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Reportedly, when Ted Uppman arrived in England to begin rehearsals for the premiere, Peter Pears exclaimed, “Well, you certainly look like Billy!” Of course, he did a great deal more than just look the part. I’ve seen both Stillwell and Hampson in the part at the MET. Each was quite fine in his own way.
The year of the Hampson revival Nathan Gunn did the role of the Novice and got an especial mention in the Times review (which I don’t believe to have been written by TT at that time). I’ve always wondered if he had been covering the title role that season.
Amazing, isn’t it, that Britten started writing the role of Billy with Geraint Evans in mind? He must already have been the amazing actor he always was, and young enough at that point — but definitely not a “looker.” They must have been over the moon to get steered to someone like Uppman at a relatively late point.
Hearing the recording of that first production that’s been released, I’m always amazed that he is master not only of the light high lyricism one would expect, he also has more dark richness and bite in the dramatic moments than most Billys. He really was ideal for the role in every way.
The sad thing is that Uppman wanted to sing Billy Budd at the Met and suggested the opera to Rudolf Bing. Bing countered “We only do masterpieces at the Metropolitan Opera”. He just didn’t like the music. By the time the Met under the next regime got around to the opera in the late 1970′s, Uppman was too old for the part.
The Met has missed a few generations of ideal barihunk Billys – Gunn is coming rather late in the game at the Met (he will be fortyish at the time). However, Simon Keenlyside now in his fifties has put the part aside as has Bo Skovhus. Rodney Gilfrey also was a frequent Billy but no longer sings it. Christopher Maltman is another successful Billy who never sang it at the Met. All would have been ideal for a late nineties revival.
The problem with Thomas Hampson was not of lacking looks or youthfulness but of coming off too cerebral and sophisticated for the part. He lacked the simplicity and open innocence the part required.
Gaultier, your analysis of Hampson puts into words my feelings about him in general. (But I’ve only heard his Germont and Athanaël.)
Uppman and his wife basically begged the Met to let him sing Mr. Redburn in the initial Met cast. he could have easily handeld that and it would have made for historical continuity.
But the Ingpen Creature wanted to use her London pal Peter Glossop and that was that. (Glossop was not very good in it.)
Nmon Ford sang Belcore in L’ELISIR D’AMORE in San Francisco in 2001. Anna Netrebko, Roberto Saccà and Bojan Knezevic rounded out the cast.
Crap! That was before my time.
Best Elixir I’ve seen; one of the performances that sold me on Netrebko. (Actually, Sacca was a better partner for her than Villazon on the Vienna DVD.) And Ford was excellent.
Typical! I instead saw the recent Elisir with Inva Mula and Ramon Vargas, a production that multiplied my suspicions that the opera is a one-aria wonder.
Cruz–You should have caught the Elixir for Families, with Alek Shrader and Ji Young Yang (as Adina). Having a different director helped a lot–less focus on prop-oriented schtick, more on character. Even with some pretty brutal cuts, I found it much more involving than Vargas/Mula. (It’s one of the few comic operas I really like, and in the right hands it’s a lot more than a “one-hit wonder.”)
SF Guy, that’s very interesting. Even though Ji Young Yang sang the secondary role in the main production, I found her more intriguing than Inva Mula.
I have a question SF Guy. It seems to me that suddenly we have an embarrassingly rich number of tenors, ranging from the aging Alagna, Vargas, and Giordani through superstars Kaufmann and Florez, to a whole flock of up-and-comers like Calleja, Vogt, Jovanovich, Breslik, Beczala, Brownlee, and promisers like Costello, Chacun-Cruz, Valenti. The one I don’t know is this Schrader. Where would you place him?
B_A_B–I’d say it’s too soon to tell, but he’s got great potential. He’s just starting out, really (he was one of the featured singers in The Audition), but he’s got looks, stage presence and high notes. He was certainly a charming Nemorino, and I think he could do well in the Florez rep stuff.
Thanks, SFG, it’s good to know we’ve at least got someone in the bullpen. Let’s hope he’s getting good advice.
BAB, just curious: how does one classify tenors? Cannot be age: “up-and-coming” Beczala, going on 44, is barely younger than the “aging” group; “up-and-coming” Jovanovich and Vogt are older than “superstar” Florez. And what’s a “superstar” anyway? Are there some qualitative criteria and if so, which ones?
One doesn’t, Oedipe, or one shouldn’t, although it might make an interesting excursion to see if such a thing could be done. One merely wanted to provide a quick context in which to place a particular singer about whom one was otherwise ignorant.
Isn’t it funny, though, that a year ago, this site was a convention of Niobes as we contemplated the loss of Villazon, and now quality tenors are seemingly crawling out of the woodwork. I wish we could assemble a similar list of heavy mezzos, heavy baritones, or spinto sopranos. Since the casting department at The Met seems incapable of thinking the unthinkable, all of us would be happy to do their work for them.
So BAB, correct me if I am wrong: what you are saying is that the tenors one likes are “up-and-comers” and “promisers” (and possibly “superstars”?) and the tenors one doesn’t like are “aging”, irrespective of their relative age.
oedipe–I for one didn’t interpret BAB’s comment that way–Vargas, Giordani and Alagna have been on our radar for a long time now, and they ain’t getting any younger, but that’s not a negative, just a statement of fact; presumably they’re still part of that embarrassment of tenorial riches Ms. Bobolink is pointing out. By comparison, Beczala has only recently been on our radar over here, and can legitimately be considered a rising star in the States, regardless of age.
