Citizen chat
Our Own Betsy yelps, “Stop the presses! We interrupt this program to bring you this special bulletin! OMG ! It can’t be happening — not in MY town! It’s the end of the world as we know it! Today’s chat promises a veritable frenzy of mediocrity, with a few bright spots glittering here and there.
There are no 1 F.K. shows, which as you know are so exemplary that the listener is stunned into rapturous silence. Nor are there any 4 F.K. offerings which invite rapier wit and Neanderthal temperament, so that the entire audience ends up grunting and panting with gore-slathered visage.
But even a non-event can be made newsworthy by gussying it up.
11:00-2:00 LRT KLASIKA: ORLANDO FURIOSO. In his madness, Orlando allows his subscription to “Opera News” to expire, prompting a personal visit from Brian Kellow who refuses to leave until all the Fritos are gone.
11:00-1:00 RTP ANTENA 2: BELSHAZZAR’S FEAST. Mistaking the handwriting on the wall for graffiti, Belshazzar files suit against his decorator.
1:00-5:00 CBC TWO: LA GIOCONDA. While singing “O dolci Nanny” to her blind mother, The Smiling One pleasures herself with a Hello Kitty purchase of a most unusual design.
1:00-4:30 WFMT American Opera Network: TURANDOT. In an effort to come up with at least one satisfactory performance, this will be played simultaneously with the one from Orange (below.) Tough luck ! They still come up one tenor short.
1:00-4:00 BARTOK RADIO: Rossini’s OTELLO. Jason Alexander guest-stars as the wacky neighbor who borrows (and wrecks) Otello’s flagship.
1:00-4:00 DEUTSCHLANDRADIO KULTUR: LES CONTES D’HOFFMANN. Diagnosed with Pilsner’s disorder, Hoffmann becomes a minister in a snake-handling cult.
1:00-5:00 KBYU: LA BOHEME. Perez/Costello vs. Netrebko/Beczala in a tag-team match. The Americans take the gold.
1:00-4:00 NPR World of Opera: UN BALLO IN MASCHERA. DNA testing reveals that Riccardo is Ulrica’s father, and that makes her the Dowager Governor of Boston.
1:00-4:00 NRK KLASSIK: TURANDOT from Orange. In an exclusive TV interview, Turandot shows off her collection of severed heads, including those of a Korean Boy Band who happened to be passing through and didn’t even make it to Final Jeopardy.
1:00-5:00 RADIO CLASICA DE ESPANA: ALZIRA — Alzira is arrested as head of a drug cartel.
1:00-5:00 RTP ANTENA 2: Haydn’s ORLANDO PALADINO. In a twist on Ariosto, Orlando imagines himself a golden-haired stallion and is immediately signed to sing Lohengrin at Bayreuth.
1:00-4:00 WCLV: DON GIOVANNI from Cleveland. The Don goes on a sexual rampage in Cleveland — and nobody notices.
1:00-4:00 WRR: PELLEAS ET MELISANDE. Third head-on competition of the day, this one getts the nod over the Proms version (below)
1:00-4:00 DR P2: THERESE. With the Revolution raging outside her window, Therese mulls whether she dare wear beige with ecru.
1:30- 5:00 RADIO OESTERREICH: PELLEAS ET MELISANDE – Proms. In a happier ending, Melisande gives birth to sextuplets and is signed immediately to a commentator gig on ESPN.
1:30-5:00 SVERIGES P2: I CAPULETI E I MONTECCHI from Goteborg. When their drug tests turn out positive, both kids are packed off to Betty Ford. They each meet somebody new and end up wondering what they saw in each other anyways.
2:00-6:00 ESPACE 2: EUGENE ONEGIN from Riga. On the rebound, Onegin checks into Betty Ford and meets this hot kid from Mantua.
2:00-6:00 FRANCE MUSIQUE and others: DAS LABYRINTH by Peter von Winter. It’s a sequel to DIE ZABERFLOTE, which means some other smart ass has beat me to it.
2:00-4:30 RADIO STEPHANSDOM: Philidor’s SANCHO PANZA and Rousseau’s LE DEVIN DU VILLAGE. Oh wow! A replacement for CAV and PAG as the bread-and-butter twins.
2:00-5:00 LYRIC FM: DAS FLIEGENDE HOLLANDER from ROH. Van der Dencken gets caught up in customs and misses meeting Senta by seconds.
