A tale from “Hoffmann”
Joseph Calleja has dropped out of the dress rehearsal of the Met’s new Les Contes d’Hoffmann because he is ill. Finishing the runthrough is David Pomeroy.
La Cieca expects a full hashing-out of today’s rehearsal later today from one of our oldest and most controversial contributors.
I feel for him and them; it’s a tough situation. And heaven knows, it’s a time when nearly everybody is catching something. I’m only just recovering from a month of coughing, myself. I imagine that a big priority is to have Calleja on form for the HD transmission on the 19th.
uh oh
He also canceled his appearance in last week’s Richard Tucker Gala. I hope he recovers quickly.
I don’t know what worries me more: the cast for Thursday night, or the impending hashing-out.
Is this production cursed? How many cast members have been changed when first this production was announced?
Just got back from it…I quite liked it. Actually, I really liked it. I don’t think there’s a HUGE amount to worry about.
“Just got back from it…I quite liked it.”
Though a complete review is surely forthcoming, patience is a virtue I seriously lack. Dan, would you care to shed more light on the production/cast?
What a mess! And LONG!!! Incoherent direction – no a single clear idea was communicated effectively either about the work or the characters. Terrible, ugly cluttered design in Prologue and Act I and Act III, dull empty stage with random scrims in Act II. Netrebko was the best thing up there – everyone else was either miscast or undercast or just plain dull. Kate Lindsay would have been adequate (barely) as a cover but it was boring and barely audible. Alan Held works hard but has no charisma. Calleja is overparted in this role and you can tell he’s scared. The poor cover was a Nathaniel. Kathleen Kim sang the aria very well but it’s a stunt piece. At least Netrebko gave a performance but in a vacume. Lots of additional second rate music added to make the opera seem worse than it is. A turkey, alas, and very disappointing.
I cringe, it is unbearable!
Be kind and be true, ye spies!
hate (love?) to say I told you so but at the end of the first Hoffmann conversation of a few days ago I mentioned that the Met had warned film exhibitors of a cast change not yet certain. for my mild query I was inundated with scorn, venom and sarcasm. Ha!
“Calleja is overparted in this role and you can tell he’s scared.”
Who can tell? Because I was under the impression that he didn’t show today. Thank god I remembered my grain of salt when leaving the house today.
Hoffmann needs a dramatic tenor who can sing big all night long. Nowhere to hide in that role.
Calleja sang the Prologue/Act one before dropping out. You could hear he was “under the weather”. Netrebko was a ZERO as Antonia: if your idea of Antonia is loud and blaring…with no vulnerability or charm, then she is your girl. The “epilogue” to the opera was total BIZARRE….having ALL the characters come out and sing with the chorus the music that really only belongs to the Muse. I guess they need to give Ms. Netrebko a “big ending”.
I really disagree with you. Hoffman needs a tenor who can sing all night, but Dramatic Tenors have rarely if ever had success in the role. Great lyric tenor like Gedda, Kraus and Burrows have had success. Medium weight tenors like Shicoff and Domingo have done well. I cannot think of a single dramatic tenor who has. Calleja is FAR more apt to sing Hoffman than Villazon, and his voice carries well and easily. It is a shame that he has a cold, but I can tell you that they are going around this time of year,
I was there, too. While pretty much everything Der Fiakermillo says is true, I still thought it was charming and entertaining.
Netrebko sounded so much stronger than everyone else that she almost seemed out of place, but she killed it. too bad for everyone else. I’d never seen her in person before, and didn’t have any strong feelings either way. But now I’ll definitely go out of my way to see her in a bigger role. I wish Calleja had finished the opera, mostly to see how he would have stacked up against Netrebko.
Afterward, Levine did a little coaching of the orchestra to tell them to play more quietly in some sections (it was kind of hard to hear, but I’m pretty sure that was the gist…). Maybe some of the singers would have popped more dramatically if they’d had less competition from the orchestra. or not…
Can’t wait for the official review later!
uh….Richard tucker??? Placido Domingo????
Calleja actually has enough sound for this role in this house…surprising. However he still has a pronounced caprino and it’s just not a pleasing or professional sound to my ears. He has succeeded beyond his abilities and should be very grateful. His French needs much work… he freely interchanges the schwa-like “e” vowel and the regular closed “e” sound for example. If he can make it through the role it will be acceptable, not an epic voice like a true Hoffmann should have, but not the worst I’ve heard at the Met lately either.
Pomeroy seemed either surprised or nervous about going on as a cover, I have heard him in better form although in a much smaller house. He dropped a few words here and there but did an admirable job considering the circumstances. The voice doesn’t have quite the volume of Calleja, but the basic timbre is more professional and the technique is closer to being complete than Calleja’s. Unfortunately, Pomeroy didn’t quite make it through the remainder of the role either, failing in his attempt to take the the difficult passage ‘Je la hais et je l’adore’ in the septet in one breath, and subsequently marking in spots for the remainder of the performance. Not really a commanding presence, he tends to fidget and sway in time as he sings, but that would probably improve with more rehearsal time.
Kate Lyndsey seemed a local favorite, the voice is pretty but not big enough for this house except in roles like Annina. Not much on the bottom and a bit of tension/darkening which leads me to suspect she is a soprano (but then I suspect many lyric mezzos of this). They included the violin aria as well as additional music in the first act for her which I had never heard. She was quite athletic and entertaining onstage. Obviously the Met is trying to put her forward as a new star.
