed the high E flat. I thought she wasn’t going to try it after she didn’t do the unwritten high note at the end of Ancor non giunse. Beczala was really fabulous, in fact, I doubt if anyone can hold a candle to him in this repertoire now. And the Arturo was Colin Lee, a UK-based South African, who has covered Florez in La fille du regiment and Matilde di Shabran at Covent Garden and sung one performance of each. It’s a good voice, better than your average Arturo. Kwiecien was bawling a bit, but the voice is impressive and he looks great. It was my first experience of the Met in HD in a cinema and I’ll definitely go again. I don’t mind the production, apart from the silly wedding photo set-up and the ghost Lucia coming back at the end with grey hair. It looks handsome. I still think Damrau was more brilliant, but with a less substantial voice, and Beczala simply gets better. Keep your fingers crossed that he gets asked to do the new production of Hoffmann next season.
Hello opera lovers.
I have been reading your comments since the first performance, and have even offerred a few. But you all gave me the lowest expectations for Anna today, and as such, I was BLOWN AWAY even more. Bravi – say what you will, but it was a tremendous afternoon.
And Natalie as host….oh the irony.
And Dessay mentioned Rolando twice – in her opening announcement and when interviewing Beczala.
Yep that’s one of the really great things about Parterre- once you’ve survived all the bitchy opera shredding queens, the performances and the performers usually come out really well in reality. Makes you thank God even more for Parterre- if it wasn’t here, I wonder what the old tarts would be shredding instead?
Was it just me, or from what I heard, Dessay wasn’t very enthusiastic about interviewing Netrebko?
“oo howz your zon? are you zinging bezer now you gave birz?” and then she went to talk with Beczala.
DottoreMalatesta,
Dessay appeared to be somewhat mechanical interviewing everyone – she did read from cue cards after all, and English ain’t her first language. She seemed bored to me the entire time. She asked every singer & the maestro “So uhhh how do you prepare for the opera? Must be stressful on stage!” in one form or other.
Saw the HD broadcast and thought it was great. This was my third Lucia and I thought it was the best staged of the three. What fun seeing the phantoms! Anna captivated from beginning to end. (Does she ever change her makeup? No matter the role she always just looks like, well, Anna.)
I adore Dessay like there’s no tomorrow and was so jazzed when I saw her walk towards the camera as hostess. Was not so impressed by the job she did, however. Why can’t she remember a few mindless questions without reading them?
All in all, a fine Saturday afternoon in the dark. I do wish the Met camera operators would lay off all the zooming; just turn the camera on and show me everything as if I were sitting in the house audience, please! Nor do I have any interest in seeing the harpist’s cuticles.
I thought it was very gracious of Dessay to host, considering that the Met built this production around her and even has a performance of it in the can starring her. (Is there any reason they haven’t released the opening night Butterfly and Lucia?)
I wish Netrebko had been a little more gracious to Beczala, though. Sure, she probably wished Villazon were there, but she barely acknowledged Piotr during the first intermission or the curtain call.
yeah I thought also both Dessay and Netrebko seemed uncomfortable around each other. I am not sure but maybe Dessay talked dissmisively about Trebko in the past (or was that machine gun coloratura Bartoli). I know that Trebko expressed admiration for both dessay and damrau recently in one of the interviews. I didnt see Anna snubbing Piotr at all. She was clapping during his bows and seemed happy for him.
So, I didn’t see the HD- because I’m not a huge Donizetti fan and because I also kind of resent being asked to pay upwards of twenty quid to sit in a cinema. But I’m pleased to hear that the general consensus seems to be that Netrebko did a good job. I’m on the fence about her as an artist (the only time I’ve seen her live was in a big screen relay of Rigoletto in the piazza at CG, so I can’t speak about what she’s like inside a house) but dear god the vitriol there’s been on here about her in the last fortnight or so was so distasteful that I was rooting for her. It comes back to that ‘reverse looksism’ thing that I mentioned over the Blythe Orfeo- because Netrebko is so obviously glamorous and attractive, which in its turn leads to print media getting excited about her- some people seem to (a) assume that she is a no-mark media creation who can’t sing and (b) to think that it’s acceptable to call her a whore. She may well not be ideal for this rep- in fact, I think she probably isn’t- but she is undeniably a major singer with a major instrument who is allowed an attempt at something outside her comfort zone.
