The People’s Courtesan
Like Liza Minnelli at the Palace or Nomi Malone in Goddess, Renée Fleming’s Thaïs is better understood as diva event than Gesamtkunstwerk. It’s an opportunity to watch a star lady do her voodoo in a work that exists largely to showcase her glamour and appeal.
The raison d‘être of this particular showcase is undoubtedly the most polarizing contemporary opera singer, and whether you love her or hate her, a new Metropolitan Opera DVD
Acclaimed tenor/baritone/conductor/Live in HD host Plácido Domingo sets the scene on the Metropolitan Opera’s production of Massenet’s Thaïs in his pre-show introduction. After sharing that he’d love to sing the male lead but can’t because it’s a baritone role (this was filmed in 2008, pre-Simon Boccanegra; perhaps now he’ll give it a shot), he gravely intones: “And now, Renée Fleming in… Thaïs.”
An endless scene and a half transpires before the above-the-title lady in question finally makes her grand — and stunningly gowned — entrance, but to be sure when she does finally appear everyone onstage screams “Thaïs!” just in case we might have otherwise missed her. Fleming is not an exact physical fit for the role; her blond, dimpled good looks are more suggestive of a regional beauty queen (Miss Indiana? Pennsylvania, perhaps?) than the impossibly gorgeous and exotic lust object the libretto is constantly reminding us Thaïs is.
But her singing is mostly strong and accurate — and, for the most part, refreshingly free of the bad habits that earned her the nickname La Scoopenda. The bulk of the role lies in a comfortable soprano mid-range that suits her voice, and she handles many of the higher notes with grace and musicality. Her interpretation of “Dis-moi que je suis belle” at the beginning of Act 2 is a particularly moving and well-sung performance sure to please her fans. She only resorts to screaming at the very end of act 3, where Massenet wrote a repeated phrase escalating to high D (finally settling to a pianissmo high A) that could confound almost any soprano without a superhuman instrument. Even then she hits the correct pitches with at least fifty percent accuracy.
As for acting, the character of Thaïs is so ridiculous – a wanton prostitute (excuse me, “disciple of Venus”) so successful at her trade that the entire community riots when she decides to give it up and join a convent – that the production and Fleming settle for creating a series of Diva Moments rather than trying to make the character seem real.
She mounts a ramp just to sing a single high C, then skitters back down to give Athanael the least romantic kiss seen at the Met since Karita Mattila licked the head of John the Baptist! She caps an aria by hugging herself and beaming adorably as the Met audience showers her with applause! She throws herself on a bed and laughs hysterically — then her laughter turns abruptly to weeping! She cackles; she burns incense; she waves her arms over her head!
Fleming’s musicality is strong enough to transcend this nonsense, but she does seem to have a gay old time playing a singing Theda Bara. However, those perpetual dramatic indulgences are a cinch to make the production more appealing for devotees of camp.
Thomas Hampson sings the role of Athanaël, which offers roughly equal stage time to the soprano part but far less musical or dramatic interest. Athanaël is a bit of a Norman Maine/Stedman Graham role – even when Thaïs is not onstage, he’s always going on about her -- but Hampson sings it beautifully, though perhaps his Athanaël would be more compelling if his singing reflected more of the character’s emotional turmoil. His acting skills are much more problematic, especially in close-up. His dramatic interpretation is limited to two emotions: tormented (this involves brow-furrowing) and boyishly gleeful (“Look, ma, I’m singing!”). Neither facial expression offers much insight into Athanaël’s tortured attempts to reconcile his love of Jesus with his lust for Thaïs.
Concertmaster David Chan offers the musical highlight of the DVD with a brilliant interpretation of the famous violin “Meditation” between the scenes of Act Two. The composition is undoubtedly the most beautiful melody in the opera -- Massenet liked it so much he repeated it almost non-stop for the third act as well -- and Chan gives an emotional performance that traces Thaïs’s difficult journey from the empty glamour of sin to the simplicity of saintly living. The Meditation is the one moment in the entire opera with true emotional resonance; it’s impossible not to be disappointed when it ends and the curtain rises on yet another closeup of Tom Hampson’s scowl.
