Yet another reason I’m glad I’m not Peter Gelb
You know, there’s the day-to-day stuff, like is Salvatore Licitra going to sing tonight. And then there’s the “coming soon” stuff, like getting the new Walküre up and running. And the “closely watched” stuff, like the Japan tour, with additional concerns outlined in today’s New York Times. And speaking of that article, there’s bullshit like this:
A Met spokesman said that Mr. Levine was not available to discuss the trip. But his manager, Ronald Wilford, said: “Whatever the Met decides, he will do. If the Met administration believes it can go to Japan and not risk things, then he will go, I think. I haven’t talked to him about it, and I’m not going to.”
And Wilford is the sensible one among the Levine team Gelb has to negotiate with!
This may have been discussed somewhere else, but a friend who was at Rheingold last night (who liked the production, much to my dismay) said that show started about 25 minutes late- Any idea what happened- this seems to be so beyond the 8 minutes late (for latecomers) that the curtain was held for Capriccio… Should we look forward to getting out of Die Walkure around 3am?
3am? My time of day – so glamourous.
Someone neglected to reset The Machine and it had to be returned to starting position before the show could go on.
They had been rehearsing Walkure all day and hadn’t had enough time to reset the machine and clear off some Walkure pieces.
Someone told me that LePage was rehearsing Act I of Walkure today with Westbroek and Kaufmann. He’s supposed to sound incredible.
In response to Scifisci’s question from the Japan blog post (I can’t post on that one for some reason), I have seen two full Rheingolds on DVD. I saw the Schenk one and the Chereau one. I thought the Schenk was fine and the Chereau terrific. I, however, don’t mind a fairly traditional, if flat, production. More than anything, I think it’s necessary that directors present the story as if they are doing it to those unknown to the opera. If they can’t understand it, then the director’s failed to present the central narrative of the piece. All my friends who’ve never seen Rheingold, let alone a Wagner opera, have been so excited to see production clips of this opera. They are really looking forward to the Walkure screening, as am I, in May.
how exactly are you at all the rehearsals at the met? do you work there?
Haha, I wish. I just have a friend who works there, and I just happen to go to a lot of the final dress rehearsals of operas.
No, the Walkuere rehearsal wasn’t onstage.
as noted in the met talk today, walkure has yet to have a stage rehearsal so that couldn’t have been the reason the machine was not “reset”, which sounds quite dubious to me in any case. Wozzeck has been having stage rehearsals.
Can we presume, since we’ve not been told otherwise, that Levine is actually going to conduct Wozzeck? I’m guessing the dress is Monday since the production opens on Wednesday night.
OT:
this is so stunning… seems to be a studio recording. not just borodina but can you believe how seductive, manly and yet sweet cura sounds?
can’t the met sign up cura rather than alvarez or giordani??????
Lucky Pierre, I have this recording and like it a lot.
But it was recorded 13 years ago and neither singer sounds like this anymore.
Cura’s singing is much more strangled and effortful than it was on this recording.
And Borodina sings in a very different way nowadays. Although many adore her sound, I find it badly unbalanced, with all the weight placed on the bottom. Sure that makes for a rich sound, but it is thick and sludgey sounding to me. And the off balance means that when she ventures into the upper part of her middle register, the sound whitens and bleaches out.
Forget top notes, they are hit and miss, but the middle shouldn’t be so compromised sounding.
I do love the way she sounds here and the way she also sounded at her first Met Dalilas around the same time. Just gorgeous. But I don’t like listening to her blowsiness any more.
Richard I think you are absolutely right about Borodina’s balance issues. I’ve heard her twice recently at Covent Garden, as the Princesse de Bouillon and Amneris, and although I found the sound absolutely amazing and loved her authority and old fashioned grandeur, it was evident in the Verdi that she has no level of comfort at the top and it has slightly fragmented away from the rest of her voice because of the extraordinary weight she drags around lower down in her range. I must say that she stole both shows in which I saw her, and I wouldn’t hesitate to rush back and see her in whatever she does because that middle and lower range is so majesterially fabulous, but I think you’re right that if she’d managed it in a different way she’d be in better shape overall now. That said, she belted out both the top c-flats in the triumphal scene and they cut right through, so the top is very much still there – one just feels rather tense on her behalf if she has to sustain a high tessitura for any length of time, or if a top note with an awkward approach is coming up.
