Incredible, ma vero, confirms NYT
La Cieca’s faithful spies once again have done their jobs well! What you learned here a week and a half ago about refitting to the Met stage to accommodate the ginormous weight of the Lepage Ring set has finally made its way into the New York Times. Also (love him or hate him) you have to give props to Peter Gelb for chutzpah: the reinforced stage, he says, now can support so much weight that “We can add elephants to Zeffirelli productions.” [NYT]
I don’t know it, all looks pretty exciting from a staging point of view – the singing is another matter for another day. It certainly is more imaginative than the Das Rheingold I just saw and reviewed at La Scala. It really took some sort of talent to turn it into one of the dullest evenings I’ve spent in the opera house in years.
My mind continues to be blown. From a technical POV, this Ring should be impressive. (I agree with willym that discussion of the singing should wait for another day.) I wish I could see it in person when it’s launched.
A couple of questions come to my mind immediately, though:
1. the Met’s new Ring is estimated to cost $16 million. Why did LAO’s Ring cost twice as much?
2. In this day and age of stagecraft, couldn’t they have found lighter materials that mimic the look of steel to reduce the weight of the sets?
and 3. Shouldn’t Gelb’s elephant comment make him a candidate for “Mot du Jour”?
Having seen “KA” twice in Las Vegas (referenced in NYT piece), I’m not surprised that the unit set is as massive as it is. If the director intends to use the set as he did in “KA”, it needs to be very substantial to withstand the stresses made on it by the non-singers it appears he will use. It must also be safe. A “savings” if you can call it that with the Met’s production is that it is a unit set that will be used throughout the Ring — there is an economy with one major (though very sophisticated) set piece. I will be able to speak more about the LA production after seeing “Siegfried” next weekend (though not the entire production, unfortunately).
Btw, if you can see “KA” in Vegas, do so. It is one of the most awesome pieces of theatrical spectacle I have ever seen; simply beyond any words to describe it for you accurately. I will do whatever necessary to see what Lepage does with the Ring at the Met. I hope and trust that the musical values (vocal) are up to the task.
typical Gelb off-the-cuff smart-assery: NO Zeffirelli production in my memory at the Met has had an elephant. I’ll bet the deep-sixed Aida plan even didn’t have one.
Not sure why, Cincinnati always did have an elephant in theirs, even after they moved to Music Hall, and the damn thing got the biggest applause of the evening.
I will guess that La Zefa’s Aida did have some animals in it, the current production does, doesn’t it? The problem with the canceled Aida was that it got to be way more expensive than what the Met wanted to pay for. Eventually La Zefa got his Aida at La Scala. Not bad looking, but not a piece of inspired design either.
I thought Zeff’s preferred animal was a jackass.
No, that is his preferred Halloween costume and also his preferred daily attitude.
The sad truth is that there are NO elephants in Egypt. Camels, on the other hand…
What about spiders? Really REALLY big spiders.
Lots of creepy crawlies, cockroaches, lizards – but I can’t recall any spiders.
Lots of creeepy crawlies, huh? Nice to hear that Licitra is still finding work.
Actually…..there are also horrible worms that give you bilharzia. Better job for Salvatore.
Betsy, have you seen the DVD of the Salzburg production of La finta giardinera? It has a a giant spider and also a tenor-eating Venus flytrap. Quite a wonderful production, actually.
Finta Giardiniera is a very boring opera. It can do with arachnids to liven things up. And elephants.
An infestation of ladybugs would certainly brighten up La Forza del destino.
I love Forza. It could only be improved with a Preziosillaectomy.
In the early 80s, Opera Omaha presented an outdoors production of Aida, replete with animals on loan from the Henry Dorley Zoo. During the triumphal march, one of the elephants freaked out and started charging the audience – specifically that part of the audience reserved for the aged and infirm. Hilarity ensued.
Gosh, this sounds like a post by Besty Ann, doesn’t it?
The one in Cinci was a pro. He knew when to stop, lift his trunk and take a bow, always coinciding with the big high C that the chorus has. Audience had a field day.
We didn’t have such talented elephants in Nebraska. They were mostly farm elephants, used to hard work and long hours, but put off balance by the bright lights of big cities like Omaha.
The reason Zeffirelli has not put elephants in Aida is because he DID NOT design or direct the current Met production. Just because something is big and beautiful doesn’t automatically means Franco did it. The current Aida is from Sonja Frisell and designer Gianni Quaranta.
OMG! Is Peter Gelb another philistine who thinks the Mets’ Aida was designed by Franco Zeffirelli? Why? Because it is grand and it works? It was designed by Gianni Quaranta, is one of the finest productions in the Mets’ repertory and people come from across the country and around the world to see it.
