Trilogy of chatter
La Cieca invites all the cher public to a troika of talk during tonight’s Met season premiere of Il trittico. The performance begins at 8:00 pm.
For vocal scores of these operas, try the Giacomo Puccini page of the IMSLP/Petrucci Music Library.
The librettos:
Yes, I think Blythe is the Princess. Have you seen her live yet?
Nah.
The Met Opera Website is very bad about displaying the cast lists, I must say.
Go to the Archives. They list the entire cast for the performance in progress and the next scheduled one of the opera in question.
Thanks, messa di voce.
When I saw the HD of this production, with two friends, we were so emotionally spent after Angelica (Fritolli, Blythe), we agreed that the show would have worked better with the comic relief (Schichi) in the middle. It will never happen.
A trivia fact I know! It was done this way by NYCO in 1967 (the season Sills did it, though she didn’t sing in the re-ordered sequence).
After 2-1/2 hours of heavy opera, even tonight at home, I’m not in the right mood for the silliness of Schichi. But I would be eager for the wrenching emotionalism of Angelica.
I’m debating checking out before Schicchi. I can see why it comes last, but my mind is wanting something big and dark.
shhhhhh. quiet. she’s singing her big aria.
Sounds like the audience likes her tonight.
I’ve enjoyed the first two operas. I don’t think Teresa Stratas had a distinctive “identifiable” voice, but she sure was a brilliant actress (especially in these three roles), and I feel Racette is following her career path as a singing actress rather than as a Voice.
I envy the people who got to see Stratas and Scotto do these three roles.
You mention Stratas…. I saw the Boheme of my life in Austin last Sunday. Afterwards, I said to the tenor (Gueze) that he and Stratas would be the ideal Rodolfo and Mimi, because they both sing the Story, rather than the Voice.
I saw one of the, I think, 3 1/3 performances Stratas did of Trittico. One of the great opera experiences of my life. Absolutely hilarious in Schicchi. Overwhelming in Angelica, though maybe with one slice of ham too many for my taste. Jimmy stood on the podium clapping through ALL the curtain calls. The great revelation was Tabarro. Giorgetta was the the older sister of Stratas’s street urchin Nedda. Her desire to get out of Bellevue for something better was the driving force of her life. At the end of the act, I was shocked to find my cheeks were covered with tears.
ENVY those who suffered through La Screecho’s “Trittico”? You’ve GOT to be kidding. I envy anyone who escaped it.
So, did anyone else detect an ugly note at the end of “Senzo mamma”? I’ll listen again next week to see if tonight’s croak was a mistake or if Racette caught her voice as an acting choice. What did the rest of you think?
I didn’t notice a croak, but I did want the two high Cs held longer. Greedy me.
At least those high C’s were in tune and didn’t sound like cat had been grabbed by the balls. They were real, honest to gosh high C’s – which many here have claimed in the past Racette doesn’t have.
I think the rather girlish timbre of her voice is a good match for this rep, because Puccini asks for voices of spinto weight to play “young”. She’s got the “sweet” timbre, but the voice is big, and can ride the climaxes without strain. The comparison earlier to Amara was apt. it’s a voice that doesn’t sound as substantial as it really is.
Puccini’s Manon would be good for Racette… A young girl who needs a substantial voice.
I heard it. The ending of “Senza mamma” was kind of bad so I went and gave myself a haircut, not because she was bad, but because I needed one. I missed “O mio babbino caro”. Was it bad?
It wasn’t her best. To me, she sounded a little tired. But I’d seen her perform it live and so expected her to do it in a non-traditional way: a little bit dopey, a little bit scheming. I didn’t mind it but verdilover really didn’t care for it.
“I heard it. The ending of “Senza mamma” was kind of bad so I went and gave myself a haircut”
LOL that’s so funny, because right about then I clipped my toenails. And I was in the house!!!
this tenor sounds like he’s really pushing. hard to judge off RealAudio, but I am suspicious.
Good Baritone, and the best singing so far.
Blythe has a great voice that fits well for this rep. It is a pity that she does not have mastery enough of her voice to be able to sing more demanding rep (Ulrica, Azucena, Etc…) – but it is a wonderfull instrument.
The Schicchi tenor screams.
Racette… well I only picked up the broadcast at the end of Suor Angelica. I quite like her, but the evening definitelly took its tool. It seems that all notes above an A are unfocused (you can’t tell if she is tune or not because the note does not have a center to it). The “babbino caro” was particularly bad. I don’t think the same artist should sing the three operas, even when the same artist is a much more accomplished singer.
Blythe sang Azucena here in SF just this season (Sept-Oct). I didn’t see her because the second-cast Azucena had taken over by my night.
“the evening definitelly took its tool.”
Good for you. I’ve had way too many evenings where the tool was definitely not taken.
Lol, being a non-english speaker the evening can certainly take is TOLL on me as well
It’s amazing how much people can actually understand what has been written incorrectly with a lot of typos and misspellings. So to make fun of a typo is just STOOPID.
No making fun of a typo. Just picking up on an unintentional double entendre. Get a sense of humor.
I like Racette a lot, but that unfocused quality that Verdilover talks about, the tendency for the voice to spread, especially when pressure is put on it in the upper middle, as well as the actual timbre is reminiscent of Sills past her prime.
Did you notice it throughout or just from the end of Suor Angelica and through Gianni Schicchi? I’m afraid it wasn’t strong enough for me to notice until Schicchi. Not a perfect evening, by any means, but I thought she was pretty good. (And I don’t mean to start another round of the “since when does the Met traffic in ‘good enough’?” game.)
Blythe did Azucena in London a couple of years ago and she was sensational. It changed my views on her. Having heard her on CD, I didn’t really take to her, but live she was magnificent. Huge sound, but well controlled and at the service of the drama.
I’m pretty sure the San Francisco Performances in September were Blythe’s first Azucena.