Mommy track
UPDATE: A spokesman for Anna Netrebko just has informed La Cieca “Anna is not pregnant.”
An Austrian website thie morning reported the rumor that Anna Netrebko is expecting again. [OE24.at]
Cher Public
- MontyNostry: I don't hear Freni at all in her timbre - Farnocchia's tone ...
- Feldmarschallin: well she couldn't float that ending and to me she sounds not...
- MontyNostry: So, it seems that one black woman who can sing is like every...
- Quanto Painy Fakor: I remember Whitney Houston as La Perichole in San Antonio
- zinka: httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0P6umAFG9oIO non sono r...
- Joe Conda: Reminds me of the day of the Simpson verdict which coincided...
- zinka: httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxeoJ3v2TZABut when th...
- kashania: Agreed about Farnocchia, especially about her Maria Stuarda ...
- brooklynpunk: httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KzqErV4bjRs&feature=rela...
- MontyNostry: Serena as Liu. The timbre is a bit like Cerquetti's, maybe (...
colleagues
- A Liberal's Libretto
- AndrewAndJoshua
- Barihunks
- Cafeteria Rusticana
- Capital New York
- Civic Center
- Counter Critic
- Daniel Stephen Johnson
- Family Circle
- Handelmania
- Hugo Alvarez Domínguez
- Il Corriere della Grisi
- Intermezzo
- ionarts
- Iron Tongue of Midnight
- Judycast
- Jumping Clapping Man
- Likely Impossibilites
- Mass Culture Mozart
- Met Futures
- My Favorite Intermissions
- New York Post
- Opera Arts
- Opera Bouffe
- Opera Cake
- Opera Fresh
- Opera Music Broadcast
- Opera Rocks
- Opera Tales
- Operacast
- Operavision
- Out West Arts
- pArts
- Poison Ivy's Wall of Text
- Sandow
- SFCV
- Sieglinde’s Diaries
- Superconductor
- The Classical Beat
- The Classical Review
- The Opera Tattler
- Una butaca en el paraiso
- Vilane fille
- Wenarto
- Willy or Won’t He?
- Wo bleibt Elektra?
- WQX-Aria
- Yankeediva
- Zachary Woolfe
blog advertising is good for you
85 comments
Today's Events
Upcoming Events
Topics
- anna anna anna
- barihunk
- bel canto
- blind item
- blog bloggity blog
- bobby baby
- broadcast
- camp
- cancellation
- chat
- cher public
- contest
- critic
- diva
- dvd
- filth
- gala
- gay gay gay gay gay
- happy birthday
- hd
- jj
- l'evasiva
- la cieca ci guarda
- la scoopenda
- maestro levine
- man of steel
- mp3
- need you ask?
- new york post
- new york times
- nyco
- our own
- peter gelb is...
- regie
- review
- sad
- the met
- unnatural acts of opera
- wagner
- youtube
OT – Is Klaus Florian Vogt booked for anything at The Met between Now and Too Late?
It seems that Vogt is not booked at the Met for the future, a great pity – try Dresden, Vienna (Katya next season) etc. Hisvoice is quite a bit more attractive than that of Lance Ryan who did sing in Ariadne tonight – both are genuine tenors (not pushed up baritones).
Lanace Ryan was perfectly absurdly terrible. My god!
Could he even sing Mime?
Why ISN’T Vogt singing Bacchus?
Bound to be an improvement.
That whole Ariadne tonight was poor stuff –
though Stemme finally got her voice
together for the final pages, just as
Ryan was sounding like tissue paper
on a comb! “Genuine tenor,” my ass!
Trebs is guilty of deliberate unkindness to the Met audience by subjecting it to her Elvira in I Puritani, but I agree she is quite good in some roles, I liked her Antonia, and thought it was well worth going to the house to hear her live on that.
Rolling on the floor is something else, and it is a practice Trebs seems to have encouraged immensely. Why this fashion lately? Singers never used to do that, unless it was necessary and demanded by the situation. Today’s singers can’t be happy unless rolling on the floor, it is disgusting. Would Shakespeare approve of Lady Mackbeth behaving like a broom? Did Bellini intend Elvira to act like a mop? What is going on?