According to the Los Angeles Times (http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-ca-ring21-2010mar21,0,2900921.story), the $32 million was for total Ring-related costs (physical production, singers, orchestra, chorus, stagehands, director/designer fees, rehearsals, etc, over the past two seasons). It sounds like the Met’s $16 million only covers the construction of the set (and maybe the costumes).
The good news that the Met can still spend $15 million on singers, stagehands, the orchestra, and chorus and still look better run than LAO.
… construction of the set and maybe the costumes, AND maybe the new reinforcements under the stage to the tune of 65 mill or whatever number Dan Wakin dreamed up?
Do you have evidence for the quite serious charge that he is making up numbers?
On the left coast, San Francisco Opera’s “Die Walkure” had it’s final dress last night.
Stemme is about to have a sensational role debut as Brunnhilde. Her tone is so beautifully and unusually dark and mezzo-ey for a Hilde, yet she’s still capable of nailing the requisite money notes!
Westbroek is a revelation…a sensational singing actress with a refulgent and passionate voice…a GREAT Sieglinde. A diva duo that could hardly be bested in any Wagner Ring opera internationally right now!
Ventris, Delavan and Aceto are also delivering the goods. Ventris a true, although more lyric Helden, and Delavan tireless, and appropriately fiesty and fiery.
I found Zambello’s projected, atmospheric videos to be quite entrancing and stirring. They are my favorite part of her production. I like the Act I lodge set the least, but all-in-all a not-too-distracting and mostly satisfying production concept.
Thanks for the report. I’ll be there for the prima Thursday night and looking forward to a grand evening.
I was there as well, and I agree compleatly. Stemme and Westbroeke were absolutely phenominal, and Zembello’s production was thought-provoking and exciting, with a lot of excellent personreige. Hunding, for example, was constantly pawing and groping Sieglinde, who sported a visable bruise on her arm. I could have done without the video projections that started each act; like in her Rheingold I thought they were a bit cheesy. But that’s a minor quibble.
btw, Stemme has sung Brunnhilde before. It wasn’t her role debut; it was her role debut in the US.
Stemme has sung only the Siegfried Brunnhilde before; SF is to be her first Walkure and I believe her first Gotterdammerung next season.
I shudder, but I’ll keep that one to myself, beyond what is already escaped from my mouth.
I’m jealous of anyone who is getting to hear Stemme’s walkure brunnhilde. She really has the appropriately grand voice and personality to do the big girls justice. One of the very few around today. Not to mention a voice that almost defies classification….solid, on pitch, easy high notes yet astonishingly rich and resonant low notes. And FYI to all the naysayers, hers is a voice you have to hear live.
If a mighty opera company makes structural changes to accomomdate a new production, something does not add up unless the Met plans to function also as a circus venue. BTW, new airplanes use lighter material to save on fuel. When the Met will learn about cost effectiveness? Never, as long as contributing suckers donors and patrons pick up the tab.
Isn’t it interesting that a number of years ago, the Met cancelled a new Zeff “Aida” for being too expensive (at least I think that was the reason) and then mounted their current production. That was then, this is now…
…then again, who else but donors and patrons should pick up the tab for opera productions? The government? I don’t think so…
Constantine, I’ve admitted many times before: I’m a sucker. I have a string of former Mr. CruzSFs to back me up, too.
I suspect (but definitely don’t knowthat said lighter materials are actually more expensive than the steel used here. After all, airlines can recoup the extra cost through small savings (reduced fuel costs) multiplied by thousands of flights.
The choice of materials may not shed light on the Met’s grasp of cost effectiveness. Not saying that other matters don’t, mind you …
I bet that Gelb thinks this expense was an investment worth making. His focus is going to be on productions with cutting-edge technology so the extra reinforcemants will pay off in the long run. Also, we have remember that the last Met Ring wasn’t cheap either and served the company for almost a quarter century. This production may end up being the biggest artistic statement of Gelb’s Met reign. And can we please stop with the tiresome circus references, just because Lepage has “sunk” the to level of Cirque du Soleil? Yawn!
I agree that we should give the Lepage Ring a chance to prove itself AFTER it has actually been performed, without any Cirque du Soleil – or any other – biases. (Besides, Cirque du Soleil has presented some very interesting and captivating spectacles in the past. Nothing wrong with it.)
I do hope that the production supports the Ring – Wagner’s Ring – rather than it becoming the main spectacle with Wagner’s music in the background. That can happen easily – and often happens – when directors go crazy with stage technology.
