parterre box

31 comments

• poisonivy says:

  When Borodina’s voice was at its most beautiful, she could probably afford to call in sick. But now it’s like eh who the hell cares? I haven’t heard her sing anything all that impressive in years.

  on January 27, 2010 at 11:30 PM
  • Gianni B says:

    Really, who else is there? Sorry I have to disagree, I think there are very few voices of the color complexity and depth of Borodina. A couple of strained high notes are a worthy trade off for the voluptuousness of the instrument. Blythe has the same problem. Both should be singing more of the contralto repertory at this point.

    on January 28, 2010 at 10:43 AM
• Lucky Pierre says:

  freak, it seems my comment got lost in cyberspace.

  just got back from the barn. never heard of vizin before. was this her debut (like jovanovich’s)? she did well considering the circumstances. do covers get much rehearsals at all? kwiecien looked scrumptious but a very lightweight voice for this part. jovanovich did well, perhaps not in the level of alagna or kaufmann yet, but he was good. overall, i did not like the staging. the conductor, altinoglu, was very good. i just love the music.

  on January 28, 2010 at 1:22 AM
  • Cassandra says:

    Covers do not get to rehearse on stage. They are of course present for all rehearsals, and have separate stagings with ADs closer to the opening, as well as a complete room run through with some props generally before the show opens, but sometimes just after. There is ZERO stage time. No costume fittings. Going on as a cover is (unless you are covering someone who is well known for canceling) is all very last minute and terribly nerve wracking, but can be fun in the right circumstances, if you are well prepared, and it’s the right repertoire.

    on January 28, 2010 at 11:43 AM
    • justanothertenor says:

      Cassandra,
      the covers most certainly DO have costume fittings. Their full room run-through is held under the same conditions that the principals have their last room run through before moving to the stage. They don’t have on stage rehearsal, but most people who cover have already sung on the Met stage and know the ins and outs of the halls acoustics.
      At other houses, being a cover can be hell, but at the Met, the covers are very well rehearsed generally.

      on January 29, 2010 at 1:08 AM
      • Cassandra says:

        GENERAL FITTINGS for costumes are done so the costume department has your measurements, but NOT for a specific production or role. They certainly don’t make a costume for the cover unless it’s an extraordinary circumstance like a 120 pound tenor covering Pavarotti, even then they will dig up something last minute before they build it.

        on January 29, 2010 at 11:10 AM
      • Lucky Pierre says:

        cassie, so you are saying they modified whatever they had for garanca in the same day that vizin went on? it helped that both ladies are thin, i guess.

        on January 29, 2010 at 3:54 PM
      • Cassandra says:

        Yes LP, they modified either what they built for Garanca or for Borodina. As much money as the Met has, they do not have the money to make extra costumes for a cover who most likely will not get on the stage. It’s even more hilarious the rush when one has to go on mid performance. Shoes and accoutrement can be from an entirely different period. It’s whatever they can lay their hands on in house at the last minute.

        on February 1, 2010 at 8:35 PM
• Baritenor says:

  THREAD HIGHJACK!:
  Tonight’s performance of Turandot will be the last for Charles Anthony, who is retiring after over fifty years of service at the Met. Cieca, do you think we can open up a discussion thread in honor of this incredably long and varied career?

  on January 28, 2010 at 11:28 AM
• Lucky Pierre says:

  here’s my belated, more extended review of the carmen last night (wed.). i wouldn’t say vizin was nothing to write home about, and she did well considering the lack of rehearsing. she is strikingly tall and thin, and seemed freer and feistier than the more reserved garanca. i think however garanca (like borodina — totally agree with gianni at 11.1 above) have a more deluxe, lustrous and rich instrument. vizin’s voice is a bit less distinctive, although she displayed good qualities — very even voice production from bottom to top, a decent sized lyric instrument, good stamina. unfort. for her, the director seemed to be working against her. the habanera and seguidilla didn’t make a big impact (partially, i think, because she started out a bit tentatively), but it was mostly due to the staging. during the former, carmen washes her feet and throws fruit at the men (she must be bored of all the requests for the habanera). during the latter, don jose is fondling and straddling her, and mostly obscuring her from the view of the audience. none of that stand center stage and sing business for mr. eyre’s carmen.

  sandra eddy piques and elisabeth caballero were wonderful as frasquita and mercedes. i like eddy piques’ voice a lot (first saw her as lola in cav), a future carmen perhaps? frittoli was fine as micaela.

  i hated the set. act I and IV, all the action is at the edge of the stage. the soldiers sing of all the “funny people (drole gens)” walking about, but you don’t see any of them. i can see why that is in act IV (outside the bull fighting rink), but not in the first one. the set in act I and III was just fugly.

  kwiecien, as noted above, did not make the impact one hopes from escamillo. too lightweight, not dark enough, not sonorous enough. i think escamillo should be an amonasro-sized voice, not a light lyric baritone.

  jovanovich has a nice, pleasing, sturdy, heroic voice, and a burly (strapping?), youthful presence. he was more heartbreaking in the final scene than in “la fleur que tu m’avait jetee”. when he kills her, the turntable starts to turn (to eventually reveal the final tableau of escamillo having killed the bull), but the tragedy of carmen and don jose is diluted by the creaking of the turntable and the fact that by his last words, he is almost offstage and we can’t see or hear him well. there’s no time to absorb the impact because the set is turning so as to reveal the final tableau.

  and what’s up with the parade of bodybuilder toreadors? does the met staff know what real toreadors look like?

  overall, a decently sung and competent performance, everybody had very evenly produced voices, no major mishaps or breaks, but i wished for a bigger impact from carmen at the met. i love the music and i took consolation in that — no matter the direction, sets, etc., bizet’s genius is immortal and carmen’s music, indestructible.

  on January 29, 2010 at 1:09 AM
• Lucky Pierre says:

  does anyone know who’s covering gheorghiu later in the season? i want to go see jonas but not angie… is it gonna be vizin? everybody’s saying that angie is gonna cancel those 2 performances…

  on January 29, 2010 at 1:20 AM
• karajan says:

  I am french and I am so proud! I saw the show and I have to say that the young french conductor Alain Altinoglu was amazing! He conducted with a wonderful taste (maybe my french taste). So much energy! he followed so well the singers! At the end of the show, the orchestra staid in the pit and applauds him.
  I liked also Vizin, but of course, she s not Elina!!!
  I am happy to have discovered also this fantastic Tenor: Jovanovich!! I am sure , he will sing Wagner parts in a few years!

  on January 29, 2010 at 10:33 PM
• Clita del Toro says:

  As I wrote earlier, Vizin’s Carmen at LOC was good, but I wouldn’t want to see it again.
  I chose the second cast of Carmen at LOC, because I certainly didn’t want to see that boring Denyce Graves’ Carmen. She sang an aria from S&D in Millennium Park a while back and was off pitch way too often–and poor control of the voice between registers.

  on January 30, 2010 at 12:15 PM