Apparently Jeritza was on the floor and not only as Tosca.
From what I have read, Jeritza always rolled down the steps of the church after being pushed when singing Santuzza and did it even when she returned to the Vienna Opera in the early 1950′s when she must have been over 60 having made her debut in 1910
It’s just very showy and the audience goes “ohh” “ahh”, how does she do that?, she must really be a very good singer to be able to sing those roulades on her back!”. So, if the roulades are not so accurate, or the E flat not exactly in tune, who cares? Most people won’t notice, and she gets the ovation no matter what. Audiences are much more gullible than we generally think.
I am not talking specifically about Netrebko; it’s a general observation.
she deserves it – she is bitchy, arrogant, and even the cleaning lady at opera houses around the world hates her……and she looks FAT! I am not impressed with her studio recording either, especially her spanish songs, not near as good as the worst. But I have to agree, her Antonia is good…only that.
Such venom, wenarto!
Monday Evening: Ariadne is on Sirius — no comments
here? Too bad.
Whoever is sitting in for Ms Juntwait gives his own name
in a mutter and very fast; who in the world is he?
Mr. Berger sounds very fruitycake; he needs to listen
to himself more carefully and fine-tune. It’s painful
sometimes to listen to oneself on tape, but it can
be very revealing and helpful is one is objective.
Recommended, Will, recommended.
As for the PROLOGUE — the Swedish soprano is
sounding rather grainy. Maybe she’ll be warmed
for the big singing to come. Bacchus is Ryan – is
this the tenor who did not make opening night?
MrM, Ryan was out sick on opening night, so he must be feeling better. How does he sound?
See above.
I am beyond surprised at the Met
doing that — yet again! Pathetic.
Just saw it, mrmyster. Good thing I went to the movies, instead, I guess.
MRMR – Re anncr, I’m not sure of the spelling, but it is Loren Tulagin. He’s on the production staff for the broadcasts and has substituted numerous times. (can anyone confirm or deny the rumor that Margaret has serious health problems?)
As for Will, I think Fruity is what The Met wants. I mean listen to Ira Siff on the Saturday broadcasts. Both have toned it down considerably. It got downright embarrassing the first season.
Yes, Lance Ryan is making his belated debut. My fingers are crossed.
In the prologue I focussed haphazardly on Connelly, whom I still find lacking in brio. We’re coming up to “Es gibt ein Reich” and Stemme just emitted some rather gorgeous lamenty things.
Gosh, the casual homophobia is getting a little thick in here. MrMyster and BetsyAnn, I’m sure you’re both real butch and all, but last time I checked, this was the queer opera site and calling people “very fruitycake” (uh, what?) and “embarrassing” displays a boorishness I’m thinking is maybe typical of both of you.
Come on Maury, that’s not homophobia.
Don’t be foolish!
Sorry, Maury
On second thought, wait a minute, Maury. I’m sorry I offended you, and I’m sorry I offended the sensibilities of other posters or the decorum of this site, but I think my use of the word “embarrassing” was appropriate. For instance, if you take your guy home to meet your parents and he makes a pass at your father and you notice it and your father notices it and you notice your father noticing you notice it, that’s embarrassing. And then if your father responds to the pass, and you notice it and your mother notices it and you notice your mother noticing you noticing your father noticing your date, that’s even more embarrassing. And if a certain “barihunk” — I forget who — is being interviewed and the pins are dropping faster than . . . than . . . than fast-dropping things at a thing-dropping place, so that even without your gaydar going you want to shout, “oh fer crissakes, guys, get a room !” THAT’S EMBARRASSING.
Yes? No?
Wait, what? First you said it’s embarrassing that the on-air personas of folks in the broadcast booth are too “fruity.” Now you’re saying…oh I don’t even know, so I’ll quote.
Did Ira Siff hit on someone’s dad? Because I wasn’t listening if that happened. So I’m not sure what you’re saying there. But the rest of it seems to be a restatement of “being perceptibly gay is embarrassing.” And yeah, that’s homophobic. Definitionally so. Care to try again?
