Love in the afternoon
Right now on BBC 3, Tristan und Isolde from the Royal Opera.
Tristan …… Ben Heppner
King Marke …… Matti Salminen
Isolde …… Nina Stemme
Kurwenal …… Michael Volle
Brangane …… Sophie Koch
Melot …… Richard Berkeley Steele
Sailor …… Ji-Min Park
Steersman …… Dawid Kimberg
Shepherd …… Ryland Davies
Royal Opera Chorus, Orchestra of the Royal Opera House
Antonio Pappano (conductor).
This was my first time out w/ the opera so I had nothing to compare it to, but I felt that her Ariadne was quite lovely, though there were some moments when she sang too softly that she was a bit covered by the orchestra. Overall, it was a very enjoyable performance! She’s singing Brunnhilde in WNO’s concert performance of Gotterdammerung that I might try and check out. I’ve not experienced much of the German rep before, but I’m finding I really enjoy it.
@36 Regina delle Fate, I had to suffer through Esser’s Tristan at Bayreuth in 1981. Ghastly. Salminen and J. Meier more or less saved what they could of the performance.
@39 CL in DC, I also live in D.C. plan to be at both of the upcoming Gotterdammerungs. Email: loge44@aol.com
@40 Squirrel, Theorin’s Ariadne didn’t work for me, but I confess I left after “Grossmachtige Prinzessin”, so maybe the final scene was better. I am hopeful about the Gotterdammerung Brunnhildes here. I liked her in Siegfried. Especially the third performance. She was ailing at the prima and wasn’t at peak form. But she cooked in the third performance.
Jay,
My email to you kept bouncing back. I’ll be at tonight’s performance – meeting some friends at 4:30 near the JFK bust. CLinDC.2008@gmail.com
just listening to this now, in act II — stemme is luminous, particularly in this act. i like koch much better here than in the octavian clips w/ fleming. i think brangäne is a much better fit for her voice.
heppner, on the other hand, is truly pathetic…on this outing at least. doing my best to ignore him and listen to nina. can one really call this singing?
Don’t get me wrong, I think she’s a fine musician, talented and spunky, just not a Brunnhilde for the Met. Not even close. The sound was nice, but in the Immolation scene simply too small and exhausted for the dramatic high notes. I have no other basis on which to judge her, but I think Isolde might be a better fit.
Did Theorin sing the Gotterdammerung Brunnhilde at the Met?!
No, just the Walkure and Siegfried Brunnhildes. Katarina Dalyman sang the Gotterdamerung Brunnhilde.
@39 I heard Theorin’s Isolde, but not under ideal circumstances. Gergiev conducted, Bill Viola’s film was projected above her head, and there was enormous competition from a Brangaene who was totally unimpressed by Gergiev and Viola, and just sung gloriously: Ekaterina Gubanova. I went twice to hear her, but both performances were all about Gergiev and his orchestra – the singers, Gubanova apart, just did not stand a chance.
just a note – these Opera on 3 productions are not live – they are taped and the intermission features are taped earlier as well – needless to say – the commentators are a cut above those utilized by the Met – there seems to be a more serious atmosphere to the enterprise and an expectation of the audience of a certain level of knowledge. oh to be in england…
“Can you imagine Birgit, Leonie or Crespin putting up with such crap?”
You don’t see Gelb casting them either, do you?
@50, and how long have you been flacking for Gelb?