Alan Held sounded great in the house, very menacing presence and snarl in the tone. I would have liked the F-sharp at the end of ‘Scintille diamant’, but perhaps he is saving this for opening. He looks quite badass with his bald head and mustache.
Kathleen Kim sang a fine Olympia, it’s a good voice for this kind of role in this house. The final E-flat was out of tune but the crowd goes wild anyway. Her choreography was annoying and predictable.
Anna Netrebko is finally singing the right repertoire here as Antonia. She sounded huge in the house, and mostly avoided the tendency towards a woofy Russian timbre she has exhibited in the past, although the diction was generally non-existent. The offstage high D and perilous C-sharp at the end of the trio were there, and quite good for an early matinee performance. The only thing that still mars her performance for me is her frantic stage presence. All of the busy-ness comes across to me as fidgety overacting.
Ekaterina Gubanova as Giulietta turned in a fine performance, a plush mezzo of about medium size for this house. I would have liked more heat between she and Hoffmann in their duet, but hopefully that will come.
Jimmy returned to the podium today, he seemed to be pacing himself due to his recent ailments.
The production was interesting…prologue/finale and Act 1 were very busy and stuffed with gimmicks. The middle acts seemed somewhat barren and low-budget. Why the video projections, for example? Still, the production had a crowd-pleasing Tim Burton look to it, with plenty of T and A from the female dancers and supers. (sorry, guys!)
Overall a fun show and worth seeing. If they can find a Hoffmann they’ll have a hit!
“If they can find a Hoffmann they’ll have a hit!”
Judging by the general lack of ticket availability, I believe the Met has a secured hit on their hands and a genuine hot ticket!
Ah! Bring on some gal that can sing the four female roles in one night. It is time, opera houses stopped ‘pussy footing around’ with concepts for Hoffmann, to accommodate casting difficulties they face. Otherwise leave the thing alone till they can really cast it.
Speaking of Netrebko, I find her voice has a ‘blunt balls’ sound , lacking the true various nuances and refinements one always got from other top class divas in the past. What exactly are people raving about? I suspect she reflects the present ’stop-gap period’ in Opera. Waiting for something better to come along.
Based on Parterre buzz, I’m glad I opted for A Little Night Music on Thursday night. Can always catch the HD Hoffmann. Plus it would have meant Hoffmann, Figaro, and FTHOTD in less than 48 hours. And that’s yesterday’s drill. Once Pape pulled out of Hoffmann, I kinda’ lost interest in the production.
You need larger-than-life performers to pull this show off (or else a consumate artist such as Kraus). But except for Netrebko, I don’t see it with the current cast.
Sounds like this will have something for everyone (except for P & A for the gay men).
I was in the house today, and That Guy’s account is on the money. I’d add that I missed the mother’s portrait that comes alive and a fiddling Dr. Miracle in Act II, and at least a mirror frame for Hoffman and Giulietta to gaze into. And what was up with the ballerina Olympias and Hoffmans, and everyone on stage at the end?
I thought the orchestra did a far better job than Levine did. Some of his tempos clocked in at Mach One, and there was a derailment during the first Hoffman/Antonia duet that was Levine’s and not Pomeroy’s fault–Netrebko was having as much trouble as the tenor in attempting to keep up.
That having been said, vocal honors go to Netrebko, whom I was hearing in the house for the first time, and Kim, whose movements were so mechanical that Act I became the grotesquerie it should be. Alan Held was quite good, though Sher should have modified his appearance from act to act, otherwise you begin to wonder why Hoffman doesn’t recognize that menacing skull head each time he shows up. Kate Lyndsey doesn’t have the voice for a good Nicklausse, and I wasn’t all that wowwed by Gubanova. I really can’t comment on Calleja because he was ill and sounded it, but David Pomeroy has a voice that’s worth listening to though he’s raw both musically and dramatically. If he were a baseball player, I’d send him down to double A for a bit more seasoning.
Hopefully Calleja will recover soon, because I’d like to hear him in an entire performance.
Hightenor, I know it is pointless to speak to one tenor about another tenor, but since you bring it up: dramatic tenor Richard Tucker was one of the best Hoffmans ever, anywhere, any time. I heard him sing the role several times and he could not be improved upon. And, would you say he was a dramatic tenor?
I would. Heavy Verdi, Canio, Dick Johnson etc.
Calleja canceled his performance at the Richard Tucker Gala last Sunday too. I hope he recovers.
Some gal? What gal? Who the hell is up the task these days? Although in concept I prefer it to be one singer, I also know that it rarely works when that’s employed. Perhaps Damrau could pull it off, or, if they transpose the Olympia aria down, Netrebko, on a good day.
About the ending with all the characters coming out to sing, I have actually seen it done in a performance in Denmark some years back, a performance that indicated to be based (at least to some extent) on the new discoveries etc. So I would not be surprised, if there was some support for this solution.
Its not pointless, I quite agree with you. Tucker is a dramatic tenor, or a spinto tenor but its really nitpicking. I’m sure he was a wonderful Hoffmann. I guess I would amend my comments to say, that many lyric tenors have also had success with the role. Perhaps then I will suggest that stamina and temper have more to do with Hoffman than dramatic thrust. I look forward to hearing Calleja live. And to the other commenter, I do not think of Domingo as a dramatic tenor, but I suppose the argument can be made.
oh, but Tucker was also a lovely Ferrando. . .
Oh my God yes. That man’s voice loved Mozart. And for being a tenor who specialized in the more robust side of the rep, he sang Mozart so stylishly.