# Met Opera: The Audition



## rgz (Mar 6, 2010)

Started watching this last night on Met Player, fully intending to stop after 30 minutes or so, but it was just too interesting to stop. Anyone else seen this? It covers the 2008 (iirc) Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions through the semi-final and final round. Although there are 22 competitors in the final round, the movie only covers 11 of them so one has a fair chance of guessing who wins.

Obviously singing opera is incredibly difficult but this movie gave me even more respect for top tier stars; only one of the competitors had what I would consider a Met-worthy voice without more training, and one of the competitors in particular I was surprised had made it that far (winning their local and regional competitions already). There are some interesting storylines as well -- the young tenor who decides at the last minute that his best shot at winning is to sing an aria he's never sung in audition before -- no less than Ah! Mes Amis; an incredibly confident 22 year old who approaches the audition like he's on Survivor; the young woman who is worried that her weight will tip the voting against her. 

Anyway, it was just really compelling and I think everyone here would like it. Makes me wish they'd do a documentary each year on this competition as I'd definitely watch it.


----------



## amfortas (Jun 15, 2011)

I saw the PBS broadcast; you're right, it was wonderful (though I thought their similar documentary on the Van Cliburn competition was even more compelling). I seem to remember that a disproportionate share of the tenors were among the winners. Once again, no love for us baritones!


----------



## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

rgz said:


> an incredibly confident 22 year old who approaches the audition like he's on Survivor;


And he's doing pretty well out of it: wiki link


----------



## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

I watched it, and loved it. It was actually the first video I watched on MetPlayer. Strong work, very humane story-telling. A nice piece of well-done documentary. 

This is the kind of thing that the BBC does all the time. I wish we had more of this here in America.


----------



## Dakota (Jun 30, 2012)

I LOVE that film and have seen it three times (so far). It is tremendously exciting to see the former participants appear on the Met stage: Angela Meade in Ernani, Matthew Plenk in Lucia di Lammermoor, Alek Shrader in I-forget-what next season.

In March, 2012 I went down to the finals concert for the first time; WHAT a fabulous experience that was!! Great audience too; I talked to so many folks, all had either been going every year for decades or were first-timers like me. (Another first-timer sitting in my box had never heard a countertenor before and blurted "I didn't know a man could sing that high!" after the Russian countertenor sang his first aria. He was one of the winners.) I plan to go every year now and have the middle of March marked on my calendar forever. 

Does anybody else here go to the auditions?


----------



## guythegreg (Jun 15, 2012)

amfortas said:


> I saw the PBS broadcast; you're right, it was wonderful (though I thought their similar documentary on the Van Cliburn competition was even more compelling). I seem to remember that a disproportionate share of the tenors were among the winners. Once again, no love for us baritones!


Now, now ... OPERA FANS love the baritones, and we're the only ones that count! Bastianini forever! (He was a baritone, right? lol) And Gobbi! And Milnes! And Hampson!


----------



## Dakota (Jun 30, 2012)

hahaha......... Well, the baritones balanced things up somewhat in 2011 when FOUR of the five winners were baritones or bass-baritones: http://www.metoperafamily.org/uploadedFiles/MetOpera/auditions/national/MONCWinners.pdf Way to go, guys!!

One thing I noticed in my tiny sample of audition winners (2007 and 2012) was that in each of those years one of the tenors tackled (successfully) the nine high Cs in "Ah! Mes Amis!" and went on the become one of the winners. Do I sense a trend??


----------



## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

guythegreg said:


> Now, now ... OPERA FANS love the baritones, and we're the only ones that count! Bastianini forever! (He was a baritone, right? lol) And Gobbi! And Milnes! And Hampson!


And Simon Keenlyside 

This is me & the delectable Simon after a recital at Temple Church in London. (Da Vinci Code fans will know of this church)


----------



## guythegreg (Jun 15, 2012)

And Keenlyside!! actually I haven't heard him in anything really good ... what's your fave?


----------



## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

guythegreg said:


> And Keenlyside!! actually I haven't heard him in anything really good ... what's your fave?


_Macbeth_, he was amazing, superb, sublime and I got to see it twice at ROH.










and _Hamlet_. He's going to be performing it in UK in 2016.