John Cox’s physical production is a potpourri of Art Deco and period elements – dreadlocks for Athanaël and his fellow monks, Roaring Twenties costumes for Thaïs’s decadent circle of friends. The sets are mostly spare desert scenes or under-furnished interiors with the exception of the palace set in Act 2, a disaster in gold plate (even the palm tree sparkles!) that suggests Brighton Beach more than the banks of the Nile. The Christian Lacroix gowns for Thaïs are the one visually stunning element of the production; even the robe she wears to walk across the desert until her feet bleed is a stylishly draped off-the-shoulder number. Jesus López-Cobos (“my countryman,” Domingo helpfully reminds us in the introduction) conducts a dignified, nuanced reading of the score by the typically excellent Met orchestra.
The only special feature is a compilation of the intermission interviews that aired during the original HD broadcast. We are granted the opportunity to hear Domingo repeatedly pronounce Massenet as though it rhymed with “bassinet,” learn a bit about the costumes, and discover that Fleming is particularly fond of Thaïs’s Act 2 aria because it addresses the uncomfortable but eternal truth that “youth fades.” The (sadistic?) director chooses a tight close-up of the star for this interview, but it must be said that whatever you think about Renée Fleming in Thaïs, the diva looks good.
I saw Mula in Elisir a couple of years ago and thought she was OK. Her voice and singing was surprisingly not distinctive, but pleasant. Her acting was the weaker aspect of her performance. But I wouldn’t balk on seeing her live again (I didn’t hear her latest disc).
CruzSF: here is the Thais from that album:
Hmm. I liked that. Maybe not as distinctive as La Scoopenda in the HD Broadcast, but I suspect some here will see that as a plus. At the very least, I’d give her a chance in a staged producion of Thais, since singers usually give more with greater focus while on stage.
Mrmyster:
Excuse me but did you actually post that Price did not look the part of Thais? Really? Just like she did not look the part of Minnie (one critic wrote that she could never have the face of an angel), huh?
I know to skip your posts from now on.
Yikes.
ercole, grazie, for this. who’s the athanael? man, is he loud.
la nizza is a good singer but there’s something about her voice, it doesn’t move smoothly, you know, it seems to change color from note to note a lot.
Yes, she did not look the part. She was awkward,
ungainly, not expressive of face — and so on. One
departs reality if one argues otherwise. You are
welcome to skip my posts, they are dangerously
factual.
You do know, Mr Tennis, that so-called “political
correctness” can go to far. Waaay to far. One day
the Nation may recover from all that, but right now
we are paying the price.
Bye.
…..sorry, make that “too” far!
No, I am sorry, I don’t know the name of the baritone.
Calling someone’s performance ‘awkward, ungainly and not expressive’ and then saying that thinking otherwise is ‘departing from reality’ is nothing like ‘dangerously factual’- it’s three pieces of pure opinion followed by a wildly subjective conclusion.
Hoist by your own petard, sweetheart.
I know how to solve the Thais casting problem. Transpose the role one third down and hire Elina Garanca. Massenet would not disapprove. He transposed Werther, after all. Not to mention that he would be head over heels for a blond beauty like Garanca.
I for one would be too thrilled to jump into a time machine to witness the young Price Thais. Too bad she didn’t continue the role, maybe even with some direction. Her studio recording as well as the live recording of the Mirror Aria are absolutely amazing!!
Brilliant. Sam Ramey will finally be able to take on Athanael (a la Domingo in SB).
Ah, Mignon: Girl working as attraction in traveling sideshow hates girl working as actress in traveling Shakespeare company; inspires arsonist; discovers crazy old guy is her dad.
With a plot like that, you know the music has to be beautiful!
Actually, Massenet didn’t transpose Werther; he just rewrote Werther’s vocal lines and left the rest of the score unaltered…Garanca will just have to take on Lucy Arbell’s mantle instead.
Read it again, Jacquino: non-reality is the world of excessive
‘political correctness,’ as I believe is made clear. Of course I am
offering personal opinion here — that is our lingua franca, but
factual support helps.
You think Price looked like Butterfly, Minnie, Thais? I think
not!!! Not in my experience. However, if you grew up in remote
corners of the Empire maybe some of your regie opera conditioned
you to such players. North America and a bit of Europe for me
did not — I tend to expect opera characters to look like what
Mozart or Verdi expected them to.
And what petard is that, Sweetheart?