The problem with Borodina’s Princesse de Bouillon is that she makes so many stock gestures.
Thanks very much, I’m here all week, try the veal.
Strangely, that somewhat lackadaisical attitude is part of her retro appeal. I imagine Zinka was a bit like that. The voice does smoulder magnificently, though.
Very elegant joke, armer.
Semenchuk is an extraordinary name.
Indeed. It’s sort of what happens when you get a bad taste in your mouth….
richard, was it as good for you as it was for me?
i have only once experienced la borodina live, around 2006, as amneris. i had heard some of her singing on clips here and there, but live, i just about fell out of my seat when she opened her mouth and poured out that dark, deep-wine colored voice, like a true contralto. unfort. i don’t think amneris and eboli are her real fach — as many noted, her high notes are quite short, unlike podles, for example. in the dalila excerpt she still has them, but in the aida i saw, she barely touched that climatic high C and then quickly abandoned it (just like the “o don fatale” that is on YT). i don’t find her lower voice too thick to my taste, it’s not in my view a “typical nonpliant slavic” voice.
i’m sorry to hear about her decline and even sorrier about cura’s. but i must say, hearing the excerpt of the S&D above, i just about creamed in my pants when he crooned “dalila, dalila, je t’aaaaaaaaaaime…”
speaking of typical thick slavic voices, i recently saw semenchuk live in boris godunov. i loved her, but i wonder how she gets to sing carmen, can she lighten it up enough for that? i thought she was great as marian though, and she’s a good looking woman too.
marina, that is.
Semenchuk only ever seems to sing Olga and Marina. She deserves more!
Semenchuk sang Didon in Les Troyens at Carnegie Hall last season with Gergiev et. al. and she was extraordinary!
Whoops – wrong place.
Should be here :
Semenchuk is an extraordinary name.
her bio in the met program says she’s sung carmen all over. also troyens.
i asked this before, but just wondering, what was shuisky doing in marina’s court in act 3 of BG? it was not clear to me what that was all about, and later, he reappers in the duma scene in act 4. thanks.
Lucky,
Borodina was the Marina in my first Boris back in 1998. Ramey (whom I’ve always found wildly overrated – very good back in the day but overrated). She was absolutely amazing and that scene with Leiferkus as Rangoni is still one of my most vivid operatic memories (Ramey as Boris I’ve almost entirely forgotten).
Loved her as Delila and actually as Amneris, Eboli and Deliala as well. Surprisingly as Isabella in Italiani as well. Huge disappointment as Carmen in both 2000 and last year.
Lucky Pierre – this is so beautiful, I’ve just ordered it. Thanks for posting.
can’t the met sign up cura
Met Futures page has him as Otello in 2012-13…..
Did you HEAR Cura on the Stifellio broadcast? It was painful.
no, i didn’t. i’m just saying he sounds great here, even though it’s only a few lines. and as said, it’s a studio recording…
Lucky P -- here is Cura in a recent “Pagliacci” from La Scala. This is what he sounds like now:
I’ll take any of the singers you mention over this.
Good Lord! This REALLY IS awful. I pray this was an “off night.”
Sadly actfive, I don’t think this is an off night – it’s pretty consistent with the direction in which he’s been headed in recent years I’m afraid. His Covent Garden Dick and subsequent Calaf were along these lines, with the Calaf especially painful. Yet another singer who has had a ridiculously short prime.
He’s been singing like that for years…
The power of great representation presumably…
Crikey- I can almost, almost admire the fakery there. He uses every trick in the book to get through it. There’s no denying it sounds bleedin’ awful though.