Has Betsy Ann been reading my Ira SIff incest slash again?
Betsy Ann, I hope your fingers became uncrossed at some
point and were stuck into your ears.
Ms. Juntwait I am told is seriously ill. And I am sorry.
Why does Stemme have such a severe mid-voice
tremolo>wobble? Sounds really upsetting and
ominous; she is a fine artist. I want her voice
healthy.
kashania — I saw Norman live a couple of times as Ariadne (in London). At the time I was an unconditional fan — certainly not the case any more. It was very impressive, though, and remains a highly positive experience in my memory. That being said, she never had a Strauss top, and I think you need to know it’s at a soprano’s disposal in Ariadne. Norman achieved “sleight of voice” in the climactic phrases of ‘Es gibt ein Reich’. The top notes were there, and her panache made us think they were big and beautiful, but — when you listen again — they were short and colourless compared to the rest of the voice. Straussian overdrive is really required. She pulled off a similar trick with Tove’s top C (I think it’s a top C) in the last of her Gurrelieder numbers. She is quite magnificent in the Ozawa recording (and she was live too), but you have to make allowances for that final note.
MontyNostry: I agree that Norman didn’t have a Strauss top but again, I don’t think Ariadne requires one. That lack of a Strauss top is what made Norman unsuitable for the majority of Strauss roles, except for Ariadne, IMO. And I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the role sits so low. I think that the tessitura of the role and kind of voice it requires are part of Strauss’s characterisation of the role. Sure, a free top is always nice to hear but, Norman’s “laboured” (for lack of a better a term) high notes actually suit my idea of how the role should sound. For example, I’m much more interested in how a soprano sings the chromatic scale at the end of “Es gibt ein Reich” than how she sounds on the high notes. Voigt, for example, had glorious high notes. But when she sang that last scale, it was the dullest thing ever.
Which chromatic scale do you mean, kashania? There is a short chromatic descent off the top note. Is that it?
Anna T-S certainly had the range for the role at both ends, and she was a lovely singer in many ways, though I have always been slightly bothered by tendency to make a glottal attak on notes and slide into the pitches.
MontyNostry: The short ascending scale at the very end of the aria. I may be mischaracterising at as “chromatic”.
‘Bei dir wird Ariadne sein’, the repeat.
Well, I don’t think it’s all semitones, but I see what you mean!
Just a few comments about the Ariadne tonight. Sarah Connelly has the range, both upper and lower for the Komponist but her voice does not project all that well in the Met – her clarity of diction was abysmal in German – the consonants are swallowed. One could understand practically nothing of the text which is so important for this role. Curiously there was applause for her little arietta which I have never heard from any audience in over 50 attended Ariadne performances. Her interpretation may deepen but one must go back to Seefried or Jurinac to ascertain how the Komponist really must be sung – Also Connelly looked much older than she probably is therefore losing credibility as a youthful Composer. Certainly not the worst I have seen but clearly not the best but one of the few Mezzos essaying the role who at least did not strangulate in the higher climaxes. Also in the Prologue Stemme played the Prima Donna more as a ditsy dizzy drug infused lady rather than with the customary hauture one expects of an irate prima donna. Kathleen Kim was charming enough in the Prologue and did not have much difficulty vocally throughout the Opera. She is super cute and plays Zerbinetta that way – not as knowingly as a Gueden or a Gruberova. But the notes were there.
Stemme dramatically is essentially more effective in the Opera Seria than many other Ariadne’s. Her voice is sumptious in the middle register with no particular difficulty at the extremes – but she is not as subtle vocally as some others – just a little less nuance than the best Ariadnes – still with a similar type voice as that of Urmanna, she did somewhat more interpretively.
Among the numerous Ariadnes I have seen I would rank Rysanek, della Casa, Janowitz and Benackova in the forefront (and once Jones in Vienna who was in spectacular non-wobbly voice that evening). But I found Stemme to be quite interesting and listening to her warm middle voice made one yearn someday for a Met Isolde.
