We’ll take a chat o’ kindness yet
As La Cieca (pictured, alas) whoops it up somewhere in the vicinity of Lincoln Center tonight, she hopes that you, the cher public, will at least kick off your festivities with a chat during tonight’s Met prima of La traviata, beginning at 7:00 pm.
Details after the jump.
- Sirius
- Met Listen Live
- Vocal score
- Libretto: Italian, English
some thoughts about New Year’s Eve: Poplavskaya quite uneven musically, but compelling to watch and to listen to; some very fine musical moments especially in act 2 (both scenes; was she warming up in act 1, then tired already in act 3?) musically below the level of her best Elisabetta (of the two I heard) but I will go back to hear her again in Traviata; Polenzani sounded sometimes beautiful but always lyrical and quite un-Italianate of course; Dobber was dull: why was he cast for this new production? Noseda was fine, but was not enough all by himself to make this into a convincingly Italian evening. . .
the production: act I scene 1, rather effective, even a little shocking; scene 2: keep the tenor off-stage, please; and by now we are already tired of the heavy symbolism of the clock, and, still worse the allegorical figure of Old Father Time who will later become the doctor in act 3; this was silly and pretentious. . .
act 2, scene 1: very silly: the five couches with their floral coverings and matching bathrobes; scene 2: very effective use of the ballet to taunt Alfredo with the bull, the dress, and the drag Violetta; interesting transition to act 3, but get the chorus off stage faster, so they aren’t shuffling and distracting our attention from the musical prelude. . .
act 3, could we have one of those couches please for the dying woman? the “rink” look doesn’t work for me, and why is everyone just sitting around moping while Violetta finally expires? in the end, I think, the clock and the Father Time clock-keeper are going to make this production seem like a parody of symbolist staging. . .
but the whole night at the opera was definitely fun!
I’m still a little tempted to go because, as said, it might be fun. Why resist investing a little time on it? I love watches, love those Swiss Army wrist watches that look like the ones in train stations in Switzerland. So Einstein! So early twentieth century!
Why not a Fanciulla set in a Chilean mine? That will speak to the here and now. At the end, when coming out of the hole to the light the singers can make ‘California’ sound like ‘hole mine’. If the production is done somewhere, the director can write a long tractatus explaining, explaining, explaining.
There are so many clever things that can be done. Maybe that is the future of opera, an endless variety of sets. People will be excited about what they will do with sets in China.
I’m more curious to see and hear what Dima does with Simone.
Hvorostovsky was not vocally convincing at all as Rigoletto in London recently. Most of the time he sounded like someone was sitting on his chest, whether in the cantilena (especially where it dipped lower) or in the more explosive stuff. I really can’t imagine him as Boccanegra.
By the way, the Swiss watch I mentioned is named Mondaine, and Violetta is a demi-mondaine. I’ll ponder on the possible deep significance of that.
Sterlingkay: Old LPs? You’re not serious, are you? I’m sure it’s stll old 78s!
I’m looking forward to hearing all about the “Regie” productions that Ms. Nelli liked in great detail.
This imported Salzburg Traviata swept away years of kitsch and mess and I, for one, applaud it for at least doing that. On top of that, it was dramatically compelling and had the characters actually interacting with each other which is something I never saw no matter who the singers were in the 12 years that that Zeferelli thing was around (even though I liked some of it).
This is what the best Regie productions do: they make you at least think. If you open up your mind to do so. Which I realize is a tall order for a certain — as I said before — thankfully dying out breed of so-call “opera fan.”
So I notice they imported Luigi Roni to play Doctor Grenvil/Directorial-concept-of-death, as he did in Salzburg. He’s been singing at La Scala for the past 40 years or so. Is this his Met debut?
No, he was at the MEt for a run of Aidas many years ago.
@Amerjacquino, comment on 38:
About 2000 persons were slain in the Massacre of St. Bartholemew … followed, it is true, by many other massacres all over France. (As the Duc de Guise’s married sister put it, “I’ll get into the habit, just not into a habit.”) But still, the 2000 is fewer than the number killed on 9/11.
I was making the mistake of believing wiki, which lists casualties as being between 5 and 20 thousand.
BUT even the Catholic Encyclopedia admits to figures between 2000 and 70,000.