Future conditional
Can you believe it’s less than two weeks before individual tickets go on sale for the Met’s 2010-2011 season? And you know that that means! It’s the time of year when La Cieca invites the cher public, for the sake of less well-informed opera fans (which, relative to you, of course, means just about everyone!) to nominate their “must sees. There’s a poll right after the jump!
Please note you can vote for as many or as few “must see” productions as you like.
Now, in the comments section, the more forthcoming among you may want to explain what makes a must-see something that must be seen.
As somebody based in the UK who makes a habit of visiting New York once a year partly in order to see something at the Met, the only ‘must see’ for me is Le Comte Ory. That said, there is plenty I would go and see if I lived there, or if I happen to visit at a time that doesn’t coincide with Le Comte Ory. The Walkure looks particularly interesting.
One does feel a little sorry for Westbroek – she seems to be the answer to everybody’s prayers in all sorts of roles that the likes of Voigt, Gasteen, Denoke (even Mattila) etc have been struggling through – she is going to be worked into the ground, if we have our way! Her Minnie for the ROH, and her Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk in the same house were wonderful, so I can well understand the enthusiasm. Odd, in a way, that she is down for Francesca Di Rimini the season after next, when that is a role which, while not easy, could be convincingly undertaken by somebody with less rare talents than Westbroek’s, leaving Westbroek free to rescue whatever shows are much harder to pull off.
Just a word on Terfel – in this country at least, he’s about the biggest bona fide opera star there is who has made any kind of impact on a wider public. He was the only opera singer featured amongst a host of musical theatre talent in a prom broadcast on BBC TV last Saturday night as celebration of Sondheim’s 80th birthday. He’s performed Sweeny Tod, released a Rodgers and Hammerstein record, cropped up at rugby matches and in all kinds of other contexts wider than just staged opera and recitals. I’m not personally aware of Kaufmann having done anything of the kind and so I think the assertion made above that he is the most likely of the listed singers to become famous outside of the opera world has already been prooved wrong.
Kaufmann is only 41, give him time.
Since I am a crazed stalker of Jonas and became his fan on facebook (yes, those updates are secret love messages intended only for ME so we can be together forever – they totally are not written by an intern at the management office), I am frequently amused by the weirdness of the messages that come from my boy.
This is the latest – a little off-putting, no?… I’m not sure which is more revolting – the fawning over his own admittedly super hot looks or the poor spelling.
Still more than one month to go until Jonas Kaufmann presents his fourth Album on Decca featuring the most beautiful and popular arias of Italian veristic tradition. But the cover yet prooves (sic) again: Jonas Kaufmann is not only THE voice, but also the best looking one. Enjoy!
I only voted once and it was for operas I am seriously considering taking the Vamoose bus up to NYC for. Those are: BORIS GODONOV, PELLEAS ET MELISANDE (if only it wasn’t in December), NIXON IN CHINA, COMTE ORY, CAPRICCIO, WOZZECK (that would be a three day trip) and WALKURE. I look forward to the HD of TROVATORE. And certainly hope Sirius broadcasts Racette in TROVATORE, Radvanovsky in TOSCA and Luisi conducting everything he is scheduled (or as yet unscheduled) to conduct.
I am probably jumping the gun on a near future poll, but the one trip I am definitely taking to NYC this year (in addition to NIXON IN CHINA) is the NY Philharmonic’s CUNNING LITTLE VIXEN. Even my partner, who hates modern opera, enjoyed their GRAND MACABRE last year and has said he wants to see this (after years of expressing total disdain for Janacek). Though I still cant convince him to join me for Messaien’s FRANCOISE D’ASSISSE if they do it the following year.
“Messaien’s FRANCOISE D’ASSISSE”?
Heck, why not? I, for one, am for Equal Opportunity, even in martyrdom.
Watch for Alexey Markov, who’s coming back to the Met in Queen of Spades this season. He had a good debut in War and Peace a few seasons back, and did concert performances of The Tsar’s Bride and Les Troyens at Carnegie Hall in 2009-2010. He should be on everyone’s “young singers to watch” list.
Thanks for this heads up.
Markov’s page on the Mariinsky Theater site is:
http://www.mariinsky.ru/en/company/opera/baritone/markov/
On YouTube, search “Aleksey Markov” and you can hear him as both Yeletsky and Tomsky in QUEEN OF SPADES.