Casting: pearls before swine
Your season planning for Opera Orchestra of New York, cher public, looks a lot more interesting than what the company’s own artistic adminstration is likely to come up with. Thus far, La Cieca has heard one date for certain: that Eve Queler default choice Rienzi, this time with Elisabete Matos—presumably in the not very interesting role of Irene—on February 29, 2012. Meh. The best of your choices after the jump.
The Most Plausible season was devised by Operacat, offering a mix of standard and offbeat repertoire, with casting balancing artistic merit and box office appeal. Sign this cat up, OONY.
The Campiest season evoked a number of wild-eyed responses, but perhaps the most bizarre was Unfaithful Zerbinetta‘s notion of asking Placido Domingo to show up and sight-read five random scores, including one in drag.
U.Z.’s season was also in the running for Most Demented, which just goes to show you that one man’s meat is another man’s, well… let’s let that adage lie, shall we? La Cieca is overjoyed to announce that the competition for Most Demented was so very fierce that the panel of crack experts (who also know quite a bit about opera) were forced to declare a tie.
Dementia shall be shared, then, then, between Grimoaldo‘s “après moi, le déluge” cavalcade of superstars and Killian‘s banquet of Francophone amuse-bouche, either of which would guarantee a lifetime of queenly screams of, “oh, but my dear, you should have been there!”
Congratulations to all four winners, who should be watching their inboxes for news of lavish prizes!
Grimoaldo’s season is the only one I’d subscribe to. As the Andrews Sisters once sang: I can dream, can’t I?
I wish they would just import this recent amazing production of Rienzi
If La Cieca has indeed heard correctly about the February 29 Rienzi, that date represents a change from the dates that were originally announced, without titles or other content appended. As of this morning, the OONY site continues to promise that season details are coming “soon!” as has been promised for close to three months now.
Rienzi is a Wagner bomb, it doesn’t deserve the effort, of a staged performance or a concert one. The bouncy overture ripped off from Italian music is the only music worth listening to. OONY should revive first rate Mercadante and Pacini, not 3rd rate Wagner.
I don’t know Rienzi, but there is a beautiful aria which I know from Sutherland’s Wagner recital, so I am going to respectfully dispute the assertion that there is nothing of merit in the score. I wouldn’t be surprised if it wasn’t the most incisive piece of drama though.
I wouldn’t mind hearing this performed live…if there’s someone able to pull it off , currently…
Before this thread goes stale it must be mentioned that there is a fine Rienzi from Vienna (1960) featuring Set Svanholm (Rienzi) with the outstanding Adriano of Christa Ludwig. Her singing of “Gerechter Gott” is by far the best of any and all attempts of same.
Frankly do not know if this work is available without the other four operas, including Dutchman with Hans Hotter, Tannhaeuser with Rene Kollo, Gundula Janowitz, Lohengrin with Windgassen, Nilsson, Varnay & Fi-Di (!), and a T&I featuring Brilioth and Ligendza.
Anyway--the Rienzi is truncated but the Ludwig performance is so special, it makes it worth it. Oh, and very inexpensive it was for the whole lot. On Bravissimo Opera Library, (division of Allegro Corp.)
ardath -- beg to differ -- Rienzi has some lovely
music, massive choruses -- it is a long opera, generally considerably chopped up -- only saw it thrice, two of the performances being in Vienna with Jerusalem and Urmana. Tenor role is strenuous but
could be marvelously sung by Vogt, Botha, Kaufmann or by Kerl. True, some of the music is tedious but is not also some of Meyerbeer or other grand operas of that era? I should love to see the OONY do Erkel’s Bank Ban (a gorgeous opera) or anything of Weber -- anything !!
I’d prefer Erkel’s “Hunyadi Laszlo”, a lovely bel canto work, though admittedly “Bank Ban” is certainly worthy of a listen.
Konrad -- believe Erkel’s “Hunyadi Laszlo” is considered to be a finer work than “Bank Ban”, but is less frequently performed -- needs two good sopranos. Actually I think the Los
Angeles Opera has scheduled Bank Ban for the season after next. Domingo wanted to do it
and sing the title role at the Washington Opera some years ago but the Board rejected it.
Akin to early middle Verdi with Hungarian overtones -- a good role for a strong lyric or even a helden tenor, a mad scene for the soprano at the end, nice choruses and a meaty role for a Mezzo as well -
Definitely. I’d deem Mercadante’s “Virginia” or Pacini’s “Maria Regina D’Inghilterra” well deserving of an OONY performance.
I’m hoping they get Renee to sing some of this:
Mille grazie, cara La Cieca, che onore!
Rienzi is fantastic. If you can get the totally uncut version (with extra music) that was done by the BBC, get it.
Since Wagner also created an early version to a French libretto (for Paris), someone should exhume that and mount it as a Meyerbeerian grand French opera.
Isn’t it a pity that Leonie never sang Irene?
The BBC version was a revelation. The work complete makes a lot more sense than the chop jobs usually performed, and the massive third act chorus scenes are very powerful stuff.
I see Leonie as more of an Adriano than an Irene. I sang in the chorus the first two times OONY did Rienzi. The choral scenes are wonderful. The chorus loves it as it is highlighted so much. Some good opportunities for full throated singing. I remember singing the last scenes. There are so many characters that the score only shows 2 measures perr page. Suddenly Eve took off like a bat out of Hell--not like we had rehearsed. If you got even a little behind you were on the wrong page. Our choral director nearly fainted but the chorus managed to stay with her. I also remember a competition between Elizabeth Payer and Julia Hamari to see who could hold the high C the longest. All in all a very fun experience with a very excited New York audience.
To be recognized for campiness among this crowd is an honor indeed. Thanks!