2:00-5:00 RADIO SLOVENIA TRETJE: DIE WALKURE. When Siegmund pulls the sword out, the tree becomes a lovely princess, who was enchanted by her evil stepmother Sieglinde. Narrowly escaping being burned as a witch, Sieglinde takes the veil and writes a notable series of self-help books under the name “Sister Yenta.”
2:20-5:00 LATVIA RADIO KLASIKA: LA BOHEME from Salzburg. The timely development of a wonder drug cures Mimi. She and Rodolfo marry, but he discovers his inner woman and has a sex change.
Betsy, you have outdone yourself. Today’s offerings may be mediocre but you excel. Brava!!
platitudes
Funny you should mention it, papopera: I decided to locate that Texan channel WRR and have just enjoyed Platitude and Melisma for the first time ever.
It was not a clear case of “Debussy Does Dallas”, for this was a French radio relay (available on Naive CD, the announcer coos). Fab cast incl. Von Otter, Holzmair (whom I had only heard in recital before he proved highly effective in the German-language version of the Zemlinsky symphony in Dublin last October) and Naouri -- Monsieur Dessay -- in his signature role of Golaud. Cond. Haitink -- who knew he had Debussy form? But then he is pretty brilliant whichever way you look at it.
Now tuned across to RTS Espace 2 for a recent concert version of the Riga Onegin that I got to see last September. This one was recorded in June with much the same cast. Janis Apeinis as Onegin is coming across rather better on radio than he did on stage; Aira Rurane scintillates once more as Tatyana.
So it’s a big Brava, Betsy from me, too. This is a very welcome weekly service, especially in the summer months -- thank you.
BV!!!
I did not get back to your last missal to little moi in time, and I am sorry. I was not missing you, I just got busy and couldn’t turn back, like Lot’s wife.
I wish I could run away with you to Wexford, as you sound so much fun, but doubt it will happen, at least in this incarnation
In the meantime, please do enjoy Le Roi Malgre Lui, malgre TOUT!
Best wishes from
Camille
In Debussy’s country, its called Pédéraste et Médisance.
You are right, Papopera. And here is a collection of other such hilarious perles on the blog of the violin maker Laurent Blanchard:
http://www.blanchard-luthier.fr/Atelier_FR/blagues.html
In Verdi country (or in my Mother’s home) it is called Pelle,, Ossa e Melanzane.
not to mention “Saucisson et Olida” (Frédéric
Dard -- San Antonio)
A mean composer frind of mine always delighted in calling that magnum opus “Smelly Ass and Belly Sand”, which I thought a tad harsh so I mitiigated the offending title to “Belly Ass and Smelly Sand”.
Now I’ve gone and said it. It really isn’t all that much better, I see.
Oh Betsy!! I knew this morning when I wokeup, re-tarped the roof of the trailer, inflated the wheels, and finally hacked into the wi-fi of the neigbohring church, that you would brighten up my day with your wit and wealth of information… Now, please excuse me, I have to see if I can make a good antenna out of my clothes line where my undergarments are hanging after having let go from laughing so hard
Don’t bother with the DEUTSCHLANDRADIO KULTUR: LES CONTES D’HOFFMANN It’s Villazon sounding really, really bad. Not even Damrau can redeem the suffering you will endure.
Are you certain it’s a repeat of the Munich production? I thought it was Darmstadt.
Yes, it’s from Darmstadt:
Staatstheater Darmstadt
Aufzeichnung vom 12.5.12
Hoffmann -- Joel Montero, Tenor
Die Muse/Niklas -- Erica Brookhuyser, Mezzosopran
Lindorf/Coppelius/Mirakel/ Dappertutto -- Olafur Sigurdson, Bariton
Andreas/Cochenille/Franz/ Pitichinaccio -- Lasse Penttinen, Tenor
Olympia/Antonia/Giulietta/ Stella -- Adréana Kraschewski, Sopran
Die Stimme der Mutter -- Elisabeth Hornung, Mezzosopran
Nathanael/Spalanzani -- Andreas Wagner, Tenor
Hermann/Schlemihl -- Oleksander Prytolyuk, Bariton
Luther/Crespel -- John in Eichen, Bass
Chor des Staatstheaters Darmstadt
Staatsorchester Darmstadt
Leitung: Elias Grandy
Thanks for catching that.
Betsy, a query:
Why did Onegin, in Betty Ford, not run into Romeo or Giulietta, as would seem likely from your modus sneerendi? Why did he settle for a hunchbacked court jester? Truly, I am puzzled.
