parterre box

45 comments

• calaf47 says:

  Stupid ass quiz. What a waste of time.

  on February 7, 2009 at 4:37 PM
• Quanto Painy Fakor says:

  And where was George Steele through all of this?

  on February 7, 2009 at 5:12 PM
• rysanekfreak says:

  The presto round question about the different types of -cides was interesting, but they rushed through it. I didn’t understand what category they were allowing L’Amore dei tre re. Father-in-law killing daughter-in-law was not the category offered. And for killing a wife, why didn’t someone shout “Otello!”? And Thomas’ Hamlet surely was a good answer for some of them. What’s interesting is that, for once, La Gioconda was not the all-purpose answer for a difficult question. Gioconda has a suicide and a contralto-cide, but that’s it.

  on February 7, 2009 at 6:03 PM
• Constantine A. Papas says:

  Yes, Virginia (La Cieca), there’s Santa Clause (there’s Lucia in Netrebko)!
  I just came back from HD Lucia. It was a phenomenal performance – thanks to Armiliato- and everything came together. Netrebko may not be a coloratura but she sings and acts Lucia.
  Closeups of her face and mouth showed no strain. Her top was secure and her legato was breathtaking. Beczala was the man of the day, and with Kwiecien’s and Abdrazakov’s flawless singing, this Met HD telecast was on of the best.
  Lately, everybody’s putting down everybody: the Met, singers, etc. Guys, things don’t look that bad. Watching this Met production and everything that goes behind the scene, many ouside of the US will admire the Met as an Opera House of Might, second to none.

  on February 7, 2009 at 7:28 PM
• Lindoro Almaviva says:

  Just got back from the showing of Lucia. Went to a theater in North East Indianapolis.

  The show: I like Mary Zimmerman’s production. Saw it at the Met last year with Massis and loved the production. I would do without the assisted suicide, but the whole ghosts idea I like a lot. The sets a beautiful and there lies my first problem with the moviecast: We didn’t get to see enough of the set. Too many close ups, too many weird camera angles and not enough of the surroundings to let us in the drama.

  Dessay looked uncomfortable. Could it be that not being a native speaker she was not entirely comfortable with conducting interviews in English and was not entirely at ease with the use of a teleprompter? I found it distracting seeing her eyes wander from the camera and her face buried in the cue cards. It also bothered me that everything was so scripted for her. She didn’t look natural. Come on, if there is someone who can talk about Lucia and that production should be her. Yet, she looked tied up to a script that did not let her personality shine. I have met her and can attest that what we saw in the screen was not what I experienced. She could have used a longer rehearsal period for this assignment.

  Piotr Beczala was in my opinion the best option the met had in the tenor department. He is definitely an improvement over Villazon, Fillanotti and Giordani (who was horrible the day I saw him and even worse in the Manon Lescaut. How does he still get all the attention is a mystery to me) He looked relaxed and sounded (and acted) quite well. Overall I would say it was a good performance. Of all the principals I thought he was the best.

  Ildar Abdrazakov was also quite good, if not imposing. I have a feeling he is more on the baritone side of a bass-baritone. His Raimondo was rather bland in the acting department and probably too low at this point in the vocal department. I thought in he did quite well in the company he had.

  Mariusz Kwiecien does have an imposing stage presence and acts well. As a singer I was less impressed. At this point he is too preoccupied with making a big sound and it shows. I fear that he is not cultivating a good vocal production and will see himself in some trouble in the near future. I had a feelig that I was seeing an artist burning the candle on both ends. It was exiting for sure, but for how long?

  This leads me to Anna Netrebko. As I was telling a friend before the performance, she had a decent Act 2. Act 1 had its moments and Act 3 was a near train wreck. It has been well established that she is not a bel canto soprano. So we got a bel canto opera sung by a non-specialist: No trills, smugged coloratura, poor attention to the style (appogiaturas anyone?), wrong notes, need I continue? This was an actor’s Lucia. I will giver her this, the woman acted well and was believable, but we were not watching a play and this was her Achilles tendon.

  If this makes me a hater, well so be it; but when I go to see a bel canto opera it would be nice to have it acted and SUNG properly. In every generation there have been many sopranos who have been able to do both and do it well, Anna Netrebko is NOT one of them. For an artist of Anna Netrebko’s fame and supposed “caliber” we only got 1 out of 2. Those who are OK with that, congrats, you got what you deserved. I am not OK with that and I will say it, even on the face of being accused of being a hater. Fire away, it does not change the fact that in a scale from 1-10 Anna Netrebko barely reached a 5 today.

  In summary, today we got a Lucia without a Lucia.

  on February 7, 2009 at 7:48 PM
• wenarto says:

  I missed the entire things, the broadcast and the HD, I went shopping and Tom Ford’s latest perfume ($425 per bottle) intrigued me – but I had no cash! so there, La Cieca, is this performance now on youtube?

  on February 7, 2009 at 8:03 PM
• Drammy says:

  Wenarto I assume it won’t be up until -at least- the encore showing is over…copyright violation, n’est-ce pas? Maybe after the 2nd showing no one will care anymore..but then there’s the DVD coming out.

  And you could always wait til PBS airs it.

  on February 7, 2009 at 8:06 PM
• Jay says:

  Wenatro, Lucia will be rebroadcast (streamed) as early as 4 p.m. EST tomorrow on a radio station in Fairbanks. Check operacast.com for more details. I feel asleep and missed all of it. The first two acts of last night’s Adriana stream was about all I could take for this 24-hour period. Tonight Das Lied von der Erde with Jonas Kaufmann and Christopher Maltman is being streamed on WLCV. Studly Mahler!

  on February 7, 2009 at 8:11 PM
• Scott Rose says:

  Readers interested in knowing more about Maestro Marco Armiliato might enjoy reading my profile of him in the February Opera News.

  on February 7, 2009 at 8:43 PM
• the flamingo opera says:

  Constantine A. Papas : Good point !! I’m reading all the conversation and I’m like : what the heck happening here ! Come on ! Its not that bad !

  on February 7, 2009 at 8:53 PM