Jersey shirk
Barely a week before opening night, Denyce Graves has withdrawn from an Opera New Jersey production of Carmen. Kirstin Chávez will substitute. [Tim Smith]
Cher Public
- oedipe: OT (sorry!): The Salzburgerfestspie le, whose artistic director is Cecilia Bartoli, has announced its... 12:49 PM
- Tamerlano: I’ve always had a soft spot for Barbara Daniels and she sings Minnie VERY well, with a lovely... 12:40 PM
- parpignol: rebuke accepted; thank you for being gentle. . . 12:33 PM
- m. croche: Film version (1970) of the same opera here: httpv://www.youtub e.com/watch?v=dTRx ARL4Fpk&fea... 12:32 PM
- m. croche: Did someone mention Azerbaijani opera? New to Parterre, extensive excerpts from Fikret Amirov’s... 12:29 PM
- moritz: But her birthday is January 30, 1951. Most publications get it right, but there’s still sometimes... 12:27 PM
- Camille: Does this mean I have to buy my Swiffer refills elsewhere, then? They have the best prices for that... 12:23 PM
- kashania: I think Stemme has purposely refrained from singing the big dramatic soprano roles at the Met. She... 12:21 PM
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Isn’t this the second “big name” cancellation for them? Didn’t Ruth Ann Swenson bail out of their Die Fledermaus?
And a good thing it was too: the replacement Roslinde Lisa Vroman, who was terrific.
Now if Ricky Leech will follow suit and we can leave the 1990 casting behind…
How could this have been a surprise to anyone. I mean really?
Opera New Jersey casts lots of great up and coming singers in their summer productions, I don’t know why they don’t follow suit in the winter.
I wish her well. She has had some hard times lately. Her voice has been failing her. I hope she can get it back together because she is a great singer and actress, not to mention, sexy as hell in her roles.
I saw her once at the Met in Carmen and was very impressed with her characterization. I was particularly fond on the last act duet when she mocked Jose as he rushed to killed her. She moved, turned away as she laughed as if to say, “You pathetic man can’t even kill a woman!” There werer once a YouTube clips of her and Alagna in Japan doing the parts. Anyway, I have often wonder, has she ever sung other roles besides Carmen and Dalila at the Met. I always thought that she was forcing her voice with these low lying parts. Anyways, I know she sang Azucena in Washington. I have a recording of her attempting the part and let me say, it was ridiculously ridiculous. I couldn’t believe someone advised her to do this much more coached her to perform the role. I really hope she gets back on track as I too thinks she is a good singer and wonderful actress on stage.
Now, for his debut on Parterre:
You see, there ARE weapons of mass destruction!
Well, it DOES finally and successfully end the search for the male version of Florence Foster Jenkins. For some reason, though, I don’t quite see him selling out Carnegie Hall.
He might get a invitation to some balmy old ducks’ pretentious music soiree’ featuring the most disreputable cultural ‘hangers-on’ to do an item or so.I never underestimate the stupidity and non sensibility of culture -vulture people, in their pursuits.
Haven’t we all squirmed and hidden our embarrasment when caught being present at such situations? Quick, must put ‘that’ out of my mind IMMEDIATELY…..I am desperate….I want to FORGET similiar past experiences!
To paraphrase a line from AMADEUS…”One hears such sounds and what can one say but…Zucker!” And then, if that isn’t enough…a Mother Zucker too! Special.
That was… huh.
My favorite part is when the poor mezzo, Felicity La Fortune, has that “what the hell did I just do” look on her face around 6’12″. Sort of like when you’ve just taken it up the ass from your stanky landlord, then realize that you had enough money stuffed in an envelope somewhere in the back of the closet to pay the rent all along.
A little googling tells me that Felicity has done rather well for herself, with a bunch of soap opera stints and recent Broadway appearances in “The Coast of Utopia” and “Light in the Piazza.”
Real life example?
Oh dear, did that really need repeating, CruzSF?
Oh, my apologies, No Expert. I meant to say: I hate when that happens!
BTW, NoE, them Saints were on fire last week and I’m rooting for them on Feb 7.
True dat, who dat! The New Orleans Opera Association rescheduled their Verdi requiem from Sunday to Saturday so as not to interfere with the game. We’re ALL believers now!
That was painful. I had to wash my ears out with this.
A pregnant Violetta. Now, that would be an interesting production! (Show her holding her baby in the last act as she dies?)
QPF: Your clip is brilliant. I got to a bit over two minutes and my ears could not stand the torture any longer.
This Stefan Zucker I believe, is the fellow…..
