Reinforcements?
La Cieca has just heard from a generally reliable source that one of the principal artists has withdrawn from all performances of Attila at the Met. We’ve emailed the company’s press office for confirmation of the rumor.
Cher Public
- Henry Holland: please keep in mind I live in an operatic wasteland, commonly referred to as L.A., and I’ve... 1:54 PM
- tatiana: Not for me–I have Daniels/Domingo/Mi lnes and heard the other one in the House . . . no, thank you,... 1:46 PM
- Camille: Barbara Daniels’ hysteria at the end of Act two is the best take on this difficult ending... 1:30 PM
- Loge: Since the title references Cole Porter I will guess Kiss Me Kate 1. Wunderbar 2. Brush up your Shakespeare... 1:18 PM
- 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
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It’s a shame about ALVAREZ. I thought he had huge potential when he came on the scene but he has already had two big vocal crises and just doesn’t sound the same anymore. I heard him in the fall after he came back from “rehab” and he sounded awful.
Apparently, he pushed his way through a few too many Iagos. When is someone going to tell these singers that no one wants to see them wasted at 40? I doubt Verdi’s Casa di Riposo would have accepted people his age.
Quanto: yes & yes! Details please…thanks in advance.
I thought so.
Re: last nights Boheme: Marco Armiliato seems to be well on the way to the position of routinier (is this a word?) in the mold of such as Fausto Cleva in the Bing era. Cleva was pretty much a singer’s conductor, who saw his function as making as much room as he could for the singers, generally following them for tempi, and allowing them to present the idiosyncrasy which made them popular with the audience. I thought he could have just handed the baton to Netrebko last night. From the moment of her entrance in Act I, the pace of the music was glacial. Both she and Beczala presented their considerable wares largely without any reference to the architecture of the music. Things picked up with Act II, as there is so much going on by that point that a steady, sensibly chosen tempo is required, and individual performers cannot but cooperate (excepting Gheorghiu in especially willful mode). Acts III and IV were reasonably brisk, and the performances were very fine, and the appropriate emotional effects were achieved all around. Cabell was good, but the stage business has gotten slack compared to last years reworked performances, and so her effectiveness was diluted by some confusion. Gerald Finley contributed a very lovely tone, and some nicely pointed phrasing – I had only experienced him as Dr Atomic, where he was the creator of the role, and comparisons were not possible. Massimo Cavalletti in his debut as Schaunard was good, Shenyang as Colline sang very well, and seemed to have a rapport with the audience. The bohemian camaraderie amused the audience, as it should. Subsequent performances will probably be more ensemble. In the meantime, Netrebko consistently presented glorious tone and an apt characterization. She is a very physical and sensuous Mimi. Beczala is the real deal, supplying nuanced, pointed singing with a major vocal gift, and a charming stage presence. The orchestra and chorus were up to their usual high standards, but most of the attention was focussed on the principles, and it seemed that a lot of detail was neglected.
Armiliato is not equal to Fausto Cleva, who would be welcomed today like a treasure.
It is always a good idea to focus on principles and I do hope this applied principally to the principals who are true princes of the operatic stage.
Yes, especially since sometimes, the principals don’t focus on principles, such as good singing, which, in turn, is against the basic principles of opera. Manou, this is contagious!!!
Contagious it may be, but it’s a very principled exchange.
Perhaps, but in principle, shouldn’t principal contagious diseases be avoided?
Tu pure, o Principessa…
Grossmaechtige Prinzessin…
Basta!!
Did someone say “squillo”? It was nice of Manou to regal-e us with her observations and iansmuca as it has been throne out there as the queentessence of taste, and inasmuch as once La Cieca prince something it become law, I shall reign in my natural proclivities and with fief and drum take my liege of you, hoping that we don’t all dy nasty deaths.
WTF ! “Ianasmuca.”?!? and I proofread that, too.
You PROOFREAD that?
Well, we don’t have ianasmucas in our alphabet.
and the ever-so-helpful spellcheckers will throw thrones at you too!
oh nevermind, a princess reference.
People who live in glass Violettas shouldn’t throw thrones.