I was interested, too, in la Cieca’s point about how difficult music can, or can’t, be made to look easy. It’s part of the excitement, I think, either way. A really thrilling ‘Grossmachtige Prinzessin’ is thrilling because and if it’s made to sound easy; on the other hand, something like ‘Parto, Parto’ only works if you’re conscious of how HARD the coloratura is at the end.
If one can get through all the clap trap for a few moments
and coldly and honestly review the afternoon the truly
best singing was done by Beczala ,not only in elegance of
style , but in phrasing the music,plus demonstrating a
beautiful voice – those used to Italianate goat bleating will
of course demur -but it is good to hear once in a while a
real masculine sound from a male who doesn’t sound neutered –
,under the guise of the misused words”bel canto”. Lord knows
Ms. Netrebko was not his equal and should not have been in this opera ,but vanity and ego drives people to do stupid things.and as long as an ignorant audience approves she
will continue down this road . Kwiecien was in better mettle in the duet with Beczala ,but had better get back to the studio before trouble really sets in . Beczala will become
a star only in the sense that the broadcast will bring him a
wider audience to join the following that he already has,and
make no mistake he has a discerning audience . Ms Netrebko
plays the star role quite well, I hope she noticed to-day ,that
the real star was standing next to her .
To me Netrebko never looks like a self possesed diva or a star full of herself ala Gherogiu when taking a bow at the end. She seems modest and shy and appreciative of positive response and generous to her colleagues. I am not sure why people are saying now that she did not acknowledge this and that. Maybe it has something to do with the hideous ghost make up she was wearing at curtain calls.
Well I will be a nay-sayer here but I thought AN was nothing more than ordinary and sometimes less so. I heard two almost cracked notes in the mad scene, no coloring of phrase, no bel canto style. Yes she got the final e-flat and dropped it very quickly, but it wasn’t virtuosic by any means. I have heard Sills, Deutekom, Welting, Peters, Devia and many others and they all brought something special and memorable to this music. AN, to my ears, brought nothing. I heard smudged coloratura, running out of breath, strange phrasing, all sorts of problems. I am glad that fans of AN are happy with her “triumph” but to me it wasn’t such a triumph after all. Just a singer having improved somewhat in a role for which she is not suited. And again since when did the MET become such a trying out place that singers finally “get it right” after the 3 or 4th attempt — when they should have it all together for the prima???
Ariel- so now an audience is “ignorant”- presumably IF they do not share your views!
This of course would not be “clap trap” like what the other posters wrote.
Sheesh! Some Queens!
Ashton, I agree. It wasn’t bad singing, but it really wasn’t good, either (and certainly not great). In this sort of music, AN can’t seem to settle down and sing squarely in the key: sometimes it’s a little high, other times, it’s a little low. She has some fine moments, but I think that there’s something rather basic about singing bel canto that eludes her.
Travesty? No. Triumph? No. Not to my ears.
When Dessay sang Lucia at the Lyric she did not sing the Mad scene in F. Lopez-Cobos did use his performing edition and opened the cut in the Quando rapito, but the essay in the program stated that the mad scene was going to be in Fb because after all the audiences would expect an Eb somewhere. His words, not mine.
I remember that Lucia. Dessay was fantastic in it.
Let me restate that. The essay said the mad scene was going to be performed in Eb…. etc etc etc
Guys, this is all very well, but opera is not only netrebko or placido or renee or lucia. Opera is literally half my life and I like to explore rare works besides the repertory pieces. I have not heard anyone being interested in unknown operas that have recently been performed and that it΄s difficult -if not impossible- to find and listen. Last year sigurd’s salammbo was played in france -I think marseille- and it’s impossible to find a pirate. Ditto massenet’s ariane which was played in saint-etienne. I hope decca releases halevy’s clari because of cecilia-voix du cabinet- bartoli. I’ m also looking for mercadante’s pelagio and thomas’s le caid. Why all the interest is focused on a singer or a repertory opera we have heard a million times, while we are not interested in pieces we don’t know? Do we really love music or we just love bashing the prima donnas?
