parterre box

47 comments

• CruzSF says:

  Baritenor, I just looked again at the photo from the Youtube clip. I’m pretty sure that the wig was changed. At the very least, it received a touch up and a cut.

  on October 28, 2009 at 1:11 AM
• rysanekfreak says:

  The Chicago Ernani was dreadful. Not only were all four voices in less than Golden Age condition, but the music was heavily cut: the cabalettas got chopped in half.

  And the two announcers were in the category of Margaret and Will: lots of goosey cheerleading for every aspect of the performance. We need those 2 old guys from Sesame Street to add a touch of realism to “commentating.”

  on October 28, 2009 at 9:05 AM
• luvtennis says:

  Someone should post one of Price’s clip of Ernani from the early 80′s. I would but I just don’t know how.

  on October 28, 2009 at 9:46 AM
• Buster says:

  Broken toes:

  She broke a … toe Soprano Sondra Radvanovsky sang the role of Elvira at the opening of Verdi’s “Ernani” at the Lyric Opera of Chicago Tuesday night, with her right leg in a cast and a broken toe on her left foot.

  The 40-year-old Berwyn native has suffered a litany of mishaps in the last month. On Oct. 3, she sprained her right ankle while fighting a would-be purse snatcher in San Francisco. On Oct. 4, she heard “a crack” in the same leg while running off stage during a matinee performance at the San Francisco Opera. A doctor determined she tore a ligament and must wear a cast until Dec. 4.

  And two days later, tenor Marco Berti fell to his knees during a scene and directly onto her left foot, breaking her big toe. Making matters worse, the “Ernani” stage is angled at a 5 percent grade.

  “The hardest thing for me singing on this stage has been trying to get both my balance for walking and for singing,” she wrote in an e-mail. “There has to be support in the body when a singer sings, and I have been fighting that since I hurt both of my feet.”

  Her only solace, other than an accommodating cast and crew, has been the heavy Spanish-Renaissance costumes. They provide padding, she explained, when she has to fall to the floor or drop to her knees.

  http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-wed-confidential-1028-oct28,0,575061.column

  on October 28, 2009 at 9:52 AM
• The Vicar of John Wakefield says:

  Tosh! Kim Begley is the finest Herod since Emile Belcourt. It would have all gone better had they thought to import Helen Field for the name-part.

  on October 28, 2009 at 10:15 AM
• Fritz says:

  Just in case anyone thinks the good Vicar is exaggerating, here’s a recent quote from a British music review site. The reviewer is recalling the first time he saw an opera (FAUST):
  “The cast was magnificent by any standards, featuring Harvey Allan as Mephisto, Roland Jones in the eponymous role and the redoubtable Amy Shuard as Marguerite.”

  on October 28, 2009 at 10:44 AM
• Bianca Castafiore says:

  la cieca, carissima, where’s the link to the old temporary blog? there’s some posts i must catch up with … grazie.

  on October 28, 2009 at 7:39 PM