Ryan has a curious voice – very tenorish – no real trouble at the top but certainly not lucious sounding -one had the feeling he was holding back vocally. In the Prologue he looked like a Big Ten football player. I am not sure how well the voice is supported or whether he can expect a long career based upon his vocal production and the heavy roles he seems to sing. In my opinion, not knowing his repertory, his voice would be quite unsuitable for Italian operas and most suitable for tenor roles in Wozzeck or Lulu. Marcus Werba was charming enough though small voiced as Harlekin. The 3 Nymphs were actually quite good. Schmeckenbecher did not erase any memories of Schoeffler or Berry etc. as the Music Master. Conducting was on the ball. A routine performance of a glorious opera with the best kudos going to Stemme and Kim. Audience applause slightly fervent for a few moments but rather brief. The intermission after the Prologue seemed to last longer than the Prologue itself.
Good inner clock, Bill. Prologue — first note to last – 40:04. It was then 43:57 before the first note of the opera proper.
Did you hear Anna Tomova-Sintow as Ariadne, Bill? Probably the best I have seen in the theatre, but I haven’t heard any of the ones you mention live. With the exception of Benackova, I have all of their recordings.Lucky you! And Schoeffler and Berry as the Music-Master! Fab!
I did, Regina. In 1987, I think, with Gruberova as Zerbinetta.
Regina – Tomowa-Sintow was, in my opinion, a fine Ariadne – just below the top tier I mentioned (Rysanek, della Casa, Janowitz, Benackova) as Tomowa-Sintow’s middle voice did not match her luminous top.
Of course those I mentioned also had slight defects in performance – Rysanek was not as controlled in the middle of her voice at times, della Casa could sound a bit scratchy at the bottom of her range (but what effervesant top notes), Janowitz, seen often and also at her farewell performance on stage at the Staatsoper in 1990) could harden a bit at the top. Most ideal, Benackova (seen several times with Gruberova) with gorgeous singing throughout – the audience was so hushed and held its collective breath just to hear every nuance – the notes just floated out magically.
Other Ariadnes I liked Gessendorf, Claire Watson to be sure. Leontyne Price sang with too husky a voice for my pleasure, Caballe was fine, Jessye Norman did not have a radiant top though her lowest notes were splendid, Voigt was too unattractive in the middle register.
We know Reining from the 1944 Vienna production and she was in refulgent voice. We do not know what Jeritza sounded like, nor Lehmann after she graduated from the Komponist. Cebotari had success with the role, Anna Konetzni, Zadek, and many others.
Schwarzkopf, who never sang the role on stage, was resplendent on the 1954 von Karajan recording – certainly one of Schwarzkopf’s absolutely best recordings and I think the best recording overall of he opera – one of the greatest performances of any opera ever essayed on disc.
Some I never heard, Crespin in Aix or Chicago (and with a long arching line in the pirated 1964 Chicago production under Jochum), Stich-Randall (Aix and Vienna), Studer and others and I have yet to hear Schwanewilms, Pieczonka, Nylund. Margaret Price, if she ever sang the role on stage, would have been ideal as Ariadne and in my opinion should have gone in that direction rather than that of Norma and Cilea.
These days is it is not easy to hear a live Ariadne wherein all 3 of the magnificent soprano roles are equally top notch in radiant execution. (The 1954 Salzburg live performance under Boehm now on DGG with della Casa, Gueden, Seefried would certainly come up to standard in all 3 roles).
Bill – did you ever hear Hildegard Hillebrecht’s Ariadne live? I once asked James King about her – she is his Chrysothemis on the Karajan Elektra, as you know, and he started to beam, and rave about how absolutely wonderful she was on stage, and how odd it was that she disappeared so quickly. She sort of spoils the Böhm Ariadne for me, which I love for the young Tatiana Troyanos, but she is better in the Ariadne film. Just curious what you think. Thanks.
Bill, I too saw Janowitz, who was sharing Ariadne with Tomowa-Sintow in that same 1987 production mentioned above. I was only 14 but I can safely date my Janowitz obsession from that night.
