Comments on: The beast with three backs

By: Indiana Loiterer III

Indiana Loiterer III — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 04:21:03 +0000

Sin of omission, I suppose, though I thought “legato” was enough of a musical term to refer to his vocal charm as well as his physical charm. Keenlyside certainly has a good legato when called for, and doesn’t strain at all. Part of the problem with talking about his vocal performance is that Don Giovanni doesn’t have the really big extended arias you would expect of a man of his station; it’s not really a virtuoso singing role.

By: olddansker

olddansker — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 23:41:22 +0000

Back to the reviews. I notice that the first review omits mentioning anything about Keenlyside’s vocal performance. Sin of omission, or avoiding unflattering remarks, which, given my respect for K’s talent, I seriously doubt.

By: operaguy

operaguy — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 19:09:17 +0000

jepper: If you read Chapin’s autobiography, you will see that the Nilsson/Vickers had always been on the schedule – Chapin discusses that through the whole mess one of his overriding goals was to save that performance.

By: Graciella Scusi

Graciella Scusi — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 18:54:10 +0000

@10 jeepgerhard re: Nilsson/Vickers TRISTAN..

“but I lie not when I say…it was pretty amazing.”

Except for the Brangane (Michelle Vilma?) who was way out of her depth. And I would second Richard’s positive impression of Barlow’s first act Isolde. Curious about her Met career, I went to Wikipedia which also lists performance(s) of the Ballo Amelia and Elektra in 1975, which I have no memory of. Perhaps they were also cover opportunities. She later taught at Indianna University for several years.

By: CruzSF

CruzSF — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 17:42:47 +0000

jeepgerhard, I think the world of JDD, but don’t see “Armida” in her discography. Has she recorded the entire work? (I know she recorded four arias on her new Rossini disc.)

Thanks.

By: Gualtier M

Gualtier M — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 16:52:27 +0000

Nilsson was always scheduled to sing the last “Tristan” with Vickers. When she was told that Ligendza was singing the first four or so, she asked Schuyler Chapin “Who is her cover?”. Ligendza already had a reputation for cancellations.

By: jeepgerhard

jeepgerhard — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 16:49:31 +0000

PS One word of clarification is needed in the review of the Felsentein productions:
EAST- (before GERMAN).

By: jeepgerhard

jeepgerhard — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 16:47:20 +0000

i believe NILSSON replaced BARLOW (or was it Ligendza) for the only performance of T&I she and VICKERS sang at the Met. At least 17,469 people now claim to have been in the house that night – sort of like the number of shrines that display “pieces of the true cross” – but i lie NOT when i say i was. it was pretty amazing.

Cieca, dear, if you think J-DiD’s singing in Alcina is amazing, check out her ARMIDA. I think Renay might have to cede the honor iffenwhen the Met brings it back!

By: richard

richard — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 15:00:56 +0000

Barlow wasn’t replacing Nilsson, who was contracted for some performances later in the Tristan run and who showed up as scheduled. She was replacing Ligenza.

Ligenza was scheduled for the four Isoldes and cancelled
several weeks in advance. Leinsdorf was the conductor, as he was when the production was new a few seasons earlier, and he paints a very messy picture of the chaos
at the Met in dealing with Ligenza’s cancellation in his autobiography, Cadenza.

Barlow was brought in rather close to the premiere, making it seem like a “rescue”. Vickers was unhappy with the machinations and cancelled some of his performances and decamped to Bermuda. He did come
back to sing the broadcast with Barlow and one later performance with Nilsson.

By: richard

richard — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:27:25 +0000

Re Barlow, I saw one of her Tristans, she was really thrilling for much of the first act with some really
electric singing. Also she was a tigress on stage, it was a very exciting performance and at least partially justified the buzz she got when she “saved” the premiere. She looked like the picture of what I imagined Isolde to look like, tall, statuesque, with blond hair and a form fitting metalic blue gown.

If she had been able to sing the whole role the way she sang Act 1, it would have been a true triumph.

