parterre box

79 comments

• mj says:

  I am really digging Tamara Mumford’s Maddalena.

  on April 1, 2009 at 10:51 PM
• Constantine A. Papas says:

  Well, La Draculetta is going to have a fit! The Times on line rated the 20 reigning divas of our time. The #1 spot was given to Netrebko, #2 to Gheorghiu, and #3 to Dessay!

  on April 2, 2009 at 12:03 AM
• Popp Fanatic says:

  I was also there on Tuesday. Briefly:

  The production is incredibly boring and tired-looking. This is an easy opera to “update” – witness the superb Pelly production that Covent Garden bought last year and is reviving again next month. The Met should perhaps think about a new production in this vein because this was just BAD.

  There was no “acting” or “direction” either. Just park-and-bark. This made the production look even worse, if that were ever possible. Giordano was particularly stilted, but since he filled in at a short notice he should be forgiven. AG only bothered to do anything other than stand&deliver in the Act 2 duet with Dulcamara, and for that one brief moment the opera just barely sparkled. She even twirled her skirt to show us that she also has nice legs, like another Eastern European soprana who shall remain nameless . Not bad.

  There were definetely serious problems with orchestra-singer coordination in the beginning of Act 1. There were a lot of “WTF” looks among the punters that seem to echo the comments here. It got better as time went on.

  I liked AG’s singing. Her voice is not the biggest, but it has a lovely shimmer to it and was secure throughout its range. She really has a very lovely sound.

  Giordano was serviceable but a bit boring and unsubtle. Still, I am always more forgiving anyone who fills in for someone who has cancelled.

  I am a fan of Alaimo, and he did not really disappoint me, but it wasn’t his best performance ever. I have also always liked Franco Vasallo and he was once again solid.

  Overall: not atrocious, nor a complete waste of time either. The worst you can say about it is that it was professionally-done and by the numbers. And boring. But reasonably well sung.

  on April 2, 2009 at 6:23 AM
• Popp Fanatic says:

  Any kind of diva ranking is just silly, but if you have really have to do it Dessay has to be number 1. And I say this as an Anna fan, mind you. All three of them are very fine singers in their way but Dessay edges it on being the (much) superior actress. Angela is really no actress by any definition you care to use, and Anna is a very charismatic, very talented, amateur. Dessay is in another league.

  on April 2, 2009 at 6:30 AM
• tinhtraiviet says:

  mj: can you be more explicit about the “G & G” covers for Cura? is Marcello Giordani coming to the rescue yet again (is he even in town?)? Massimo Giordano’s tenorino sure isn’t suitable, and neither are the character tenors with surnames G on the MET roster (Alan Glassman, Thomas Glenn & Jonathan Green). thanks.

  on April 2, 2009 at 6:36 AM
• CasualOperaFan says:

  Re #75, I could be wrong but I thought he meant that Giordano and Gheorghiu “covered” for Cura in the intermission feature – that is, they did the feature instead of him, presumably to save his voice a bit.

  I could be wrong about what that poster meant tho, but that is how I read it…

  on April 2, 2009 at 11:56 AM
• tinhtraiviet says:

  #76 ah … how slow of me … thanks for the explanation!

  on April 2, 2009 at 1:30 PM
• CasualOperaFan says:

  To #72, this brings to mind the hissy fit Gheorghiu threw on a TV show set (German?) when she found out the Netrebko Boheme was being given a better time slot. She and Alagna walked off.

  The world may rank her any way it chooses. She will probably just keep on acting like she is #1 !!!

  Which in her own mind, she IS, and which belief is, IMHO, the truest secret of her success (which to me is rather out of proportion to her talent and accomplishment).

  That type of unshakeable confidence – right on the border of a bit of delusion about one’s self – is very alluring to many people and a frequent contributor to success.

  on April 2, 2009 at 3:15 PM
• cnukz says:

  nerva—thanks for correcting my slightly elderly memory. my first reaction was soederstrom and she was great. but the moffo-tagliavini was fab. did I mention that baccaloni’s entrance in the balloon brought down the house!!!!

  on April 2, 2009 at 5:00 PM