By acclamation
The results of the Repertory Poll are in! Squirrel asked which three Old Operas you would most like to see staged at the New New Met, and the people have spoken! Results after the jump.
First, good news. Though it wasn’t a top winner, a number of you asked for Maria Stuarda by Gaetano Donizetti. Well, your wish is coming true! Squirrel spoke last night via CNN Hologram™ with Met Boss Peter Gelb, and has arranged for this bel canto masterpiece to be staged in the 2012-2013 season, starring Joyce di Donato in a production by David McVicar! (All who voted for Maria Stuarda can thank me with a glass of scotch at the Parterre Box cantina.)
Squirrel as the Count de Saint Bris in Les Huguenots, Metropolitan Opera, 1895
The Real Winners:
1. An overwhelming number of votes (nine, by my count) were cast for Giacomo Meyerbeer’s grandly grandiose Les Huguenots: this repertory staple was performed nearly every season between 1894 and 1905, and revived in 1910 before vanishing from the Met.
This must be a very satisfying moment for Leon Botstein. The Bard Festival produced this important and influential work to great acclaim last summer, but it seems obvious that the Met’s lavish production budget and casting muscle would make an even bigger spectacle. Also, Parterre denizen justanothertenor gets special mention for the brilliant, kooky idea to hire Patrice Chéreau as metteur en scène. (Squirrel will call him tonight.)
2. Gluck’s Armide: given its American premiere at the Met in 1910 with a jaw-dropping cast that included Olive Fremstad, Louise Homer, Alma Gluck, Pasquale Amato and Enrico Caruso — conducted by Arturo Toscanini! Last performed there in 1912.
3. Cherubini’s Médée (the French version seems to have the biggest lobby): never performed in any language at the Met. Given once in concert at Lincoln Center in the 1990s.
Honorable Mention: Some very popular runners-up included Guillaume Tell, Roberto Devereux, The Tsar’s Bride, Le Coq d’Or, Lucrezia Borgia, and La Vestale. Squirrel is appalled that Der Freischütz got only two votes, and shames you all for leaving it to rot in the Met library!
Squirrel is, in a way, right about Der Freischutz. Once upon a time, many years ago, when I was in College a local (Hartford) radio station’s classical music program had a write-in contest for the opera you wanted most to see revived. I suggested Der Freischutz, and won! Wow! I got a book and some LPs. Much later I got to hear DF live and on stage at the NYCOpera — and went to sleep. The enchanting scene of Agathe, the great aria of Max, the antics of Annechen all went for naught. I am to this day not certain why. I think it belongs in a small house — 1600 or so; it needs fresh lyric singers of charm and an Agathe with a voice that can also sing Vestale. I heard Steber sing the big scene in 1948 with the St. Louis Symhony and was much taken by it; I had Joan Hammond’s recording of Leise, leise in English, with words that were a real tongue twister — and “quaint.” But she could sing it. I had Maud Cunitz doing a great job in German of course, which it must be. But I don’t think our artistic times are right for DF; we need a quieter more innocent age with some very beautiful fresh singers. When the NY music establishment gets its act together and builds a Mozart-Bellini House (as I call it), then would be a time for DF — maybe a generation hence? Twenty-five years from now?
Delighted to see one of my choices, Médée, in the top three. I think I would feel as squirrel does about Freischutz but for the fact that I’ve seen it staged twice and sung in concert once and somehow or other a lot of really great music doesn’t come together as a satisfying opera.
The big disappointment for me has always been the Wolf’s Glenn scene. I don’t see much sense in doing the opera if this scene isn’t faced squarely head-on, which is very difficult to pull off; it was probably the fault of the two directors rather than Weber, but neither production I saw fielded a great or, in one instance, even an adequate Wolf’s Glenn. Even if they had, Weber doesn’t bring it to a satisfying conclusion–all that fearsome activity and vivid music just falls apart and peters out into nothing–a huge anti-climax. This is one opera I feel is better experienced in the theater of the mind–and believe me, I would ordinarily be the last person to suggest such a thing. The MET’s beautifully cast, most recent production of Freischutz had a very short life span.
