The rise of the Roman empire
Okay, La Cieca has sifted all the evidence thus far, and she has done Pravda-style scrutiny of what was said and what was left unsaid (particularly by Peter Gelb) in the most recent New York Times analysis of the issue, and ignoring the most recent Jeremiads from Rome on account of the fact that pretty much everybody has come to the conclusion that Franco Zeffirelli is gaga. She’s added into the mix a couple of emails she’s received recently from Met insiders who will remain anonymous. And she’s come to a conclusion, so, Lady Margaret, if you would be so kind as to ask your guests please to gather in the billiards room? Thank you.
Now, before the lights suddenly go dark and a shot rings out, fatally wounding your girl detective and thus silencing her forever, La Cieca will share with you the fruits of her deductive reasoning. To wit:
When the Met makes its belated announcement of the 2010-2011 season, the repertoire will include a revival of the Zeffirelli production of Tosca, but no Bondy. The reason given will be the size and complexity of the new productions of Das Rheingold and Die Walküre, with perhaps some indication that the original notion was to revive Bondy alone or in alternation with Zeffirelli. But, financial conditions being what they are, the Met cannot afford that particular extravangance, which is of course a pity, because we remain fully committed to the Bondy production which we continue to regard as a success. And so forth.
Once the numbers are finally crunched, cool heads will prevail, deciding that the face-saving provided by a revival of the Bondy is simply too expensive a proposition.
It’s a limb, but La Cieca’s going out on it.
ooooooooooooooh snap.
And, Cieca, who will sing the
prima donna?
ugh. Gheorghiu. isn’t she slated to sing Tosca with Urmana? Sadly Radvanovsky either pulled out or was placed into next years Trovatore revival.
I’d rather hear her as Tosca coz I already heard her Trovatore and I think she’s starting to get sick of singing Trovatore…methinks that as well coz I’d like to hear her in new roles.
I’d definitely vote for Rad’s Tosca. It is
something she should do well, and it might
become a new signature role for her. She
does have great stamina — and that helps
a lot in T.
I’d hire Amarilli Nizza. She has worked a lot of Zeffirelli, and has a very small waist. Plus we have just ascertained that she would thrill audiences with her cheeky high Cs.
The lights return. CruzSF lets out a bloodcurdling scream. “Oh my goddess! Someone’s shot La Cieca! But what a beauty she was to the last…”
Does this mean we’re about to spend a few more days in our Parallel Universe? I truly hope so. Angela will triumph in the Lusinghieri Fosca. They belong together. Shrinking Violet Urbana will triumph in neither production. She just doesn’t have The Look.
And Lusinghieri will of course have a hissy fit that Urbana is too fat for the role. “Quella donna e grassa e non raggione per la ruola! Va a fare in culo, bitch”
Do you think Lusinghieri will bash Shrinking Violet all the way from Titaly?
Zefirelli would not dare bash Urmana. She would probably put a fist through her teeth and the entire 3rd act set up his ass.
I would not fuck with Urmana
Or, Urmana’s fist goes where L.A. thinks the third-act set might be destined… I know, eewh!
So, is La Cieca implying that the Met will use the economic situation for the Met to do away with the Tosca and send it to Europe, where it will be seen as a stale old representation, but will still be welcomed as a throw back to the good old days when productions didn’t have all the bullshit they are plastered with these days?
How “belated” are we expecting the Met’s 2010-11 season announcement to be? And can somebody please tell Brad Wilber that we are overdue for an update?!?!?
I do have some tidbits to share, gang, some of which have been in Sieglinde’s hands for a while. She’s had a busy busy semester, but there may be a way over at balconybox.blogspot.com that you can give her a nudge. I think we can probably manage another update or two before the season is announced, reportedly week of 2/22/10.
–I do hear that a soprano whose previously scheduled Met debut evaporated like a GHOST is on tap for 2010-2011.
La Cieca will be glad to publish any such updates (purely as a stopgap until Sieglinde’s site becomes available, of course.)
When will the 2010-11 season be announced? Can’t wait to see how many HDs there will be
If this were to happen, I would predict a huge ovation for the Zef sets when they re-appear, making the Bondy production look like a colossal waste of money.
Could even Gelb weather a storm like that?
Sure he could weather it — after all, money is a fungible good,
and in New York there are endless supplies — just make sure
the right banks and insurance companies are on your board,
and a drop or two of oil from TX, and you are in business –
“It’s only money!”
And money is to spend, right?