Whatever you think of Wagner and whether you like the Ring or not, the Ring is a major product of Western civilization. Huge in size, in concept, and in musical ideas. It ought not be placed in a supporting role. The visual aspects of the production should match, possibly interpret, and even enhance the musical part, but never, ever overwhelm it or distract from it.
Regardless of the cost, the backstage politics, and the publicity campaign, let us hope for the best. We may end up with a gem. Only time will tell.
I agree that the musical presentation is the most important part. But that will change each time the production is presented. Looking at the bigger picture, this will be the Met’s Ring for a good 15-20 years. It will accomodate a whole range of performances from the musicians involved.
I don’t have high hopes for Voigt’s Brünnhilde and Heppner is clearly past his prime. And Terfel’s Wotan is a also a big question mark. But who knows what will happen in the production’s revivals?
Interesting that the announcement came after the alteration is a fait accompli. No one is going to complain about the expenditure now.
I will be curious if this affects the acoustics. Will it lessen or dampen the stage floor reverberations? How about when the stage is used for dancing?
I ask this sincerely: since the reinforcements are in the wings (not the part of the stage visible to the audience), will it affect the sound as far as the audience is concerned? I know nothing about acoustic design.
More to the point, just when in the development process did Monsieur Lepage inform The Met that considerable reconstruction was going to be necessary? And was there any discussion?
Clearly, someone is going to get caught in all those moving parts and be seriously maimed (or worse). DIVA DEATH WATCH!
Something about that stage image DOESNT LOOK PARTICULARLY SAFE..I’M all for an “awesome” visual experience as well…BUT… this makes me nervous, just looking at it….
AND..yes… there’s plenty of time , later (sooner I hope..) to discuss the singing…AS LONG AS THOSE IN CHARGE remember..it’s a pretty ESSENTIAL ELEMENT, as well…lol…!
As Anna R. would ask…”Remember the..SINGING..??
“As Anna R. would ask…”Remember the..SINGING..??”
Anna Reynolds would be in a position to know, being one of the postwar Bayreuth greats along with Hemsley, both Evanses and Finnie.
Vicar:
EXCEPT..
THIS ANNA.. was ..RUSSELL…!-LOL…!
You mean like all the Valkyries who were injured tumbling down the rake on the Met’s previous Ring production? Or Hildegard Behrens who was nearly killed and had to spend months in physical rehab after the Goetterdaemmerung scene change misfired?
Cara Cieca, of course you are entirely right about the Immolation demolition debacle, but that was not even the whole story about how dangerous that production was. On another earlier occasion, at the end of the glorious Prologue duet, Brunnhilde after hugging Siegfried farewell, she runs to the tip of the Valkyrie Rock to wave at the departing boat (back of the stage) to find that the very tip was not properly fastened and upon stepping on it, it wobbled and nearly tumbled several meters below. A very scary precursor of what was to happen on the tragic night of the Immolation debacle. Also during the magic fire in Act III of Walkure, on same rock real fires started several times in various nights as the lamps that lit up the silver paper threads that simulated the flames overheated.
And talking of dangerous traditional productions, yes that quintessential “traditional” Tosca, the one by the Bitchy Old Queen herself also had some misdeeds. After the “Avanti a Dio” jump the Tosca was due to fall on a mattress that was covered with o a feather-filled comforter to smother a bit the fall. On one occasion the feather comforter was all that was between the Tosca and a hard wood box as someone had forgotten to put the mattress underneath. It was a painful jump and needless to say the divas’s shoes were destroyed. Luckily the diva survived that one.
So indeed, “traditional” productions have no claim on safety whatsoever. Opera can be and frequently is a very dangerous blood sport.
They’ve already examined the use of similar staging in “KA,” according to the article. And it sounds like no singers will be allowed on the moving parts.
Otherwise, they could label it “Diva Death MATCH” and market it as a feature of the production.
The old production may have been treacherous, but that new thing is a vivisection waiting to happen (or at least a good head bonk). On the bright side, Erda won’t be the only half-torso on stage anymore!
Also, did you watch the video? I can’t wait to see if the simulation at 0:17 actually happens.
I saw the preview a few weeks ago, but I didn’t watch the video on the NYT today because I expected it to be the same one as before.
Aha, the real reason why Siegfried is so stupid. Incest plus a good bonk on the head.
I just watched the video. That’s the same preview used before the Armida HD (repeat). The simulation at 0:17 is very impressive, if they can actually pull it off.
Have you forgotten “Rosebud”, the sled on which the Met’s Tristan must slowly descend (backwards) during the third act prelude? A couple years ago, Gary Lehmann did a salto mortale and slid all the way down to the prompter’s box, landing with a resounding thwack.
“My friend Erda, the green-faced torso.”
