Comments on: Alagnas go pfft?

By: Harry

Harry — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 09:19:31 +0000

Ruxton Dear! (42#)A bigger indelible fact: WE ALL KNEW where two of you lived, long, long go when you tried instigating that ‘simpering love trifle’. God you take people for fools. That appears to be your attitudinal problem: (according to you!)”That everybody else is stupid’ .
The Chardonnay (Sutherland) Set was always renowned for the clowns amongst its ranks. More ‘so very Sydney’!

By: Ruxton

Ruxton — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 22:22:42 +0000

Harry- you poor ol thing. Little wonder you get so many things wrong when you can’t even recognise a joke between friends when you see it- Sweet Sanford lives in the USA and I live in Australia- hardly a starting point for a serious “romantic line”…another total miscall on your part. No wonder no one takes you seriously. That is the “indelible fact”.

By: Harry

Harry — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 18:51:58 +0000

Now Sanford (38#) By criticizing and calling someone’s selected comments at this Site ‘as vitriolic’ is like someone maintaining they are still a virgin: after having a multitude of husbands and a flock of kids, proving otherwise.
You are then in fact,trying to cut the ground from under the Site. Promoting hypocrisy by using such approach. Wishing to deny this Site : its renowned notoriety, its reputation, its energy fuel for living. Just imagine this Site if it was ‘so proper’ in what it discusses : regarding opera???!!If you wish to be scalded in outrage: spilling your supper teacup and biscuit before bed, so be it!

We all know Ruxton tried to do a romantic line with you, in the past on this Site.. A forlorn , long running serial : What a Girl Hopes to Marry’- and you did not take up her milk-sop offer. It is not something , understandably -one could hold, against you!

Since Ruxton wants to be cutting, bitchy or allude to me whenever she can / or wish to rubbish anything I say: surely she becomes ‘fair game’. I accept the same rules of the Game. I was just having the privilege of stating what I know, what are real facts. Not hear say, nor some fanciful thoughts made up to impress others, here. If peole don’t like it….’stiff cheddar’!

Have you ever sat in those (now $250!) ‘de luxe Premium seats’ at Sydney Opera? Want bum pressure sores in a half hour? This supposed building icon: that has a puny capacity of ….just 1100 seats !! It has no hope in hell, of ever breaking even in financial terms. Seen the tiny orchestra pit? Watched the scene shifters..yes human scene shifters move pathetic small sentry boxes into place to fill the stage for a ‘grand’ Aida. Experienced its ‘mono’ sound?

Not Vitriol….just plain indelible facts.

By: poisonivy

poisonivy — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 16:46:24 +0000

Well personally I like him better than her in every way. He’s a generous performer and I always feel like even if a note was off he’s tried his best and given it his all. She’s a rather calculating singer with an enchanting timbre, but after awhile I need more.
That being said, I’m sorry to see that their tempestuous marriage seems to be over. They were always entertaining in print.

By: squirrel

squirrel — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 16:44:09 +0000

POT CALLS KETTLE VITRIOLIC

By: Sanford

Sanford — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 16:23:45 +0000

Harry, I have to ask…. why is it so hard to express yourself without all of the vitriol?

By: Harry

Harry — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 16:10:33 +0000

Postscript: Sutherland was one of the greatest singing technicians. Pity though!..if only she could have formed intelligible words, with any of the sounds, she made.

By: Harry

Harry — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 15:55:11 +0000

Ruxton;(31#) Gee I always suspected you were part of what is known as the ‘dizzy Australian Opera Chardonnay Set’. So very Sydney! Drinking in, those ridiculous joke productions at the Sydney Opera House with 6 th rate (definitely NOT the 5th rate!)singers at prices comparable to the top quoted prices at the MET!!! Ever gone backstage and seen its primitive local Parish Hall facilities to serve a stage that compliments a ‘narrow alley’ width, stage depth about the same. The place is a internal complete ‘non- facility’. Taking their made up sets to other Australian States and there, laughably -the sets sit alone, miniaturized / dwarfed on those proper ‘super – Max’ sized stages with top facilities capable of doing any opera, justice. Some of their singers find the same fate trying to tackle roles they thought possible back in the Sydney ‘Hut’ with the shells on top. To think they wanted the Government to give them a billion to renovate the joint.and got turned down. Someone had sense for a change! Cut it loose and let it float away down Sydney Habour.The Sydney Opera in 36 years has never done or attempted a Ring!!!! They once pathetically started and then aborted after Walkure! Says it all!