You wonder what it is with these hotshot opera directors that they can get a reputation from throwing all sorts of random stuff onto a stage (period or modern) yet they can’t carry off a simple special effect or a few visions let alone a Wolf’s Glen scene…
I was happy to see two of my three choices–rather expected Huguenots, but was surprised by how well Armide did. I might have thought of a Met Freischuetz ten years ago, when Voigt & Heppner were still in good voice, but now…who would you get for Max? (Actually, I think Griffey would make a good Max with a sympathetic conductor, but not at the Met.)
Jonas Kaufman with Soile Isokoski.
I have to express similarly (regretfully) ambivalent thoughts about the viability (as opposed to the quality) of Der Freischütz. Weber was, for me, one of the great missed connections among opera composers: truly great invention (melodically, rhythmically, harmonically, orchestrally) which was brilliantly attuned to drama… and he never got hold of a really professionally put-together libretto. It must have been a tough time for librettists in Germany. Oberon and Euryanthe are commonly conceded on this point (the former, of course, falling victim to an inept English libretto), but I think DF suffers too.
Great story idea! Wonderfully evocative to think about, or to imagine while hearing a recording. But (I say with regret, having seen it in the theater more than once) the scenes just don’t go to the right places, the music is poorly “spotted” in the action and generally seems to be about the wrong things or off the point. (Max telling us what a selfish blowhard he is rather than making us understand his desires; the women introducing themselves to us by going on and on about the picture that fell off the wall.) People will never stop trying to stage it, nor should they, but I’m afraid it may be a lost cause.
Der Freischütz is ideal Regie material, provided it is handled by someone who just doesn’t want to take the piss out of the piece. I saw a DVD of the 1960s Liebermann production from Hamburg which, though more than a little cheesy, changed my view of the piece, at least as far as the music is concerned. Arlene Saunders in particular was fantastic, while the largely forgotten Ernst Kozub (the original choice of Siegfried for the Solti Ring, I believe) had a superb voice, if zilch presence.
I can see how Freischutz could be catnip to Regie Meisters, though Robert Wilson’s recent potted plant version in Baden-Baden, a bit of which was featured on a recent thread here, could stand as a cautionary tale. I don’t think Weber’s music, beautiful as it is, so much dramatizes the story as illustrates it. The forward momentum of action and character is missing. I would agree that listening to a great recording, where your imagination can fill in the blanks, is the way to go, though I wouldn’t dismiss the possibility that the right conductor, director, designer and cast could bring it to life again. I remember at the opening of the last Met production, in the first act shooting contest when Kilian takes his winning shot, a dead duck fell straight down from above with a hollow thud on Rudolph Heinrich’s raked rolling hill to scattered laughs in the audience. It was somehow symbolic of the unfortunate production which Heinrich had, perhaps unwisely, directed as well as designed
I saw it at the Komische Oper in Berlin, and for the life of me I still can’t figure out what all the balding middle-aged men in wedding dresses were meant to represent.
I attended one of the Bard performances of Les Huguenots this summer and although I was glad that I did I had no great desire to hear it again anytime soon. It has its moments–as do most of the other Meyerbeer I have heard–but they are too few and far between to be worth the cost and effort to mount such a demanding work.
Gluck’s Armide will be given in semi-staged concert performances in Washington, DC and NYC on February 1 and 3 respectively by Opera Lafayette conducted by Ryan Brown–the NYC performance is at the Rose Theater. Armide will be Dominique Labelle and Renaud, William Burden. Tickets (available from the Opera Lafayette website) cost only $15 for all seats to either performance. Opera Lafayette recently performed and recorded (it’s available on Naxos) Lully’s Armide. For those interested in the Lully, BAM will be showing a video of the recent Robert Carsen production from Paris during its big spring Les Arts Florissants opera festival.
Dominique Labelle has another string (or fibre — sorry fiber) to her bow …
http://www.dominiquelabelle.com/fiber_files/MyWork.htm
WHOAH
I especially like Dad’s cardigan. Can I get that in Austrian-style boiled wool? Hunter green, please!
1. THE BOATSWAIN’S MATE
2. THE CATILINE CONSPIRACY
3. SIR JOHN IN LOVE
gleichzeitig dargestellt:
“Sir John in Love with the Boatswain’s Mate”
“Dyke, ya know!” (Don’tcha hate those unrequited love relationships?)
Wakefield, why not ‘The Wreckers’ by
dame Ethel Smyth? That would allow
our local expert to come on and say,
“Dyke, you know!”
