parterre box

105 comments

• Brooklynpunk says:

  Thanks, La C…I thought Zimmerman was of mid-western ‘merikan heritage, as well…

  on March 3, 2009 at 5:33 PM
• Ian says:

  @Drammy- the article is worth the $4.50 (and you get a bonus piece on dreamy Rahmbo). Dessay comes across fabulously, Zimmerman less so. Interestingly there’s little love lost between the two.

  on March 3, 2009 at 5:44 PM
• williams says:

  Anyone reading this site who isn’t in dire financial condition should be a New Yorker Magazine subscriber if only for the occasional piece by Alex Ross.

  on March 3, 2009 at 5:51 PM
• Ian says:

  Exactly williams! He’s totally my secret husband and is worth the $40 a year or whatever it is.

  on March 3, 2009 at 6:42 PM
• Mme Singalotta says:

  Forget the staging. The first thing you need to do is cast a Bel Canto opera with people who have beautiful voices and who sing well. If you have that, a bad production won’t matter.

  on March 3, 2009 at 9:06 PM
• Ian says:

  @Singalotta- to paraphrase the lady of of the hour herself, if I just want to hear beautiful singing I can go to a concert, or put on a CD. Point taken though.

  on March 4, 2009 at 7:46 AM
• paddypig says:

  the sad thing is, that with this cast, the opera would have sold out immediately. They could have done a simple production (or simply used the sets from IPURITANI for that matter) and it would have been an overwhelming success. ND’s need not to be bored helped create this nonsense. She and MZ both need to be held accountable for the destruction of this wonderful gem of an opera. and those of you who think it is so silly, don’t go see it. I adore the opera and have never seen it live and will go see it (probably with my opera glasses focused on Florez whenever he is on stage and focusing on Dessay when she is singing and trying to ignore all the crap that is going on onstage) but I think it is a disgrace that noone stopped this ludicrous production in the prep stage and demanded it be reworked. Doesn’t anyone watch these things in preparation and stand up to the director and tell him or her they are destroying the opera

  on March 4, 2009 at 12:21 PM
• Lindoro Almaviva says:

  Doesn’t anyone watch these things in preparation and stand up to the director and tell him or her they are destroying the opera

  Ideally Gelb should have been the one, but he is too busy lining up “starts” to replace the stars he is already contracted and in the process pissing off a lot of 1st line covers.

  He should have the sense, but he knows marketing, not opera. He thought that so long as there was Dessay and Flores in the cast the audience would not notice what was goin on.

  After all, “I gave you ND and JDF, who would pay attention to something like production values when there is DESSAY & JUAN DIEGO on the stage?”

  Serves him well…

  on March 4, 2009 at 4:34 PM
• Wotanman says:

  Good grief! Y’all are some insatiable bitches!

  1. I’ve heard “legendary” simgers perform this opera worse in their primes.
  2. Hell with the naysayers, Dessay was FANTASTIC. She has never had a dramatic coloratura voice yet projects very well. I’ve heard her better, but giving the awkwardness of the moment, she was great. (the blocking was VERY diffcult and one one of her highest notes they were practically THROWING her in the air!!???)
  3. Diego Florez was very good however the person who discussed a nasally sound has a good ear. He DID sound a little “parked in the front” at times and did not project as well as i have heard him before, but when he did open up the high notes were tremendous.
  4. Dessay knows how to really work the hall as well as any soprano I’ve heard. Sure, she may not have the size of a Callas, (but neithr are they allowing th few that might have a dramatic top into the big hall contracts either!!!) but she sings within herself AND and the edge dramrtically and musically. These days such a combination is a Godsend. Both Dessay and Florez have a phenomenal sense of musicality for coloratura. They make a suberb couple (musically!)
  5. The rest of the cast was a little boring. Lisa had some itenresting toens but this wasnt the best role for her. The Rodrigo has a terrific voice but covers his vowels too darkly. It soudns mastubatory and boring.
  6. Don’t know why everyone was booing. Yes there were problems with the production (to me the coninuity was fucked) but I also loved a few of the moments, like the ARIA on the blackboard and the interesting use of the platform for “Ah non” which actually captured the moment quite well!

  on March 4, 2009 at 7:42 PM
• Wotanman says:

  “Remember that Doll Song in Youtube where she takes what I believe is an A flat in alt? And the voice had warmth? All that is gone.”

  ACTUALLY, I like her voice and overall package a little better now than then. It’s fuller now throuohout and this was apaprent when she overpowered Florez in the middle and lower registers. At the time of the referencedyoutube clip her “fach” was PERFECT for Olympia and indeed that performance is IMO an example of an aria performed to vocal and musical perfection… HOWEVER IMO her voice is actually “warmer” and fulelr now overal- just a little more “intense” and sometimes somewhat strident in the upper registers as she has lost some of her highest notes, but HELLO that’s part of aging. The great thing is that, unlike most high coloraturas who crash and burn when their voices begin to change into lower rep, Dessay has made an very admirable transition into the heavier bel canto rep. Thus she has stretched her prime to over two decades thus far. What a phenomenal career. IN YO FACES!

  on March 4, 2009 at 7:56 PM