There used to be small ads in the English Gramophone at times for ‘vocal collectors -specialist recordings’ from a mailing venue. The fellow was billed as ‘a remarkable tenor ….amongst the world’s best….the World’s highest tenor !’.What a complete fraud. That technique….a case of ‘never was – anything but abombinable shit’ It is like someone has his misplaced balls in a vice. Perhaps he should be inducted in the Hall of Vocal Infamy alongside that other marketed creep (Nimbus record owner, no less, Shura Gehmann and his own personal vocal ‘non- contributions’ to Lieder)
I remember seeing on YouTube his interviews with Guilettia Simionato, Marcella Pobbe, etc., and they thought he was a complete idiot:
1. All he wanted to do was gossip.
2. Stefan: Did you ever use chest voice?
GS: No, never.
Stefan: But, you did in_______.
GS: No, that was not chest voice.
Stefan: Yes, it is chest voice.
And I can buy that tenors a long time ago had different techniques and may have sounded different. But they did NOT sound like that.
A goat.
[In the Zucker voice] “La voce di petto è una forma di voce impostata utilizzata soprattutto nel canto lirico.”
I kept wondering who ‘that other woman was’ that was speaking in various moments during Zucker’s one to one interviews and / or his self -generated, self -promotions….’Oh! belatedly I got IT!’.
The risk for / and tribulations, of elder retired opera singers…..is an arranged meeting by various ‘name dropper’ means, or ‘sixth degree of separation people’- connections. Question: Is it going to be a ruse for someone to ride on their fame by recording and exploiting that meeting?
Akin: to avid autograph hunters whose momentary charm / total sole interest, is one day selling that autograph on the open market. How charming is all of this?…Who needs enemies when one has such smiling social snakes slivering and encircling a target prey?
Grazie…I longed to see it again.
He looks like the mad Rasputin allegedly alsso going to cure our ears already bleeding this time, from his vocal assault on them. Cause-treatment-cure : in one application.
You people wouldn’t know great singing if it f##$d you up the ass. Zucker is divine. How many singers would dare trill on the high Cs of “Pour mon ame” and interpolate even higher notes. I’d like to see Pavarotti or Florez attempt this.
Compared to the great Zucker, this Pavarotti clip is amateur hour!
kashania: If you think Zucker is divine, you willingly fail to recognise those self illusory trills on ‘his grouty C’ are just guttoral misplaced farts, expelled out of one of Zucker’s wrong human orifaces.
Yes, but have you ever heard such sublime (and high) farts?! LOL
Yes from watching a Japanese ‘danger’ stuntman who filled his backside with propellant gas, then expelled it while holding a lighter behind his backside.
Zucker; giving a remarkable impression of what Ivan Rebroff if imagined being ‘pissed and on speed’ just possibly might sound like, if he decided to mimic this Zucker- a bearded grunting castratii ‘coloratura fuck wit clown’ who had delusionary pretentions..
My deepest apologies to Rebroff- a true artist-having to unfortunately use him, for the example.
Hideous! Ghastly! Incredibly funny! Makes Florence Foster Jenkins sound like Joan Sutherland!!
operman50=How dare you insult
Ms. Jenkins , mentioning her in
same breath with Sutherland .
If you get through the Zucker aria, there is a further treat. Rosina Wolf, Zucker’s mother, caterwails an duet from Bianca e Gernando/fernando. Like mother, like
son.
Many years ago, a friend heard the two , er, perform, Bellini’s Adelson e Salvini in NYC’s Town Hall. Unforgettable was one adjective he used….
OMG, the chicken lady was his mother? Considering that I have owned a (first vhs and later a dvd) copy of his “Operafanatic” for years you would have thought that I would have heard him sing by now. Oh this just makes the documentary CREEPIER/SADDER/CRAZIER on soooo many other levels because he keeps comparing his mother to these great Italian opera stars of the 40s,50s & 60s.
Imagine now NYCOQ in our little wicked minds what complimentary mirroring ‘perfect co -starring roles’ in Opera, Ms.Zucker & S. Zucker could have done together.
Surely it is not not a case of “You bitch, since it is also in MY range….you stole the role I was going to sing”??!!!
Let’s leave it to our private imagnations for the ‘funny castings’ possible in the situation.
Ah Filth!…..What I think astounds us besides the appalling presentions of these wannabees, is ‘who promotes them?’. It is not always themselves or their families – who put up the dough to promote them.
A critic once warned me (when I represented artists), not to go to certain shows even if I was sent free tickets by one promoter perhaps wishing to possibly ingratiate himself. This ‘promoter’ also happened to star in his own productions. I asked the critic, why not? I was told his productions were theatric high camp of the worst kind.
The critic said I had a reputation for being a ‘ bit of a bitch’ by not holding back amongst ‘the crowd’ since I had been noticed uncontrollably laughing, whilst removing myself up the ailses in the middle of quite a few first night performances, unable to tolerate the ‘talentless rank stupidity’ on display. Bad acting, bad singing, bad stage direction, orchestras out of tune, or scripts that were some over-ambitious creep’s innane wet dream. I can always overlook miminal sets (due to budgets) but not, if it is just also part of a director’s high-conceptual ‘wankery’. Be it a Madame Butterfly, a Pajama Game or a fucked up version of a play.
