Funny valentine
This just in from the Met press office: “Andrea Bocelli will make his solo recital debut at the Metropolitan Opera House on Sunday, February 13, 2011 at 5:00 p.m. The performance will feature the celebrated Italian tenor singing a program of arias by Handel, and lieder and art songs by Beethoven, Wagner, Liszt, Richard Strauss, Fauré, and Tosti. Bocelli will be accompanied by pianist Vincenzo Scalera.”
Thanks to Nerva Nelli for reminding me to include the complete scheduled program:
Handel
“La speme ti consoli” from Partenope
“Care selve” from Atalanta
“Frondi tenere. . . Ombra mai fu” from Serse
“Let the Bright Seraphim” from Samson
Beethoven
Dimmi, ben mio, che m’ami, Op. 82, No. 1
L’amante impaziente (Arietta buffa), Op. 82, No. 4
Beato quei che fido amor, Op. 88
Ich liebe dich, WoO 123
Wagner: Der Engel (Wesendonk Lieder #1)
Liszt: O, quand je dors
R. Strauss: Zueignung
Fauré
Mai
Chanson d’amour
Après un rêve
La lune blanche
Le secret
Mandoline
Tosti
Serenata
A ‘vucchella
L’ultima canzone
L’alba separa dalla luce l’ombra
Good move by the Met. He has a HUGE fan base. They pay him million and can still make a couple of million off the concert. Why not people? It’s not like you are being forced to buy a ticket. All is good in the world of showBUSINESS.
I imagine, although there would certainly be a nominal fee involved, the Met would be using the prestige of their name as currency. If he wanted to sell thousands of tix, he could go a stadium.
And if Bocelli and the Met want to sell MILLIONS of tix, they can broadcast it live to cinemas around the world! In fact, that seems a rather obvious thing to do. Take your Valentine’s date to see Bocelli live at your local multiplex (isn’t this supposed to be at 5 pm?), dinner and cocktails afterward, then home for sex. A perfect evening for millions of people worldwide.
And even if it doesn’t make it onto the cinematic screen, surely, at the very least, they will broadcast it live on Sirius…..It’s simply too good an opportunity to garner worldwide attention for them to let only the 4000 people who fit into the house that afternoon to hear it.
That jam2063, I would consider that proposal, a fate worse than death. Even if ‘the sex’ was thrown in , as a bonus.
Today I heard a bit of Bocelli as Bizet’s Don Jose………………..my reaction……….. pure SHHHHHHHHIIIIITTTTTTTTTTTT!
Harry: You made me laugh.
I do not imagine that the cognoscenti would enjoy it much at all, but many bourgeois housewives would LOVE it if their husbands took them to see this on Valentine’s weekend at their local multiplex.
Imagine the blowjobs that the husbands would get afterward!
Yes,its all about money. How fabulous!
Ummm, without money – it’s all about a dark house. It’s a rather savvy way to tap an audience the Met usually can’t get at, and get some money out of them to further the Met’s activities. No harm, no foul.
Sometimes, being a virtuous aesthete leaves you with nothing to love, when the company can’t meet its obligations. Feel free to not attend, CdT, but don’t denigrate the company’s attempts to make more money to stay afloat…what would you comment upon without the Met?
Yes, Clita and that “money” will help the Met’s bottom line. Lord knows they have had worse on that stage in legitimate opera.
Pecunia non olet.
And speaking of Farrell, I was at her Met debut-she sang Divinities du Styx in a very jazzy way.
I also saw her sing Medea at Carnegie Hall and was bored. Then I heard Callas’ recording and loved the opera.
He r voice was not big but not as huge as others.
I am writing this on my phone. Not easy.
Clita del Toro –I would just love to know how one sings ‘Divinites du Styx’ avec le jazz hot–??
I am so intrigued by the idea. Is she, perhaps, the inspiration for Mme. Fleming’s recent Armida song stylings? Pray tell us.
The secret to tele-typing lies in growing nails. Not too long.
Who cares? If they want to put a circus on the MET stage or a drag show or a political rally for Andrew Cuomo I could care less. IF it brings in a ton of money that can be spent on opera production. I’d support just about ANYTHING that would bring in money for things that the rest of us want to see and enjoy.
Manou. Does that mean that you want to make me an omelette?
Poof! You’re an omelette !
Per Clita – omelette.
Just as long as he doesn’t sing ‘Nessun Dorma’!
How about the “Libiamo” with Miss Piggy?
I used to like Nessun Dorma.
With luck, the hoi polloi will go on to something else and let this aria recover from the many vulgar iterations to which it has recently been subjected.
AMEN TO THAT!
It reminded me of this recital (“Bouquets past counting fell about the platform”):
Du bist die Ruh
Im Abendrot
Im Frühling
Der Einsame
Auf dem See
An den Mond
An die Musik (Schubert)
Sea Pictures (Elgar)
Les Illuminations (Britten)
Poèmes pour mi (Messiaen)
Encores:
Oh, had I Jubal’s Lyre (Handel)
Cançion de cuna para dormir a un negrito (Montsalvatge)
Vocalise (Creplaczx)
Plaisir d’amour (anon.)