Since people in the U.S. have been denouncing opera for its highfalutin dullness since at least 1880 (which is somewhat before the era of Pretty Woman, Moonstruck or even Joan Crawford in that thing with John Garfield or, for that matter, the Marx Brothers’ attempt to kill the immortal [it turns out] Trovatore), and since people in England were denouncing opera for the same sins for 175 years before that, and opera has gone on from Age of Gold to Age of Tin, repeatedly, in both countries, I fail to see the relevance of Mr. Woolfe’s piece to anything but his pay check. (cf. Alfred Hitchcock on the motivational power of THAT)
I nearly choked on my cereal reading this article today. I don’t know who Justin Moss is, but if this is his idea of ‘sexy’ and “world class singer…”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/justin-moss/bye-bye-fat-lady-make-way_b_1761490.html?show_comment_id=178494789#comment_178494789
Really? Noah Stewart? I’m sorry, but NO. Full. Stop. He hasn’t been in opera for more than 18 months.
If this is the future of Opera, count me out.
… and goodness me, what a startlingly original take an opera and opera singers as the writer attempts to popularise the art form. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Did you know that all singers were fat, ungainly, and unglamorous before Maria Callas?
Quite. I was discussing that — and poor acting — just the other day with Claudia Muzio and Lina Cavalieri.
I just can’t tolerate this
“Countless reasons for this phenomenon were offered up, but the most popular seemed to be that large girth is necessary for producing big sound”
I don’t like the idea of someone this sophomoric and utterly disrespectful being in charge of management anywhere, especially a house like FGO.
And yet people still cite weight loss as the reason for the vocal problems of singers like Voigt, Brueggergosman, Cedolins…
Lina Cavalieri started her own line of cosmetics and was very, very successful. There is a biography about her, cannot recall the name, that documents as much as humanly possible about her life, accompanied by many wonderful pictures.
There there was our *own* Sybil Sanderson, of the tragic life and untimely end and scurrilous rumours. If she had only settled down with that young Hearst fellow….well, who knows how the world would have been different?
No Esclarmonde nor Thais, nor even Phyrne, though, so, who knows…?
Hey, even Maria Callas was fat, ungainly, and unglamorous before Maria Callas
I was just gonna say, Mary Ann was called obese and even ugly by everyone from Scotto to Serafin to herself.
If you put enough paint on the barn…
Does the Huffington Post pay for stories like that ?
Don’t know what the deal is in the US, but in the UK the HuffPo rather scandalously doesn’t pay its bloggers anything.
In this case, it’s more than he’s worth. Noah Stewart is the most successfully over-hyped singer since…the last one.
Does Stewart really have The Blessed Leontyne’s personal endorsement, as claimed in his publicity?
The only reason Noah Stewart is on this list is because FGO took a lot of well-deserved heat when they made a collage of the “hottest men of opera” and forgot that there are other races besides white. A whole bunch of famous singers, including Larry Brownlee commented extensively on the facebook page of FGO and chastised their ignorance (Larry was of course a gentleman and slung no mud, simply reassuring his friends that it was “Ok, I’m the least sexy person I know”). Naturally, FGO went into damage control and it was frankly adorable to observe them scrambling to apologize.
It appears they haven’t learned from their mistakes…
“Things began to change in the middle of the last century.”
Or not, maybe.
Diva Geraldine Farrar, the Met’s first Butterfly, starred in more than a dozen silent films including Cecil B de Mille’s Carmen and as Joan of Arc:
Heavens! With all the hanging around the past that I do, I never knew that Farrar did a Joan of Arc film. Thanks so much. Does anyone have all of it?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1QB5N8q0b0
I never knew Geraldina made the movie of Joan Crawford’s life!!
Have you seen her Carmen, QPFster?
un pompier! un pompier!
Yes, ma chérie, I’ve seen many incarnations of Farrar’s CARMEN -- all of which have been forgotten, but I think she’s very beautiful as Joan. I wish both of them were with sound, but Gerry must have had a great time in Hollywood back then.
The complete Fararr flick is here in two parts, but they won’t embed:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8553799350590600480
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2297514443619194199
This guy should sing BOHÈME with Jackie Evanko.
PBS Weekend Edition did a long feature on him a couple of weeks ago. He clearly wants to be a crossover star, not an opera star.
He can crossover all he wants, he has an ugly voice.