And on a similar vein,
if all this were to transpire concerning Tosca,
would Gelb dare to present the Decker Traviata later the same season? And run the risk of the same thing happening all over again?
how do you think this decision gets made? we assume that Gelb would only do this very reluctantly: so who is pushing him? is it the board? and what are the numbers they have to confront: is this all about the ticket sales for the spring 2010 Toscas?
Surely it could only be the board that could push Gelb to this decision. But it’s much too early to base this on projected ticket sales in fall 2010. We haven’t even seen the spring 2009 figures yet.
IF the board insists on the Zef sets returning, it can only be because they hate the current production.
I’m sure that the board has pushed general managers around in the past, but something like this would be pretty extreme.
I’ll believe it when I see it. Maybe not even then.
Just my guess here: I don’t think the Zeffirelli Tosca ever was a very big cash cow like the Boheme or Turandot. Through most of the run of the Tosca the Met mustered starry or semi-starry casts, as opposed to the many nights of also-rans in the other two operas. In other words, I don’t think the Z-Tosca would sell a signficantly greater number of tickets than the B-Tosca: what will make the difference is the casting.
I concur; I know plenty of people, opera buffs and sane people alike, who didn’t like the Zefferelli Tosca, myself being one of them. I don’t think I’ve met ANYONE who doesn’t like Boheme or Turandot except for some posters on Parterre who have seen them eighty times or so and are sick of them.
Very interesting. If Gelb does decide to revive the Zeffirelli production, he will most certainly use the economny and budgetary constraints as the excuse. But I’m afraid that he will just be opening a pandora’s box. As romani has predicted, a Zeffirelli revival will bring out the traditionalists in full force and they’ll cheer the sets like they’ve never been cheered before. Of course, Zeffirelli will make note of this and rant and rave to the press. And Gelb will only be able to praise the revival because it is a classic Met production after all and he made the decision to bring it back. On the other hand, I do look forward to missives from La Zeff, commenting on everything from the diva’s waistline, to the conductor’s choice of tempi, to how fast the curtain is lowered and raised, etc.
Please don’t perpetuate the idea that the only reason to regret the Bondy Tosca is “traditionalism.”
Thank you for the scolding. I am perpetuating no such thing. I have not seen the Bondy production but from everything I’ve heard and read, it is not an avante-garde production, so I agree with you. But I stand by my use of the term “traditionalists” to describe those who would come out to support the Zeffirelli production.
I doubt the board will be issuing the orders in this matter. The decision will be made at the management level and presented to the board with a supporting business case as to why the decision was made. Only if the board is outraged by the adminstrative decision will they demand a change.
But if Gelb goes to the board and says he needs to bring back the Zef sets for ANY reason, won’t that look like grotesque mis-management?
I should think the board (and the Annenberg foundation who funded the B) would be enraged, at the very idea.
NOOOOOOO!
Even if I totally hated the Bondy Tosca (which I don’t, though it’s no great success either) I would regard this as a bad decision, and I hope (with all due respect to La) that it ain’t so.
Is there any precedent for bringing back older productions after critical flops with new ones? It seems the usual approach in such cases is to revise the staging (with or without the director’s approval), and/or replace it with yet another production at the first opportunity: in other words, move forward, not back.
I’d rather live with Bondy’s production for another season or two (minus the Act II whores) and then try again with another director. Maybe Spike Jonze?
I believe after the Zambello Lucia, the old production was promptly re-enstated.
I’m pretty sure that the Zambello Lucia did make it back the next year for a few performances. Then it was another five(?) years before Lucia came back to the stage -with a new production.
Yes, the Zambello Lucia was revived the next year, with Mariella Devia (hélas, her last appearances at the Met: what a shame!!!), although muted down, as it usually happens with controversial productions.
Gelb, with Decker’s La Traviata, takes a big risk. Without Netrebko, it’s a 24-karat Eurotrash. Netrebko was smart to bow out. She’s not even sure if she can repeat herself. The original deluxe DVD edition of the Salzburg production, if you can find one, sells for $900 for a used one, and over $1000 for a new one. I could not believe it, when I saw these figures several months ago on the Internet.
My wild guess: ultimately both productions will be scrapped in favor of an entirely new production.
Zimmerman to the rescue! She can stage Tosca as the story of a new production of Tosca surrounded by an old production of Tosca both trapped inside a new production of Das Rheingold. Dessay d’Arte, Dessay d’Amore!
I would bet that the Board has pressured Prince Peter into bringing back the Zef Tosca. And rightly so. Every one of the Gelb “New” productions have been scenically deficient. The sets nowadays, are of the quality usually seen at the City Opera, not the MET. At $295 a ticket for the orchestra, I want to see something grand on a grand stage in a grand theater set in the period that matches the libretto. If they can stage direct something exciting within those constraints, all the better. Call me old fashioned, but when I spend that kind of money to go to the Opera, I want “value” and I’ll bet the true of most people. It’s all about the Box Office.
