American Beauty Rosenkavalier
[La Cieca is delighted to introduce a new reviewer, @scazzasofija.]
I found Rosenkavalier (Met, Oct. 13) to be mostly sublime. My quibbles come from a preference for Kleiber’s tempos. I found that de Waart was waving his arms as fast as he could for the beginning, but I think the prelude and up until the Marschallin’s monologue were too slow, not enough contrasts for the end of the act. I think this is the conservative American take on this opera, so I think it wasn’t a “problem.” However I felt that the Marschallin and Sophie lacked amusement and a real bright perkiness respectively partially due to the tempos.
Fleming looked a bit like Tatyana in bed, the wig basically the same and a similar nightgown. The relationship seemed troubled from the start. Her Marschallin was very relaxed in bed, no coyness or nervousness. However she was very affected by Octavian’s outbursts, exasperated rather than standing above and amused at her lover. She also did not seem in love with him, she looked more unhappy and besieged. Her lines “you’re like all men” and its like that run through the opera, stood out.
It came off that they were bickering and so the natural flow of the first act to their unhappy parting seemed natural, and more like a breakup, and I found myself thinking that she’s better off without him. The dramatic choices made a lot of sense, and at no point did I get the impression that the Marschallin was anything more than tolerant of her life and duties.
Vargas did not sound good in the house. I thought he had a cold. He lacked core, easy power, it felt pushed. Not like Onegin. He looked to be struggling.
Act 2 also lacked a fast enough tempo in the fast parts and Persson does lack enough perkiness to make Sophie really stand out in charm against the Marschallin. Also Persson’s voice has a darker color & round quality than what we’ve come to expect from Sophie (Damrau, Bonney, Battle) that some people might have a problem with. It was an interesting match with Graham in the duets; there were times when I couldn’t tell who was talking. I think the tempo, her acting, and the color of her voice did drain Sophie of her uniqueness a bit. Not enough contrast for me though. I found that the “Rosenkavalier” costume aged Graham and I had to focus on her acting to see her as the 17 year old boy. She was very amusing in the tavern scene.
Both Graham and Fleming sounded good. Fleming sounded lovely, none of her crazy habits, and nice low notes (though a bit inconsistent, but I’m really picking here). You really wanted to hear more. Fleming really shone in the third act The intervening time gave her voice a nice, relieving contrast from what we’d heard: silvery, narrow beauty. I’d never heard her like that.
The entire night she did well to emphasize the conversational-quality of the language and dialogue, and she seemed very naturally fluent (demonstrating how she is fluent) in her German conversation. This was especially in the beginning of the trio where she took a less reverent stance for “Hab mir’s gelobt” then that she was continuing a train of thought that she had been having throughout the opera. She wasn’t even turned to the audience yet. I found it very effective and real.
Ochs was good. He cracked once in Act 2 and seemed to struggle with his lowest notes. But he had verve, fit the bill. The production was unoffending, traditional, with occasional touches of the sublime with the Marschallin’s opulent lavender and silver, Schwarzkopf-like costume, complete with white wig and aigrette, contrasting with the brown and dark colors of the tavern. The music was consistent, singing lovely, and really a wonderful package overall for the Met.
Anyone remember Tiana Lemnitz as Octavian, on DGG, singing Oct.’s
final solo rising cadence, “Spur’nur dich allein….?” She goes to the
most melting G I have ever heard, then portamentos the phrase down to thelower line as she is joined by Erna Berger’s Sophie for the final measures. I thought for a moment last night that Susan was going to give us that, but her G seemed very tentative. Maybe it will develop over the run; she certainly had the right idea.
Incidetnally, the best sound for the Lemnitz/Berger/Krauss is still the original DGG yellow label 78s; subsequent transfers have attenuated the sonics rather much. Very sad. That is a definitive recording.
never seen nor heard this, but I’d love to!
the master would have been a 78, which is likely worn out from many re-releasing.
thanks for the tip!
squirrel: I think most (German) singers would tell you that “Zalome” is easier to sing. The most important point (as with Turandot/Turandoh) is that it’s sung consistently across the production.