And ugly technique. I get tired just watching him eke those notes out
I’m glad I made the decision to not see the Aida at Glimmerglass, although now I quite like the idea of watching Noah Stewart get repeatedly water-boarded
Are there no French diction coaches around these days or do diminished budgets mean that opera houses can’t afford them?
Did any member of the cher public hear Stewart’s Radames?
No-way Stewart!
Willym,
French diction coaches, and excellent ones, do exist in today’s world—I know quite a few, and my vote for their excellence is not due merely to their knowledge but also that «personal touch» necessary to help singers absorb material in a respectful, encouraging manner.
I’m referring to those coaches who not only are part of houses’ artistic staff but also in conservatory/university/collegiate establishments and freelance. You were asking specifically about those who are affiliated with opera companies, and how companies’ budgets affect (afflict!) the presence of such artistic staff.
Bull’s eye.
Anything that counts as artistic «polishing» (but really is part of the fundaments of the operatic craft) takes time, which eats up money. Language coaches are found only in the bigger-budget companies, and even in those companies, more and more, music/language staff work on a per-contract/per-production basis. The most glaring example I can think of is the Met, which every season has a sprawling list of cover conductors, assistant conductors (the Met’s «factotum» title which covers hands-on-keyboard musical preparation, hands-off-keyboard musical preparation, backstage conductors, diction coaches etc.), and prompters. Some of them do get invited for several productions per season, most do not (quite a few of whom have jobs with San Francisco, Seattle), and no one is called in to work the entire season. The financial plan is just no longer set up for the likes of an Alberta Masiello.
Every opera company, as a business, has to stay alert year-round, but as a performing entity, every opera company, comes alive when gearing up for a production. When there are substantial lapses of time between productions, as is often found on the regional circuit, then begs the question: what constitutes a «season»? It can feel very «production up… production down, followed by hiatus… next production up… next production down, followed by hiatus». It’s a much more freelance beast («gig to gig») because musical/linguistic staff are only being used X weeks here and there.
Finally, the rhythm of a rehearsal period in regional American opera allows precious little time for those artistic… «subtleties» which really are important elements in creating the «ever-important aural aspect of an opera production». The just-about usual plan is that the cast (soloists only) and artistic/production team meet up on the first day and perform the entire score musically. The conductor will have interrupt from time to time—most often to coordinate pacing (taking time, moving ahead, please perform this straight in tempo, do we need the CARMEN quintet beaten in 1 or in 2?).
That’s just about IT for music-specific rehearsal.
There are usually musical brush-ups for given scenes immediately before staging them; but the main concern is to have it the music enough under control so that the singers can concentrate on props, interaction, logistics. As romantic as the idea of «diva and maestro trading ideas and ideals at the keyboard» is, schedules can’t allow for that in terms of time nor funds. It is expected that the performers have all that figured out by the time they arrive, hence the «pot-luck» nature of so many of these initial sing-through days… and hence the «pot-luck» nature of so many opera performances out there.
Thank you for that thoughtful post! Yes, I have heard often about the inconsistencies to be found between houses and their staffing policies.
I guess we can cut some slack on the grounds that a Michigan Opera Pearl Fishers may not be the most overly funded project (I mean, look at those cardboard palm trees and tell me they can afford a language coach).
la vociaccia, I think those cardboard palm trees are simply part of Zandra Rhodes’ embarrassingly tacky design concept.
http://www.zandrarhodes.com/opera/opera_pearl_fishers.html
I read the article on Designing for Opera at the link and was frustrated by the teeny tiny pictures of the set. Earth to Zandra, please include larger pics when discussing stage design work. From the small thumbnails the sets fleetingly reminded me of the work of Leon Bakst. I wouldn’t use the word “tacky” for her designs -- possibly fussy, but I would like to see such colorful vibrant work for myself some day. It looks expensive to carry out such detail in the costumes, so I don’t imagine that her work is produced cheaply.
http://www.seattleoperablog.com/2010/06/coming-up-in-201011-magic-flute.html
Blue:
TOTALLY OT--but….
Will I feel like I have missed the “show of the season” IF I don’t get my butt up to the Metropolitan Museum, TODAY, for the last day of the “Schiaparelli and Prada: Impossible Conversations”…???
Was gonna go to the Beach—but it doesn’t seem nice enough to ride my bike to the Rockaways…so I was wondering if this is a good alternative fer the day..
thanks!