No “off night” here is Cura in “Madama Butterfly” in Moscow on March 14 -- just two weeks ago:
That’s a LOT better than the Canio or the Chenier, although that’s not saying much.
Wow, the “Vesti la giubba” is just dreadful. The Chenier duet is pretty bad and the PInkerton aria is just OK. What a shame. On the plus side, he’s still looking good.
Jose Cura , maybe 15 years ago put out an opera recital CD. Looking closely at the liner notes, apparently he self financed the thing. Thankfully I was able to return it and get my money back. It was atrocious. The big stand-out….his voice was already noticeably ‘burned’ from too much wear and tear. And to think he still has the audacity to appear???!!
OMG…this is so rough. Cura needs to take some time off to re-evaluate his vocal technique and get things back on track. How could anyone honestly present such singing? It is a shame…truly it is. Cura has it all, and seems to have thrown it away with both hands.
Cura’s voice is gone, gone…long gone! No amount of Super Glue could ever put that fractured vocal Humpty Dumpty, back together again. I suspect it was probably ‘cracked and flawed’ in its technique, from the very beginning.
Hearing such sounds ,you would normally reach out and turn the cold water on full blast -even if they were just vocally clowning around – while they took a shower.
Any wonder Opera provides so much ripe material, for people to send it up, stupid.
The sound he is producing sounds so strained and pushed…it’s uncomfortable to listen to (at least for me) because you can hear the tension and tightness in is throat. As a result of this you don’t get that ‘ringing’ open, thrilling sound great tenors are able to produce. His voice sounds like it has no overtones whatsoever although that might be as a result of this being a yt clip.
I hope what someone said about him singing Othello is a joke because I don’t think he’s up for that in is current vocal condition.
I do hope though that he will find a good voice teacher that can help him with his problems.
God knows there is a huge shortage of world-class tenors now and he certainly does have a good tone and a good instrument, judging from the fact that he can still manage to sing at all in this way.
Tsk tsk such a pity.
They just think to themselves ‘Well, that booing was probably aimed at the artistic administration. It’s the people who hired me that are to blame for the fact the audience hated me’ which is, of course, a massive comfort.
So, how did the audience react? Let’s have a look. But be warned, curtain calls at La Scala can be rather drawn out. If you don’t want to wait, Cura takes his bow at about 4:00.
Brutal, though props to the soprano for giving a one finger salute, so to speak. Cura deserved every boo.
and the dress, especially.
If you saw the production you would understand that the soprano did not have a clue as to what Nedda is about. The director, who had more cars onstage than a repoman’s driveway really sucked and Harding, who is usually quite good really shows his defects with the standard repertory Italian opera. Audience was right to boo.
Did you see this comment on YouTube:
“tutti meritati i buuu!! è? stato davvero uno spettacolo indegno, sotto il profilo vocale!”
God bless the Scala audience. How thrilling to hear deserved boos. Makes the applause mean more when it happens there, yes?
On a related note, Mr. Cura needs to stop singing opera immediately and become my concubine. The bed’s warm and waiting, Jose!
Ok, we’ve had the booing debate on here many times and I’m not about to open it up again. But, seriously, how depressing to be ‘thrilled’ by seeing a fellow human being humiliated in this way.
Cura at least seems to have good sense in that he quickly takes one polite bow and steps back into the line. Dyka tries to milk the meager applause which only enrages her detractors further.
As La Cieca has mentioned before, numerous times, it is helpful to recall that generally such booing should be understood not simply as an immediate visceral reaction to an individual, but rather as an “I’m mad as hell” moment a la Network, a cry of rage and frustration at a system that seems to have failed the people it is designed to serve. In other words, a boo for Oksana Dyka is really a boo for the limp noodles in artistic administration who hired her (of all people) to sing Nedda at La Scala.
Or, to paraphrase Smithers from The Simpsons, they’re not booing the singers, “they’re saying ‘Boo-reaucracy! Boo-reaucracy’!”
