addio della traviata: anna
Anna Netrebko will not sing Violetta in New York during the 2010-2011 season, La Cieca has learned. The long-expected La traviata (as discussed on Met Futures and elsewhere) was to be a version of the Willy Decker production the soprano did at Salzburg in 2005.
According to an interview the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung, Netrebko has decided to pull out for two reasons, a sense of routine in this production she loves so well, and a concern that she might not be as effective in the staging as she was in the well-known DVD release. (That second part at least has the ring of truth.)
The diva goes on to discuss future repertoire for her “new voice” (Anna Bolena and Faust, definitely; Trovatore and Lohengrin, possibly; but not Lulu, even though Barenboim and Decker want her to do it.)
It is my understanding that Dessay will be singing her first Cleopatra in Handel’s Giulio Cesare in Paris at the Palais Garnier in early 2011 with Lawrence Zazzo as Cesare, directed by Laurent Pelly and conducted by Emmanuelle Haim.
“Dessay= This is one of the great singing actresses of our time. Sorry that you don’t see/hear it that way.”
******
Seen her in Fille/Lucia/Sonnambula…and you’re right : I DON’T see her that way
“Oinsawm in troowben Tawwgen”
And Madame Dessay is very clever with the vocal trickery and the gurning http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gurn, but give me someone with a technique AND a substantial voice, and I’m a lot happier.
I am currently attending a major singing competition which has featured at least three young coloratura sopranos who can do most of the special effects that get people swooning over Dessay and Damrau …
PrimoDon#7: Let’s see now about La traviata.
It has four acts, I, II, III and IV. Right? Act II
is Violetta’s country house; it has solos, duets but no big ensembles; it’s bucolic, intimate, dramatic and in fact tragic. Success in Act II, is
necessary for success for Violetta and her opera. Everyone asks about Act I and the big arias; far more important is the ability to catch your heart with the ironic drama of Act II and the confrontations of Germont pere with both son and son’s mistress. Miss Dessay was OK in Act I, though her high Eb was an unattractive screech, but where she lost me was Act II. She does not have the amplitude of voice or variety of tonal color or dynamics to carry the role’s wide-ranging emotions in that act, and her Italian is surprisingly unloved (by her). At Santa Fe she looked ridiculous in Act II; really, very off-putting. I love the lady; she’s a delightful person, but she is no tragedienne. No way, no how and the voice ain’t there — even if the intention is. So…..Act III yes ! Big ensemble singing and Violetta has an all-important ascending motif sung four times in which she grieves over Alfredo, etc., and N. D. just did not have the thrust to make it work. You could indeed hear her, but it was not the right kind of sound. Act IV – by then it’s too late and her
reading of the letter, er, The Letter, was Vera Galupe on a bad night; I could not believe the camp of it; of course, unintentional camp. Don’t look for N. D. to replace A. N. in the New York Violettas over the next few season. How about Melisande? Why doesn’t the Met retire La traviata for a few seasons; I think it deserves a rest for a while; let a new crop of Miss Violets hatch out.
mrmyster – Thanks for the detailed analysis. However, and sorry to be pedantic, but Verdi’s score states that La Traviata has three acts with Act 2 having two scenes, so primodon1 is correct in his post #7 about an ensemble in Act 2 (scene 2, that is).
Does Santa Fe really present it as four acts with three intermissions? I thought that practice went away decades ago.
Who cares?!
I’m listening to Zelmira at Pesaro right now live on the radio and just heard some boos! Does anyone know who they were directed at?
Javier:
I was listening to the broadcast from Pesaro as well..and assumed the boo-ing was for the production/directorial crew…as the Artists themselves seemed to receive an extended favorable reception…..
Hurray! Good for Anna! No dumb couch at the MET. Yippie.
Strike a blow against Eurotrash.
Since the other Violetta is supposed to be Hei Kyung Hong, why not just give her the whole run. I’d rather hear her than Trebs anyway. On Amazon, just on the first page of listings, Lohengrin features Jessye Norman, Eva Marton, and Elizabeth Grummer. Drilling further, I found Anna Tomowa-Sintow and Deborah Polaski. iTunes has among others, Cheryl Studer. I don’t think I’ve ever heard Trebs even being associated with German rep, but I certainly can’t imagine her voice having the necessary thrust for Wagner.
Fleming also could not be easily heard over the ensemble and chorus of Act II, scene 2, in La Traviata; and the same was true for Fleming in Otello, Act III, though I think she’s very good as (most of) Desdemona; is this simply a matter of power and volume, or is it also connected to the quality of the voice? Dessay, by the way, was both beautiful and moving in the aria from Traviata at the 125th anniversary gala. . .