To the Vicar : I agree that Sir John In Love is a lovely opera!
Totally off-subject, but just read that Elisabeth Soderstrom died. Sad news.
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/11/20/world/AP-EU-Sweden-Obit-Soderstrom.html
Isn’t Armide (Armida) scheduled to return to the MET in the 2010/11 season??
thats Rossini’s Armida thats gonna be playin’.
Thanks – I just heard along the Grapewine “Armida” and made the wrong assumption.
My first experience with “Armide” came when I purchased a recording of Caballe’s “Rossini Armida” from some pirate label and when I played it it was that Gluck trash. It seems that it is a common mistake to mix up the two.
Gluck trash, eh Javier? Sure about that?
I don’t believe Caballe sang either Rossini’s Armide (although she did record the big aria)
or Gluck’s Armide.
However she did sing Dvorak’s Armida.
The words “Gluck” and “trash” do not belong in the same paragraph, let alone sentence. WTF?
And last I heard, Aprile and OONY are still planning on doing Medea during the 2010/2011 season.
Most interesting thing about Der Freischutz is the light that it casts on early Wagner.
Weber lived in the Wagner (Geyer) household for a time when Richard was young.
Actually in my opinion if you listen to Der Freischutz and the Flying Dutchman you could be excused for thinking they came from the same composer.
what, nobody voted for L’Africaine??????
While there were a few votes for L’Africaine and Robert de Diable, I think the Meyerbeer vote was consolidated with Huegenots.
I voted or proposed l’Africaine all the while knowing it would not make it, nor did I care, it was to fan the flame of the HugeNuts!
Besides, l’Africaine is available to one and all via the very good San Francisco Opera production with Verrett/Domingo/Swenson.
Poor Robert le Diable, though–maybe ABT or NYCB would do a dancing dead nuns ballet some day??
Joyce DiDonato is Adalgisa in Salburg this summer. Co-starring with Gruberova and Giordani ( I’ll leave it to you to guess who plays what). She will be different from the great Adalgisas of recent memory who were dramatic mezzos: Stignani,Simionato,Cossotto,Zajick. But I imagine she will be more in line with the original Adalgisa.
“Joyce DiDonato is Adalgisa in Salburg this summer. Co-starring with Gruberova and Giordani ( I’ll leave it to you to guess who plays what). She will be different from the great Adalgisas of recent memory who were dramatic mezzos: Stignani,Simionato,Cossotto,Zajick. But I imagine she will be more in line with the original Adalgisa.”
*Con rispetto*, I would not call Zajick, great in many things, remotely a great Adalgisa. DiDonato should be wonderful, more like the greatest Adalgisa I’ve ever heard ( better even than Verrett), Susanne Mentzer, who did it in Paris opposite Vaness and was absolutely heartbreaking, plus fresh and lyrical in timbre as opposed to the Obraztsova/ Zajick steamroller model.
DiDonato has such wonderful Italian diction and phrasing and is such a good actress that her performance will surely not flatter Gruberova’s efforts.
DiDonato should, indeed, be ideal as Adalgisa, who, as a sweet young thing, shouldn’t sound like a barnstorming Eboli or Amneris. She is, however, matched with a lyrical Norma in Gruberova. How does the balance work in the theatre when a lyrical Adalgisa is matched with a dramatic-weight Norma (eg Cuberli with La Bumberina)? Who was Norma to von Stade’s Met Adalgisa? And, of course, things were round the other way with Sills and Verrett. (They would probably have done well to swop roles, actually …)
I have only seen Norma live once, and that was in 1978 with Caballe and Bumbry, so it was big guns all the way. Pollione (Pedro Lavirgen on that occasion) didn’t really stand a chance … Vicar John of Wakefield will be delighted to hear that Elizabeth Bainbridge was a Clotilde for the ages, probably effacing memories of Commonwealth artist Joan Sutherland’s epoch-making appearance in this key role.
Rita Hunter was the Norma for von Stade in 3 performances in 1975. What I find fascinating is the amount of Floras and Flower Maidens she sang before hitting it big. She also sang Preziosilla once.
Isn’t Gruberova a bit old to do a great Norma? Last I heard of her she was a bit “scratchy”.
She was always a bit glassy, certainly, even 20 years ago.
Mr. MontyN.
