Let it chat, let it chat, let it chat!
Here’s the place to stay warm and to discuss this afternoon’s broadcast of Les Contes d’Hoffmann, starting at 1:00 pm.
Following this performance with a score is going to be difficult, as the Met uses a mix-and-match edition, but if you’re interested, bad old Choudens can be found here.
I saw the HD in a literally empty theater in Downtown Los Angeles. Apart from myself, my companion and two others, the theater was completely empty. This would worry me greatly if I did not also know that the theater was brand new, the two other theaters showing the Simulcast in LA were sold out (one, in fact, had to add another screen due to demand) and there was a live matinee of Barber of Seville at Los Angeles Opera competing for business.
I rather enjoyed the production. Hoffmann’s a freaky libretto in it’s own right, so the Fellini-inspired touches helped and didn’t hinder. I even enjoyed the callback to the Dancing Dolls in the Venetian act; linked the acts together. I know Nicklausse’s omniscient stage presence bothers some people, but this isn’t the first time I’ve seen the opera staged so that Muse and Devil team up to achieve a common goal (the destruction of Hoffmann and Stella’s relation) and I thought Sher mapped out the ambiguity admirably. Kate Lindsay came off very well on the big screen; in fact she made more of an impression than the three sopranos combined. She’s a marvelous actress for the camera; completely intense and devoted to her character. I expect we’ll be seeing a lot more from her, which I welcome. While Calleja was not ideal (I know he’s working on his acting, but some of the anguish was just NOT there) I enjoyed the sound and what he had to offer. Liked but didn’t love Alans Held and Oke. Very respectable performances both (Oke was a tad OTT as Frantz; Sher should have scaled him back or given him new buisness.) As for the so-called “prima donna parts” which, in this production, took a nice big backseat to Miss Lindsey, I loved Kathleen Kim (who I really expect we’ll be hearing quite a bit; not a bad thing), but had zero involvement with Gubanova (could they really not get ANYONE better?) As for Anna N., I was really worried after the aria was over, but by the time the trio rolled around she was back in form. Levine, meanwhile, continues to be just awesome.
Also, why has nobody mentioned the absolutely hysterical way Netrebko TOTALLY UPSTAGED Bart Sher in his intermission interview by dancing around in the background?! Was she trying to draw attention to herself or did she not see the cameras? Either way, Holy Crap was that funny!!!
Great review, Baritenor. I agree with much of what you wrote, esp. re: Lindsay.
I think that Netrebko had to have known the Sher interview was going on, because there was just no way she would have danced that way in the background by accident. None of those moves later turned up during the opera. Netrebko’s antics got huge laughs in the theater in which I saw the HD.
It could’ve been her way of relaxing before going on stage. That aria is a bitch to sing first thing.
I loved the video bomb. I hope they keep it on the DVD.
Yeah, the Barbiere matinee downtown was almost completely full (I know because I was in the very last row), and that was for the second cast — which was actually quite good all around. The Gunn-Florez-Di Donato first cast in the evening for the final performance was of course in another class altogether in many ways, but while Gunn is always fun to watch (in more ways than one), I think Lucas Meachem actually outsang him in the afternoon. Sarah Coburn pulled off a really respectable Rosina as well, and Ryan McKinny was REALLY CUTE as Basilio (seriously).
I have a question for the professionals amongst us. While both casts stuck with the basic (and basically ridiculous, if not annoying) Emilio Sagi stage plan, the stage business differed at times drastically between the two casts. For comic warhorses like Barbiere, is each singer allowed to import his/her own usual shtick into the stage business, or is this something that gets worked out among the cast as an ensemble? Do the first and second casts rehearse separately, with separate assistant directors? I was really surprised at some of the differences, including who would sing what lines at times.
I saw the first cast opening night; what were some of the differences? Which lines were swapped?
Oh, as for lines, it was just little stuff in the recitative. Meacham and Cokorinos sang “non toccar nulla” together as if they’d been through this a million times before, while Gunn and Pratico didn’t. Di Donato finished off the end of “Ro…si…na” while Coburn didn’t, etc.
