parterre box

37 comments

• m. croche says:

  I don’t have a score in front of me, and I may be misremembering, but shouldn’t that very high note be a D-flat?

  on May 11, 2010 at 10:36 PM
  • Violetta says:

    Prolly the violins – this must be the section where the second part is the reverse of the first. Don’t really know where that was though.
    For someone who never really got Berg, I did enjoy the broadcast. Luisi fab! and Pederson making up for that Ophelia.

    on May 11, 2010 at 10:49 PM
    • m. croche says:

      No, that particular 32nd note line is played by the piano. But you’re right it’s from the fulcrum of the opera, the interlude where Lulu is transformed from Real Housewife to Lockup co-star. Berg was extremely concerned that the fermata appear centered in the score, to serve as a visual correlate to the music symmetry – an effect not quite achieved here.

      But any day that begins with a few bars from Berg is a fine day in my books.

      on May 11, 2010 at 10:57 PM
      • m. croche says:

        er, 64th-notes (or hemidemisemiquavers, as the Vicar would insist). I have the eyes of Schigolch.

        on May 11, 2010 at 11:33 PM
  • Unfaithful Zerbinetta says:

    I do have the score in front of me, and you are correct. For finding a typo in a Berg example, you win one internet.

    on May 11, 2010 at 10:54 PM
• Lindoro Almaviva says:

  This is good news. Migenes was a great Lulu. i have a digital copy of the original telecast and the little that I have seen is pretty good.

  on May 11, 2010 at 10:45 PM
• Arianna a Nasso says:

  This is great news. What would be even more wonderful would be if the Met also would release the dress rehearsal – or whatever performance was recorded as a test run – so we could see Stratas in this production. Wasn’t some of that footage shown at the Met’s recent Stratas tribute? Even if the quality is compromised, it still is worth making public.

  on May 11, 2010 at 11:59 PM
  • richard says:

    There may be some dress rehearsal footage, but I remember when this was telecast, in the intermissions
    they showed some footage from a sitzbrobe with Stratas. It would be nice to see that again, but even
    better, if as you say, that had some footage from the dress or one of the “special lighting”, as they were termed in those days, performances.

    The whole issue may be complicated by the logistics of that season. It was one of those big strikes, performances from Sept/Oct thru early December were lost and the season opened with a performance of Mahler’s Resurrection Symphony in mid December with the first staged performance being the Lulu Premiere (3 act version) a day or two later. The telecast performance was the third in the run and I would guess that the MEt was really scrambling to get the other operas thrown together with the singers that were availble rapidly rehearsed.

    I had gone out to dinner the night of the telecast (live in those days) setting up the VCR to record it.
    I came home during the first act and looked at the screen. That’s not Stratas!!!! Who is it?????

    Teresa, as always, was only available for a limited number of cancellations.

    on May 12, 2010 at 8:42 AM
• javier says:

  yeah, maybe if i can see it i’ll be able to make sense of it. the story seems interesting enough, but i can’t completely appreciate it by simply listening…because it sounds like a total mess.

  on May 12, 2010 at 12:33 AM
• Nerva Nelli says:

  Carole Farley is not just one of opera’s most celebrated sopranos, but perhaps its most convincing actress. A consummate artist, her one and only role when she stands in the spotlight is to breathe so much life into the opera’s main character that audiences lose themselves in her unforgettable performances. That is the passion of Carole Farley.

  on May 12, 2010 at 1:21 AM
  • La marquise de Merteuil says:

    I have to agree …

    on May 12, 2010 at 6:43 AM
  • Harry says:

    Gee Nerva Nelli Calling Carole Farley one of the grae

    on May 13, 2010 at 9:44 AM
  • Harry says:

    Gee Nerva Nelli calling Carole Farley one of the great actresses and singers in the World, you wouldn’t be her husband the conductor Jose Seberier by any chance , would you?

    on May 13, 2010 at 9:47 AM
    • manou says:

      Harry has had a successful irony (and orthography) bypass.

      on May 13, 2010 at 10:19 AM
      • Bluessweet says:

        Zinger went the stings of my heart.

        on May 13, 2010 at 10:48 AM
• Pelleas says:

  This telecast was the first opera I ever saw.

  on May 12, 2010 at 8:31 AM
  • A. Poggia Turra says:

    IIRC, another significant part of the two intermissions was Stratas speaking in a solo interview setting, giving her insights into Lulu’s emotional makeup; also, some orchestra-only rehersals, with Levine instructing the orchestra on fine points of dynamics.