La Cieca is correct about the booing. I would have booed it too. I hope those of you here who have wondered what it takes to be a stage director can see that this staging of the Nedda aria is so wrong and so badly conceived. Neither the director or the singer communicate any idea of what this aria should be and what Leoncavallo composed in it. The lightings is all wrong, her position on the apron is ridiculous, the incorrectly declaimed words inexcusable, the costume serves nothing, it’s all really terrible. If you don’t feel cheated by this then you have no idea what’s missing or what is wrong with it.
Worst of all, obviously nobody in the La Scala administration objected or insisted on something better from the director. Right from the start, the conductor should have seen there was no interpretation happening in rehearsals, and all involved are probably very proud of the result. It sucks.
What I wonder about is the psychology of the singers after a reception like that. I know they’re surrounded by friends and managers who tell them they’re wonderful and to ignore those few booers who are a bunch of jerks. But the singers know how they sounded, they can read reviews, and they know that even the applause was pretty tepid. What sort of mental contortions do they have to go through to enable them to walk out on that same stage five days later and give another performance?
They just think to themselves ‘Well, that booing was probably aimed at the artistic administration. It’s the people who hired me that are to blame for the fact the audience hated me’ which is, of course, a massive comfort.
(reposted in the right place)
Actually AJ, I believe the singers think when they’re being boo’d:
‘Golly, maybe they have a point. Well to hell with this, I’m going back to beauty school and getting my aromatherapy certificate. Or maybe accounting. I do like numbers after all. But these anonymous people out there, in the dark, they’re really on to something’.
putinpao, why? you’ll just behead him anyway…
i guess you like bears… he’s looking mighty chunky these days.
Cruz, if you mean the “eEmperor of Atlantis” fragment, yes I saw it, and found it impressive. I admit I never heard before of this work, nor of its composer, although of course I had some idea about music in the Terezin ghetto. And I just discovered it would be performed in Warsaw in February 2012, so I think I’ll make sure not to miss it. Thanks a lot for this, the more so that looking for Ullman, I discovered a completely unknown to me Warsaw modern opera festival, to happen end 2011/beginning 2012, with plenty of very interesting works I never saw before!
Liana, I meant the excerpt from “Strasny Dwor” @ 12.2.6 here:
http://parterre.com/2011/03/28/le-duc-dorleans-le-duc-dayen/#comments
I know you’ve heard it before.
Best wishes from me to you.
True; Emperor of Atlantis was from Brooklynpunk (thanks a lot). Yes, I saw it, of course, and I’m glad you liked the opera; it’s a charmer, IMHO, but doesn’t travel well. Best wishes back at you
Doesn’t travel well? From a concentration camp?
Boston had 5 performances in February. Huge success!
Not the “Emperor”, BillyBoy, “the Haunted Manor” by Moniuszko, a comic opera which has nothing to do with concentration camps, happily.
Liana
It is certainly MY pleasure to turn you on to something you might have been unfamilar with–since you have done the same,MANY TIMES, here….
(and..I had no trouble figuring out what you were referencing when you mentioned a work that might not travel well…lol!)
There are 4 performances of The Emperor of Atlantis in London next week at the Cello Factory, Waterloo, should anybody be interested in hearing this excellent (short) piece.
is there a chat tonight?
Don’t know, Basso, but Licitra is a real mess…….
I was there last night and reviewed it on Opera-Hell just to remind them what they should be reading. With La Cieca’s indulgence for cross-posting here is my account:
I decided last night on the spur of the moment to check out the last cast
of “Tosca” in the dank, dreary Bondy production. I didn’t have much
expectation from the cast or the production. James Morris has been showing
his age and Scarpia is a baritone role requiring a lot of stamina and high notes
from a sixty something bass-baritone. Violeta Urmana is an estimable singer
but never struck me as much of an actress. Salvatore Licitra’s vocal
technique is an insult to his superb vocal endowment. Marco Armiliato
conducted the opera like a dirge earlier this year for Sondra Radvanovsky et
al. But it was rainy and an empty night and I decided to go.
