parterre box

25 comments

• Often admonished says:

  If only they were from the new staging!

  on September 17, 2009 at 4:54 AM
• browser says:

  But he makes a valid point. An Italian voice, PROPERLY-TRAINED brings something to Verdi that many others can’t. Of course, there are exceptions – and these a generally singers with a great Italian technique who have immersed themselves completely in the history and tradition of Italian opera.

  Take, for example, Melody Moore, who I am convinced can become one of the great sopranos of our time in the Italian lyric repertoire. She isn’t just singing the notes with a good technique, she’s picking up touches from singers past that you can hear in her performances.

  on September 17, 2009 at 6:36 AM
• MontyNostry says:

  browser, I think your post ended up on the wrong thread, but let’s face it, though Andrew Clark’s writing might be a bit obscure, it’s better than Mr Tommasini’s strapping guff.

  That Covent Garden Don Carlo was so miscast/undercast last time that I think Furlanetto became the hero by default! Still, I saw him do it in Turin with a strong, large-scale cast three years ago and he was the best thing in it then too.

  on September 17, 2009 at 6:40 AM
• Will says:

  Furlanetto has become something close to a great singer in the past decade. The voice is deep, rich, generous in size and sonority and he never has to push for effect, he just IS.

  on September 17, 2009 at 7:07 AM
• arepo says:

  The main problem for me with this new “Tosca” staging and concept (ah yes, those not-to-be-missed Feminazi ladies), is that even if it is a decent one (?) the fact that it was chosen as one of the HD productions means that some hopeful newbies are going to see it for the first time–maybe even their first opera.
  To see this particular production as their baseline for what Puccini intended makes me kind of sad.

  I took (dragged) my mate (not a Wagner person) to the one Wagnerian opera that is maybe more like an Italian one, “Lohengrin”, hoping to wean him slowly.

  The fact that it was the Met Robert Wilson “static” production where no one ever looks at anyone and they stand like statues, was so off-putting I struggled trying to explain that that’s not what the “real” Lohengrin is about.

  Makes my job much tougher when that happens.

  on September 17, 2009 at 9:46 AM
• La Cieca says:

  arepo, La Cieca appreciates that you’re trying to spread the message. That’s great. But I think you may be underestimating the newbies.

  My experience with non-opera fans is that it’s almost impossible to predict what’s going to click with them. Sometimes it’s lavish spectacle; other times it’s what some of us might dismiss as gimmicky Konzept. What novice audiences do seem to have in common is an instinctive eye and ear for honesty and commitment in performance, even if they are deaf to the fine points of vocalism.

  And audiences in general I think are so visually savvy that an elliptical approach to the drama doesn’t faze them. In other words, they don’t really need a full naturalistic replica of a Roman cathedral if the director is able to indicate “church” in some more economical way. I think the case even can be made that a lot of the audience is more engaged by a production that challenges them to figure out what’s going on rather than one that lays all its cards on the table.

  And all that said, we will yet to see what the new Tosca looks like onstage, so let’s try to hold out a few more days before we throw in the towel, okay?

  on September 17, 2009 at 10:16 AM
• justanothertenor says:

  #7 Krunoslav: I was at the prima, but did not see subsequent shows. What did they change?

  on September 17, 2009 at 10:20 AM
• justanothertenor says:

  #12 Browser: Isn’t Melody Moore just wonderful? Her Mimi was breathtaking, and Mattila could have learned a lot from Moore’s Manon Lescaut. A rare breed of singer who is a true actor, with a beautiful voice, impeccable technique, stage presence and natural class (and also wonderful offstage).

  on September 17, 2009 at 10:23 AM
• Krunoslav says:

  17
  With GRIMES, they elimainated the end-of-show set opening to reveal the bridge/gallery of Contemporary Gay and Lesbian Observer surveying the past ( I kid you not).

  With SONNAMBULA, much of the twee nonsense was toned down, and before “Ah non credea” Dessay no longer wrote “Aria” ( provoking belly laughs from the would-be hip)on a chalk-board but “Elvino”. And the camera cut away from some of the worst “business”.

  on September 17, 2009 at 12:13 PM
• justanothertenor says:

  Thank you Krunoslav! I wondered if they were going to keep that in.
  I think it is very interesting that Dessay got blamed for the production. Apparently, the only thing she said to Zimmerman was to please not set it in a little swiss village in traditional costumes. That was apparently the totality of the input she had. I also know she hated most of the stage business she was told to do.
  Somehow, however, the PR machine managed to spin it so that Zimmerman was not at fault. Dessay was so reviled in here as a result, and the whole ridiculousness was blamed on her. Gelb’s PR machine can get anyone to believe anything. I find it terrifying.

  on September 17, 2009 at 12:24 PM