Garanca is a wonderful Charlotte, but you know that. I am
afraid Thais will have to stay where it is — those soprano
top notes help seal the deal. But the ideal casting has
finally surfaced: Eglise Gutierrez, the Cuban soprano.
Ideal, on all counts.
Give it a thought.
But is Thais supposedspecifically to be blonde? Or is she just supposed to look exotically beautiful, which could mean anything from fairest blonde to darkest black?
“que rien ne ternira l’or pur de mes cheveux,” she says, which is admittedly more allusive than explicit, but it points pretty clearly toward blond locks.
It was pretty simple, sweetheart- you can’t present a series of opinions and claim them as facts.
Hmm, I’m not so sure. Her Montreal Lucia was definitely committed. But to my ears, there’s something a little bit wrong with her voice. It’s as though there’s a hole in it. It’s like an organ with 16′ and 4′ stops set open. But for lack of an 8′, the sound’s just a bit diffuse.
Anyway, although I know she’s probably considered a b-house, provincial (Canadian) thing, mostly, Lynne Fortin was quite good as Thais. And she’s blonde.
LPR
Buster – Thanks for the Mula, above. What can one say?
She omits the high-C at the end of the aria. What’s the
point? The diction is lousy, legato and phrasing not
great, and the voice missing some of the pleasing ‘float’
which Mme Fleming supplies so generously, not to speak
of the high-C. Not a role for Mula, I would say.
I love Faust and all its arias, but theatre is not. It is just
a series of numbers — a commentator recently called it
an “opereatta.” I think he has a point. Manon is fine
theatre, sometimes I feel Werther is – well Pelleas is
impressionistic theatre — and I find it dramatically
effective in a pale sort of way. Lakme strikes be as
kitsch or high-camp, neither one a bad word in my
operatic vocabulary — there is certainly room for that
kind of self-conscious “show biz” mentality PROVIDED
it is really well played and sung — like the Met’s
Thais last year. I wont argue with people who like
Hoffman — I heartily dislike it; find it a sick-sick
piece and I always feel bad after seeing/hearing one.
So I try to stay away from it. However, none of this
need be taken too seriously — after all, it’s just
opera!
amazing. how many times will this dinosaur from santa fe mention that eglise gutierrez is cuban. is this man senile, has alzheimer’s or autism? somehow he never mentions that costello is italian or graham anglo-saxon.
mrmyster, sometimes you sound more intelligent when you don’t speak.
Actually, Costello is Irish-American. He told me so.
The same argument comes up in regards to roles like Salome. Price recorded the Final Scene and announced at the same time she would never sing it on stage. Whatever the reason was, she never said, as far as I can discern. Why not,? We can only conject upon.
Now taking that same role as one of those precious P.C examples : should any ‘over large’ lady be recommended or encouraged to do it on stage ? Those that have seen such examples usually reported a comical dance that destroyed all sense of the inner character already developed by the singer. That inability to impulsively move swiftly at times, belies the description by Herod, that Salome ‘is a snake’ around this part of the opera.
Political correctness has no time for cold hard blunt fact.
True artistty : calls for a artist to also make their own sound personal judgments, on behalf of those they wish to perform to. That includes judgments made , that fully centralises on their singing and presentation in the best light, at all times. Not leave it to others to make it for them.
A comment to Bianca Castafiore: I mention that Sra. Gutierrez is Cuban because her own web site says that she is, and program books from various of her performances call her, “Cuban American” or “Cuban.”
Why be so defensive about being Cuban? What’s wrong with it? I think it’s fine!
Eglise a considerable talent and a positive force in the shows that cast her. Graham is American, and in an Amereican context it is not necessarily required by editors to write that. Costello is Italian? Really? I thought him to be American also. In my experience, Costello is an Irish name.
It pleases me to send you a polite reply so that you may see an example
of how reasonable people of decent temperament can handle offensive oafs,
especially when they are way off target.
Have a nice day!
Yes,luvtennis, we know what you are trying to say.
All this ‘touchy-feel’ business about castng in opera.
Go and look at a audition call sheet for some musical show or play and look at the character ‘break-down’ requirements by the producers.
It is clear and explicit what they are requiring. It depends on the nature of the show.
(Let;s set a possible random example) Would you say a Ms Saigon production, if looking for the main female lead : be some blonde Barbie doll ( even if she can sing and perform the pants off the other attendees or candidates)?. Or the female lead in Richad Rodgers’ No Strings or Bloody Mary’s daughter in South Pacific. Certainly not. Is that also some sort of reverse P.C prejudice in play, put in that context?