Well, I still go to the opera in the hope of hearing something good. No, Netrebko’s Lucia wasn’t in the Callas-Sutherland league, but neither of those ladies are around to steal her work. It’s sad, but life goes on. Damrau and Dessay aren’t La Divina or La Stupenda either, but I am glad to have seen them as Marie and Lucia. They are among the best singers for this rep today, even if they aren’t perfect. People complained about Callas and Sutherland when they were performing. Some opera queens are never satisfied. I heard AN’s Giulietta in the Paris Capuleti last season and that is probably her best bel canto role to date and I’m really looking forward to hearing the recording and Covent Garden performances with Garanca. Promises to be one of the vocal highlights of the season, whatever the naysayers think. I think those who would rather hear Annick Massis – lovely Comtesse Adèle in Count Ory at Glyndebourne and Matilde di Shabran in the Teatro Rossini in Pesaro – are deluded in thinking she could be a star Lucia at the Met.
Michael, your point is well taken, but the reason she engenders so much discussion is precisely because this role is so well known. Had she picked an obscure opera, most of this discussion wouldn’t have happened. But when you step into a role that has been so closely associated with the likes of Pons, Sutherland, Callas, Sills, Moffo, etc, who each not only sang it exquisitely but brought something unique to it *and* sang it in appropriate bel canto style, it would be unrealistic to think you didn’t know you were opening yourself up to so much criticism. But as long as you mention a wish list of obscurities:
Gretry
Ettienne-Mehul
Gounod (Philemon et Baucis)
Chabrier (Le roi malgre lui)
Rossini (Otello)
Haydn
Vivaldi
Way back in #39 I made a comment that was disparaging of Ms. Netrebko’s actions and preparation for the HD Broadcast. I should not have made that statement and am sorry that I did. May she and all forgive me.
167 Karnal – You got it right ! I’ve heard them all LIVE!
in concert or opera from Korjus who could bury them all
just in technique to Maynor, to Melchoir to Flagstad to Kiepura to Vickers to Callas to Tebaldi right up to to–day with Beczala
who follows in the great tradition.
As for “queens ” it seems a subject you are more versed in than I ,so I leave it to your expert knowledge .
Netrebko and Beczala are good friends, and I thought she deferred to him during the first intermission. During the curtain calls, it looked as though she deliberately stayed back to give him a solor bow. Whatever. The theater was packed, it looked and sounded terrific, and much as I thought I’d miss Rolando, I didn’t.
Contrary to apparent popular thought, singers are (or should be) musicians, as well as theatrical performers. While she is a beautiful girl (not a real actress imo, but others here disagree), she is in no way a musician – she slouches piggishly thru the music in a way that wouldn’t get her out of a 3rd rate conservatory in Rostov-on-Don – can you imagine if a violinist or pianist gave such a performance? They would be laughed out of the the first concert hall, never to be heard from again. But we are supposed to accept such lazy, slovenly work, because she’s beautiful, and can manufacture a huge tone (the manufacturing of, btw, which is the basis of all her technical problems, but I digress). There are standards of quality, and they are important to some of us. She doesn’t measure up.
balabanov: La Cieca might find your argument more convincing if you could be more specific. Expressions like “slouches piggishly” are not musical terminology.
We get that you don’t like the way Netebko sings; you’ve said that dozens of times. But you’ve never made it clear what specifically strikes you as “lazy, slovenly,” perhaps because you’re spending way too much time kicking Straw Anna (”we are supposed to accept such lazy, slovenly work, because she’s beautiful, and can manufacture a huge tone”).
La Cieca has never been inside any conservatory on Rostov-on-Don and she’s not up on the latest rankings, so she’d hardly know what the standards are at the third-rate schools there. It does seem to La Cieca, though, that singers, particularly gifted ones, are often not held to the same stringent standards of technical perfection that instrumentalists are, so it’s at best disingenuous to act as if this “problem” has suddenly cropped up with the advent of Netrebko.
So, care to specify which phrases strike you as slovenly or whatever other adjective you care to apply? Care to expand upon what these “standards of quality” are, and how Netrebko fails to “measure up?” Otherwise, it’s just more of the same old spouting, and frankly it’s kind of a bore.