It was better than I expected. First of all, James Morris had a respectable
old-timer night – not all the vocal punch or plush we remember but he got
through it with style and canniness. He did things like start the “Te Deum”
very softly so the climax didn’t push his voice into wobble. Paced himself
expertly through Act II. The high notes were there and the tone was firm if
dry in places. Not as high a level of energy as Terfel or even Struckmann
(Morris’ voice is in better shape though) but carried it off. Even in this off-
putting, at times senseless production, Morris kept his dignity and hit the
necessary marks. In the Bondy production usually the stabbing of Scarpia is
an unconvincing mess – Tosca on the sofa stabbing him from underneath.
Radvanovsky looked like she was pricking Scarpia with the knife like he was a
turkey and she was checking if he was done. Urmana did a good underhand
thrust and then gave him another while getting up and finishing him off with
the third thrust – the coup de grace – right in time with the music. Morris did
an excellent fall to the floor with a death rattle timed right to the music. The
audience almost burst into applause. Morris handled the business with the
strumpets and the statue of the Madonna with restraint getting the point
across without losing his dignity. Morris knows how “Tosca” is supposed to
play and put it over despite the production.
Like Morris, Urmana seems to be an experienced Tosca and got in the
standard points and necessary effects to communicate the spirit of the work.
Not a great Tosca but a high level one worthy of respect. Urmana’s acting
was quite spirited and detailed. She understood all the little changes of mood
and expertly delivered them. The audience (with a lot of young people and
non-opera maven types) laughed at her jealous outbursts in Act I which I
found a good thing. They were following her characterization and were buying
into it finding the humor. Tebaldi always said that Act I of “Tosca” was
romantic comedy. Urmana’s current soprano voice has a lot of beauty in the
middle octave – warm, plangent, enveloping with thrust and sweetness.
However, the upper register is there but doesn’t bloom. She has to pump out
the high notes with muscular force and they are on pitch and not shrill but
lack flexibility and are detached from the line. The thrill of a soaring high
phrase that opens up is not within her compass. Individual high notes or
phrases delivered as declamatory outbursts could be successful – the final B-
flat on “Scarpia, avanti a Dio!’ for example. Others were pushed or short – the
high C on “Io quella lama” in Act I was short and she skipped another C in
the “Ah non piu reggo” outbursts in Act II. Otherwise, it is an ample, warm
sound in the more Germanic style of Tosca interpretation with a good routined
sense of the style. Despite being a tall, ample woman she moved well and
looked handsome in the costumes and didn’t look fazed by any physical
business.
Salvatore Licitra began very badly in his first aria. The voice now has a
pinched whiny quality reminiscent of Gianni Poggi on those old Decca lps.
Once in a while he will get under the tone and a ringing high note or burnished
low one will emerge reminding you that this is a quality spinto instrument. But
the squeezed off-pitch tones continued for most of the evening. He actually
improved a bit in Act III singing an acceptable “E Lucevan le Stelle” with
attempts at pianos on the ” Le belle forme disciogliea dai veli” phrase.
Whininess still encroached on sustained phrases. Licitra also is an experienced
Cavaradossi and it is an easier role than Calaf or Radames. Licitra also has
improved as an actor. So he had a certain authority. I will also mention that
it was nice to hear an old-fashioned dramatic soprano and italianate spinto
tenor in this opera where pushed lyrics have had dominance for some years.
Usual suspects in the supporting roles – Richard Bernstein as Angelotti (looking
and sounding good), Paul Plishka as the Sacristan, Dennis Petersen as
Angelotti with James Courtney as the Sciarrone. Marco Armiliato conducted
with greater speed and thrust this time – giving us the solid idiomatic
interpretation with have come to expect from him.
Not a great or revelatory evening nor an essential item to see this season but
a professional repertory outing with some good points from Urmana and Morris.