(INTERMISSION)
Nuits d’été (Berlioz)
Seven Early Songs (Berg)
The Nursery (Mussorgsky)
Encores:
Der Erlkönig (Schubert)
Kennst du das Land (Wolf)
Aus den Hebräischen Gesängen (Schumann)
Breit’ über mein Haupt (Strauss)
Die Mainacht (Brahms)
Marietta’s Lied (Korngold)
L’invitation au voyage (Duparc)
Chanson d’amour (Fauré)
Clair de lune (Fauré)
Ev’ry Time We Say Goodbye (Porter)
Summertime (Gershwin)
Songs My Mother Taught Me (in Czech) (Dvorak)
My Own Sweet Child in the West (in Hibernian Gaelic) (Anon.)
Oh Buster, wie wunderbar of you to post this!
It serves as a kind of cattle prodder to the rest of the flock fallen away from Mother Mary La Cieca, to get on the stick, and start reading Mardu Gorgeous.
PS — I heard a portion of the Genoveva broadcast a few weeks ago and was very much taken with the luminous account rendered up by Frau Schwanewilms! Just lovely.
Thanks Camille. Did you enjoy Lotusland? I am trying to find a copy of “Always room at the top” but that is not very easy.
Glad you liked (parts of) the Genoveva, hope you caught her prayer in the second act, or her big solo in the fourth.
I am hugely looking forward hearing Anne Schwanewilms in Rosenkavalier coming season, Simon Rattle conducts, Mrs. Rattle carrying the rose (peuh!).
Call me an eeyore, but I’m not so convinced this will be such a cash cow for the Met. Bocelli is no where near the peak of his popularity at this point for one. And I think the potential audience is whittled down even further when you think about the proposed program. Is the idea that his popera fans will be interested in a recital format with heavy doses of lieder? How many traditional opera fans will show up just to hear how he plans on pulling off Let the Bright Seraphim? I don’t know. The event strikes as billed strikes me as a kind of one foot in the door, one out kind of thing, who is it attractive to?
Opinionated – Bocelli sold out 3 performances at The Theatre at Madison Square Garden on his last visit here. I think the top tickets were like $1000 or $1500 or something ridiculous like that. I had a client pay $5000 per ticket for 4 tickets (YES, $20,000) through a scalper. So, I don’t think that he will not have a problem selling 4,000 seats at the Met. And if they do VIP packages they will make a bundle. He is still huge. There is a HUGE middle-aged crowd in the NYC metro area that loves him. Execellent marketing on the part of the Met. Those are the exact people that they should be targeting. They already have an interest in “classical” music and most of the people that like Bocelli are not the regular Met audience. PETER GELB IS A FUCKING GENIUS.
NYCO: If what you descibe is what passes for ‘a interest in classical music’ in the NYC metro area, time New Yorkers took a good look at themselves, being a leading center for culture. Suggesting it is more about crassness not class. Analyzing that there are enough people with enough dollars stuffed up their backside to waste on pop-opera trick-ponies is not a cultural barometer. No offense meant.
May I suggest they fumigate the Met after that gullible collection of cultural swill have departed its precincts.
Holy fuck, those are Streisand prices! I stand corrected.
Yeah, they’ll all be booking for the Ring sraight afterwards. By the way, talking of the Ring, don’t the designs for the new LePage production (as see in Opera News) look like something by Gunther Schneider-Siemssen?
I’m not convinced it’ll be a huge cash cow either. Yes, the Met can make some money from this recital but not that much. I’m sure his fee is quite high and the Met only has 3,800 seats to sell, not 20,000. Unless, they plan to organize a major fundraiser around this event and charge $5,000 for the top ticket.
Doesn’t standing room bring it up to 4000 or so? I agree that his fee must be quite high. To make money (enough to go to the trouble), they will almost certainly have to either broadcast it (in which case they could make A LOT of money) or sell the tickets for the house at gala prices. Or both, which would make the most money.
Who will La Cieca select to review this, I wonder…..or will she attend and review it herself? Hmmmm?
Camille, the only way I can show you how Farrell sang Divinites du Styx is to do my imitation of her!
Of course, the Testament recording includes Farrell singing that aria. I wouldn’t call it jazzy, however. That recording was made in 1957 or 1958 (she was about 38). The Met debut was in 12/60, when she was 40, so the vocal quality should be about the same. Seems unlikely she’d have become more jazzy as she approached the Met, but I guess it’s all in how you look at it.
Eh bien, Monsieur Clita del ToroI would so love to see that!!
Did you see her Gioconda as well? And as long as I am being a curious youth, what kind of “presence” had she on stage?
By the bye, I do love so much your screen name, even if I am not so sure what part of a bull it refers to!