Cocktails for two
Two minds with but a single frock: Marina Poplavskaya in the Met’s new Traviata (due December 31) and Emma Watson in the November 19 release Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
Two minds with but a single frock: Marina Poplavskaya in the Met’s new Traviata (due December 31) and Emma Watson in the November 19 release Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
Did anyone see Poplavskaya in this production in Amsterdam? Was she any warmer than usual as Violetta or did she die of a chill?
Poplavskaya in Traviata.
That so profound and “undevelenenced” I want to hurl chunks.
I can’t say for sure…until I see it Live, whether I’m sold on this production…
BUT..
ANYTHING HAS TO BE BETTER.. then the current ratty cheesy ugly production it is replacing , at The MET…….
Say what YOU REALLY FEEL about the Zeff production, no holding back now!!!!!
I think the Zeff is obscenely, ugly particularly Flora’s party.
I’d light a match myself to burn it if someone would pour gasoline over it.
Based on video watching, I’m not nuts about the Decker production and he seems to make some of his points with a sledgehammer but it is if nothing else, cleaner looking than the tawdry, gaudy, tacky sets that comprise pretty much all that’s left of Zeff’s 13 year old production.
My god she is so NOT a violetta. Besides having serious intonation and stylistic issues, the music seems to have no life, no shape, no artistry whatsoever. She is a singer without complete control over her voice, and without complete control, a soprano cannot convey violetta’s myriad emotions and moods. Say what you will about gheorghiu or hong, but both were able to find many colors, shades, and dynamics to make their violetta’s compelling and moving.
It’s hard to tell to much from these clips but I’ve seen some excerpts on youtube that were longer. I also heard her Liu last season from the MEt and agree a lot with what you say about the difficulty she has controlling her voice. It seems to take a whole lot of manipulation and maneuvering to move from one register to the next. Getting in and out of her top register seems particularly complicated.
All these effort takes away from what shoudl could be doing to illuminate the music, and she does fairly little here.
She reminds me a bit of Marina Mescheriakova who seemed to spend an inordinate amount of effort just trying to move her voice around.
And both Russian ladies seemed to have a seemingly unstoppable machine pushing their careers. At the MEt it took several seasons
of mediocre performances from Mescheriakova
before the machine ran out of gas and she silently disappeared. Poplavskaya seems to have a big thrust behind her at the ROH.
And some of that seems to have migrated here to NYC. I realize that Pop was a substitute, but did they really have to give her TWO major new Met productions this season? Come on.
Pop can make some lovely sounds but there is too much clutter between these same sounds.
I listened to some longer clips on youtube and have also heard her at the Met a few times. Some people referred to her Liu as “the best thing” in last year’s turandot, but that ain’t saying much. Sure the middle has an attractive dark sound, but as you point out, the top is just so effortful to access and comes out so squeezed and wooden. Never mind trying to DO something with the music. What machine is it that is propelling her career so successfully? Where can I buy one?
wow these businessmen sure were desperate to want to sleep with this “high-end” courtesan. she moves like wannabe entertainer at Cheetah’s Gentleman’s Club.
There has been a lot of talk about Poplavskaya in the last couple of years. Not having heard her, I was eagerly looking forward to hearing her Liu on the Met Turandot broadcast. And I have to say that I was underwhelmed. She was good but didn’t blow me over. I’m still keeping an open mind about her but I wonder how much her looks are driving her fame.
I am so NOT excited for this production.
Really? I can’t wait to see Emma Watson again. She’s the best thing about the Potter movies.
I fucking love this production. Can’t wait.
I love this production too, but I don’t care to see it. This Violetta is owned by Netrebko, imperfections notwithstanding. Netrebko turned it down because she cannot repeat herself. The DVD from the 2005 Salzburg production says it all. The Met’s production won’t be in the movies and I doubt it would be on DVD.
.. and Poplavskaya looks disconcerting like Tweetie Pie. (Though not as cute.)
Or as sonorous.
The *only* other Met sopranos to sing Violetta and Elisabetta in the same season have been Delia Rigal and Mary Curtis-Verna (who sang one (1) Met Violetta).
Public Service Reminder: Casting at the Met is done by Jonathan Friend and Sally Billinghurst.
Yes yes yes -- she does! It is because they both have a lot of squarish face, and tiny little features all scrunched up in the middle.
manou — I shall have even more respect for your opinions (and wit) from now on.
Gag me. The only thing that was remotely good about her performance was the fact that she could sing while doing all the monkey business the director had her do. I will bet that Mary Dunleavy can sing the role 100 times better and still meet the physical demands of the staging. If Mary is not your cup of tea there is Ailyn Perez, Eglise Gutierrez, Patrizia Cioffi, Malin Hartelius, Elena Mosuc, and believe it or not, La Rad.
Poplavskaya has no business singing either Violetta and Elisabetta. One is too heavy and the other shows her constricted tone and lack of flexibility in her voice; not to mention the lack of true placement on it either.
