# The Met - Damned If It Does, Damned If It Doesn't



## superhorn (Mar 23, 2010)

Music critics and many other people are constantly complaining how the Met does this or that opera in terms of staging and set design . They never seem to give this great institution any slack . Of course, they're certainly entitled to their opinions, and you can't expect them to like everything the Met does , but they've become sort of like the boy who cried wolf. You cant ake them seriously .
It makes no difference how the Met does an opera . The critics are always sneering at the gorgeous elaborate sets and staging of Zeffirelli , and most sneered just as much at the Met's pre machine Schneider-Siemssen/Schenck Ring, as well as the new one .
But when the Met does a lean and mean production of an opera, without opulent sets , the critics complain also that the sets are too plain and even ugly . This happened with the Met's latest Tosca. They complained about the plainness of the recent Anna Bolena sets, yet if the Met had offered opulent sets and costumes, they still would have complained .
If the Met does a non-eurotrash staging with no arbitrary gimmicks set in the time and place of the action , critics accuse the Met of being stodgy and unimaginative . If it does a production which updates the action and has some gimmicks, they also complain .
Another annoying tendency of critics is to use the productions of other opera houses, such as Seattle in particular, to bash the Met's productions .
Sigh . The Met just can't win for losing .


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

Of course that comes from being "pre-eminent". That said I've enjoyed a lot of productions from the Met but there are very few that I am excited about, unlike, say, Glyndebourne.

One thing that comes out very clearly is that artists often express pleasure at singing there. They are friendly and look after their people well.


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## guythegreg (Jun 15, 2012)

Well, OK ... but ... but ... but their new Tosca was really AWFUL! I mean, if we had hired Joe Schmo from East Bizzaws, Arkansas to do the production, we might be impressed, but this was Luc Bondy! Did you see his Don Carlo, with Mattila and Alagna and Hampson? OMG the guy is great. Or he can be. His Don Carlo was colorful and thoughtful and charming. His Tosca: none of the above. I don't care how much we paid him for that, it was too much.


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## MAuer (Feb 6, 2011)

My primary objection to Bondy's _Tosca_ was his treatment of the character of Scarpia (which, thank goodness, had been toned down by the time I attended the spring revival with Bryn Terfel in the role). Scarpia is a man who preserves a public image of rectitude, however he may behave in private. We see it when he reprimands the choristers for behaving too rambunctiously in the church ("Un tal baccano in chiesa! Bel rispetto!"). So while I certainly could have imagined this man entertaining ladies of the night in his private apartment at the Palazzo Farnese, there is absolutely no way he would have engaged in lewd behavior with a statue of the Madonna in the church -- especially with the entire congregation present.


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## guythegreg (Jun 15, 2012)

Honestly, I didn't see any performance in which anyone molested the Virgin Mary. I saw the dress rehearsal in the fall, and then a followup performance (that did have Bryn Terfel in it) in the spring. Gaah. No, my concerns had nothing to do with sexuality on stage (although I really didn't like the prostitutes hanging around the palazzo, but enough people - (cough) BART SHER - do that that I can't really complain too loudly). It just was DRAB. I thought. Well, different strokes for different folks, as they say...


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## Aksel (Dec 3, 2010)

I think the Met's problem is that most of it recent productions are just plain _bad_. 
Case in point: The Bart Sher Comte Ory, the Des McAnuff Faust and the Michael Grandage Don Giovanni.


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## guythegreg (Jun 15, 2012)

Aksel said:


> I think the Met's problem is that most of it recent productions are just plain _bad_.
> Case in point: The Bart Sher Comte Ory, the Des McAnuff Faust and the Michael Grandage Don Giovanni.


Well, I won't attempt to defend Sher's Comte - the Glyndebourne production was so much better. I don't see where he went wrong, but it just doesn't seem to work. The Faust, however, I really liked. Maybe because I got to see Ferruccio Furlanetto as Mefistopheles! he was great. The crowd in the bar doing the zombie dance! Sorry, I loved it.


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## Aksel (Dec 3, 2010)

guythegreg said:


> Well, I won't attempt to defend Sher's Comte - the Glyndebourne production was so much better. I don't see where he went wrong, but it just doesn't seem to work. The Faust, however, I really liked. Maybe because I got to see* Ferruccio Furlanetto as Mefistopheles*! he was great. The crowd in the bar doing the zombie dance! Sorry, I loved it.


Except, you know, it was Rene Pape.