(What a fiasco on the part of the Met’s artistic/music that was! Ligenza cancelling and no one even worrying about the fact that the cover singer wasn’t willing to sing the part on stage. Leinsdorf writes about it in his Cadenza)

Mostly Barlow deserved the accolades she got but unfortunately her entire performance wasn’t on the same
level as the first act. She either oversang or the Met was just too big for her. She ran out of voice after
the narration and curse in the performance I saw and sang the rest of the role with a kind of nasal shallow vibrato with very little projection. The broadcast sounded similar to me and didn’t include the act 2 high c’s (not a huge deal for me anyway)

Too bad for her.

The Don Giovannis were prior to the Tristans, she may have had a cover contract for that season as she sang a Fidelio and two Donna Annas in MArch of 1971.

The Met didn’t really give her much after the Tristan
rescue. To be fair, it seemed like she was a bit underpowered for the heroic Wagner. Other than a few cover perfomances (I saw her do a so-so Elektra), the MEt only cast her as Marina in Boris and a “girl” in Mahagonny.

I saw her in the OONY Tell, what a mess that was!!!!

Sadly, the last time I saw her, in the early 90s, she
sang in the premiere of an opera based on Frederick Douglass with the NJSO in Newark. She looked dowdy
and dumpy and sang very unevenly. I’m not sure what was going on but at one point she dropped out of an ensemble and just sat down on stage.

But what memories of that act 1 Tristan! I can still see her singing the narrative and curse moving around the stage like a combination goddess/panther.

By: MontyNostry

MontyNostry — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 08:54:15 +0000

Cocky — judging by her recent Elisabetta on Radio 3 –where she wasn’t bad to start with, but had run out of voice and stylistic tricks by the last act — Poplavskaya isn’t turning into the interesting soprano that people expected when she sang La Juive at the Barbican in (?) 2006. Her Tatyana last year was unsympathetic and she should never have been cast as Elisabetta anyway; a number of people said that the Tebaldo (Pumeza Matshikiza) was far more impressive. (Indeed, her phrases in Act I shone out.) Apparently, too, MP is more than a little crazy. Nice hair, though.

By: Cocky Kurwenal

Cocky Kurwenal — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 08:12:01 +0000

Second review of Poplavskaya I’ve read this week that says the role didn’t show off her voice to its best advantage. Each was talking about a different role. Maybe nothing shows her off to her best advantage, because she isn’t very good. Just a thought.

By: Graciella Scusi

Graciella Scusi — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 05:16:31 +0000

I believe Barlow also sang Donna Anna at the Met, probably a bone they threw her for spelling Nilsson at the TRISTAN prima. She was a decent utility singer and good actress trying to scratch out a career between the covers at the Met and other houses. But the Met soon had no use for her and kicked her out of bed. Around the same time, she popped up in an OONY Guglielmo Tell, replacing…who else….Caballe, I think. Gedda also cancelled and was replaced by two different tenors: not a stellar evening. Klara was tall and slim and striking, with, at that performance, platinum hair tightly pulled back in a chignon, with what looked like two knitting needles sticking out of it; she looked like the Hapsburg princess from outer space and sang like, well, a one-size-fits-all last minute replacement.

By: Lindoro Almaviva

Lindoro Almaviva — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 04:17:47 +0000

I can recommend this video only as a quaint and sometimes very campy piece of memorabilia.

And probably as a memento of American Soprano Klara Barlow. She stepped in as Isolde at the met for Nilsson in the now legendary history and was good enough for Vickers to come down his high horse and actually show up to performances after the threw a tamtrum worthy of a 2 year old.

I had the pleasure of meeting Barlow and I though she was a fabulous person and a non-diva.

By: richard

richard — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 03:21:08 +0000

Gypsy Rose, the year on the B&W Felsenstein isn’t really
1996, is it? I think Klara Barlow had died by that point.

Maybe 1966?

By: louannd

louannd — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 02:50:34 +0000

Thank you so much for these reviews. I especially enjoyed Ana’s review. I am always afraid to plunk a lot of dollars down for a DVD, and I almost bought that first one because it is one of the few in Blu-Ray. I am glad I didn’t.

By: wenarto

wenarto — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 02:45:50 +0000

oh, they are all goods, but some director needs to hire these two…