The big news was that before Act III a stagehand came out with a stool with
a red cushion and a golden crown. James Morris and Peter Gelb came before
the black show curtain. Peter Gelb saluted James Morris for his 40 years of
service as Gods and Kings at the Met (starting with the King in “Aida” in
January 1971). Gelb reminded the audience that after 800 plus performances
(including 75 as Scarpia) his career is far from over and Morris did a crossing
his fingers gesture. Morris spoke a few words about growing up at the Met
and starting in the 1970′s when many of the greatest operatic artists were at
the Met and learning from them. He mentioned his wife and children and the
backstage staff at the Met and their support. He also called the Met the
greatest opera house in the world. Big applause and the third act started. So
that was nice to see despite any disappointments in the production or singers.
BTW: the golden crown on the red cushion was the one Morris wore as King Philip in the previous production of “Don Carlo”. Gelb had already presented him with Wotan’s spear at the last performance of “Walkure” in the Schenk production in 2008.
FYI: for Dame Kiri fans, she’s being interviewed during the first intermission on Sirius tonight.
Here is an excerpt of Anna Netrebko’s Coppia Iniqua. Apologies if this has been posted before.
I’m looking forward to it now.
I know Cieca is going to jump on me for saying this, but I actually expected worse! Maybe not fair to judge as this may be a rehearsal or an early outing in the role, but inspite of the approximations of this cabaletta as predicted and discussed a while back here, I am blown away by her! Does anyone know if this is going to be taped for DVD.
It will be broadcast by Arte for Europe, of course.
That excerpt couldn’t have started at a better point in the aria if it had been designed to create comment on this site…
I think the editor of that radio show is a visitor of this site.
AJ – who cares what anyone can say about that tchnically? When someone sings with that kind of intention and conviction that they can burp and I’ll buy it!
Well.
Love.
It.
LOL. Well said. I second that. Can’t wait to hear more…
It is being recorded for a CD/DVD release and I believe the second performance is being broadcast to theaters but only in Europe :/
I have to say I’m really impressed with her willingness to take on such a role because frankly, she didn’t really have to accept this challenge. She could have just kept performing the ‘standard’ repertoire that has garnered her so much fame/sucess and it wouldn’t have made a dint in her career I think because she’s already such a staple.
But this is a real risk (and challenge) for her and therefore I am impressed. I didn’t really think she cared about being part of the legacy of great singers/interpreters. I thought she just cared about getting to perform (although I still think this but to a much lesser extent).
But after she had her baby its like she did a total 180. She didn’t lose the weight. She’s slowly but surely starting to give more serious interviews and she’s adding more and more new roles to her repertoire.
Also, she has a beautiful voice and a great top.
The middle could use more agility and breath support (and yes she needs to enunciate better and get the trills down) but her commitment and musical instincts, to me at least are sport on, even if not achieved with pristine quality and technique I can always sense where she’s going with the vocal line and the expression of it.
When she performs a role I believe her.
She’s not a Diva though. She’s too ‘real’ for that.
Modern Opera singers make Angela G seem like an anachronistic type of personality.
you’re spot on about her not having to take on this challenge. she could have easily gone the angela G. route and sing mimis, violettas, juliettes etc. for the rest of her career. It’s so apparent from this clip that this is really a dream role for her as she says, and I hope she goes on singing dream roles!
it’s amazing the crap singing that will be accepted by some on this site, as long as it comes out of the rack of Anna Netrebko. It’s blowsy, overblown, gasping for air, and completely lacking in clear approximation of the actual notes she is supposed to be singing. And of course, as figured, her attempts at the trills are laughable. As usual, if she could at least sing the score as it was written, that would be a step up for her. But as long as she screams her head off, wags here will consider it “conviction”. No, it’s a girl with no technique screaming. So for those wondering, yeah, someone here thinks it sucks, for all the right reasons.
Huh? Where are the trills?
Where are the Nachschlags???? A lot of it is better than I expected too. Of course it’s a rehearsal and I’m praying for the best success for Anna. Maybe having done it now with orchestra she realizes even more the difficulties at hand. The great acoustics of the Staatsoper will be helpful. It’s not that easy to accompany this cabaletta. I will always remember Callas quasi marking, determined, collegial, thrilling, and cautious as she and Rescigno worked their way through this cut version in the Dallas rehearsal:
At 07:48-49 Alberta Maisiello can be heard helping Callas find her way back into the fray.
