Questo e quello
Friendly correspondent Kalena (not pictured) reports that (so far as she can make out) the telecast of the Mantua Rigoletto this weekend will in fact be viewable here in the US. Her email and La Cieca’s attempt to figure out time zones after the jump.
ZDF will be broadcasting & live-streaming the Raitv Rigoletto in a delayed fashion. The particulars:
Sat 4. Sep (aujourd’hui, or demain de bonne heure!) at 23:55-circa 01:00 CET for ACT I
Sun 5. Sep at 23:50-c. 01:00 CET for ACTs II & III
The above links are to the programme pages available at the ZDF site. Each page carries numerous links to the ZDF player (mediathek) as well as a bevy of info & media materials. If the latter is just too ho-hum, voilà the zdfmediathek en directe. Default for player is Flash, you may toggle to html, and the stream can be picked up by selecting the LIVE button on top menu.
…. ZDF’s modus is to annotate their programme listings with appropriate ‘audience restriction’ notices. There are none listed indicating restriction to viewership in Germany. So it is fair to expect open access to the live-stream…
Now comes the math. La Cieca’s understanding is that EDT (good old New York time) is six hours behind CET. Assuming that is correct, the ZDF telecasts should be on the following schedule:
Act 1, September 4 (today) starting at 5:55 pm.
Act 2, September 5 (tomorrow) starting at 5:50 pm.
If you calculate this out better than poor innumerate La Cieca, make a comment and we’ll figure it out somehow.
I think most of the creative work on this Rigoletto was done by the participants thinking about how they would spend their fees.
For Domingo to complete the baritone trilogy, what is next? Iago?
Don Giovanni and Macbeth
IMO this whole Rigoletto Venture was a waste of time and money. I’m sorry, but it still sounds like a tenor attempting to take on a baritone role. If PD wants to continue aren’t there some nice Alte Damme roles he can do?
Some comments:
I would think that anything filmed on location would be lip synchred to a pre-recorded tape. Not only matter of coordination but acoustics, camera angles, etc.
I must admit being impressed (again) by Domingo’s work ethic. He’s learning new roles and showing them to the world right away in very short time. And roles that must call for some modifications to his past vocal production.
Not a criticism but that’s the oldest looking Rigoletto I can remember ever seeing. Gilda must me his granddaughter and not his daughter.
And lastly, this Rigoletto does have nice digs, doesn’t he?
Why do people keep saying it’s lip-synced?
It’s obviously not.
Maybe because it is not obvious? What was obvious to me was that they were singing in front of the camera, but the sound that was coming from the speakers is not necessarily the one that is coming out of their mouths.
Some singers would do that when they are filming, they hear their voices in the soundtrack that is being played, but would still sing full voice just so the film has a more realistic image.
You are so right about Rigoletto’s surprisingly grand home, iltenoredigrazia. Obviously, they wanted to make maximum use of the prettiest locations in Mantua. (That no doubt keeps the local authorities happy too.) But it does make the whole thing seem very pretty and ‘culinary’. Rigoletto is a pretty dark and nasty opera and this makes the rather decorative Ponnelle film of around 30 years ago.
The libretto says “una casa di discreta apparenza” but after all it is next door to Ceprano’s palace, so it’s not likely to be a tenement.
And it is possible, I suppose, that Rigoletto would put all his money into a handsome, safe home for Gilda. (Where he would get all that money is another question, but it’s a corrupt court and Rigoletto has the ear of the Duke, so maybe he could extort bribes?)
What’s most likely, though, is that the more spacious the building, the easier it is to set up cameras and lights.
il tenore di grazia, why must Gilda be his granddaughter? The president of South Africa is 68 and is just having his 22nd child – he will be around 90 when the kid is 20. It is nowhere stated that Rigoletto was in his twenties when he became a father. And there has been several singers who sang Rigoletto at the age of 70, like Piero Cappucilli and now Leo Nucci – I have not read anyone mentioning the grand father thing.
Here’s the entire first act, from YouTube.
And here is the second act of Rigoletto from earlier today.
many thanks to La Cieca, or whoever linked all the clips together. Whatever quibbles anyone may have, it is quite exciting to have this available so quickly.
Yes, Domingo sometimes sounds unlike a Verdi baritone, but he performs the part convincingly, and his warmth towards his Gilda is very touching.
And the third act.
well, the Youtube gods do work fast.
I like Griggolo, both vocally and as a performer, to some extent. And I would do him, oh would I….
Lindoro, can I ask you something?
If you’re always overly critical of AN and JK how is it that you are able to defend VG vocal performance? Heard or seen you ever Beczala as Duke of Mantua?
I am being a bit slow here … AN = Netrebko, presumably. JK = ?
Kaufmann? On the other hand, when did Netrebko sing the Duke?
Aha, manou, of course. I was thinking sopranos.
I thought Grigolo was rather heaving the sound out – and that was just for the mic — but he is quite imaginative. It’s hardly a honeyed voice, but then I find JDF’s tone rather charmless and piercing. Beczala certainly makes a nicer sound than either of them.
And who says that I am only defending him? He is being criticized for being a crooner and I have said that I hear him pushing but I do not hear any crooning in his voice. My point is that he is actually singing rep that is appropriate to his voice, unlike superstars Villazon and Bocelli. Of the current crop of pop tenors, VG seems to be the one who is taking this more seriously and I have to respect him for that.
I have said that I enjoy JK’s work in French music, although I do not like him in Italian or German rep because he over-darkens his voice. Somehow, this works for me in Carmen and Werther, but not in Italian opera, and talking about crooning, I heard crooning when I heard his Cavaradossi, but very few people were willing to say it, busy as they were with their hands in their crotches.
Netrebko, I do not find any redeeming qualities beyond her physical appearance. Yes, she is pretty and she looks pretty in everything she sings, but her repertoire is a collection of mistakes. Her Mozart is old fashioned and out of style, her bel canto a complete mess, her Puccini passable, but while I listen to her I keep missing at least 3 contemporary singers that could do it better. Her voice in all the way in the back, which automatically renders her diction and her connection to the text void. I am holding my breath for Tatyana… The one thing I respect about her is her connection to her past (singing wise). She seems to be aware of the sopranos who proceeded her; something not every soprano is, and AN talks intelligently about that.
Wow what a mediocrity – really, does PD have anything to bring to the role other than famousness? Good Gilda, ok Duca, amazingly undramatic atmosphere all around, particularly dull acting in the title role, sluggish conducting, tacky production values…
Seriously, it’s nice that Domingo can still sing at his age, but to spend all that money just for a stunt is not admirable – give some fundraising concerts for your opera companies, rather