Barstow was a capital Rose-Bearer.
Cieca: I have just been at the Steinway trying
zzalome vs. salome. In my very Herodesque tenor
there is no difference. But I’ll ask Regina Safaty
tomorrow and see what she thinks – a famous
Oktavian! Such a lovely person to have living here
in the Mountains of the West!
How I do value the postings of the Vicar of Wakefield!
He is a treasure, an ornament to our discourse, and
of course we’ve come to rely upon him for the latest
from Britain. Such as Miss Barstow! (Is she still living?)
Vicar, how would you feel about an exchange of
email addresses so we may converse pvtly.????
Mme. La Cieca has my permission to give it you.
cheerio
MrM
yeah with all due respect to cieca and unnamed german opera professionals, I think ssalome is perfectly sssingable, just as any word with a consonant at the beginning in perfectly sssingable.
for example, both Turandot and… Turandoh.
shall we call you La ZZhieka?
This “Sophie/Salome” discussion is riling me, for some reason. Maybe because I was once corrected in public for saying “Turandoh” by a hardcore Turandot-ist.
For me, my one German speaking opera friend has always said “Zalome.” But I have a German speaking co-worker, and I asked her to pronounce “Salome,” which she did with an “s” sound. When I wrote out “Siegfried” and asked her to pronounce it, she used the ‘z’ sound. I asked her to explain and, like another commenter, she said that “Salome” is an imported word for German and so follows the pronunciation of the original language.
Maybe the ‘z’ is easier to sing. I don’t know. I try not to sing to preserve my own ears.
ask your friend how to say Salzburg
Will do.
Before the Vicar gets there, Barstow was also English National Opera’s reigning Salome in the 1970s in a Joachim Herz production. I think it ended with her dying of a heart attack rather than being crushed by the guards. Either way, she probably looked good and sounded uningratiating, but artful, as usual.
Isn’t that how Elektra ends, too?
Salome, Elektra, it’s all in the family.
I heard a broadcast of the recording of the final scene from Elektra with Borkh and Schech under Boehm the other day. Stunning! Schech’s sound is not very sexy, but, boy, was she getting all the notes, and Borkh is magnificent, even if the voice is a bit throaty and granular. She definitely has somethin’ goin’ on there. And Boehm’s conducting was fantastic. I’m afraid it shows just what a row Solti’s version is, Birgit notwithstanding.
50
Yes, Dame Jo’s splendid Salome showed the path for the world-class interpretations of Helen Field, Janice Watson and Elizabeth Byrne.
I don’t know who veered this bizarre thread onto Josephine Barstow as “Zalome,” but I actually saw her perform the role at the San Francisco Opera in the late 1970s/early 1980s, and it’s the only time I’ve been able to abide that opera. She was beyond great.
Even better was her “Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk,” but that’s a whole other thread.
Squirrel @ #40 – thank you.
“Even better was [Barstow's] “Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk,” but that’s a whole other thread.”
Well, actually, though she was highly competent, had you seen the unforgettable Anja Silja in the prior SFO revival of that production, I bet you wouldn’t think quite so highly of Barstow’s portrayal, either as acting or singing.
Kind of like Marton’s Elisabeth in relation to Rysanek’s…
And I heard her at the LOC in Lady Macbeth of Mtsensnk back in the early 80s. She was stupdendous.
Sanford, have you noticed that Marilyn Zschau does the ‘letterbox’ thing with her mouth that Leontyne did later in her career? Her sound is dark and exciting, but the words do get a bit mangled. And she looks a bit like Jocelyn Wildenstein.
“And she looks a bit like Jocelyn Wildenstein.”
Ah, the unkindest cut of all!
Salome or Zalome -- the Hebrew name is Shlomit LOL.
I know it’s late in the thread and kinda off topic, but I can’t resist but post this delicious clip of a fabulous Canadian singer, Karina Gauvin. I think she’d be a fantastic Sophie for the MET
As for Marschallin’s how about Geraldine Mcgreevy?