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Saxe appeal

by | 11:19 pm | Jul 8, 2011

A glance at Opera Orchestra of New York’s 2011-12 season listing reveals a conspicuous and troubling lacuna.

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32 Comments

32 comments

  • louannd says:

    Where’s Jonas?

    on July 8, 2011 at 11:25 PM
  • Quanto Painy Fakor says:

    Probably making room for Alagna’s first Maurizio???? Possibly prematurely announced for Jonas? Possibly contractual issues for recording or video exclusivity? Who knows?

    on July 8, 2011 at 11:37 PM
  • Quanto Painy Fakor says:

    This guy’s vibrato is nearly as wide as a perfect fifth!!!!


    (see also http://www.operaorchestrany.org/media_video.html, where Giordani is the featured l’anima ho stanca”

    on July 8, 2011 at 11:48 PM
    • forthesakeofargument says:

      You are kidding right? Because I would much rather listen to him than most of the pretty looking non-voiced tenors that opera companies are putting on the stage now.

      on July 9, 2011 at 2:55 AM
    • Bluessweet says:

      Wide but sounds controlled. He’s doing more than OK! A recent AVA grad, here’s two recent items:

      http://funkhouserartists.blogspot.com/2011/01/bryan-hymel-stars-in-carmen-in-3d.html

      and…

      at Santa Fe

      Ailyn sings Marguerite through the entire run. Bryan is singing Faust until August 1.
      (From: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lindas-AVA-Page/158012090935450

      Both are AVA grads. I wonder where Ailyn’s Hubby is this summer, I think Europe.

      on July 9, 2011 at 7:57 AM
      • Bluessweet says:

        Here’s what the AVA subsciption schedule contains for 2011-2012:

        http://www.avaopera.org/season/

        on July 9, 2011 at 8:03 AM
      • oedipe says:

        This is a minority opinion, I guess, but I don’t believe that all you need for singing French opera is a powerful voice and a good range.

        on July 9, 2011 at 8:30 AM
      • Quanto Painy Fakor says:

        If he is singing better now and joying a career, perhaps it would be prudent to remove the videos that do not show him in the best light.

        on July 9, 2011 at 8:35 AM
      • louannd says:

        Actually, Pittas pulled out of his performances of Faust in August, and so Hymel will be singing the whole run. I’ve read two reviews of Faust, one of which thought Hymel was the most exciting thing since sliced bread, and the other who thought Hymel was meh when compared with his costar Ailyn Perez.

        on July 9, 2011 at 6:41 PM
    • Cocky Kurwenal says:

      Nothing extraordinary about that vibrato, I wouldn’t have thought. If anything, quite a bit of it through the middle is tight and narrrow. He’s pretty glorious when he opens up right at the end, but for the most part he sounds tense and very cautious. It was pretty much a failure of a performance because it was just so ponderous and concerned only with producing the voice as correctly as he can – no real sense of momentum or phrasing. But the voice itself seems like an excellent one, which will be even better if he works out how to let go of it.

      Can’t say I’ve particularly noticed an epidemic of pretty boy tenors like forthesakeofargument seems to be suggesting, but this guy would, it seems, have been preferable on balance to Valenti who disappointed me in the recent ROH Butterfly.

      on July 9, 2011 at 8:13 AM
      • Tenorfach says:

        Quite agree on the Butterfly!!

        on July 9, 2011 at 10:05 AM
      • kashania says:

        I’ve heard Hymel live a couple of times as Don Jose and Pinkerton and I agree with you, Cocky, about the vibrato, especially it being rather tight and narrow in the middle. In fact, it gives his a voice a goat-like bleat at times that can be unpleasant. For that reason alone, I preferred his Pinkerton where the middle and lower parts were mostly cushioned by Puccini’s denser orchestration. As Don Jose, his voice was more exposed and that bleat was a bit annoying.

        His top is definitely his strength and quite reliable.

        Wasn’t he singing Enee somehwere recently? Seemed like a tall order…

        on July 9, 2011 at 6:29 PM
    • veal seduttore says:

      The vibrato is exciting once you get used to it (Calleja, anyone?)and the breath control amazing, especially given the coma-inducing tempo from Madame Q.

      on July 9, 2011 at 10:41 AM
  • E-news says:

    Wow, I didn’t realize someone had written an opera called “Placido Domingo.” I’m sure Placido will be premiering the bass role.

    on July 9, 2011 at 12:17 AM
  • Tenorfach says:

    “A glance at Opera Orchestra of New York’s 2011-12 season listing reveals a conspicuous and troubling lacuna.”

    Season ………… what season?? Ohhhh that is what they are calling a season now.

    on July 9, 2011 at 10:03 AM
  • Will says:

    Three operas in concert are what they always called a season. There were usually a recital or two but three operas was normal for them. I do note that they’ve done Adriana relatively recently (2002), and really, here is precious little information here: one opera with a star and nothing else, a star without an opera or anything else, and an opera with two headliners and nothing else. If this is how it’s going to be in future with OONY, I fear for them as much as I do for NYCO.

    on July 9, 2011 at 11:45 AM
  • Nero Wolfe says:

    I have never heard Rienzi. I will probably be in NY that week. Is it worth it to come in early for Rienzi? And what about the listed singers?

    on July 9, 2011 at 12:04 PM
    • Cocky Kurwenal says:

      Rienzi is pre-canonical Wagner. If you love Wagner, it’s probably an opportunity not to be missed to acquaint yourself with the work and give yourself some context for what came after, and your readings about his early life. If you aren’t particularly fussed on Wagner, then I wouldn’t bother – it’s a bit of a chore to sit through, and none of the singers is so special as to merit a visit for them alone, whatever Lucky Pierre might pipe up with about Matos.

      on July 9, 2011 at 5:46 PM
      • Pelleas et Melisande @ Most Addictive Opera says:

        If you aren’t particularly fussed on Wagner, then I wouldn’t bother

        *****

        Agreed, but I would add that those who think of Wagner primarily in terms of The Ring, and therefore come unprepared to Rienzi, are in for some especially rude shocks…

        (But the overture is glorious, needless to say)

        on July 9, 2011 at 7:38 PM
      • kashania says:

        For those interested, La Cieca has an old podcast of Rienzi with Jerusalem and Urmana. I think it’s quite worth hearing. Having said that, shouldn’t Rienzi be a once-in-a-lifetime kind of opera? Most companies that present far more operas in a season than OONY have never got around to doing it. Yet, OONY has performed it in NYC in at least three previous seasons (79-80, 81-82, 91-92). Isn’t that more Rienzi than one city could ever need?

        on July 11, 2011 at 12:28 PM
  • Edward George says:

    In Munich, it is now 10th July so, wherever you are Jonas, a very happy birthday to you.

    on July 9, 2011 at 7:30 PM
  • mirywi says:

    httpv://www.youtube/mTWPnsOe_B8

    Giordani sent me next to Esultate sung by Francesco Tamagno. I like that lively vibration in the sound.

    on July 10, 2011 at 5:55 PM
  • zinka says:

    OONY looks borrrrring..I know Angela will cancel, and be replaced by Magda Olivero, who,at 101, can still sing better.

    Placido’s opera is not set yet, but I think he will probably sing Herbie in Gypsy (down a third)

    I saw Hymel live and it was a brilliant voice…Live I did not hear that kind of vibrato

    on July 11, 2011 at 11:40 AM