The only other Ariadne I’ve seen live was Schwanewilms (finally, I’ve seen a singer you haven’t…) at Covent Garden in, I think, 2004. It was the first revival of the little black dress production and Schwanewilms’ wonderful performance was swamped by all the press hooha about Voigt. She was absolutely radiant, however, despite some sniffy ‘well, she’s no Debbie’ reviews in the London press. Damrau was the Zerbinetta and was fine but not spectacular. Really, for me it was Susan Graham’s evening- I love her in Strauss.
I have Gessendorf’s Ariadne on DVD, with Schmidt, Gruberova and Frey. She’s wonderful, and I’ve always found her strangely underrated.
“Schwarzkopf, who never sang the role on stage, was resplendent on the 1954 von Karajan recording…”
Here’s a riddle for all of you who miss the matchless TURANDOTs the Met was broadcasting:
What was Frau Doktor Schwarzkopf-Legge’s absolute favorite SINGLE WORD in the ARIADNE libretto?
Buster – I heard Hildegard Hillebrecht only once as Ariadne on December 3rd of 1965 in Vienna (she sang only 2 Ariadnes in Vienna) and she was solid – not a radiant voice bur rather even throughout the range.
I agree that her recording of Ariadne on DGG left quite a bit to be desired and one German kritik wrote that it was a bitter pill to swallow for DGG that Janowitx had recorded the role about the same time under Kempe rather than appearing in the Boehm DGG recording. At that time the late autum of 1965 in Vienna Rysanek also was singing Ariadne (both she and Hillebrecht with the radiant Sena Jurinac as Komponist) and Rysanek was the far more exciting in the role. I heard Hillebrecht also as Chrysothemis in Salzburg in 1965 under Karajan (with Varnay and Moedl) but again comparisons with Rysanek in Vienna at the Wieland Wagner premiere in December of that year were not favorable for Hillebrecht and left her efforts somewhat in the dust compared with those of Rysanek’s. I think Hillebrecht replaced Schwarzkopf as the Marschallin (with Seefried as Oktavian and Grist & Edelmann) with the San Francisco Opera production of Rosenkavalier in one performance when they guested in Los Angeles in the autumn of 1964. Most of Hillebrecht’s career, however, seems to have taken place in Germany (Munich etc.) She always seemed to be a second string soprano at the time – She never sang again at the Wiener Staatsoper after that Ariadne having essayed only 10 performances in 5 roles in Vienna from 1960-65 and assumedly some of them as replacements for more luminous sopranos who were not available on those dates Hillebrecht appeared. I would put Hillebrecht in the same boat with Ingrid Haubold, Sabine Haas, or Ricarda Merbeth – a strong enough German Spinto without the allure of the stars of the day, but serviceable in the roles they sang (or in the case of Merbeth – still singing) Janice Martin may fit that category as well along with Vinzing and Vejzovic, Kuchta and Lippert.
Amerjaquino – I have seen Schwanewilms as Arabella (last season in Vienna) and thought she was wonderful but I have never seen nor heard her Ariadne which should be, I am sure, equally enthralling. I have seen Pieczonka in numerous roles since her earlier days at the Volksoper but never as Ariadne. I have never heard a note of Nylund but look forward to an introduction in the future. And alas, there are many fine singers I have never seen live, and some of them like Cerquetti or Carteri with remorse. I never saw Fischer-Dieskau in an opera performance though frequently in lieder recitals or concerts. I never saw Gre Brouwenstijn who was so beloved in England in certain roles.
I might mention also that at the Met some seasons ago, Christine Brewer was quite effective as Ariadne (better than Voigt I thought). I have not heard Brewer since in anything.
Thanks Bill – very interesting!
Not that many people are wild about Ricarda Merbeth, apparently, but I heard a great Elisabeth out of her – a last minute replacement for Martina Serafin. A bit maternal, but I did not mind that at all.
Joining in on Hillebrecht – I heard her as Sieglinde in the 1969 Munich Ring (with Nilsson, Adam, and the aging Windgassen as Siegmund). Also in other roles during that season I’m quite sure, but all I remember about them is that I was underwhelmed and didn’t tend to look forward to it when she was in the cast. Interesting that King regarded her so highly. As I recall the voice was large and on pitch but rather dry and as lacking in glamor live as it is on disc.