    As richard states, the strike wreaked havoc with the schedule. My memory is a bit sketchy so corrections are welcome, bjut I think that the new Traviata (the production before the Zeff one – Colin Graham, maybe?) was supposed to have been telecast with Shicoff and Cotrubas in November, but that did not happen – when the telecast did take place, Shicoff wasn’t available and Domingo was scheduled instead – again from memory, there was some kind of kerfuffle about the staircase that Germont uses for his entrance after Alfredo’s denouncement of Violetta, to the point where the staircase was re-designed before the opening night.

    on May 12, 2010 at 10:14 AM
• operaman50 says:

  That season, there were 3 telecasts: LULU (Live on 12/20/80), ELISIR (LIVE on 3/2/81), and TRAVIATA (Taped on 3/28/81 but not aired until 9/30/81). When the LULU DVD arrives … hopefully we’ll find that the intermission discussions have been included.

  on May 12, 2010 at 10:45 AM
• A. Poggia Turra says:

  On another note, does anyone have experience as to how quickly operasell processes and ships orders? I’d like to order with expidited shipping, but not if they hold orders for a long time before sending them out. Thanks for any help.

  on May 12, 2010 at 10:56 AM
  • operaman50 says:

    If you’re referring to “operasales” …. I’ve had very good experiences with them. They’re quite fast and efficient!

    on May 12, 2010 at 11:04 AM
    • A. Poggia Turra says:

      Thanks for the catch! I was typing in a hurry, as I’m in Las Vegas and the breakfast buffet was singing its siren song!!!

      on May 12, 2010 at 12:18 PM
      • A. Poggia Turra says:

        Apparently operasales does not offer expidited shipping, so I went ahead and ordered in an age of instant gratifiction, sometimes we have to do things the slower, standard way.

        Thanks again to LaCieca for the original link and to operaman50 for your confirmation of good follow-through by the vendor.

        on May 12, 2010 at 5:07 PM
• WindyCityOperaman says:

  Of course, you do realize that out there in European videoland is the Paris/Boulez-led Chereau (yeah, I know, eek!) production with Stratas and the same cast as on the DG recording. I have a bootleg DVD of it – terrible quality, but Stratas is amazing. I guess it was available on VHS in Europe at some point. Why the hell hasn’t Arthaus, Kultur or one of those others haven’t gotten the rights to it.

  What I hope happens next is the Met opening up its video vaults to offer up the other productions that Polygram/EMI never touched – Jessye’s Bartok/Schoenberg evening, Bubbles’ Norina, Renata’s Trittico or Carmelites, again with Jessye, Ewing and Crespin’s Old Prioress en anglais! A virtual treasure trove.

  on May 12, 2010 at 7:50 PM
  • Lindoro Almaviva says:

    I have a bootleg copy as well that I got on eBay. It is a great performance (the snippets I have seen).

    I have been wishing for that Carmelites for ages, as well as for the 2 Domingo Otellos (great for a 2 DVD set), the Morris Giovanni, and several others.

    on May 12, 2010 at 8:34 PM
• bluecabochon says:

  Is there a chatroom for tonight’s Lulu broadcast?

  on May 12, 2010 at 8:11 PM
  • bassoprofundo says:

    The chatroom is always open as I understand it.

    on May 12, 2010 at 8:24 PM
  • bassoprofundo says:

    http://parterre.com/la-casa-della-cieca/

    on May 12, 2010 at 9:07 PM