I actually think an ianasmucas would be a nice addition to any alphabet.
No, I keep my throne safely seated under my ianasmucas.
This is getting Kafkaesque…
Oh dear, I’ve collapsed onto the linoleum in a paroxysm of hilarity while small pieces of my gluteus maximus fall off while I rotate violently. ICOTLIAPOHWSPOMGMFOWIRV
You forgot the “s” at the end of ICOTLIAPOHWSPOMGMFOWIRV
Yeah, Betsy, it why I’m thinking of getting a life insurance, especially since I nearly choked to death while trying to eat a sandwich and read a posting of yours at the same time.
Violetta – help! Throw a few thrones here.
E tardi!
Pull yourselves together, girls. Then use tape. Duct, y’know. And remember, Violetta, an Alfredo a day keeps the Grenvil away.
I wonder how this bodes for DC. He’s supposed to sing Hamlet in May. Domingo is conducting so I guess if Alvarez can’t do it then Domingo can jump in…
Sadly for DC also, Stoyanova has cancelled her Nozze Countess, replaced by Virginia Tola (??).
Quanto: Much as your turn of phrase is both elegant and nuanced “I thought so” is, somehow, lacking in the detail we would have wished. A bit of fleshing out, if you’ll pardon the expression, would be appreciated. Turn about, as they say, is fair play!
Brevity is the soul of wit.
O.K. then:
Who?
Bravo!!
To bump the topic to this thread, I’m still wondering about what rommie/OC pointed out previously – why would Muti state publicly this will be his last appearance at the Met? Is he just doing this show as a nod to NY, now that he’s in Chicago? What’s the story on this?
OperaChic said he made the statement to Italian newspapers. This may be the source:
«…è la prima e ultima volta che dirigerò un’ opera a New York». Fatto sta che il 23 febbraio al Metropolitan ci sarà un doppio esordio assoluto: Attila di Verdi e Muti. «È un unicum, in futuro non avrò più tempo, tra l’ Orchestra di Chicago e l’ Opera di Roma…»
http://archiviostorico.corriere.it/2010/gennaio/25/Con_Attila_mia_prima_opera_co_9_100125190.shtml
Thanks, m.p., and see also below.
This is what OC says:
She doesn’t provide a direct quote, let along a link, and so far as I can tell she doesn’t mention the bit about “his final performance at the Met” anywhere else. Hard to tell anything without a link, though of course I’m sure it’s greatly gratifying to assume the position of “We Italians know so much more than you mere Americans about these things.”
UPDATE: a search (you can thank me later) reveals this tidbit in Il messagero:
There’s one way of saying “final performance” and that means “I wouldn’t be caught dead in this place again” and the other is “This engagement is a one-off, and I have no plans currently for a repeat engagement because my schedule is full for the next five years at least.” Its pretty obvious from the context (again, not provided by OC) that Muti means the latter.
Someone not providing context in order to make something seem more sensational? Shocking, shocking!
Thanks for your sleuthing, liebe Cieca.
And to do this on the Internet–more shocking still!
Grazie mille cara Cieca.
“Riccardo Muti is a total camp. He and Louis Prima are singing ‘Volare” in New York, and on the 23rd of February he’s going on a dirigible with Joe Volpe and Giuseppe Verdi. (‘At my age I can only come once, so I’m going to do it for the first and last time at the Met, without thinking about the tempo or the need for diversity in my colleagues.’)
Oh, now that explains everything!
Totally hysterical! – especially the translation of “al Metropolitan l’Attila”
Brilliant!
Ronald Blum of AP wrote a glowing review of Netrebko’s Mimi. I did not know that Beczala is 43; he looks younger.
Just wondering…in view of some comments she has made….
Any chance that Netrebko was miked in Saturday night’s Boheme?
Netrebko doesn’t need to be miked. I think the mike between her tits comment referred to a new technique she adopted to make a bigger sound. It’s quite enormous and has been for a few years now.
She was kidding! Her voice is big enough for the Met and she does not need a mike.
Quite! Ah…the unintended complement…so precious!