parterre box

44 comments

• Gualtier M says:

  The title “Brace Yourselves” hints at a back brace. Hence Levine and his back. He seems to have canceled all his engagements until May. That would only leave September as his return date. However, is this news? Does this merit a blind item? Unless Levine is already planning to cancel to get out of doing a new “Ring” which he was avoiding.

  The Met should use Runnicles. His Wagner conducting is excellent. He did a great job in the “Grimes”.

  on April 19, 2010 at 10:22 AM
• BETSY_ANN_BOBOLINK says:

  I demur. Runnicles sure could not salvage that Grimes from Geneva. Worst I’ve heard.

  on April 19, 2010 at 10:26 AM
• mrmyster says:

  BAB: Don’t judge Runnicles by a radio bdcst from Geneva!
  I have heard him conduct many times, on both Coasts, and
  he is a superior opera conductor in general, and esp. fine
  in Wagner. He took a second-rate Tristan cast in SFO
  in the 90s and made an excellent evening out of it. The
  Met would be very lucky to replace Levine in the Ring
  with Runnicles — but it will be hard to do; the Met has
  not been esp. nice to him and he has a super busy
  schedule. I think he has better taste than to allow Voigt
  as Brunnhilde, and that is another complication for she
  seems to hold some kind of high-privilege status at the
  Met, though without Levine perhaps not.

  on April 19, 2010 at 10:50 AM
• parpignol says:

  we will very soon get to hear Voigt in Dutchman and will have some sense of her current vocal condition; have the rehearsals already begun?

  on April 19, 2010 at 10:55 AM
• Signor Bruschino says:

  After hearing Fabio Luisi’s Tosca Saturday night, I would have no problem if he took over in general. That orchestra sounded better than it had all season (maybe except for the Yannick Carmen’s)… How does Fabio’s Sept schedule look?

  on April 19, 2010 at 10:59 AM
• tatiana says:

  Oh I DO hope this does not mean Terfel . . . He also has had back problems in the past, but is this rumor meant more to imply that, if Levine pulls out of the “Rheingold,” then Terfel will follow suit rather than it meaning any back troubles of his own? That Levine’s ruptured disc may have a “domino effect” on the fall schedule?

  on April 19, 2010 at 11:15 AM
• peter says:

  Does anyone know who Voigt’s understudy is for the Dutchman?

  on April 19, 2010 at 11:28 AM
• kashania says:

  I haven’t really kept up with Terfel’s Wagner outings in the last several years so I ask my fellow members of the cher public: What is the primary concern about Terfel for most people? Is it that he just won’t show up or only show up for some performances? I’ve read both great and bad things about his Wotan/Wanderer (but am fuzzy on details). If he’s 100% committed to the production (as opposed to being concerned about his son’s paper cut), he could be a great Wotan, no?

  on April 19, 2010 at 1:13 PM
• Harry says:

  kashania 38#: I think your inquiry (and its answer) has been staring all of us in the face for a long time. Just listen deeply and intently to Terfel’s varied recordings- even a good deal of the ‘cross-over junk’. While keeping in in your mind’s eye – the vocal range requirements and stamina required over a long evening for a Wotan. The weight needed in certain lower areas is frankly I believe, not there – and a detectable sign of wobble becomes evident in part of Terfel’s range , if he puts on the pressure. Personally I will be very surprised if he delivers what the role expects and demands. Didn’t he pull out of some of the Covent Garden Ring …mid series? Forget whatever illness excuses etc, that were made at the time.

  With a Wotan, lasting the distance ‘in one piece’ is crucial! To face ‘the inherent vocal enemies’ inside the Ring for any singer doing Wotan, will be paramount. Vocal tiredness and then becoming inclined to resorting to ‘cheap vocal short cuts’ to get through the role; are what he will have to fight against.

  So hTerfel scores a ‘hit’ with his present MET Tosca! He has sung the role successfully elsewhere …so what’s the big surprise? Scarpia is ‘on stage’ for the latter part of Act 1 and the whole of Act 2….and then, not required in Act 3 of the opera. An 3 Act opera, that goes for a total duration of 111 to 120 minutes (2 hours!)…..big deal! Gobbi sang the role over 800 times but also whilst doing repeatedly,a myriad of other roles.

  Instead we are talking here about The Ring! In which Terfel has to appear in 3 operas…(two of which are very long)…but all three, are performed in very quick time succession. The MET better have a good cover Wotan in the wings, waiting..

  Terfel canceled a ‘try-out’ Hans Sach in Mastersingers in Sydney, a couple of years ago, at a late stage and they (O.A) quickly had to find a replacement. A place, also where he first ‘tried out’ his Falstaff ( presumably seen as an ‘out of the way’ place – away from the full glare of world publicity) if it had been unsuccessful. I sense Terfel is ginger -touchy -sensitive ‘feely’ with Wagner. It even took a long time till ‘a little toe to test the water’ Terfel recorded just Wolfram’s aria(Tannhauser)…as an Wagner excursion on record! I therefore come to the conclusion that people can expect some nights of indisposition through ‘illness’ even if Terfel shows up and performs some Ring performances. For the MET fans I hope not. Parterre fans I still predict though, will be commenting in full over-drive when such casting is coupled with cast listings such as Heppner and Voigt at this tragic stage of their career.

  The MET ‘pig in a poke’ casting mishaps are looking like those old announcements, film studios used to make at theaters: when they decided to test the market. They would announce ‘Tonight… a sneak preview!’. The patrons paid their money on the understanding they were getting the chance to have the first look at a brand new film before general release…the only proviso…the patrons only found out what the film actually was….when the lights darkened and the curtains opened.
  I hope the MET patrons will like what they see, when the Ring curtains open.

  on April 19, 2010 at 3:30 PM
• Byrnham Woode says:

  Parpignol #30: Back when Nagy was the Messenger and Nilsson was Aida, the MET still couldn’t vocally cast a first rate RING, though they did try during the Karajan years and just after. Levine’s casting efforts actually were more succesful.

  Schnaut didn’t do the RING all that much in NY, and others, including Behrens, Jones, Eaglen and the recent Theorin/Dalayman efforts were better – at least in the right ballpark.

  Almost any of the tenors who did Siegfried over the past 20 years were better than Wolfgang Schmidt – who was never allowed a broadcast of the part. The other men to take on this brutal assignment were William Johns, Jerusalem, Kramer, Neumann, Andersen, Jon Fredric West and Christian Franz. Some of those were better than their press – among them Jerusalem, Johns and West.
  All these guys did both SIEGFRIED and GOTTERDAMMERUNG. Natch.

  on April 19, 2010 at 3:37 PM