parterre box

170 comments

• Sanford says:

  I also rather like Valerie Masterson. I saw her as Antonia at LOC in the early 80s and she was marvelous. I’ve heard bits and pieces of her Violetta, which I thought was quite nice.

  I would also point out that I don’t attack people on a personal level for having different opinions than my own. Music is a very personal thing, as sound waves hit eveeryone’s ears differently. I’ve heard some violinists who feel like nails on a blackboard for me, because, to my ears, the tone isn’t quite centered on pitch; and yet, other people adore them.

  on May 1, 2009 at 1:15 PM
• Lindoro Almaviva says:

  what is the validity of a short clip compared to an enthusiastic audience, acknowledging an outstanding performance with APPLAUSE?

  Please, do we have to go there? Applause (or APPLAUSSSSSEEEEEE!!!!!!!) is as subjective as a review. How many times have we seen audiences going bonkers over poor performances and the same audience treated to one of those rare nights of music making and completely ignore it?

  Applause can mean many things, including that the performed did extremely well, or (s)he connected with the audience, or that the audience has no clue what is going on, but feel that it is their duty to applaud.

  on May 1, 2009 at 2:07 PM
• Constantine A. Papas says:

  I love this site! Whenever Netrebko sings venom and honey will show up, and this will continue for as long as she performs. Netrebko has captured our imagination, wether we love or we hate her singing. And this is the best thing that has happend to opera for a long time.

  on May 1, 2009 at 3:37 PM
• Cocky Kurwenal says:

  I don’t think a positive review in the local press says anything worthwhile about the quality of the performance that can inform this debate, and neither does audience reaction, but I still think many of you seem to have it in for Netrebko for no discernable reason. I’ve just been listening to Ponselle’s Sempre Libera, in transposition I might add, and she fluffs the coloratura too, but it wouldn’t occur to me to condemn it as a bad performance or accuse her of not having known the role. I’ve also given Scotto a listen, who does nail the coloratura first time round, but not so the second, and mewls like a cat on heat on all the top cs and d-flats. The plain and simple fact is that most sopranos who are appropriate for the role overall will find Sempre Libera a challenge and they will have some nights which are better than others. As for the memory slip – it can happen to anybody, no matter how well they know the role. Scotto again, in what I assume must be the famous Tokyo performance (because it is opposite Carreras) incorrectly starts the final run up to the repeated top cs on an e-flat instead of a g. Live opera is seldom perfect, but such imperfections as these don’t generally bother a live audience, if they even get noticed. Had Netrebko and her team released a studio recording with these mistakes and shortcomings which she has it in her to fix, you’d all be perfetly justified, but that really isn’t the case here.

  on May 1, 2009 at 3:41 PM
• The Vicar of John Wakefield says:

  “Anna Netrebko… a sensible chamber musician.”

  on May 1, 2009 at 4:43 PM
• tenorino says:

  Lindoro Almaviva thanks for you comments. Nice to know someone agrees with me, but I must say that I keep listening to her because she keeps me interested in a strange demented kind of way. I was floored when I saw that she was singing Puccini and then even more surprised when I saw it was not O mio babbino. She did it in her own way and I liked it although it is hardly my favorite performance of that aria and I would never want to hear her sing the role.

  With the Fleming comments on this post I am wondering if anyone saw her in Milwaukee last night.

  on May 1, 2009 at 4:45 PM
• The Vicar of John Wakefield says:

  “Anna Netrebko… a sensible chamber musician.”

  Tosh! Imagine the Russian baggage attempting the beastly Slavic equivalent of “On Wenlock Edge”!

  on May 1, 2009 at 4:46 PM
• Klassikfan says:

  Meanwhile – thanks to La Cieca! – we have got a second bit of recording to listen to – and look what the comments say to that one… (which shows that those can’t be all wrong who have seen and heard the complete performance live ).

  on May 1, 2009 at 8:54 PM
• SuzyQ says:

  #156 Sacerdotessa, I don’t how Jennifer Black will be as Violetta but she was a fantastic Mimi this past w/e in a La Boheme concert in Bridgeport, CT.

  on May 1, 2009 at 10:02 PM
• Sacerdotessa says:

  Thankx Suzy I think she has a lovely voice not to mention she has movie star looks from her promos ( I know they an be misleading). The only Violetta’s I have seen live were Donahue, Spacagna, and Ann Panagulias. I will treasure them all, they were all fine performances.

  on May 1, 2009 at 10:13 PM