Comments on: Wanting magic

By: ellerveira

ellerveira — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 05:17:50 +0000

Have I ever said anything “interesting” here or would you prefer me to be gone?

By: Jay

Jay — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 01:53:46 +0000

Much better writing here than in the NY Times review! Angela Meade (Countess) had the Met audience roaring at the 12/4 Figaro and justifiably so. Big voice, great technique, good tone color. Big improvement after Dasch’s awful performance last week (which I heard streamed).

The titters amongst some in the audience in the recitative before “Dove sono” (which had to do with the respective sizes of the performers portraying the Countess and Susanna) were quickly forgotten and the aria earned the night’s biggest ovation.

Danielle de Niese had to pull out after the second act last night (sinuses, allergies) and Lisette Oropesa stepped in without a hitch, easy enough since she’s been performing the role in this production. However, I thought Danielle and Luca Pisaroni had better chemistry (no doubt from previous performances together).

What a treat to hear two top-notch baritones (Pisaroni and Peter Mattei) in the span of less than 24 hours.
Today’s FTHOTD started behind schedule (about 1:15 p.m.), but once underway, very powerful, as anticipated. However, I made a huge mistake and sat on the side aisle in the orchestra because I needed to make a quick getaway to catch a train. Had forgotten those seats are under the boxes and the sound was so muffled. Never again!

By: Lindoro Almaviva

Lindoro Almaviva — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 18:45:21 +0000

I’m not saying it’s La Zefa’s fault. I am saying after the years of opulence when more was more and bigger was always better(in which he was the high priest), it is a natural reaction to move away from that and use more pared down productions and minimalist stagings.

By: louannd

louannd — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 18:39:02 +0000

I took that to mean physiologically fragile and compromised not mentally fragile, which is what I think is your point.

By: La Cieca

La Cieca — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 18:18:42 +0000

You are bordering on getting boring here because you have made this point a dozen times before or more. Another boring aspect is that you’re making value judgments on productions you have never seen, based at best on hearsay and at worst on sheer prejudice. Could you try a another gambit for a change?

By: justanothertenor

justanothertenor — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 18:07:44 +0000

By: Signor Bruschino

Signor Bruschino — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 17:54:50 +0000

Sitting in the grand tier on opening night, next to a very bored elderly lady, the wall started to open, and she exclaimed ‘now its gonna get good’… and she was quite disappointed- as was I.

Bart Sher (and his team) know how to fill spaces well (no one can deny that their ‘Light in the Piazza’ and ‘South Pacific’ were not just visually a treat, but a great ‘additional character’… There was no character to this production or this design, and I think that is ultimately what sunk it.

At the opening night party, the MET staff seemed quite surprised by the positive audience reaction. I was as well

By: kashania

kashania — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 17:33:38 +0000

Barren rooms and a minimalist approach don’t automatically make for good or bad productions. It’s how they’re employed.

By: ellerveira

ellerveira — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 16:07:16 +0000

If you can get praised for putting Tristan in barren rooms, why not a grey wall for Hoffmann? Aren’t minimalism and unrelatedness the touchstones for staging these days? The less the staging has to do with the opera, the better, you know.

By: justanothertenor

justanothertenor — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 14:39:00 +0000

You forgot to mention the illegitimate child is that of one of her employers!

By: Regina delle fate

Regina delle fate — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 12:19:24 +0000

Hear, hear, Alto. He designed an unforgettable Eugene Onegin for Andrei Serban at Welsh National Opera 25 years ago.

By: Theseus

Theseus — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 06:44:28 +0000

Fragile alcoholics should be slim? Many alcoholics are overweight. I don’t see the point of this Tommasini-like comment…

By: La Cieca

La Cieca — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 06:43:45 +0000

Oh, it’s been a while since anyone called Rufus “new stuff.”

By: CruzSF

CruzSF — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 06:28:53 +0000

Ooooo. That’s a good and tasty one!

By: bassoprofundo

bassoprofundo — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 06:07:49 +0000

Cruz: here’s my shot at a Cieca-esque blind. Which Canadian soprano is a good but not great singer, kind but ditzy, and is having an illegitimate child soon?

By: CruzSF

CruzSF — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 05:18:46 +0000

Erin Wall has appeared here as a commenter? How is she as a singer? I read about her in “Fortissimo.”

By: Graciella Scusi

Graciella Scusi — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 05:10:35 +0000

Christopher Alden, who directed NYCity Opera’s recent Don Giovanni is directing the Hoffmann in Santa Fe, and Erin Wall, who occasionally has posted here in the past, is doing all three heroines.

By: CruzSF

CruzSF — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 04:19:39 +0000

Looked at SFe’s 2010 season. Looks interesting, in particular (to me), Life Is a Dream. I don’t know anything about this work (despite its winning the Pulitzer Prize in 2000) but I’m often willing to try new stuff (Rufus excepted).

I’m guessing you’ll pass on SFe’s Hoffmann since it’s not one of your favorites to begin with.

By: mrmyster

mrmyster — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 03:09:42 +0000

More to the point, will Groves be wearing
any top voice?

By: Alto

Alto — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 02:58:50 +0000

I would love to hear Groves as Hoffmann.

By: Alto

Alto — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 02:57:33 +0000

What? Michael Yeargan has done some of the best opera sets now on the international stage. A designer takes his cue from the director, not vice-versa.

By: Alto

Alto — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 02:54:39 +0000

Mr. Z. has plenty to answer for. But how is this his fault?

By: Sanford

Sanford — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 02:21:25 +0000

The first Joseph Calleja was an actor
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0130407/

By: CruzSF

CruzSF — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 01:46:29 +0000

Will Groves be wearing pasties?

By: mrmyster

mrmyster — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 01:31:56 +0000

Good going, JJo!!!! You told the truth on Hoffman and it
needed to be done. Right on. I always knew you were going
to be a reliable New York press opera critic!
Now, next summer come out and review SFeO’s new
production of Hoffman – with Paul Groves as Hoffman.
Hee haw!

By: rommie

rommie — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 00:16:57 +0000

i was more of a limp biskit kid. lol

By: Quanto Painy Fakor

Quanto Painy Fakor — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 23:40:36 +0000

Sher should dump that Yeargan guy as his designer, but then who would tell Sher what opera should be about? As for Levine, his genius is indisputable, but he is burned out on many works of the standard repertoire, including HOFFMANN, and has been like that for several years. At least his back held up and that’s a very good thing.

By: RDaggle

RDaggle — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 23:25:08 +0000

Sher’s production really flattened out all the crazy that is actually in this piece. He’s the Anti-regie!

His next project will be “The Rake’s Progress” set in a suburban cubefarm where Baba the Turk is an Admin. Assist. with a little bit of a moustache problem.

By: Dan

Dan — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 23:10:54 +0000

OT: But I just remembered that there are two Joseph Callejas. One is the tenor in this production. The other, I am reminded by a friend when talking about this production to her, is the late Joe C., the rapper and sidekick of late-90s/early-2000s rock/rapper Kid Rock. If you weren’t in fourth through seventh grades when Kid Rock was popular, this might not mean much to you. But to those of you who were, this might be–as for me–a HUGE revelation.

By: Maury

Maury — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 23:04:03 +0000

Huh, I’m surprised at the undiluted pan, but that’s how it goes.