Subtitle the term ‘F…k up’ with the term ‘Suck….up; regarding the Bonygnes -firstly in financial sense terms and it is smack on the mark. The money they dragged out of Opera Australia was obscene, balanced against what was available overall, at the time. I knew people that were privy to the Account Books. A lesson of how not to run an opera company. What Bonygne wanted, Bonygne got… pushing a personal agenda bandwagon ‘on behalf of Joan -Ha!’ Joan In Otello? anyone, Joan in Trovatore with U.S Civil War styled sets anyone? It was never going to end….’this euphoria’. It finally did. Joan stops singing and he hangs around pushing other tacky vehicles like Kalmann’s Gypsy Princess.Yes he then records it for low budget label. Even on freebies, I fled it as many others did, too. And Opera Australia have just finished having their Hickox experiment as well. Pushing the Brit influence………Shit Vicar! Are you reading , too!

By: Buster

Buster — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 11:41:41 +0000

Thanks Manou – I wonder what Ricardo Chailly will wear!

By: manou

manou — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 11:32:27 +0000

Buster (33) – It is her second act Tosca dress (ROH present production). It is very striking and also quite heavy, and has an unwieldy train (hard to handle when being raped).

But it could double up as a wedding dress if our gracious hostess would divulge the name of the younger tenor she is apparently involved with.

By: Buster

Buster — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 10:32:04 +0000

Manou – thanks – is that a wedding dress?

By: manou

manou — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 10:18:59 +0000

http://www.angelagheorghiu.com/news/2009/oct/10/statement/

By: Ruxton

Ruxton — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 06:44:28 +0000

Harry – your perceptions are so distorted you are actually referring to what most people now call “the golden years” of “The Australian Opera” (as they were then).”
Today we can only look back at a time when we had many wonderful productions with many excellent artists including a healthy number of imports – a far cry from what we’ve got now. The suggestion that the Bonynge’s “fucked up” anything let alone the programme, is an urban myth perpetuated mostly by a small number of self-grandising old queens striving for attention and relevence at dinner parties. It has nothing to do with reality but it does make good copy.

By: Harry

Harry — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 06:24:53 +0000

Must not disappoint.Do I frighten you THAT much, Ruxton? Boo! Have your orange juice, I do not want to deprive you of that. The Bonygnes ‘machine’ is sliding fast into History. Simple as that.Their ‘era’ is over. It was all a bad dream at times. It is over, thank goodness. That ‘administrative machine’ (‘you want Joan , you must take Dickie’) helped to fuck up Opera Australia for years.

By: Ruxton

Ruxton — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 22:15:32 +0000

Soubrettino – there was nothing wrong with your example- the Bonnynges are a perfect example of a couple that are “friends, mates and pals” that have stuck together. Aside from living together they’ve worked together for hours every day for years- its been a VERY successful partnership and their working relationship has to be one of the best examples to any other couple in the business.

Of course, now I’ve said this, I can almost hear Harry’s footsteps outside the door already- I’m sure he’ll be here any second to pour scorn, vitriol and innuendo on everything I’ve said etc- which is fine- it would be a day without orange juice if he didn’t…..

By: Veloce49

Veloce49 — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 21:01:47 +0000

For the record, I like them both.
“Chi ha Paura di Virginia Volfe?” as an opera, as suggested on OC with them sounds intriguing. La Cieca could host Operapedia where a group score and libretto could be created on this site.

By: CruzSF

CruzSF — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 20:08:42 +0000

Harry: The British are and have always into their own individual perceived self-sense of ‘class’ 24/7

is this a comment on the Vicar?

re: under-recorded singers, I too would like to hear more great singers recorded, even if they are British.

re: Alice Coote, she’s performed at the Met before. Anyone have an idea why she’s not a staple there? Is there really a bias against British singers or do these singers prefer to stay closer to home, or … ?

I mean, I don’t think there’s a bias against, but what do I know? I’m on the wrong coast.

By: CruzSF

CruzSF — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 20:08:16 +0000

Harry: The British are and have always into their own individual perceived self-sense of ‘class’ 24/7

is this a comment on the Vicar?

re: under-recorded singers, I too would like to hear more great singers recorded, even if they are British.

I mean, I don’t think there’s a bias against, but what do I know? I’m on the wrong coast.

By: Harry

Harry — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 19:50:26 +0000

What a nice way for two opera married singers to find a neat way out, when they cannot stand one another.

First one ring their Agent/ Manager! Then it is “Oh Honey ……I just got a job to sing down in…..! Sorry, I didn’t hear of any opportunities open for you.”

(The other party ) “Well I am thinking of taking that offer up they made and left open for a while in….. at the same time…..”