Thanks Batty -- here she is in my favorite part of the opera:
Funny, my ears don’t require a radiant top for Ariadne. The role always sounded “earth-bound” to me, with the low tessitura re-enforcing the fact that she’s trapped on the island. On the other hand, Bacchus’s high-lying lines suggest that he will free Ariadne from her situation. That “earth-bound” quality is one reason why I think the role was such a good fit for Norman (aside from the inherent grandeur of the role).
Nerva — 15.2.3.7 — was it “Abstand!” ???
I heard Hillebrecht just once, as Leonore, in one of her handful of performances at the Met.
She had gotten a bit of press because she had fallen down the stairs of the Fidelio set and was hospitalized with a concussion. She had to miss her scheduled performance and for once the tables were turned and the star soprano filled in for her. (Rysanek)
I wasn’t too impressed with Hillebrecht but she was quite sincere as Leonore and she seemd like a pretty jolly lady backstage afterwards.
Responding to me question, she gushed…”Ja, ja… der concussion…”
Thanks Richard, for another wonderful Hillebrecht story. I always wondered about her – she sang Tosca in Amsterdam a couple of times, sharing the role with Gré Brouwenstijn and Montserrat Caballé, and a handful of other Italian opera’s. And an Emilia Marty!
On disc, apart from the Elektra and Ariadne, there are a couple of Aida scenes with her in German that I have not heard. And snippets of her Leonora. Her Donna Elvira (again in German) is probably her best known record, because Fritz Wunderlich and Elisabeth Grümmer are on it too.
Apparently, she is a Kammerängerin (Kammersängerin Hildegard Hillebrecht-Stöhr), and alive and well.
I don’t remember ever hearing a Bacchus sing a secure high Bb at the end. We shall see…or hear.
Lance Ryan: seductive? No ! Musical? No! Lusty? No ! He’s not worthy of my Nina ! I’m gonna stand hyar with my shotgun, boy, until ah see yo’ ass at least nine miles down the road.
“Your” Nina? Ummmm…..well, with some hesitation
on my part I report to you that my informal “review”
is now posted over on Opera-L. She did warm up
at the very end, but I fear the poor women is in
trouble. And Ryan is *beyond* trouble
Can you play a Bb on a comb with tissue
paper?
That was about it tonight. Who is this
foolish man, anyway? He belongs at most in
a barbershop quartet.
PS: Today we note the disappearance of the CPU intensive advertisement for Hillary Hahn. Rafal Blechacz would be more attractive and he plays beautifully.:
Lovely!
Bring him on!
Thank you, QPF
Well, I apologize if I am raving on unduly on this
Lance Ryan Phenomenon, but I went to his website and
discovered that he sings the Verdi Otello and Puccini’s
Turandot — and other Strauss, and SIEGFRIED — one
thing you can say for that, he can cover Mime and more
to the point, Mime can cover him!!!
And from White Rock, British Columbia — home
territory of Ben Heppner. I wonder what Ben would have
to say about little Lance? Betsy, you will be glad to
know that I have become speechless on the subject
and am going directly to bed to dream of Tiny Tim tiptoeing
through the Tulips with Lance. Zzzzzzzzz.
Bad hair day:
I would miss all that head-tilting.
Well if those Wagnerian barking clips of his, with all the tell tale shortcomings of vocal technique are any example of what his Bacchus was like….. he will not be around for much longer. Sounding more like a character called Siegfizzer
I’ll tell you, Harry, he is the great Mime of
the next decade — and maybe Goro and
even Hot Biscuit Slim in Paul Bunyan and the
Pois Verts vendor in Louise!!
Poor guy, I hope he has a trade to
fall back on.
Perhaps by joinin the chorus of some British Colummbia Lumberjacks’ singing group, supporting a local production of Rose Marie. Sadly he needs a good teacher to take a chain-saw and rectify his bad singing technique . Maybe it is too late already to do so.