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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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.