Comments on: A Masked Ball

Dan Johnson commented

Dan Johnson — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 05:22:42 +0000

Tell is appallingly long, but GREAT. A musical masterpiece from beginning to end. With or without cuts, it belongs at the Met.

Camille commented

Camille — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 03:29:40 +0000

Quelle ivresse!!!
Thank you, Mr. Buster, so very much for this clip. What beautiful runs at the end! Hard to believe this lady also sang Erwartung.
Un grand merci, Monsieur!

Camille commented

Camille — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 02:11:10 +0000

Camille Loved Francoise Pollet! An elegant and intelligent singer.

A few years back she sang a performance of ‘Erwartung’ with the New York Philharmonic. If I recall correctly, she was off book and truly sang all the notes that are usually a geschrei.

Quelle pitie that she appears no longer to be active.
Not flashy, crude, or dumb enough?

Buster commented

Buster — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 20:16:53 +0000

Charlotte Margiono has given me so much pleasure the past twenty-five years that I am probably not the right person to answer your question. Also, I don’t mind inexact singers at all, not to say that she is one. In fact, if there were a Finnish equivalent of Kammersängerin, I am sure Beatrix would have made her one, a long time ago.

She always reminds me of the lovely Julia Culp – especially in Frauenliebe- und leben.

MontyNostry commented

MontyNostry — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 18:57:35 +0000

Ah, Dame Mags. A little Golden Age all of her own.

Camille commented

Camille — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 18:50:10 +0000

Be Still My Heart!!

That’s what I had heard somewhere, but did not know whether to trust the information. Thanks again for your kind help, Mr. Harry

Speaking of Linda Esther Gray, do any of you British Boys, Cocky, Buster, Monty, oh YOU Know Who You Are — have any recollections of performances you’ve actually attended with LEG??

Please, do write about her, as she is kind of a legend — there is a fellow’s website on the net wherein I’ve read something about her — but has anyone actually SEEN that famous Tristan und Isolde, produced where — in Wales or wherever

I would really LOVE to hear about this cherishable artist.

Thanks for any and all titbits.

MontyNostry commented

MontyNostry — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 18:47:26 +0000

Pollet was damn good — just lacking a bit more thrill and edge in the tone and diction.

Gualtier M commented

Gualtier M — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 18:36:56 +0000

Stuart Neill is a kick-ass tenor in tough parts – I heard him nail the coloratura heldentenor role of Huon of Bordeaux in Weber’s “Oberon” with Collegiate Chorale – he was amahzing!

BTW: was Charlotte Margiono ever good? Its a bigger voice than her recordings would suggest but is hollow and edgy on top. Eve had her in “Der Freischutz” and there was a voice there but the technique was deficient. Her Fiordiligi on CD (is it Harnoncourt?) is awful-sounding.

Buster commented

Buster — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 18:16:37 +0000

Camille: found the Pollet frock!!

Camille commented

Camille — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 18:08:51 +0000

Thanks, Buster, for jogging my memory!. . Surprising, as Stuart Neill made a big impression on me at that time, later giving me high hopes for his Puritani debut at Met.

Things did not go as well there, it seems and we’ve heard little from him since. Seems a shame.
(Yes, I know he was in scaligera Don Carlo last December)

All in all, a wonderful Christmas Day present for all

Harry commented

Harry — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 17:55:28 +0000

Camille : Checking websites, That Linda Esther Gray Tristan & Isolde was actually once released on CD, but is listed at the moment as ‘currently unavailable’ It should turn up again.

Harry commented

Harry — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 17:49:20 +0000

There was a production of a fully uncut William Tell on video and CDs from La Scala (in Italian) from 1988 with Zancanero, Merritt and who else but.Ms Studer…………….(yes Cherry Studel cake)! “I am already shutting down the defense hatches…the brick bats are falling as I write… I plead guilty I have those CDs in my possession……what is the punishment?”

kashania commented

kashania — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 16:54:47 +0000

The other day, one of the French TV stations in Toronto showed a Guilleme Tell with Hampson/Giordani/Papian and it was pretty good. THe sound quality from this station is never very good but the opera had its exciting moments. It strikes as the kind of opera that only comes to life with really exciting singing. Part of the excitement for me is the tenor part of Arnold, which has such a high tessitura while still requiring some heft of sound. When a singer nails it, it’s quite thrilling.

Cocky Kurwenal commented

Cocky Kurwenal — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 16:34:26 +0000

Surely all Squirrel means is that Millo really only appeals to her devotees these days. Isn’t that fair enough? I’d also correct 20.1.1 to read ‘a once world class soprano’. One can’t really claim she remains world class with any seriousness.

Cocky Kurwenal commented

Cocky Kurwenal — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 16:32:14 +0000

The one in English? They’ve had that for years.

Cocky Kurwenal commented

Cocky Kurwenal — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 16:31:10 +0000

Agreed – he was impressive, more so than the ladies (which makes for a pretty terrible Elektra, really).

Buster commented

Buster — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 09:16:05 +0000

Pollet replaced Charlotte Margionio, who withdrew one week before the rehearsals.

Buster commented

Buster — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 08:59:40 +0000

Stuart Neill sang Arnold, Timothy Noble Tell.

Camille commented

Camille — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 07:50:33 +0000

My favorite part of the opera.
Mireille Delunsch is such an admirable artist with such an intersting repertory. She doesn’t have quite the voice, but almost, to pull it off. I think she lookd lovely and very appropriate in the role.

But Jose van Dam is fantastic and steals the show. What a force.

Maybe a lot of the music is not inspired as Mr. Hans Lick says, but this is certainly compelling theatrical music.

Grand merci for posting, Monsieur Ecureuil

Camille commented

Camille — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 07:33:29 +0000

Marooned in the soggy Netherlands on a Christmas Day of 1995, I was lucky enough to see a transmission of a broadcast (repeated twice on the same day) of the last two acts of Guillaume Tell, featuring Francoise Pollet and, I think, Chris Merritt. It was a real eye and ear opener as that flipping last act, the way Riccardo Chailly conducted it, was one of the most fan_fucking_tastic things I’ve EVER heard!!! It’s worth the whole opera just to hear the end.

No wonder Rossini stopped composing after that. Nobody would have comprehended him and probably he didn’t know how to surpass himself.

Well, still haven’t heard the first few acts, but what an indelible impression that made upon me.

Just cut the ballets, and let it play.

oh also, I think ‘Dancin’ Danielle’ as La Muette de Portici is a SCREAM! She is SOOOOO L.A.! She should go back to L.A. and get a talk show.

She could do an opera version of ‘Single Ladies’.