BP -- is today the last day? Bummer. I saw it during member previews and it was so crowded and hot in there that I vowed to go back another day when I could see more easily and of course, never did. If you can get there it’s worth seeing, but the lines may be extreme -- you should call the Museum to find out, if that would put you off.
Blue:
Yes…today IS the last day—thanks fer the suggestion--maybe I’ll bike up to The Cloisters, and hit The Met Museum on my way back downtown--sometimes the Galleries are a little less crowded , closer to closing time….
Thanks!
picchiettati many thanks for such a detail and informative post -- and when you mentioned the absence of people like the great Alberta Masiello as constant in a house it brought back memories. I am sure that regional house have neither the resources, the money or the time for the sort of preparation that the singers and the audience both deserve.
Betsy, I tried logging on to the chat room but the connection wouldn’t go through. Oh well…
*lights fuse*
From the Amazon link:
“A truly remarkable cast of world opera stars comes together for a breath-taking concert performance of Mozarts Don Giovanni, with Mahler Chamber Orchestra under the baton of Yannick Nezet-Seguin
Deutsche Grammophon artist Ildebrando DArcangelo stars as the rakish seducer of the title, attended by the brilliant Luca Pisaroni as his comic but noble servant Leporello.
The tenor role of Don Ottavio is sung by Rolando Villazon, tenor of the hearts who has made a welcome return to top. His heart-breaking betrothed Donna Anna is soprano star Diana Damrau.
American mezzo soprano Joyce DiDonato is Donna Elvira and young Deutsche Grammophon soprano Mojca Erdmann is the peasant girl Zerlina a role she has sung to great acclaim at the Metropolitan Opera, New York.“
Do you think that was just **possibly** translated (badly) from German. ‘Tenor of the hearts’ is the biggest giveaway.
Can’t DG check this stuff out with their London/New York offices before releasing it to Amazon? It can hardly be time-consuming with email, can it? To describe Donna Anna as Ottavio’s heart-rending betrothed suggests only a passing familiarity with the plot. Heart-rending is an odd adjective this vindictive virago IMHO.
Heart-breaking, sorry. I suppose she breaks Ottavio’s heart if not the audience’s.
I would like to hail the return of Villazon to “top”. I also love the way that JDD is “American” whereas Erdmann is “DGG”, i.e. no fixed abode. Having missed her Zerlina, I really can’t comment (but sure plenty more of you will).
The trajectory of Rolando’s career is almost as irritating as his voice. “I can’t yell over Puccini’s orchestration any more, so I’ll just yell over Handel’s and Mozart’s.” And since Villazon’s fan base is pretty much the same as Bocelli’s fan base, he doesn’t have to worry about upsetting purists. For every Mozartian outraged at his lack of legato or evenness, there are ten people dazzled by his eyebrows
As I’ve said before, the Norman Wisdom of tenors.
Yo, pecador:
Otra vez —-
Camille, you are a riot, such camp!
Villazon’s fan base is nowhere near as large as Bocelli’s, for whom there are millions.
I find Bocelli less embarrassing, to tell the truth. Less of a singer, too, but at least he’s not begging you to love him all the time.
So, since we’ve been talking about mediocrity, popularity, joy and boredom, let me continue these summer reveries with the next question: is there a difference between the joy experienced by people who love Bocelli and the joy felt by people who love, say, JDD? I am not referring here to the (objective) difference between Bocelli’s and JDD’s technique and style, but to the (subjective) feeling of pleasure they may be able to elicit in people. Like, is there an intrinsically superior type of joy and an intrinsically inferior type of joy? And if so, what are the defining criteria?
Without attempting to get too profound, there is maybe a particularly deep joy to be experienced when one’s overtrained, over-exercised critical faculties are beaten into submission by a consummate artist and a one experience an extended moment when the music, text and performance come together in a (as near as dammit) totally satisfying way. That’s different from just liking/enjoying something enormously because ‘you know what you like’.
I think that sounds very clever, Monty. Mais encore faut-il pouvoir le prouver…
I was not trying to be clever, dear oedipe, just trying to express what I feel about this. If I had been trying to be clever, I would have let myself down with my bad typing. It should have read: “…one experiences an extended moment when …”
oedipe,
Your question, particularly “defining criteria”, would take me, at least, months to attempt an answer; let me just say that people who find joy in Bocelli don’t mind what he sings, but people who love music find pain in hearing him in Verdi’s Requiem. I think the second group is capable of a superior kind of joy, the joy, for example, of communing with Verdi.