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

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 21, I saw Nadja Michael sing the lead role in the San Francisco Opera production of “Salome.” Despite having my expectations lowered by some unfortunate Youtube clips, Ms. Michael sang very well on the evening I heard her. The scene in which she describes the beauty of Jokanaan’s skin was particularly well sung and contained beautiful, strong notes.

She did seem to stray off pitch only a few times, but unexpectedly, BEFORE the clearly exhausting Dance of the Seven Veils. (I’m afraid I can’t speak about her ability to stick to the score, since I don’t know it well enough. I can only speak to the notes she attempted.) From my seat in Dress Circle, she could be heard quite clearly. A few other members of the cast, most egregiously Kim Begley as Herodes, were at times overwhelmed by the orchestra.

She looked much better than the Youtube videos led me to believe. Her hair, curly in a style reminiscent of late 70′s Streisand, and her first dress (which also suggested Streisand in the movie “All Night Long” but was more famously based on Marilyn Monroe’s dress in “Seven Year Itch”) evoked a 17 year old saddled with a sexy adult body before she really knew how to master it. (Her wig wasn’t the same one in the clip that appeared on parterre.) Her Dance, too, told me that Ms. Michael totally inhabited the role, as sometimes she seemed to be making it up as she went along, mixing suggestive moves with strange bat-like arm motions, hand-twirling that wouldn’t be out of place on a cheerleading squad, and running around in circles. Her entire run through the seven veils made me think of a teenager trotting out moves she’d seen adults make without a clear understanding of why they were used.

In her singing after the dance, I could hear a change in her voice, a darkening that I interpreted to be the hard-earned transition to womanhood that she could no longer stop. There were still traces of the petulant, pouting girl, but a deadly serious and unhinged woman began to make herself known.

I didn’t give a standing ovation at the end of the opera (as I’m very stingy with my SOvations) but many members of the audience did. If it weren’t for my busy schedule in the next week, I would consider seeing this production and this singer a second time. I was very pleasantly surprised.

Do you mean to tell me that Chicago did not have a cover for Salvatore..he should NOT be singing, if he is as sick as he sounds…this can only be doing some real additional damage to an already compromised throat…

I keep thinking of Ponselle. I’ll have to check youtube for her Ernani Involami. And maybe Pinza’s Infelice.

Giordani sang full out and had some many good moments. He urged the conductor to take brisker tempi, particularly in the act 3 aria. Poplovskaya has a dark, dull instrument that doesn’t shimmer in the hall like you’d want in a Liu, but she was very musical and the audience will probably enjoy her. Ramey was wobbly but powerful in his lament after the death of Liu. The rest of the cast was in good form. Nelsons is an hyper-animated conductor, and consequently the orchestra got lulled into playing a general mezzo forte most of the time. Big moments, such as the end of Acts 2 and 3 sounded particularly weak (this was especially noticeable when the off stage brass entered at the end..they overwhelmed the pit!). But his overall interpretation will not offend anyone.

I’m with ya..I was hoping that Sondra would have finally let me see “the light”, on why everyone seems to be singing her praises,…but, not tonight…

THe men…and the conducting, are all beyond horrible….

It can’t sound much worse then the LOC opening broadcast of “Ernani”,,,I hope…!

LOC Ernani tonight! (Licitra/Radvanovsky) Listen online

http://www.wfmt.com