As for stage business, that differed more substantially. For example, the second cast engaged in extended rather amusing shtick during “Freddo e immobile, come una statua,” almost none of which the first cast did last night: Figaro manipulates Bartolo’s limbs into multiple positions, plants Basilio’s hat on Berta’s head, and sticks Basilio’s finger up his nose — which was pretty funny, given that McKinny played Basilio as fastidious and OC.
I’ll keep it short: The Met’s is not a French Tales of Hoffman — there was not one hint of any French style, voice or music-making about it. And, frankly, if CdeH is not French, it’s not much. Levine at that gorgeous orchestra made into a Cadillac what is really a Citroen deux cheveau of an opera. Less is more with this show; nothing will ever make me like the banality of Act III and while there are flashes a brilliance here and there, it’s an also-ran piece for me. Now I’ll shut up and forget about the Met quasi-Broadway extravaganza.
I would, however, buy several copies of Miss Kim at FAOSchwarz and bring them home just for fun. Delicious little lady!
hey all,
i can’t catch any sat. b’casts anymore, but i went tonight to see a movie, “a single man” and in the middle “ebben n’andro lontana” starts playing. i couldn’t recognize the singer, it was a nice lyric voice, but it wasn’t tebaldi or price, any of the famous renditions. the credits roll on and it’s miriam gauci! not someone i know…
also, do the NYers here know about this on tuesday?
http://www.symphonyspace.org/event/6058-live-from-barcelona-il-trovatore
Gauci, like Calleja, is from Malta!
And quite a fabulous singer. Some of her recorded output include: Tosca, Desdemona, Lauretta, The soprano part in the Verdi requiem, Angelica, Mimi, Amelia Boccanegra (all of the previous ones for the label Discover. Reissues of these by Reader’s Digest are available for download on emusic.com) plus Manon Lescaut, Nedda, Madama Butterfly, and a aria album for Naxos.
I have been familiar with Gauri’s voice for years. for years on those CD releases. Just one of the many singers that turned in superb work but didn’t get the ‘big star’ treatment nor the recognition she deserved.
Axiom to remember : There are more real stars in operas’ heavens than there are ..at the Met!
Try her inexpensive Naxos CDs of the complete ‘ Madame Butterfly (one of the best)- which is extemely well thought out and sung or her Manon Lescaut…..I can live totally contented listening to any of her recorded contributions.
The Discover label’ Simon Boccanegra though, in which she appears – is marred by the tenor Aragall, who by that time had burnt and f#*ked up his voice completely.
Did anyone else think Joseph Calleja was sorta hot in an odd way? Probably just me.
I think we can all agree on Mariusz…
I must tell you that you were not alone. I like that stocky, hairy type (among many other types). I kept hoping for a peek of that chest hair during the opera but he was buttoned-up the entire time. Sigh.
mj: I will be wicked…. and ask if Botha might also be to your liking, too!
Botha, not so much. He kinda has a mullet and he’s lacking a certain je ne sais quoi….
I can find much to admire in his singing though.
I agree about Botha’s singing, mj. I saw him here in Otello, though, and came away thinking that he’d be best on the radio.
Looking casually at Calleja, he reminded me in a
way of Nelson Eddy. Awk! Sorry.
Forty pounds off and regular trips to the
gym would make a good singer into a star singer
in Joseph’s case.
I have seen him perform for the last 5 years!!!!!
He always leaves me “hotter than a half-f**ked fox in a forest fire!!!!!!
I’ve never heard this expression before but I like it.
Me too but try repeating it five times fast. It’s the repeated “f” after “half” that trips me up.
Definitely not alone. Calleja is a stud! WUF!
The back of his neck needed some major trimming. He looked unkempt today.
Ahem!…..Certainly not I hope: a case of asking ‘ Do you mind if I do a little bit of shaving to make you so smooth all over, Sir’?’
Hey, at least I got to see some hair poking out somewhere.
Perhaps that was the appeal.
Unless you’re a vegan who doesn’t consume any sort of animal products whatsoever, criticizing Netrebko or anyone for wearing furs is a bit hypocritical. By the way, veggies and fruits are also living organisms that die when extracted from the ground.
With furs or without, Netrebko sounded like gold in Act 2, walked away with the show imo.