By: Harry

Harry — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 19:38:35 +0000

I agree Vicar: about ‘the singers that go unrecorded (though not just your necessarily British ones!) though your point is taken.
That Alan Blyth, you mention is just another of those music critic whores of Britain…who will recommend anything as long as they believe themselves ‘upwardly networking’, while their integrity and artistic judgment goes down ‘jack shit’ accordingly, at a faster degree. The British are and have always into their own individual perceived self-sense of ‘class’ 24/7. Makes for some very public silly buffoons.
Where would their ‘page 3 newspaper scandal sheets otherwise get their massive amounts of ready material. It is so uniquely ‘Brit’

As another said: ‘ Alagna had brought all the rights o his EmI recordings….’
The burning question is “Does THAT , include the ones where he is partnered by Angela G, too?”
I remember her ‘Verdi Heroines’ Cd on Decca.
A simple matter of picking out what previous singers ‘one by one’ she modeled and copied her various tracks on. Lazy thing!. The cover was a scream. ‘Coming down an airplane stair, dressed up like Maria Callas ….so VERY new wave late 50′s ‘. All she needs to do, to complete ‘her hat-trick’ -catch some silly aging billionaire as her next Rumanian conquest ‘Rum-balling him stupid’ – with her silly flighty petulant antics.

By: ellerveira

ellerveira — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 18:58:18 +0000

richard: I tried to calculate how much Florez makes per year. I came up with a gross of between 1 and 2 million dollars. After all expenses I suspect he nets below 1 million. I think he gets about 110,000 euros per concert; much less per night in an opera ($15,000 at the Met?). He has said that these days houses often ask singers to sing for less than their regular fees. But in compensation, sometimes will advance money to a singer in need. CDs and DVDs don’t make much anymore due to You Tube, etc. If you are good it is enough for a comfortable life, I would think, but not a way to get very rich. The problem, compared to movie stars and sports figures, is that your audience is very small and you get paid on the basis of the people who want to see and hear you. Re: Alagna’s marriage. I don’t think two people in the same profession make good marriage partners. Rivalry, schedule problems, etc. Florez at one time was linked to Laura Giordano, a singer. They parted without anyone paying much attention and he found Julia Trapp. She makes him her career and the marriage seems very solid. No competition and no schedule conflicts.

By: leboyfriend

leboyfriend — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 18:05:11 +0000

Am I the only one among us who found it amusing/surprising that the first question in the interview was “So, dude, how’s your income?”immediately followed by “And what do you do with all that moolah?”

I was reminded of the basketball player who was being interviewed on the Jim Rome Show and was answering criticism of the huge salaries NBA players make. His rationale was irrefutable “Well, yes, we do earn a lot. But we spend a lot!”

FTW.

By: soubrettino

soubrettino — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 15:46:28 +0000

It’s sad when people talk about separating and divorce, no matter how crazy the pair might have drove others in the past. Why can’t they stick to each other like the Bonynges?

Okay, wrong example. But whatever.

By: MontyNostry

MontyNostry — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 15:25:35 +0000

JDF and Alagna as the highest-earning supertenors? O tempora …

By: The Vicar of John Wakefield

The Vicar of John Wakefield — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 15:06:11 +0000

“Are you talking about this woman? About the person who has just won the best recording opera of the year?”

Alan Blyth (who often wrote their program notes for EMI) and GRAMOPHONE propped up these Latin semi-frauds and inflated them beyond their desserts. Shame, when so many British singers go unrecorded.

By: Regina delle fate

Regina delle fate — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 14:46:19 +0000

Hehe Cocky. I loved that line, too. Classic Ange -like in her Opera News interview: Mozart is a machine à chanter! I’m inclined to agree with Gualtier than you can never know whether the Bob & Ange pronouncements are for real or just an attempt to stoke up the fires of flagging publicity. He pushes, but he’s an impressive Don José in the current RO Carmen and I think you’re all in for a treat with Garanca’s Carmen – her French could be, well, more French, but she looks the business and the voice sounded big at Covent Garden.

By: Pelleas

Pelleas — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 13:35:07 +0000

“Are you talking about this woman? About the person who has just won the best recording opera of the year?”

Well, awards are hardly an indicator of much anymore, honestly. But I think cracks about any soprano’s looks are not only beside the point but piggish, quite frankly.

By: richard

richard — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 13:26:57 +0000

sez Roberto:
“A gala evening, I reach 60,000. If I need money, I go to Abu Dhabi and Japan, where I get 100,000. ”

I’m assuming these figures are Euros.

Some time ago we were talking about how much money singers make and I posted that really top stars like JDF make up to $150K for big appearances. A couple of people wrote that I was nuts, it couldn’t be.

Well Roberto is a big star but I believe even Angela might outdraw him, certainly JDF and Netrebko would. So bump up Roberto’s E60K and E100K a factor and then convert those fees to $USD and certainly $150K seems doable, doesn’t it?

Sorry, had to get that off my chest.
a

By: sensibility

sensibility — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 11:58:42 +0000

‘Her looks are going, her voice is fading,’;

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_lxXmIdfYjCA/Ss5XRNCkb8I/AAAAAAAAHAc/zQgjsYeC-6w/300.jpg
Are you talking about this woman? About the person who has just won the best recording opera of the year?

By: Lindoro Almaviva

Lindoro Almaviva — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 08:32:45 +0000

Diamonds are not weighed in kilograms! I love it!

She must’ve been talking about Lucia Popp. Must’ve…