Ok, who had 9:12 PM?
Oh that bitch sings like a crazy person! We love, love, love her!
Work!
Anna Netrebko to Hongmatmeadatron: Oh its already been broughted!
Well EVERYBODY knows that Dominique Meyer really hates opera anyway.
love how she says…this opera especially needs acting skills…I saw the video clips from dress and I am afraid I got flashbacks from Puritani…but I think it wont be that bad…she looks stunning!
Is Ildebrando D’Arcangelo still Enrico?…
He’s canceled the first performance but supposedly will be back for the TV broadcast one on Tuesday. The Saturday performance will be on the radio, though, http://oe1.orf.at .
Oh wow this is fabulous. She seems to have found the stamina to sustain this incredibly difficult cabaletta, which is really no mean feat. But above all, i love the way she tears into it along the lines of sills/gencer. I cannot wait for this in the fall.
I was not at the general rehearsal yesterday but got a long description of it from someone who was. He is not a Trebs fan but reported that she was better than he expected though still sometimes approximate in coloratura. He described Garanca as generic and Meli (the tenor) as strained, and the production as traditional, lifeless and static, lots of dresses and little happening except a weird final scene. I’ll be at the prima tomorrow and will post a review on my blog.
“I think this role needs acting skills”…said the diva.
Singing skills wouldn’t hurt either. Why attempt dramatic coloratura roles when this is not your Fach? It only exposes weaknesses, and minimizes strengths. The beautiful Anna has much to admire vocally as well as physically…but she is no successor to Leyla Gencer, Monserrat Caballe, Renata Scotto or Maria Callas.
Netrebko should stick with the long line and the plush music of Strauss and Puccini, and forget such flights into bel canto where her lack of top notes, an honest trill, and a balanced scale disappoint anyone who knows what the demands of such music include.
Looks like Anna Bluelena
Like Anna Bolena would every rate that sort of coverage on American primetime television, where people are encouraged to prefer this sort of thing:
Lots of photos – and it seems d’Arcangelo will sing at the prima.
http://intermezzo.typepad.com/intermezzo/2011/03/anna-is-anna.html#comments
Maybe the Saturday chat can be transferred from Rheingold to Anna?
Neither Anna nor Elina ever seems an interesting singer to me, but they sure do look purdy. And, of course, Ildebrando will look purdy too. The ladies of the chorus are another matter.
I was totally converted to Garanca when I heard her in Bolena at the Liceu. It’s the richness and security of the voice, and its size, that makes it exciting live. I agree that on record/DVD she can sound blandish.
But Garanca **never** seems to connect with the text (or, in fact, the notes) very deeply. That was a problem when she competed in Cardiff Singer of the World (guest commentator Barbara Bonney went positively quim-a-tremble over her , I remember — must be the Nordic thing) and, as far as I know, that is still the case. I have only seen her live once, though, performing Berio with Mariss Jansons at the Barbican, and I found her a bit anonymous and blowsy. Maybe I need to give her another chance, but I sort of can’t be bothered.
If she warms herself up, she could be a good Eboli one day, I suspect.
Monty, she wowed the crowd the one and only time I saw her, as Adalgisa to Gruberova’s Norma at the Wiener Staatsoper in December 2007(concert only at La G’s insistence):
[img]http://parterre.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/StaatsoperGruberovaGarancaCura.jpg[/img]
And who’s that Pollione with them? Why, none other than the past-it Mister Cura!
Pardon the blurred shot – I wasn’t particularly overcome (though let me say that they nailed the Norma-Adalgisa duet – top teamwork there), just using my little old Nikon brick sans flash.
I do think Cura is a sad story. He looked like he had it all at one point, but seems to have sabotaged himself over the past 10 years or so. Personally, when it comes to, say, Otello, I’d much rather listen to a voice like his (if properly used) than Domingo’s.