If the stage is now strong enough to support elephants, then it should be able to support real hochdramatiche sopranos.
However, if the sets are that big and heavy, it doesn’t sound like they would ever be able to rent them out to other companies to help recoup some of the cost.
The Met never rents out their productions. Never in my opera attending life have I ever seen an opera company saying Sets rented from the Met. No, this does not apply to co-productions, those are expected to travel. Met productions? When was the last time you saw LAO, SFO, Seattle or any other one doing an Aida, Tosca, Fanciulla, Boheme or anything else in a Met’s set?
Oh yes, it does. They just don’t say “rented.” The Washington Opera has used several Met productions. I remember in particular its Werther. (They used the sets from the Met and the Costumes from either Chicago or SF.)
I think Chicago has also “borrowed” a couple of Met productions through the years.
A few Met productions staged in Chicago:
THE GHOSTS OF VERSAILLES
THE GREAT GATSBY
FIDELIO
KATYA KABANOVA
I can see a tit-for-tat situation: I’ll let you borrow the Werther if I can borrow your Manon Lescaut, but how often does that happen? Spacially compared to companies like (I think) Utah, New Orleans, KY, Indiana University and others who actually make money by renting out their productions to other companies.
Case in point, I sang in Hollander twice in my life, once in Cincinnati and the other one here in Indy. When I walked in the rehearsal room for the Indy performances I looked at the tape on the floor and asked “Are we doing the New Orleans production?” I recognized the tape from the Cincinnati performances I had some not long before.
By the way, that New Orleans opera was not a bad production either. I also sang in NOO’s production of Tosca (very pretty) and in the Philly Falstaff (marvelous in every way).
It is my understanding that the Chicago Ghosts was a different production, not the Met’s, I could be wrong…
The Fidelio was a co-production, thus it does not count. Not sure about Gatsby, but I would not be surprised it was also a co-production given the chance they were taking in a new opera that was not guaranteed a return on the investment.
Katya, i am not sure either way, given that is is a popular opera.
Lindoro–
You’re wrong. I’m looking at the FIDELIO program from Chicago Lyric and it was not a co-production. The credits read “production from the Metropolitan Opera.” Same thing for last season’s KATYA KABONOVA and the Robert Carsen EUGENE ONEGIN and GHOSTS OF VERSAILLES a couple of seasons ago. All borrowed. Also the MET’s NORMA production by John Copley was borrowed by San Diego Opera.
The very first SFO production I saw, a 1977 Adriana Lecouvreur with Scotto, Aragall, Obraztsova and Taddei, specifically identified the sets and costumed as being owned by the Metropolitan Opera Association, as the Archives will confirm.
And the San Francisco Maometto II with June Anderson and Marilyn Horne used the Met’s sets for L’Assedio di Corinto.
As early as 1964 the Chicago Lyric borrowed the Ariadne
production from the Met which had introduced Ariadne to the Met a couple of years prior. The Met used Karl Boehm, Rysanek, K. Meyer, etc. Chicago had Eugen Jochim, Crespin, Seefried, Grist, Cox, Kunz – presumably Chicago returned the production after that one 1964 season. It must have been a loan to Chicago and up til that time the Met, as far as I know, pretty much kept their productions to themselves.
The “Iphegenie en Tauride” is a co-production between the MET and Seattle Opera–it premiered in Seattle and then went to NYC.
So, while not a rental, it was seen elsewhere.
Lindoro, it’s not a tit-for-tat situation. The Met has “lent” out some of its productions to other companies through the years. Whether they get paid or not, I have no idea.
Why is this such an issue for you? I don’t believe it happens often, but what’s the difference?
Could it be because, I don’t know…, the Met has never been known for their generosity?
So, should we expect the previously canceled Zefirelli Aida to be reinstated?
The main reason you don’t see many Met productions at other opera houses is because they can’t fit in many of the regional auditoriums. The Kennedy Center built its stage specifically to fit anything mounted at the Met. (The backstage areas and technical facilities don’t compare, though.)
The Met’s Mary Zimmerman production of LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR was supposed to be staged in San Francisco, but they were nixed.
I remember asking general director David Gockley at a talkback as to why another LUCIA production was brought in and he said the large staircase and bridge proved to be too heavy and costly to import (he also said there were audience sightline issues).
I guess I was hoping for a more catty answer owning to Natalie Dessay’s public difficulties with Zimmerman on the Met production.
“We can add elephants to Zeffirelli productions.”
Great, now Peter Gelb can also be accused of animal cruelty.
I think pachyderms will be great during the Boheme Act III Quartet….
Depending on who is singing. They do that to Hong and i swear I will bring my hunting riffle.