“Ja, ja!”
In the comments section of this post, you are invited to offer your opinion on why Renée Fleming‘s broadcast performance (as heard tonight, October 13) strikes you as a great portrayal of the Marschallin.
The best comment in this section will win the new Decca DVD
Deadline for entries in this competiton will be midnight, Wednesday October 14 when the comments section in this thread will be closed. In honor of Our Own JJ, all eligible responses should be 300 words or less, and, while your doyenne invites your comments, nominations and general egging-on, her decision as to the winning essays is final. She also reserves the right to substitute alternate prizes to winners residing outside North America.
Ms. Fleming had no trouble , at all, maneuvering those tricky and hard to remember, by heart ,last words…a very clear and precise, without mannerisms …”JA,JA..”
lol!
Fleming’s is a great portrayal of the Marschallin because I want to fuck up brooklynpunk’s win-by-default.
That is all!
brooklynpunk — whose version had she memorised? Schwarzkopf’s or someone else’s?
We can’t see if Renee is mugging nonstop like Bartoli or hanging over the edge of the stage like Netrebko. And I hope she’s not just standing there in some Kabuki frozen pose like Dame Kiri, eyes glued to the prompter’s box. So unless there’s a DVD of this forthcoming, I’ll have to assume she was engaging in the proper stage directions, and I will give her a “ja, ja.”
I heard glamorous gorgeous secure tones floating above the Straussian clouds of pink perfumed powder. That’s all I need. I didn’t exactly get an erection at the beginning of Act I, but I wished I could have. I wanted to be in that boudoir, lolling around on those sweat-soaked sheets. I wanted to know if Octavian was sporting morning wood and what, if anything, the Marschallin was going to do about it (although I guess that had all been taken care of a few minutes before the curtain rose).
There was a cool elegance and a shimmering allure to Renee’s voice tonight. There was enough rich creamy vibrato to receive my praises. By the time of the final trio climax, she sounded rapturous and glorious. There was a tasteful restraint (no scat distortions of the legato line). The diction sounded good to me. I’ve not had much luck with in-house Marschallins; I won’t name names, but Renee is certainly a good one, and I wished I could have been seeing her instead of just hearing.
The Marschallin is only 32, ja? So she has the right to her youth and self-assertiveness about her sexuality. (If there were a sequel to this, say five years later, Octavian…father of four little screaming brats, twin boys would be nice…would obviously return to her.)
I wanted to dip some raw oysters in hot chocolate and top it all off with whipped cream, but…. The economy, you know. Renee’s sound was voluptuous and sensual enough that I will gladly and eagerly listen to the remaining Siriuscasts. Ja, ja indeed.
rfreak: You will find out the answer to your questions
Jan 9 via HD Metcast at your local theatre (I presume).
The stage directions for this production are all as
Strauss indicated and refreshingly conventional. This
is an opera NOT to fool with by the regiemonsters, and
the excellence you heard last night was, in part, due to
the high quality conventional production, plus the
efforts of de Waart, always an excellent Strauss
conductor.
Enjoy!!!
Liebfraumilf Leaves Rosen-Lovers Relieved
She was semi-sweet; arguably the best quality for a Marschallin. Postive reviews of anything Fleming does usually start with or include references to what she didn’t do. Did she shout “e tardi”? Did she scream during the mad scene? Did she mewl and coo? As we got through each section, I thought, whew, she pretty much sang honestly, with no syrup, almost no breathy word-painting, a minimum of weird volume pulses at odd places to break up the line. I found I could almost relax and enjoy her performance, but not totally, since I found myself waiting for the shoe to drop. The trio is such a transporting moment, I could hardly help dreading the Precious Moment that would make me think “Goddammit, woman, you have a lovely voice and this is how you use it? It’s like finding an original Waterhouse canvas in grandma’s attic and taking it to Michael’s to have it framed.”
Since it never really happened, I have to think that she sings this role from a place that is rooted in her earlier career when she was less mannered, or at least not yet famous enough to execute her mannerisms without being called on the carpet by conductors or colleagues. Appropriately for this opera, I felt nostalgia for a golden time in the early 90s when she sang Donizetti without whooping, and her performance of the Four Last didn’t take longer than a full production of Elektra. Was there really such a time? Maybe I need a Faninal to escort me to my carriage.
Judycadanna – You have my vote ! Perfect.
To do Schwarzkopf’s version Fleming would have to sing ‘SSSUUUUHGZZZSSHHH Ja -JaRRRHHH!’ Monty Nostry, to make it convincing; on that over focused constipated vocal front. That SCHMMMMINNNNE ‘like ( nose held tightly with fingers!) affectation sound of Schwartzkopf -is so easy to mock and imitate. I have not being to a queen’s record playing evening in years, where they throw themselves around in rapture adoring it.
#7 LMAO!!!! You are probably referring to Betty’s Humming Period
I meant #8. Schwarzkopf’s Humming Period is such great Camp