I would assume the Board has a lot to do with this. As a matter of fact, in an interview on an Italian paper Zeffirelli said that some board members called him right away, very happy to give him the good news.
“At $295 a ticket for the orchestra, I want to see something grand on a grand stage in a grand theater set in the period that matches the libretto.”
Too bad you weren’t around for Wieland Wagner’s productions then.
I too want value for my money, but seeing a 25 year old production, which I’ve seen several times before, with minimal direction is not “value” to me. My priorities – and those of many others here – are the opposite of yours. For a production, we want exciting direction, and if that happens in a “grand” period production, all the better.
Would that the Board gave a flying phuque about Hoffmann.
As a non-fan of the Zeff Tosca I most certainly won’t be jumping up and down if they bring it back. As a matter of fact, I’d be more than glad if they stopped producing Tosca altogether until there’s a soprano worthwhile hearing in the title role.
As for big production failures, the Trovatore of a few years back was criticized even by Volpe himself and was never brought back. The Macbeth with Scotto and the Lucia with Anderson come to mind as productions that survived for two seasons at most. Also the last Faust, which I didn’t like, but don’t remember it getting bad reviews. The same with a Boccanegra with Milnes in the 70’s that lasted only one season.
Tenore di Grazia:
The Graham Vick “Trovatore” was pulled apart by Volpe by the second performance – Vick removed his name from the production. There were further revivals after the first season with people like Zvetelina Vassileva and Radvanovsky, Franco Farina and Carlos Alvarez. The Peter Hall “Macbeth” had further revivals with Verrett (replacing Eva Marton) and Adelaide Negri. The disastrous Zambello “Lucia” had one revival the next season with Devia and Jerry Hadley.
The “Simon Boccanegra” that Milnes did in the 80’s was a borrowed production from Chicago or San Francisco – it was fairly straightforward and traditional. Another disaster that survived only one season was Ponnelle’s 1979 “Der Fliegende Hollander”. That was also a SFO coproduction.
I was told that in 1951 Rudolf Bing brought back an older Novak/Dufrere production of “I Pagliacci” after a new one done by Hans Busch and Horace Armistead was disastrously received.
La Cieca remembers very well the prima of that revival (restaged) of the “Hall” Macbeth. In the third act the ballet was given, a galumphing dance of rag-clad sylphs that included (if I recall correctly) a good deal of audible cackling, from the dancers I mean. When the divertissement finished, there were perhaps two hand-claps, some loud hissing, and a derisive cry of “bis!” followed by a good deal more of audible cackling, though this time originating in the auditorium. I attended the second performance of the run a few nights later, and the ballet was cut!
the peter hall macbeth returned in 84 with Scotto, and again in 88, planned for Marton, but she cancelled after the MET took the Ring telecast from her. Verrett, and Elizabeth Connell did the Lady M in that run. the Boccanegra was I believe a borrowed production and it was in 84, saw Milnes do the same role in what I believe was the same production in 1980 in chicago, his first performances of the role.
Paddypig, don’t forget Olivia Stapp, who sang five Lady Macbeths in 1988! (Shirley only did one).
I was at the ghastly 1982 prima of Hall’s staging, an unexpected eventual triumph for Scotto despite some rough moments and a rout for Hall. When that nude Hecate came out with an electric light on her head I thought I’d woken up in Vegas.
Given the scenic mass of most Zeffirelli productions in his later, extremely self-indulgent years, I fail to see how bringing that Tosca back will lessen the burden on the MET’s technical equipment and staff.
As to the thought that Bondy’s interpretation was radical and modern, it played as a straight telling of the story, and even the petite scandale of the bare-breasted Magdalene was a red herring. Here’s a Magdalene attributed to Leonardo da Vinci, not documented to him but unquestionably an authentic Renaissance painting of Mary stripped to the waist. Cut and paste:
http://veronika.kaer.dk/wp-content/uploads/MaryMagdaleneDaVinci2.jpg
OMgoddess. That’s enough boobage to make a squirrel clutch his nuts. Where is the Squirrel, BTW? Did he head south for the winter?
Indeed yes, where is my darling Squirrel? Nut gathering or, more likely,
boob-gawking?
Is the picture of D. Duck sawing off the limb with squirrels one of Cieca’s subtle touches to inform us of a rodent rupture?
Those are chipmunks, Chip and Dale, to be precise. But I agree, where is that squirrel? Off with a Moose, perhaps?
People. people, people!!!