Just finished listening to the Sirius bdcast of a 1956 Forza with Milanov. Wow! She was in terrific voice that day. Now, that was singing!
Over the weekend, I listened to Caballe’s studio Lucia. Despite the fact that it’s a studio effort (with re-takes, etc.), she still managed to smudge some of the scales. So, I guess she, too, was a “lazy pig” (and a “whore” to boot!).
Caballe was not in good voice for that Lucia recording. She was capable of better.
Kash, I adore Caballe–but her Philips recordings were done in a period where she was getting very lazy about articulating the fiorature. I Masnadieri suffers from that as well. Much of what was written about her at the time, and just after that, made mention of her being an “apparently lazy musician,” also noting her sightreading at recitals and concerts. I’ve heard comparably few real trills from her on record, either–unless one counts the quivering sounds she’d make on one note. (Perhaps she was taught to do that. I’m not a bel canto expert.)
I don’t think the Lucia is her best effort, and she certainly gave the impression during those very busy studio recording years that she could ‘turn it on’ or ‘off’ relative to how careful she wanted to be with her singing.
Though the coloratura isn’t sparkling and she sound a bit matronly, I still like that Lucia recording very much. My point is that people are much less likely to call Caballe nasty names than they are poor Nebs, even in cases where she could be accused of similar shortcomings.
She was called those and many worse names than that during the 80s.
She got her fare share. Sometimes she brought it all to herself, (as lazies go, Montsy could be a lot lazier than Anna, IMO), but generally it was all very unfair, just like in the case of AN.
La Cieca,
Bravo for your candor and honesty. You’re a class act, besides knowing opera and voices like nobody else. It’s been a sport on this blog to kick Netrebko dowm. This ad nauseam assault with unsupported generalities is intellectually dishonest. Is Neterebko a perfect singer? No! Can she do better? Yes, if she tries harder.
On the other hand, she brings a stage presence that gets into your heart and mind, like no other. Opera singers, like all humans, cannot be perfect all the time and under all circumstances. That would be inhuman!
You know, Constantine, I was thinking along those lines earlier today. I was watching Gundula Janowitz singing Come Scoglio on youtube, and she doesn’t articulate any of the triplets in the final part of the aria, and it’s *still* a gorgeous piece of singing. There are sopranos who sing it with more accuracy, which is great, but far less passion, beauty of tone, and elegance. Also, I listened to Eleanor STeber sing the Lucia Sextet (and Come Scoglio), and Janet Perry sing an aria from Fra Diavolo. Georgeous singing from both.
It’s interesting, though, to think how few people seem to remember Ms. Perry.
I love the Caballe recording for one reason: Jose Carreras. That’s the recording he should be remembered by, followed by the Simon Boccanegra of the same era.
Caballe does give us gorgeous moments as Lucia, as long as no cabalettas are involved. Her first part of the mad scene is sublime.
I agree. Carreras is gold in that recording. Caballe still has many exquisite moments. The two of them are splendid in the act 1 duet. They both rise to the challenge of the slow tempo and pour out glorious sounds.
There is a place between absolute hatred of Netrebko and the blind praise of some of her followers. This was a great Lucia to experience in the theater, I am sure, but it does not come up to the standard set by a lot of singers (living and dead). She deserves her fame and the love of her fans, God knows the talent is substantial, but this was not an entirely successful assumption. Like La Cieca has said, she probably needs a couple of strong mentors to work on the finer points. Callas, Sills, Sutherland, they all had that kind of guidance. I don’t know if finding that collaboration will be possible for Netrebko. Who makes those kind of sacrifices today?
Speaking of “Come Scoglio,” I can recall only one recording I’ve ever heard where the triplets are very cleanly articulated: Berganza recorded a Mozart recital, fairly early on, I think with Pritchard. She sang both of Fiodiligi’s arias with acute precision. The recordings were not always easy to find in the USA, so I had to import a CD from the UK at the time.
For all of Berganza’s beautiful technique (and she was technically very accomplished, to my ears), one could listen to that Mozart recital and decide that it didn’t add up to much emotionally, as she seemed somewhat reticent in the studio at times.