It is a shame that the Met is not casting someone who can actually sing this part. While i am not a fan of every idea this Traviata has, I think it is OK. As it has been said in the Pasquale threat, the hammer approach (the fucking clock ticking back with Violetta dying on top of it) is a shame and fucking ridiculous. Sometimes, you just have to trust the music…
I agree. The Met seems obsessed with casting certain sopranos who they deem to be “names”. Ailyn Perez seems a perfectly fabulous option for someone who looks and can sing the part.
Ailyn P is singing Violetta at the Garden in 11/12, as, I think, is her hub, but with another Violetta, possibly, poor thing, Marina Pop. Perez may get Vittorio the Gigolo. No doubt La Cieca’s minions will write up his upcoming Met debut as Rodolfo….
I am pretty sure La Rad is done with Traviata. She nearly broke her voice on it in Santa Fe and withdrew from most of the performances.
That is very interesting to hear. Given for what it survives, i would hardly say she broke her voice:
If that’s true, then it’s a shame. Much of this excerpt is thrilling and given her vast improvement in technique and control over the years, as well as the rep she sings and how she sings it, I’m pretty sure she could deliver a stunning violetta right now, complete with high E-flat. Alas, even she is too big to fit into that little red dress. The dress itself is difficult not to look fat in i’m guessing, and I’m not sure how successful the Met will be in casting revivals of this production consistently throughout the years, since traviata is so very popular.
Radvanovsky sang Violetta with the Met actually… in Cunningham Park in Queens. And little Gualtier was there. I don’t remember a lot of specifics now. I remember rather liking it at the time -- can’t remember if she attempted an E-flat at the end of “Sempre Libera” though. The voice was juicy and big with a lot of color and flexibility. I have always been worried about the metallic edge and flutter in Rad’s voice but that seemed tamed that night. I also remember a decent dramatic conception and she looked quite pretty.
Rad’s a sexy girl. She could look nice and voluptuous in that Little Red Dress.
I don’t see this staging or costume working on any Violetta that isn’t limber enough to stand on the back of that couch, lounge with feet up in the air or cavort the way we’re seeing in this video. In other words, they have assured themselves that they will only be casting young, slim and fit Violettas.
Sure hope that there will be something interesting to look at after the first five minutes of each act. I will hopefully see it, but it looks a little spare to be suitable for the Met.
Nice dress on Emma, very fashionable.
By all means, we want to be assured that obese, lumbering Violettas do not become a thing of the past.
And who says that a skinny Violetta is preferable? By all means, Poplavskaya will surely fit into the dress, but will she fit into the music?
I understand that we expect our Violettas to fit within a certain BMI (Body Mass Index) but it was not that long ago that singers like Pilar Lorengar, Sutherland, Caballe, Tomowa-Sintow and Barbara Daniels sand the shit out of the role and still managed to bring a certain amount of credibility, even while having too much BMI for the role; sooner still, Eglise Gutierres sang the role in Cincinnati. Apparently the audiences didn’t have a problem suspending belief either.
I for one would rather have a Violeta that fits into the music than a Violeta that looks hot in the little red/black/lavender dress and is a hot mess when it is time to sing the role.
David R B Kimbell’s book tells us that Verdi sent Piave to La Fenice to request a Violetta ‘with an elegant figure who is young’. This was in direct response to the casting of a singer he considered too large for the role.
I wish these avant-gardists would just respect the composer’s intentions.
There is no such strict dichotomy. The costume was designed for a particular singer and already in rebuilding it for Poplavskaya there are some small changes in the cut and fit. If a fuller figured singer were to take on the role, very likely the dress would be redesigned to suit her figure. Olga Borodina went into a Carmen production at the Met that was originally designed for Angela Gheorghiu and then adapted for Elina Garanca. Borodina’s costumes covered her up more where she needed extra coverage and showed off her better points. Several points of staging were also negotiated for her more statuesque performing style.
For that matter, the torn wedding dress used in the Met’s Lucia mad scene was significantly redesigned for the post-pregnancy Netrebko from the strapless model worn by the angular Dessay.
So what that means is if a size 12 Violetta goes into this production, she’ll have a dress made that will flatter her figure. The significant reason that Poplavskaya is doing this new Traviata is not her figure but rather the fact that she has done the production before and she was able to make herself available for the rehearsals and performances at the Met vacated by Netrebko.
I am pretty sure that Netrebko herself could no longer fit into the size 4 red minidress this production utilized at Salzburg.
A very big Harteros fan our very own Marschallin told me that Anja was offered the role of Violetta in this production. She turned it down because she has issues with the way her legs look in short skirts. Harteros is actually tall and slim and elegant and not even remotely obese but this production she felt wouldn’t work with her.
Many sopranos feel that this production is pretty much Netrebko property and don’t want to go into it.
On the other hand, Christine Schafer and Natalie Dessay would fit perfectly into this production. Diana Damrau is considering adding Violetta to her repertoire (she has wanted to get away from high-wire coloratura acrobatics for some time now) and she could do this production easily too.
Whether this type of production should be standard one used in a repertory piece is another matter… What worked in Salzburg for a festival production may not fly at the Met. Lightning doesn’t strike in the same place twice and after six years the electricity may be gone.