Hooo- hoooo, not a bit, Oedipe. Remember, I work only from what I hear on the Internet. “promising” I’ve heard in one performance and they didn’t offend me very much. “Up-and-coming” I’ve heard twice, and I didn’t puke either time. “Aging” are those I’ve heard at least ten times dating back ten years. “Super Stars” are those few whose name on the docket almost guarantees a sell-out house.
You will never know how much I regret posting that comment.
I like SF Guy’s explanation better than mine.
Other than his increasingly flabby physique, what Nathan Gunn will bring to the Met’s Billy Budd?
Based on the Frankfurt video clip, Peter Mattei would be the best BB at the Met, though Keenlyside would also be fantastic. Too bad Matt Worth is a lighter baritone. He certain has the looks and the physique for the role.
The Met’s Billy Budd production keeps the title character fully dressed in a relatively loose fitting costume, so Gunn’s current build will not be a problem.
Considering that Gunn is a product of the Met’s young artist program and that he was one of the leading Budds of the 00s, it makes sense for the Met to cast him instead of Mattei. That said, this should have happened around 2006 rather than 2011.
. . . and keep in mind, it could have been Kwieczen.
Billy Kielbasa, the mere thought is enough to make one cringe.
This casting smacks of pandering to the NY Times’ critic and thereby ensuring a good review for a show that doesn’t pack ‘em in. The Germans have a saying, rendered in English as “one hand washes the other”. The Met and NY Times seem to be doing a lot of mutual handwashing these days.
I can’t agree that Gunn’s having been part of the young artist program or his having sung BB elsewhere entitles him to sing this demanding role at the Met. There are demonstrably better singers (e.g., the aforementioned Mattei, Keenlyside, Meacham) portraying Billy Budd nowadays.
When Gunn sang Tarquinius in the small Perelmann Theatre in Philadelphia a year ago, I didn’t find him all that dramatically interesting, although singing in a chamber opera in a 500-seat house wasn’t the vocal stretch that singing BB at The Met will be. (William Burden was in that same Philadelphia Lucretia, as the Male Chorus, and his singing and acting were much more riveting than Gunn’s performance.)
Jay, I believe Keenlyside has ‘retired’ the role of Billy Budd. He is over 50 and now seems to have his sights set on Macbeth — which he has done in Vienna and is due to sing at Covent Garden next season. Whether he has the voice for it is debatable, I would say …
to Monty @ 15.1.2.1: Too bad if Keenlyside has given up Billy but maybe the role is just getting to be too strenuous (especially given how much he throws himself into the part).
Keenlyside got good reviews for the Vienna Macbeths, but I don’t think his voice is “dunkel” enough for such repertory. I wonder how many past Papagenos have sung Macbeth…?
“the tenor Ian Bostridge brings his alluring, ethereal voice to Vere”
ALLURING???????????????????????????????????????????????
The man has no ears…
Nelli: Right!! I. B. has virtually no voice!!!!
But he might pull off that role in a nelly
sort of way. If amplified.
Oooops, sorry!
Sergei’s Grandson Gabriel Prokofiev:
Is he lighted this way to preserve his anonymity or just to show off his cheekbones?
I wonder if Hanno Müller-Brachmann would ever sing Billy? I looked on his website and don’t see any evidence, but I also notice that his repetory overlaps that of Mr. Gunn (at least somewhat). I see that he sang Guglielmo in San Francisco a few years ago – for anyone who heard him, how big is the voice?
Given that Hanno Muller-Brachmann is singing the Rheingold Wotan with the Berlin Staatsoper next season (Pape is singing only in the Walkure), I guess I don’t see a Billy Budd as likely. I heard him as Kothner, Biterolf, Donner, etc. in Berlin in 2002 and it seemed a sizable if not huge voice but, of course, this has been 8 years now.
In what alternate universe is Daniel Harding considered good looking or a good conductor? His symphonic appearances in the USA have been disasters or near disasters. I still remember Andrew Patner’s review of him when he conducted the Chicago Symphony. The musicians couldn’t stand his amateurishness and he has never been asked back to my knowledge. I’ll take Philippe Jordan any day of the week — now that’s a good conductor and YUM ME to boot.
operabitch, I think that Harding looks line a London investment banker – I guess that some people like that type. He seems very ordinary looking, nothing special to me at all. But as they say, “Your Mileage May Vary”….
I haven’t heard Harding hin person, only on DVD or webstreams, and haven’t exactly sensed the reincarnation of Carlo Maria Giulini. The 2006 Salzburg ‘Don Goivanni’ was pedestrian, nothing more (there was one point when the camera focused on him, and he had this bizarre look of panic on his face – wonder what that was about)?
And I agree with you on P. Jourdan – I’ve heard him twice conducting Verdi (2008 Ballo in Berlin most recently) – he had full commmand of the Verdian line, and provided excellent support for his cast (Beczala, Nagelstad et al).
“looks like” not “looks line”
If you talked to many of the singers who took part in the concert performances from which this recording was made they might confirm just how approximate was Maestro Harding’s acquaintance with the score (presumably that’s how he was able to put up with Gidon Saks’ lousy intonation, wrong notes and wrong rhythms). Like his mentor, Saint Simon, he seems to have little real instinct for singers…