It’s all about The RING’s monstrous set, not Bondy and Zeff. It’s such a beast even the ‘Rigoletto’ is getting trimmed to its touring production so there’ll be enough room backstage. They’ve not experienced anything like it.
So any mismanagement comes from letting Lepage have full artistic license until it’s too late to undo the Season. Face reality. Gelb has!
Skinnydip-
Get a grip!! Gelb facing reality? Where are you? He has not- that is the point.
Anyone else watching the Kennedy Center Honors? Grace has on a huge white collared dress & Angela is going to perform for her. Can’t wait to see all of the fab. Grace clips.
I’m watching it (a few hours later). Angela is singing now. I love how Grace turned down her collar a little for her segment. Simon Estes said that Grace and Angela are friends and Grace certainly seems moved by Angela’s rendition of “Vissi d’arte.”
But darn it, during those clips of Grace on stage, I kept hearing “Tasty Hasty Pudding.” Thank you, La C!
Does anyone know if the Honors programme is available online (I am in the UK)?
MN, I noticed that the honors show was available on cbs.com, with each honoree’s segment available separately (i.e., you can watch only the segments that interest you).
It’s neither the Board nor the Box –
It IS the nightly haunting of Peter Gelb by the spectre of Sybil.
Love it!
Sybil: “Troika… semyorka… tuza… troika… semyorka… tuza…”
I think the more important issue is a problem inherent with most opera companies here and abroad, in that revivals get short shrift in terms of rehearsals and even the most talented assistant director have all they can do to put things back together working “from the book” or archival videos resulting in “so and so stood here”, “Yes, turn to him for Assassino then eat the floor bitch”, and “where the hell is light cue 499B, special on the dummy? – GO! Productions that remain in repertoire should grow with each revival, but that is rarely the case. If something doesn’t work then fix it between performances; “Schwertleite needs more coaching sessions” – FORGET IT.
I have some reasons to think that casting for the Met’s next Trovatore might be up in the air; i.e. might not be S. Rad. We’ll see.
Feb. 22 does seem late for a season announcement. SF Opera has canceled their usual press conference in favor of a press release, sigh.
irontongue DO TELL. what do u mean that La Radv might not be leonora? she is out of tosca for trovatore then out of trovatore?
Feb 22 does seem late. SFO is unveiling its season Jan. 19. I hadn’t heard that the press conference had been cancelled. Thanks for the info, irontongue.
It all seems like a long way from the days of Gatti, when the Met season planning would begin in February.
The question that is haunting me, and that no one else seems to have posed: if the set for Rheingold is so big that they cannot fit it backstage concurrently with other productions, how are they going to EVER produce a full Lepage Ring-Cycle in one week?
…the Magic of Live Theater?
I dunno, maybe it’ll be a unit set for all four operas.
Or perhaps they’ll be able to disassemble RHEINGOLD because they’ll have a week or so between performance of that opera.
I would guess that parts of the set (i.e., the decking) are used throughout Lepage’s concept of the Ring. This is done in so many Ring productions these days and would provide continuity between the four operas.
I agree that a unit set is likely; that sort of thing is Lepage’s trademark. His recent ‘Lipsynch’ and earlier ‘Seven Streams of the River Ota’ (both seen in NYC at BAM) rely almost entirely on set pieces that are reconfigured in a zillion clever ways over several hours. Not unlike Wagner’s music.
Totally unrelated: The latest issue of Gramophone magazine includes a review of Domingo’s first Boccanegra’s in Berlin. It says that Domingo is considering following with Iago and Falstaff.
I guess when you are Domingo you sing whatever you want wherever you want. He’s already scheduled to sing Boccanegra in Milan, New York, London, and Madrid.
Domingo as Iago? Has he ever played a villain before?
There is a lot to be said for interpreting Iago as an apparent Nr Nice Guy. On the other hand, I always feel that the wicked ensign’s evil nature is far too obvious in Otello: the Moor must be really dumb not to realise he is being taken for a ride. One of the problems with the DVD from Covent Garden with Domingo and Leiferkus under Solti is that one could never imagine such an urbane fellow falling under the spell of such an obviously chilly psychopath.
I think he could pull it off. I just pity the poor tenor who would have to sing Otello opposite him. Falstaff, on the other hand, no matter how hard I try, I can’t quite picture.
The problem for me is that I expect/want/like a big, meaty, round baritone voice for these roles. At this pace he’ll be doing Boris in a handful of years.
I’m listening to the baritone version of Werther now on Sirius. I’m surprised Domingo hasn’t tried that one yet. Maybe he could sing Erda and Fafner in the new Ring Cycle.