I’m sorry that Caballe didn’t work just a bit harder on some of her recordings that required technical care and polish–because she was always worth listening to otherwise. If she didn’t offer the stratosphere as easily as Sutherland, her legato seemed purer to me. I’m also pissed she didn’t get to record more Mozart…
Caballe’s Philips recording do have some common points with the audio only portion of what Netrebko
gives us today. A lot of people really relate to the lush sound of a voice with a lot of bloom to it.
But for me that’s about the limit of the appeal of it all. Maybe my own critera place me in the minority, I can live with that, but I’ve always been focused on what a singer “does” rather than “has”. I really don’t link slack sound singing which seems a characteristic of today’s (not the younger -late 90s/early 00s) Netrebko. I like pointed phrasing with a GOOD legato, not just a syrupy flow and I like clear articulation of the notes as well as having the words placed in the legato line. Netrebko does not consistently accomplish this and even her admittedly lovely sound sometimes turns a bit acidic and often sounds swallowed.
OK, Cieca, is that a little more specific than Balabanov’s comments? Notice I didn’t use the “s” word, or the “l” word or the “w” word. Although maybe sloppy would be a more precise term than lazy.
Note, I find a lot of these faults in Caballe’s recordings and performances of the 70s. For me she was maddingly inconsistent, often she would seem to offer a lush tone and an unending breath and stop there. Other times she was truly committed to what she was doing. Oddly, I find her work from the 60s (recordings only in my case) and the 80s more consistent. The Lucia I haven’t heard since it was new I don’t remember much of it except that the mad scene sounded uncomfortably high for Caballe’s voice.
was stephen costello busy? last time i checked he was an up and coming tenor who had done the role at the met to rave reviews….
Caballe actually recorded Come Scoglio and all of the triplets are perfectly articulated, as are the triplets in the Nazi’s version. And Berganza’s recording is on iTunes. Also fine – Kiri, Pilar, and the Gundula recording which is not from the same performance as on youtube.
And forgot Theresa Stich-Randall, one of the most gorgeous Mozart singers ever.
Sanford, Caballe’s Cosi was my first version of that opera, my favorite Mozart by far. However, to my ears, I hear rapid repetition of the same note in the triplets, not quite the same notes as Berganza seems to be singing. I’ve never followed along with the score (although I have it somewhere), but I believe that Caballe’s passagework is not quite “perfectly articulated”==at least not in the Philips recording.
I also think te Kanawa’s version for Lombard is very fine, and I believe she gets rather unfair criticism for occassional sloppiness. Her trill was near perfect, and her singing sharp not always so apparent on record as it was in person. I was in the audience at the Centennial Gala when she lost her place in “Dove Sono,” but I don’t hold that against her. I haven’t heard the Lorengar version, but I do have the Janowitz “live from Salzburg” recording with Boehm, and haven’t listened to it since I acquired it.
I’m in the tiny minority that finds Boehm’s EMI Cosi outrageously overrated, and never bought the CD having only listened to the LP a few times. I agree that Schwarzkopf was capable of fine singing in Mozart, of course, and prefer her singing of Fiordiligi on the mono HvK set. (Better casting, too, in my view–if one can stand the funereal tempos by today’s style.)
Caballe uses a light aspirate to articulate the fast triplets in her Come Scoglio. Some of the slower note patterns are more smudged. That being said I think it was one of her good recordings but not really in a class with the best
versions on disc. Sorry, it sounds to me very much to be studio bound like a lot of her 70s recordings.
The Kiri Mozart disc was the first one I bought of hers, and it has some fine singing on it. I followed up with her Verdi/Puccini disc, which was also fine. I then found a recording she made at about 17, in English, of arias such as Una Voce Poco Fa.
Bohm is a wildly uneven conductor to me. His Abduction, with Arleen Auger and Reri Grist is superb, but the Sull’aria duet on youtube is dreadfully slow and dirge-like; it feels twice as slow as most other performances.
I don’t really consider “studio-bound” as much of a criticism, since it was a studio recording. And actually, now that I think of it, Leontyne (not one of my faves) recorded Come Scoglio and did a pretty good job.