And the lorgnette goes to…
The results are in for the first annual Pubie Awards, nominated and voted upon by you, the Cher Public. Turnout this year was spectacular, with some categories racking up as many as 2,647 votes. A few of the races were close, and La Cieca thinks you’ll see an upset or two among the winners, after the jump.
Best new production at the Met:
From the House of the Dead
Worst New Production at the Met:
Attila
Best Revival at the Met:
La Boheme
Worst Revival at the Met:
Der Fliegende Hollander
Best NYCO production:
Don Giovanni
Best “off-Broadway” opera production:
Il Mondo della Luna (Gotham Chamber Opera)
Best Performance by a Diva:
Anna Netrebko in La boheme
Worst Performance by a Diva:
Renee Fleming in Armida
Best Performance by a Divo:
Jonas Kaufmann in Carmen
Worst Performance by a Divo:
Marcello Giordani in Turandot
Best Performance in a Non-Diva Role:
Stephanie Blythe in Suor Angelica
Worst Performance in a Non-Diva Role:
Carlo Guelfi in Aida
Maestro of the Year:
Riccardo Muti
Einspringer of the Year:
Rachele Gilmore in Les Contes d’Hoffmann
Worst Night of Filth:
Tosca on opening night
And now the honorary awards (the “Lorgnette d’argent”) also nominated by you, the cher public:
- Best Bitch-fight: Luc Bondy vs. Franco Zefferelli
- Most Anticipated Cancellation: Angela Gheorghiu (not) in Carmen.
- Lifetime Achievement: Charles Anthony
- Special Recognition for Outstanding Excellence in the Fields of Tireless Indefatigability and Persistent Proflicacy: BETSY_ANN_BOBOLINK
Another great “off-broadway” event was Grapes of Wrath at Carnegie. Mmm barihunks…
I just noticed they’re called “The Publie Awards. I’m so glad you didn’t do something tasteless.
“Pubie Awards”! ! !
Fuck it; I’m going back to bed.
As my mother always said: don’t look a Pubie in the mouth.
Very progressive, your mom.
Pubie… is this a type of flossie? Getting back to opera, I’ve heard PD didn’t conduct the D.C. Hamlet prima last night. Since no reviews are yet posted, can’t verify. Maybe a Parterrian was there??
kashania, Sure, why not? She’s been called worse.
Jay, WNO’s website lists Domingo conducting the following dates: May 22, 24, June 1, 4. Patrick Fournillier is conducting the other three (May 19, 27, 30m.)
Here are the real winners, before somebody jacked the quiz, for:
Best Revival at the Met: Lulu
Best Performance by a Diva: Joyce DiDonato
Worst Performance by a Diva: Maria Guleghina
Worst Performance by a Divo: Juho Uusitalo
Maestro of the Year: Fabio Luisi
Thank goodness someone out there cares about the integrity of internet straw polling. I have faith in humanity again.
FlamingOpera, thanks for posting the REAL results! Great screen name; goes nicely w/ the avian part of this thread.
Yes, Flaming, these are the REAL winners.
But since Cara Cieca gave us an open invitation to multi-vote (something I did not do), why are we bitching about those who followed the directions??
Of one thing there can be no doubt: The Divine Madame BABs does more to stimulate, educate, and tittilate than anyone but LaC herself. Betsy’s award was richly deserved. (May I suggest that in future this award should be referred to simply as “The Betsy”?)
Software to block multiple voting attempts is expensive and not always foolproof. Since we know who the real winners are, let’s hope the ballot box stuffer(s) “peddle their dubious wares elsewhere.” Thank you Countess Charlotte Malcolm.
Even if we don’t know for certain if “The Betsy” is more or less of a mouthful, I second Il Faut Parterre’s suggestion that it’s a great name for the Indefatigability and Persistent Proflicacy Award.
Well, I am not offended for Giordani’s win as Calaf. That Calaf was serious competition to Usitalo; probably one of the worse performances ever captured on video, period.
Thanks!! These results look much more like how the voting was progressing.
Too bad fans and anti-fans felt the need to skew the results for their pet likes and dislikes.
Of course, if the vote-skewers had been doing their thing on a daily basis, would anyone have caught it?
In any case, if only those who actually saw the productions live had voted, it would give the shows which played more performances an unfair advantage (Boheme over Lulu). Best not to take any of this too seriously.
Too late!!! LOL
As far as I’m concerned, whenever Licitra is up for any “worst” category, he should automatically win.
The only time I’ve seen Licitra live was the 2006 Don Carlo in L.A., and he actually sounded pretty good. I must have lucked out, however, because the L.A. Times reviewer mentioned that he was in much better voice than the last time he’d appeared there.
Since he’s our Dick Johnson in Fanciulla next month, I’m hoping lightning will strike twice.
I agree with Flaming’s picks except:
First of all Uusilato is no divo in my book, so he can’t be the worst in that category.
Giordani, is a divo of sorts in some people’s opinions, so he should get that award. He definitely sucks (or maybe it would help if he did?)!
Is Salvatore Licitra a divo for you? It’s because he was second after Uusitalo.
After they both took turns at Calaf and proved utterly incapable of singing the role with any resemblance of voice, power, finesse and style; they should have been tied at 1st and should share the price.
Any word on the DC Hamlet? I’ve been bombarded with cheap ticket offers, but haven’t bitten so far because the last several times I saw the WNO, I got burned.
I liked the Met HD Hamlet but certainly am not familiar with this opera. Nobody does it for 100 years, and suddenly the Met and the WNO do it in the same season. Why does this keep happening?
DCF, I went to the dress rehearsal Monday night. I still consider myself a bit of a newbie to opera and am unfamiliar w/ Hamlet so I can’t really get into technical stuff, but I enjoyed the overall experience. I thought everyone sang well and I found the staging to be very interesting in a good way. Futral did a spectacular job w/ the mad scene. I’m thinking about going again – I saw it w/ Chioldi so might try a night w/ Bonner.
CL, was the house sold out? When I checked for seats for this coming Monday’s performance, the least expensive seats I could find were $100. It looked there were quite a few well-placed seats in the $150-$190 range, though.
Cruz, it wasn’t a full house during the dress rehearsal – they close off the front and some of the middle section of the orchestra for the tech staff. But there was a sizeable crowd. WNO tends to use the dress rehearsals for school groups and donor appreciation perks. I’m not sure about the opening night crowd though.
Check Culture Capital for discounted tickets – http://www.culturecapital.tix.com. I’d say it’s worth the price.
CL, of course, how silly of me. I was so anxious to hear news of the production that I promptly forgot that you said “dress rehearsal.” Thanks for the link, too.
No prob. I do hope that you go. I really felt that all of the artists gave top performances (Sam Ramey and his wobble included) and that the staging was thought out and executed quite well.
Carlo: Two rave reviews on Opera-L from two experienced
opera lovers whom I tend to trust. Seemingly Eliz. Futral learned
the role of Ophelia in nine days and sang the spots off it. Both
posters were enthusiastic about the entire cast, and best of all
Domingo did not conduct and was replaced by someone who
knew what it was all about.
Go on, Go! Then come tell us how it went for you.
Congratulations BAB for a most well deserved award!
I think manou should have gotten an Ogden Nash achievement award or something like that.
For the record, I only voted once for Renee.
BABz is cool on the Internet! /salute