And yes, that Comte Ory is just about the most infuriating production I have ever seen. Especially because he could have done so much fun stuff with it, that just wound up being stupid and irritating.


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## guythegreg (Jun 15, 2012)

Aksel said:


> Except, you know, it was Rene Pape.
> 
> And yes, that Comte Ory is just about the most infuriating production I have ever seen. Especially because he could have done so much fun stuff with it, that just wound up being stupid and irritating.


Gosh, I was sure the one I saw had Furlanetto. Was he not in any of them?


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## Aksel (Dec 3, 2010)

guythegreg said:


> Gosh, I was sure the one I saw had Furlanetto. Was he not in any of them?


Hm. He was. I thought only Rene Pape was in it.


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

guythegreg said:


> The crowd in the bar doing the zombie dance!


That was sheer brilliance - makes me laugh every time I see it.


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

Aksel said:


> Except, you know, it was Rene Pape.
> 
> And yes, that Comte Ory is just about the most infuriating production I have ever seen. Especially because he could have done so much fun stuff with it, that just wound up being stupid and irritating.


On the other hand J-Flo whirling around in a nun's habit was worth watching.


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## Aksel (Dec 3, 2010)

mamascarlatti said:


> On the other hand J-Flo whirling around in a nun's habit was worth watching.


Very true. That did make the whole production. Also the awkward that was the bed scene.


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## MAuer (Feb 6, 2011)

guythegreg said:


> Honestly, I didn't see any performance in which anyone molested the Virgin Mary. I saw the dress rehearsal in the fall, and then a followup performance (that did have Bryn Terfel in it) in the spring. Gaah. No, my concerns had nothing to do with sexuality on stage (although I really didn't like the prostitutes hanging around the palazzo, but enough people - (cough) BART SHER - do that that I can't really complain too loudly). It just was DRAB. I thought. Well, different strokes for different folks, as they say...


The business with the statue of the Virgin supposedly took place during the Fall performances. When I saw one of the spring performances with Terfel, it had been (wisely) omitted.


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## NightHawk (Nov 3, 2011)

Well, it is the New York City Met Opera. I lived 6 blocks north of Lincoln Center for 2 years, went to the Met, Avery Fisher Hall, and the State Theater (renamed 'David H. Koch Theater) a good number of times. People were always _kvetching_.

Nothing in New York City, it seems, is good enough for New York City. Loved it.


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

NightHawk said:


> People were always _kvetching_.


Aaaah, love that word, kvetching. Almost onomatopeic.


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## guythegreg (Jun 15, 2012)

MAuer said:


> The business with the statue of the Virgin supposedly took place during the Fall performances. When I saw one of the spring performances with Terfel, it had been (wisely) omitted.


Which goes to show that someone at the Met is listening! In my survey - they send their regular subscribers a survey once a year - they asked about the Opera News controversy, too, so they ARE paying attention.


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## guythegreg (Jun 15, 2012)

mamascarlatti said:


> On the other hand J-Flo whirling around in a nun's habit was worth watching.


You know honestly, there was a fair amount of fun stuff in the production, I thought. The shtick with the Countess's scarf, that the phony Hermite uses to reel her in ... the butterflies on sticks ... the dancing nuns ... it wasn't a waste. But the underlying joy in the Glyndebourne production, the underlying philosophy, that basically everyone (not the actors but the characters) is just having a good time and they all know it, that they're all just playing their roles and trying to get as much joy out of it as possible - this seemed to be missing. Marc Laho's wicked grins. Annick Massis' exaggerated, loopy sadness. Jane Shaulis' everything she did. And they SANG so well, too. I don't think even Kathleen Battle ever did the countess' big aria better than Massis did it, and that's going some. I mean, I think they sang as though they were in the studio, and acted as though they were on stage. Well, blah, blah, blah ... lol


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## Dakota (Jun 30, 2012)

mamascarlatti said:


> On the other hand J-Flo whirling around in a nun's habit was worth watching.


hahahahahaha J-Flo............ ahahahahahaha I had NOT heard that before, too cute!


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## Aksel (Dec 3, 2010)

Dakota said:


> hahahahahaha J-Flo............ ahahahahahaha I had NOT heard that before, too cute!


Not to forget JDiddy.


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

Dakota said:


> hahahahahaha J-Flo............ ahahahahahaha I had NOT heard that before, too cute!


I cannot claim credit for that - Aksel's invention! :tiphat:


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