Damrau’s Violetta -- already scheduled for 2013 with Pavol Breslik somewhere in Europe, maybe Zurich. So it will probably be Nucci Bruson or Raimondi as Germont unless Homoki gets rid of all of Pereira’s old Italian chums. I’m sure she would look lovely in Nebsy’s red frock but who seriously would want to HEAR her as Violetta -- or Schäfer’s or Dessay’s -- at the Met?
LaC’s post brought to mind another gown replacement when Netrebko took over a role from Dessay. My retinas may never recover from the pink dress Nebs sported as Juliette at the Met. I recalled the original designed for Dessay as simple and somewhat virginal. When Anna performed in the revival of the production, she was given (or chose, I don’t know) a hot pink wad of tulle and glitter that looked like it came from a Dade County quinceañera.
May I remind La Cieca that his beloved Renata Scotto was not exactly a slim little thing (though petite in stature) during the years she sang Violetta.
It’s not just the dress, it’s the physicality of the staging. The dress has to be lightweight and comfortable in order to accommodate her actions, and thus will be more revealing unless it’s cleverly redesigned with lightweight layers that will be more forgiving, including sleeves, as the upper arm area for women can be a danger zone. I’m sure that every Violetta in this production will have a different red dress. The standard Violetta mid-19th century silhouette is far more flattering to an imperfect contemporary figure and can create a waist where none exists, and provides some abdominal support as well.
I have no problem with a heavy singer, male or female, as long as the voice is capable. That’s what I’m going to the opera for, primarily, but I also prefer a production that will visually hold my interest, especially from far away. I can’t afford to sit up close and observe every nuance of the performers’ expressions and gestures, so if I have to sit in the peanut gallery, this kind of detail will be out of my range unless I have my opera glasses glued to my face the whole time, which is not the way I want to spend the evening.
And may I remind Gualtier that when Scotto observed the revolution in operatic style approaching with live TV technology, she went on a diet in order to present a more telegenic silhouette? In other words, had Scotto been presented with a “little red dress” production back then, she might well have found a way to make it work (instead of just kvetching about how nobody appreciates battleship-sized sopranos any more.)
Plus, even before the publicized weight loss in the mid 1970s, Scotto was not exactly obese:
In fact, here is La Scotto in something very close (though a bit more revealing) to “little red dress.”
I agree that Scotto was never obese. She has a tiny frame so every extra pound makes a difference. Also she has short limbs, a very round face, and wide hands with short fingers.
All of this means there is absolutely nowhere to hide those extra pounds.
These clips are from the mid/late 60s, by the mid 70s, Scotto had gotten a bit more dumpy.
I saw her mostly from 1970 on and she was carrying some more pounds than the clips La C
posted. But I would guess that when she saw herself on the La Boheme telecast in 1977 and resolved to trim herself, in was a matter of perhaps 25-30 lbs which she lost, which a taller, larger framed woman could more easily get away with.
The transformation was very striking. When she sang Adriana at the Met in 1978 she had slimmed down remarkably and looked very elegant indeed in Adriana’s costumes, especially as she had completed a run of performances that had been started some weeks earlier by Caballe.
Here’s a clip from 1973, Scotto is a bit heavier here, the costume is extemely unflattering so it’s hard to tell but she has more of a double chin than in the Elisir and the Butterfly clips. this is more or less how I remember her from the early and mid 70s when I saw her frequently.
Same for the current production of Fidelio.
Surely Netrebko withdrew from this production because she does not want to be involved in the shitstorm which will greet the final curtain on New Year’s Eve.
If it does, it will be the stupidest booing fit ever. it is not like the production has never been seen or that it is not readily available for either purchase or download or rent anywhere.
This is probably a stupid question, but *if* (and that is a very BIG if) Dessay brings her Violetta to the Met next season -- it’ll be in the Decker production?
Well, Dessay has been announced for the 2011 Season in Aix-en-Provence for Violetta, and she’s mentioned several times in interviews that she is bringing her Violetta to the MEt.
Maybe she can sing it with a microphone opposite Bocelli in the Big Apple Circus tent.
MEt Futures shows a Dessay Traviata for 2011-2012.
No mention of which production will be used.
I doubt Gelb would want to bring the Zeffirelli back.
Buying or renting will not register one’s disapproval with the director. If Willy Decker is there, if the audience doesn’t like the production and want to boo, more power to them.
If you catch the opera on DVD and didn’t like it on DVD, then why would you bother to get to the live performance? Certainly you shouldn’t expect a different production/staging/scenery/costumes.
Booing in that case is an exercise in futility, given that you could hardly say you were taken by surprise at how ugly the hole thing was.
Absolutely spot on, it’s a pointless thing to do. Although sadly the reason some people will bother to attend the production is precisely so they can have a good old boo at something they already know they don’t like.
If anyone has a better definition of self-importance, I’d like to hear it.
Marina is not right for this role. When Debb Voight introduced her in the intermission of Turandot she said she was poised on the verge of a major opera career--I just thought,”HUH”? La Rad is not good in this role either==although she is very good in just about everything else. Give me Anna anyday with Villazon. Her first act was perfect. She moves around the stage like a star. Marina looks as if she is having posture or back problems.