No! It would be a sound ‘non prejudical’ business decision. A simple case of demand and someone fitting the announced requirements even if some form of ethnic consideration is part of the essential mix, choosing a successful candidate.
Happily and thankfully with Opera as a medium ‘ such essentials’ seldom ever exist.
Yet, now the P.C’s want to inject other forms of psychological P.C babble onto the characters in opera. If quirky and full of dramatic contradictions and someones questions it; up go the screams and accusations of every form of prejudice imaginable against its critics.
No wonder so many imbeciles are allowed to direct, (I should say ‘muck’ around with it),and continue to survive today. The easily impressioned: being besotted of such work then call it ‘innovative or re-invented’ They will learn otherwise …..someday.
Harry/MrMyster:
Apart from whatever feelings about the morality of your expressed opinions, I can definitely say that Opera is going NOWHERE fast if we start casting according to race . . . again.
And please don’t throw the PC tag at me as an insult. I don’t take openmindedness, tolerance, respect for others and refusal to accept the opinions of the majority as defining truth and reality as a bad thing.
BTW, Bianca – You made all the point anyone needed to make with the Gutierrez reference.
La Cieca – Can’t tell from your reference but what are your thoughts on colorblind casting.
Harry:
Your posts on this topic are not making sense to me. Here is the bottomline from my perspective:
Casting a role based on the ethnic identity of the singers is bad. If the best Aida available is white, cast her. If the best Donna Anna available is black, cast her. And, by the way, best doesn’t include “is closest to the color I think the character should be.”
[BTW, you might be surprised about how openminded 18th-early 19th century Europeans were about color. Ever read Vanity Fair?]
The fact that Price thought Salome an inappropriate role for her has absolutely nothing to do with the matter at hand. She had the good sense to avoid a number of things that she could have sung, but she wisely took a longer view of her career.
thank you, armer.
Mr Tennis, if I may say this without prejudice, you frame the question incorrectly. I do not contemplate “casting according to race.” One does cast according to vocal type, to temperamental qualities, to visual qualities — would you cast Alessandra Marc as Hoffman’s doll (even if she could sing it), or Margaret Harshaw as Dailia (a role she once sang at the Paris Opera?). No? Yes? I would not. Looks/appearance certainly a factor in all casting, especially today at the Met. I once heard a 400 lb woman audition for Mimi — it broke your heart, for she had the most perfect Mimi voice you ever heard, and ravishing musicianship and emotional delivery. Yet, you could not put her on stage in that role. If that same singer were black, and she was denied the role, a lot of people would argue that it was because she is black/African American (the better term). It is a win-less argument, and race should have no part in it — let’s say a demure, dainty, almond-eyed African American had a Butterfly voice and was not cast because of her race — THAT would be unacceptable. I agree. Thais COULD be a black woman, if she had the voice and style. Miss Price, to my taste, did not have the pure lyric voice or personal style of a Thais — thus if I don’t cast her in my opera house for those reasons, is that racial. Hell no!!!! So, be careful how you frame the question and what your agendas are. I think being militantly, often chip-on-shoulder ‘politically correct’ in this matters is very out of date and pretty silly. But go talk to Gelb. He’s the master of casting!!
grazie, luvtennis.
mrmyster has only referred to this singer as cuban 7 times in the last 2 months. and btw, she might think of herself as american, has he thought about that? apparently not. being cuban apparently is much more relevant than the fact that she’s a lyric soprano.
and btw, bringing out the old tired cliche of PC only masks how retrograde your prejudices are.
Oh goody, waters to be muddied. I’d like to sugges5t the perfect Thais, a soprano with the range, the tone, the temperament, the looks, the acting skills, and would need minimal make-up. Michael Miniacci. Of course, there’s just one little problem . . . .
Betsy – I don’t think Miniacci is capable of the high camp necessary
to bring off the role of Thais — in addition to which, I don’t care
how good your make-up man is, there will be no getting around
the point that he’s in drag, and that would kill the whole thing.
Let’s move on.
Isn’t it amusing how opera is *gestalt* for so many people? !! ?
They just endlessly read their own afflictions and prejudices into
it.
Indeed, let’s move on.