Jungle booking
La Cieca has it on good authority that the new music director for the Santa Fe Opera will be Frédéric Chaslin (not pictured), who will preside over a 2011 season featuring Faust, La Boheme, Vivaldi’s Griselda, Wozzeck, and (you guessed it) The Last Savage.
Well, EBB has the right voice, but poor old Giordani sounds like he
is all pumped up and about to burst! I have never heard him sing
this poorly. He is for sure better in French repertory.
EBB seems a ‘utility’ soprano but she has some lovely tones
in her voice. She’s more in tune that Dessi from what I read.
My goodness, Sig. G’s Bb sounds like Giovanni Martinelli!
See you after Act II.
i saw a video of her norma… and i kinda liked it… but the production sucked ass…
btw. gagdnidze looks like a fucking SLOB as scarpia: sweaty, eats a lot of steak DAILY, and i would guess he’s a total bear…
on video i think it works. lol. but that voice is just thin and meh
Blanke-Beggs sounds like she is in control.
My Meister: Giordani sound like shit 99.99999999% of the time. Tonight is no exception.
He’s disappointing tonight; all he’s got is a very loud top.
Ugh.
I think I now like Blanke-Beggs better than Milanov and Holleque. This could be interesting, especially if whatever attacked Dessi would attack Giordani and Gagnidze.
Scarpia as suave seducer works. Scarpia as vicious sadist works. Scarpia s rutabaga does not work.
I wonder if they had the chicken, or the fish.
“La Scala Opera of Milan” sounds so…..
OK, listen up singers, stagehands, and groupies, I want dirt and I want it at the first intermission: when the lead becomes ill in the 30 minutes before showtime, what happens backstage? Do the covers keep themselves warm every night “just in case” they’re thrown onto the stage? Does anyone know if EBB was Dessi’s cover? Is a costume fitting the cover already made and ready to go?
I think (and I may be wrong) that covers are only “on call” backstage if they are warned that the principal is not feeling well. I’m guessing this is the case because i’ve seen covers in the audience at performances they are supposed to be covering!
Interesting. So they need to hang around the house but not necessarily backstage.
Well, some hang on the house, some hang by the phone, some hang backstage. It depends and the only requirement is that management knows what the cover’s intentions are.
I know of a met cover that would show up to her bible study in full make up while covering Fleming’s Violetta several years ago. I also know of a friend of mine who just stayed in Gelb’s box during the opera she was covering.
“in Gelb’s box”? Do you know DdN, then?
No, this was not while covering this season. My friend was covering Aida.
well, a lot of times Covers have a make up call and in soma cases are in full make up right before the show starts. They could also have a costume fit already that is ready to be put on them.
Now this is not the case in all houses but I understand that at the Met it could be the case.
By contract, covers have to be on premises from call to final curtain. A conscientious cover will be as warmed up and ready as the star would be. Most costumes can be re-stitched to fit; extreme size differences can drive you nuts but generally you don’t put a Regine Crespin-size to cover a Daniele De Niese size. In a real desparate situation, the costumer will pull something from stock, and hope the audience doesn’t know the difference between Empire and Flapper Era.
Excellent. I like these details. I’m guessing they get a flat fee as covers and a bonus if they actually go on stage?
i will think depends on what the contract says, but I will guess that once the sing, they go into “performance pay”, which would/could be a different scale.
No they do not…this is only true for the Saturday radio broadcast. Otherwise, they just notify where they are covering from. Must be in Manhattan and within 20 minutes away, I believe.
All covers have been fitted for costumes ahead of time.
Cruz: yes to all that.
Thanks much to all who answered my questions.
Evidently Margaret Juntwait ordered the same, whatever it was.
Damn, I missed the whole first act!