I’m sure some here would prefer to see Netrebko in 2 … er, 3 … lettuce cups.
:Raises hand shamelessly.:
“raises paw bashfully:
I disagree. As far as the women were concerned Kim sang a lot better, more accurately and overall, there was a lot more to be exited about her than Nebby.
Nebby gave it a good shot, but then the Frantz walked in and in the space of a single verse of his aria, he also stole the show from Nebby. His perfectly executed crescendo on the high A in his aria was the stuff we should be hearing from an artist who gets so much attention and press and Nebby does. Alan Oke sand with a lot more technical assurance in his small role than Nebby.
I didn’t hear the Antonia act yesterday, but I would have preferred if, the night I went, Netrebko sang better French ( granted it was better than she offered as Juliette) , managed the little turns in the music better and did not overdrive and ruin the D and C sharp. And could trill.
Very gorgeous timbre, of course, but some “gold”!
I also would have been very happy if she sang Giulietta as well, since Miss Gubanova brought almost nothing of high quality to the table.
In the past (definitely during the Bing years), the Met bragged about the quality of their costumes, which used real materials. Leather was leather and furs were furs. I assume that the practice stopped at some point as production costs rose, more synthetics became available, and the use of real fur became politically incorrect.
Bing also made it a rule that every production was to be self-contained, with no borrowing of props or costumes from one production to another. That practice came to an end in the 70’s when Dialogues used the nuns habits from Suor Angelica. I seem to remember too that Troyans used some of the props from Antony and Cleopatra.
I’m always amused at the shiny white polyester costumes that the Met Egyptians wear in Aida.
The Met’s Aida? You mean “Funny Hat Day at the Opera”?
I can’t help but comment on Julie Taymor’s triangle cut outs that reminded me of a felt cape I made in high for a cheer team costume.
Is this truly accurate? I believe that in his book, Bing actually goes out of his way to dispel this rumor saying that it was not true that furs were furs and diamonds were diamonds. He goes to say that he tried to use good fakes for economic reasons.
Anybody else?
Lindoro, I heard the claim that the furs were real the several times that I took backstage tours of the Met back way when. They always included the costume department. Whether that was accurate or not, I can’t tell. They also claimed that they used real hair for all the principals wigs. Never heard that the diamonds were real, though.
the hair being real I do believe. I met the person doing the wigs for the Marriage of Figaro they did way back in 98 and the hair was real.
In 5000 Nights At The Opera, Bing makes a quote along the lines of “of course the jewels and furs on stage weren’t real”
After that he comments further on the expenses of costuming and says (I’m paraphrasing) “clothing Montserrat Caballe takes effort and the effort isn’t inexpensive”
So then, no real jewels or furs but the costumes weren’t cheap none the less.
One doesn’t need real fur or jewelery to drive up the costumes budget; they’re plenty expensive on their own. I think that a major deciding factor in the whole black trench coat phenomenon in modern opera stagings is the budget. Aside from fitting in easily into most modern design concepts and being slimming on overweight singers, those trench coats are cheaper to make than real costumes.
If La Cieca recalls correctly, Bing was talking about the chorus women’s costumes in Traviata and that they wore paste jewelry.
those triangle costumes by taymor always remind me of wonton wrappers, actually…
i met taymor once, before she was famous, at a play of hers in the early 90’s. she was very cold and unfriendly… oh well.
Bet she never dreamed you’d get revenge in a forum like this.
Some “revenge”. Have you lived well, Pierre? You know what they say about the best revenge…
wow… what are you bitches all worked up about? i just mentioned that as a young student i met her at the end of one of her plays — which btw was fantastic, way before she was famous, it was called something something “juan darien” — but she couldn’t be bothered to talk to strangers. that’s all.
“questo e il bacio di pierre!!!!!”
Skip to 5:22
Pierre: I was supporting you!
Worst situation in a wardrobe department, some smarty pants designer (giving an example) decides to have costumes made as a stitched mix of leather and silks…… After various wears. under hot lights and the perspiration produced………….however could the costume be washed or dry cleaned with such a fabric mix? A case of stand up in it, get the available use out of it till it rots and falls about……Phew!
why, thanks, kashy, i was just wondering what the big deal about my comment was…