Final curtain
Join La Cieca tonight for a chat saluting the Met farewell (and 2,928th performance) of character tenor Charles Anthony.
It’s also a good excuse to hear Lise Lindstrom‘s Turandot again, as well as Frank Porretta‘s only broadcast Calaf this season.
And (so rumor has it) there may be another farewell tonight as well: not of a person, but of a thing.
Real-time chat, as usual, at La Casa della Cieca.
Hey, while (sort of) on the subject of what’s upcoming… did anyone notice that Dolora Zajick is Ortrud in L.A. Opera’s Lohengrin next year (opposite Soile Isokoski’s Elsa)?? Yowza!!
I did indeed notice that.
Is that good or bad? I’ve seen both singers in other roles but (bending head down in embarrassment) I don’t know Lohengrin well.
Cruz SF “I don’t know Lohengrin well”.
That’s nothing to be ashamed of. All of us that think ‘we are familiar with everything’ were once in similiar situations.
The joy of really getting to know some opera, is something the old pro’s no longer have. Enjoy the experience.
Thanks! Becoming familiar with the canon (or repertory) is so time consuming. It is exciting, though, even when faced with something as challenging as, say, Wozzeck, to which I’ve been listening in prep for a local (small company) production here.
I’ve just counted the years of my addiction; it’s easy, since I know the exact date when it began – first 3 Tenors Concert, being also my 15th birthday. So it’s already been over 19 years, and I keep discovering how much I don’t know (Parterre being very helpful at this respect
). Learning never ends, I’m afraid, but I think it’s partly what makes it so much fun – there are always new things to find out, new singers to hear etc. But perhaps I’m biased, since my job has the same characteristics…
cruzsie, you must go get yourself a good lohengrin set. the music is stupendous and there’s a wonderful part for a scenery-chewing dramatic soprano/mezzo (ortrud) with some of the most complex music written by wagner.
Thank you for the Warnung!
I loolk forward to that confrontation and to hearing Soile I.
Hey, LA people, O/T question. I might be in town in June around the time of the Ring. I’m not up on Wagner singers; how is the cast and how is Conlon’s conducting? I have non-positive memories of Treleaven from something. I do want to see the staging and hear Domingo’s Siegmund but don’t want to pay $350 minimum for something that’s probably going to be mostly wobbly.
Our LA Ring is quite unusual and unique. Conlon is doing a wonderful job here in City of Angels. Our performance venue,the Chandler, is questionable for acoustics. Depending where you sit in the house, the sound is glorious for the orchestra or for the singers but never the two shall be balanced like the best opera house experience. That said, hearing the Ring under Conlon is glorious when in the right location.
As for casting, it is very uneven. Again depending on your tastes in Wagner singers, the peformances vary from adequete to spectacular. Our Brunnhilde is not my favorite, but she gives a committed performance. Placido is not the Sigmund of the Met broadcast anymore, but still beautiful to hear.
Music aside, the LA Ring is a modern art feast and does not really connect well with what’s going on in the pit. Some people come for the art on stage; some come for the music and close their eyes.
I hope this perspective helps your decision to visit us in LA. If you have the funds and are a true Ring fan, please do not miss this production. If you are saving your pennies for the ultimate ring experience, keep saving…..
Thanks so much for the advice! I think I’m going to try to see it if the schedule works out. Are the cheapest seats acoustically OK?
And thanks to La Cieca for the comments feed so I didn’t miss this reply!
Vergogna, indeed.
But it shouldn’t have come as a surprise. There doesn’t seem to be much acknowledgment of “what came before” with this new administration. I wonder if the the craftsmen, chorus, and others are valued for their service pre-Gelb.
Oops, that should have been a reply to 18, sorry. ( I guess I’m not so good at “what came before” either)
Well, you know, I have soooooo enjoyed Stiffelio and Boccanegra and those productions were done “before”. Sure Turandot is tired but they could bring in the Hockney for a change and keep the Zef. Even camp has value.