That last bit was worthy of, even perhaps surpassed, the Vicar Himself!
Many thanks, Sanford. Hunter vs von Stade … No wonder Flicka never returned to the role. I can’t imagine her as Preziosilla, I must say. Not enough oomph in the voice.
Von Stade was a comprimario/cover singer Bing’s last three seasons. Except for Cherubino, the role she sang most often at the Met was Flora in Traviata, which I saw her do many times. I remember seeing her as Wowkle in Fanciulla too, as well as an unborn child in Frau and a genie in Magic Flute . she covered some larger roles, a number of them that would never suit her such as the Preziosilla , Maddalena, Bersi and Suzuki and got an occasional performance. She also covered things like Hansel, and Stephano and showed her stuff in the occasional performance she got.
She seemed headed for bigger things from the beginning and me and my friends cheered her on when she got a Hansel, cherubino, Siebel or Nicklause. We were her earliest fan club and she always put us on her guest list to come backstage at the Met after the performance.
After her three year journeyman stint she went to Europe and made a bigger splash. When she returned to the Met a few years later, she sang only leading parts
in MOSTLY carefully selected repertory.
The Norma didn’t work out well (but there were more than three I think). Hunter was out of sorts and sang
less well than she supposedly did in San Fran. Corelli created drama by a will-he-won’t-he sing Pollione thing. And Von Stade sort of faded into the wall. She
was wispy next to Hunter and she didn’t boom like some other Adalgisa’s had done in the preceding few years.
Von Stade decided Adalgisa wasn’t for her. (It really could have been with the right partners) and never did it again.
Von Stade’s other Met experiment was as Octavian. She was concerned about sounding sort of lightish in the role and never sang the full role in the house. She experimented on the Met tour, I saw her in Boston with Soderstrom (see Soderstrom thread!) with Battle. I absolutely loved all three ladies. But Von Stade was very sensitive to criticism and didn’t want to seem underpowered in a role sung by more robust voices.
I don’t remember which role it was but I recall hearing
that von Stade heard something like “she looks too old for that role” recently and quickly dropped the part.
I guess she has remained very sensitive to criticism, and careful of what she does.
Well why not. she had a long, successfull career which is still in it’s final stages. She’s come a loooong way
since she sang the humming chorus in Butterfly as a solo role very very early in her career.
I believe that among the meager offers the Met had suggested for her before she declined and went to Europe….those two words guaranteed to strike fear in the heart of any ambitious lyric mezzo…Meg Page
(even if the Alicia was Tebaldi).
Richard: Thanks for the informative post. Von Stade never sang the Composer at the Met; did she sing it anywhere else?
Hello, von Stade lovers.
I should like to append that she sang a “Malibran??” version of La Sonnambula at San Francisco Opera, about twenty-five years ago, half of which I saw as I was unfortunately obliged to leave suddenly before Act II.
At the time I felt as if Amina was a mistake for her, however, and in light of all that has floated down the river since, I wish I had been able to stay to see the finale wherein she may have really pulled a rabbit out of her chapeau. Also, I plead guilty to coming to the opera with the bells of Sutherland and the acrid accuracy of Callas in my ears.
It’s a shame I wasn’t able to truly “listen” to what she had to offer.
Von Stade was in many ways a very appealing singer (and I’m sure a lovely person), but wasn’t she just a little monochromatic?
Perhaps, but to me she was just such an appealing performer. and she was interesting in so many ways.
She had so much wit and charm (even as Flora!!!!)
How can you do Maria Stuarda without Roberto Devereux and Anna Bolena?
Not old standards but…
What about Le Cid – hasn’t been done in decades (except Eve Queler did it in concert years ago) and it’s a terrific opera.
And no one has done Guntram (Wagner) or Siberia (Giordano) – maybe not great operas but moments are quite wonderful and they deserve to be done!
Guntram is Strauss’ first opera. It does have some good moments in it, but there’s a reason no one trots it out in a full production more than once in a blue moon. You want to try to cast that tenor part?
No Boito “Mefistofele” listed?
What’s wrong with you people?
Pass Butterfly’s sword to me please.
It was DQed for being too recently performed at the Met, which you would have known if you’d read the thread.
arepo: Mefistofele did get a couple of votes (including from yours truly) until it was pointed out that it was done at the Met in the 90s.