parterre box

29 comments

• mrmyster says:

  correcton: to my ear, not hear

  on June 30, 2009 at 10:47 PM
• SilvestriWoman says:

  Perhaps Trebs knew she had to up her game because she knew Futral was right behind her…

  Here’s a review of the second cast: http://www.sfcv.org/news-reviews/reviews/emla-traviataem-reborn/panel

  on June 30, 2009 at 11:10 PM
• SilvestriWoman says:

  mrmyster – just checked my piano. On my keyboard (tuned less than a year ago and played intermittently), her high C actually registered a little sharp.

  Having listened to the clip, I certainly hear some lovely things – and am VERY glad she didn’t take the E-flat – but, for the most part, her coloratura doesn’t pass muster. When she does have a high note, she gets off it as soon as she can, musicality be damned. And what happened to the cadenza at the end of the cavatina? There’s really no excuse for it being omitted. Her C appears to be secure – should I assume she simply can’t sing the notes?

  Honestly, one can hear a more musical Violetta at any local Bay Area opera company.

  on June 30, 2009 at 11:22 PM
• virginblogger says:

  I’ve said it before, but I LOVE the DVD of the performance in Salzburg from a few years ago. In the house, she makes a mighty sound, and I can forgive whatever shortcomings other perceive…

  on June 30, 2009 at 11:53 PM
• Meimei says:

  After hearing Furtral as Violetta last week in LA, I’m sad to say that Trebs has nothing to worry about. Furtral was a major disappointment. The voice warmed up after the first act, but let me tell you, act I was pretty excruciating at times.

  on July 1, 2009 at 2:02 AM
• Meimei says:

  It’s late . . . sorry for the extra “r”–Futral, that is . . .

  on July 1, 2009 at 2:04 AM
• Baritenor says:

  I heard Netrebko and Futral back to back this weekend. Futral sang the Eflat but it was pretty shrieky. Her coloratura was more secure, but not by much. Netrebko was much stronger in Acts Two and Three. One thing I noticed was that Futral made much safer dramatic choices, especially in the third act. By “safer” I mean followed the traditional Violetta blocking: staggering, coughing and fainting. I’ll never forget Netrebko’s “Addio del Passato” mainly due to the fact that she did not move ONCE the entire aria. Totally still. She just stood there, frozen. It was breath-taking.

  The real story here was in the change of tenors. Charles Castronovo was good, at his best in the act one duet, but he was overparted by “Oh Mio Rimorso” (and who isn’t?). David Lomeli, an incoming Adler Fellow, was the second cast, and we will all be singing his praises within three or four years. An excellent performance, and he knocked the High C in the cabaletta out of the park. Quite a night.

  on July 1, 2009 at 3:30 AM
• Krunoslav says:

  The big news was Powell; Lomeli indeed very promising. Futral earned her right to be there but it was kind of wan.

  Meanwhile, the brilliant, questing Daniel J, Wakin delivers himself of this nugget today:

  “The Met’s budget has increased rapidly under Mr. Gelb, who has sought to bring in more star singers, prominent directors and new productions and raise the company’s profile.”

  on July 1, 2009 at 8:13 AM
• enzo says:

  I heard Powell and Lomeli on youtube. Both sound very lightweight. We need bigger, richer voices for Verdi.

  on July 1, 2009 at 9:07 AM
• RRnest Thesiger says:

  virginblogger, I, too, loved the Salzburg video, too but I saw Nebs last week in SF, and she has lost the detailed interpretation she had in Salzburg. She swallowed up words and didn’t shape phrases. The lower voice sounds like a caricature of a Russian soprano, or even mezzo. In part I blame Marta D. for the failure of this Traviata, though there was one wonderful touch when Violetta and Germont pere stared at each other at close range for the last eight bars or so of their duet. One touch does not a direction make. BTW, the sets and lighting were atrocious. There was a “play of light” on the red leaves of a giant tree in the garden scene that was supposed to suffice for a garden that was out of some infernal setting for Parsifal Act 2 that no director has yet imagined.

  on July 1, 2009 at 12:06 PM