I love this from Hamlet


----------



## guythegreg (Jun 15, 2012)

sospiro said:


> _Macbeth_, he was amazing, superb, sublime and I got to see it twice at ROH.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


You know, it GRABBED me! He is very smooth! I was holding off on getting this DVD, in spite of my love for Natalie Dessay - the Met wants $40 for it - but this looks like a winner!


----------



## Dakota (Jun 30, 2012)

sospiro said:


> I love this from Hamlet


Thanks for posting that video! I got to see that Hamlet in the HD series in 2010 and it WAS riveting. I have never seen Macbeth but he will be in The Tempest at the Met next season, looking forward to that.


----------



## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

Dakota said:


> Thanks for posting that video! I got to see that Hamlet in the HD series in 2010 and it WAS riveting. I have never seen Macbeth but he will be in The Tempest at the Met next season, looking forward to that.


Dakota - are you going to see _The Tempest_? Envy, envy, envy.


----------



## Dakota (Jun 30, 2012)

sospiro said:


> Dakota - are you going to see _The Tempest_? Envy, envy, envy.


LOL, you bet I am! I never miss cheap (HD series) and free (web streaming) opera; gotta save up my pennies so I can go to NYC or Philly or DC occasionally.


----------



## tyroneslothrop (Sep 5, 2012)

Although I can see this on the Met's Opera on Demand, I almost ended up with a DVD of this. Some woman calls me up asking if I will upgrade my membership in one of the Met's endless fund raising campaigns. What do I get I ask? Well, you can pick from a set of DVDs. Which ones? She goes over the usual, Aida, etc. What about Wagner's Dream, I ask? Well, you can get that online at the shop, but I am not authorized to offer that one. Finally, she mentions, "The Audition". Well, I knew this was available on Opera on Demand, but there is something about seeing it on a big screen TV that appeals to me  so why not? I upgraded my membership and she promises "The Audition" will be winging its way to me. Well imagine my disappointment when I open the mail today to find... yet another "Met Opera hot beverage thermos"! (to join the other 2 Met Opera hot beverage thermoses I have)   Oh well, it's all for a good cause I guess! :lol:


----------



## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

tyroneslothrop said:


> Although I can see this on the Met's Opera on Demand, I almost ended up with a DVD of this. Some woman calls me up asking if I will upgrade my membership in one of the Met's endless fund raising campaigns. What do I get I ask? Well, you can pick from a set of DVDs. Which ones? She goes over the usual, Aida, etc. What about Wagner's Dream, I ask? Well, you can get that online at the shop, but I am not authorized to offer that one. Finally, she mentions, "The Audition". Well, I knew this was available on Opera on Demand, but there is something about seeing it on a big screen TV that appeals to me  so why not? I upgraded my membership and she promises "The Audition" will be winging its way to me. Well imagine my disappointment when I open the mail today to find... yet another "Met Opera hot beverage thermos"! (to join the other 2 Met Opera hot beverage thermoses I have)   Oh well, it's all for a good cause I guess! :lol:


What a shame! At least you kept your sense of humour! Maybe you'll get the DVD one day.


----------



## Chi_townPhilly (Apr 21, 2007)

tyroneslothrop said:


> Some woman calls me up asking if I will upgrade my membership in one of the Met's endless fund raising campaigns.


I don't have any close friends who live in Manhattan right now.

This means that when I get a call with the 212 area-code, I don't pick up the call!


----------



## PetrB (Feb 28, 2012)

Trivial side note / fact.

The Met allows only one (1) audition for that institution, "like, ever as in once in your lifetime."

That is enough, right there, to show what kind of self-assessment of their ability and readiness the applicants have to make before they even apply, knowing that in auditioning for Met there is truly "No Second Chance."

High-wire act, to be sure


----------



## Cavaradossi (Aug 2, 2012)

PetrB said:


> Trivial side note / fact.
> 
> The Met allows only one (1) audition for that institution, "like, ever as in once in your lifetime."
> 
> ...


Not true. For the Met National Council Auditions, the finals of which are portrayed in "The Audition", you can audition once every year until you turn 30. I believe some of the contestants even mention previous attempts in the film. It still places alot of pressure on the performance of one or two arias.


----------