Being subjected to ‘shit’ and then having to cleanse the mind by running home and putting on a recorded version of the same work to rid the mind of the ‘offence’ is quite something!
Still today the ticket freebees come, I cautiously judge beforehand, if I want to go. Over those years previously mentioned, and over more many nights I lost needless sleep as well as from not being at home, enjoying recorded proven Arts media instead.
That’s what watching live ‘filth’ does to you. Always be vigilant, folks!
Granted this is more than awful -
I heard a shrieking , screaming
off pitch diva in her last concerts
mit a tenor not much better , worse
if possible-you cringed it was so pathetic -the above don’t know better -the ones I heard sang in the
face of all reason and should or did
know -finally stopped tour . One
was the overworshipped Maria Callas, let’s forget the tenor . So
just keep in mind the” delusionary”
are on both sides of the footlights .
As the Vicar appears to be on holiday today, could I just say that Zucker simply ain’t fit to lick the boots of our very own, er, Jeremy Kensington or Nigel Faraday-Bullingdon?
Anyone noticed Zucker’s name rhymes with ‘#ucker’. About right!
Back to the thread: has anyone here heard Kirstin Chávez? How was she?
Yes, dear, last winter as the substitute Orfeo @ the MET. It was not very good, I’m afraid.
NOW, Cruzzie, I must have a word with you. On another topic you were castigating yourself (Lohengrin). You simply must give yourself enough time — you can’t learn it all quickly like some computer programme — the hardened criminals of Cellblock Parterre Box have been at it YEARS befor you were born, so take a deep breath and learn one thing @ a time!! Don’t try to keep up with anything just follow your bliss, if I may, relax and enjoy as you are learning. You are a smart and seemingly sincere young person and I wish you well, whatever the motivation, give it time.
Just remember this: opera addiction is a life sentence, no parole. We, the parterrians all know that well.
With Wozzeck, I recommend highly the recording with Mack Harrell and Eileen Farrell feom the 50′s. Bye, dear boy.
And the hardened ones like myself that have done long term opera sentences, wonder why our cells are getting smaller in space, piling up ‘our rations’….Having so many versions of this opera…too many versions of another. Part of the continuing agonising punishment : is knowing we have now have so many versions of any opera you care to name. Will we ever get the time to learn each of those versions as well as a novice would, having just the one version to listen to? The torture of it all!
Hi Harry!
Hope you are doing well in your cell! Keep on laughing @ those miscreants…so many these days, it would seem.
Camille: WTF am I doing with at least 13 Ring cycles, 15 or 16 Don Giovannis…..etc.etc?
I believe she sang Rosina when we did “Barbiere” at Indianapolis Opera a few years back. Nice voice, as I recall. Couldn’t comment on the acting, the director was a whack-job, with a “play within a play” concept and several other really weak ideas…she didn’t have much to work with. I remember thinking “is it over yet?” every time I had to go onstage in the chorus.
I wonder if NJ Opera ever broadcasts its performances on the radio. I’m curious to hear Chavez now. For free.
Oooo, Camille, that’s a shame about Chavez.
Thanks for the encouragement. I’m also learning to read music so I can make some sense of a score. It is overwhelming and I wonder (often) if my ambition is greater than my time.
Music is at least, an addiction that will never get you into trouble! Old hands can recognise and smile about it. That’s ‘the passion’ you are experiencing.
Hard-core Harry! Maybe you can lend some recordings out to some benevolent societies? You could perhaps talk with others in a group whilst playing excerpts therefrom, in a sort of a lecture?
OR, you could use them, as did a friend, as coasters for beverages. Make mine a vodka martini!
I also loved Zylis-Gara. There was an absolutlely lovely Elisabeth (Tannhauser) a couple weeks back on SIRIuS. Lovely.
About Chavez, that’s based on a one-time hearing only and that is MY reaction to her. You may have s different experience, entirely.
Also, by learning to read music, does that mean a vocal score? Piano? Another instrument? Hope you don’t try to read a full orchestral score, as that would be overwhelming indeed. You are very fortunate to be learning now, in the age of YouTube!so much easier than lugging home those heavy 3lp albums from the library as I did, approximately one $illion, B.C.!!!
I’m learning the violin, with the help of 2 friends (with the music): one a cellist and the other a pianist (both amateur by far). I’m looking into formal lessons here in the next semester.
Ideally, I’d like to be able to work up to reading a vocal score. I guess a full orchestral score is madness?
Build your way up to reading orchestral score. Some of them are not that bad, many of them are a challenge even to the experienced, if you’re trying to read three clefs and transposing instruments all at the same time. For many things (especially if you’re talking about opera), I use a vocal score as the first approach, and go look at orchestral score when I want more detail or need to know exactly what’s going on.