# At Home with the Met



## Woodduck

I don't know how many here are following the Met's daily streaming of opera into our homes while the house is closed down, but I'm immensely grateful for it. I've just watched a thrilling performance of the first act of _Die Walkure_ and plan to watch an opera a day for as long as this goes on.


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## nina foresti

Wake me up when Parsifal is on.


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## Admiral

I watched it as well - recalled when I attended the Met last year for Walkure with the same production, which was my first Ring live performance 

And since Chicago cancelled its cycle I won’t be seeing another this year I’m sure 

Nice of the Met to do this


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## Admiral

And of course my avatar is from the Met’s Parsifal production - my first Wagner live performance


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## Sieglinde

Watched that Parsifal DVD last year on Good Friday and it was a wonderful experience. It never felt too long, and I loved the staging.


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## Becca

Woodduck said:


> I don't know how many here are following the Met's daily streaming of opera into our homes while the house is closed down, but I'm immensely grateful for it. I've just watched a thrilling performance of the first act of _Die Walkure_ and plan to watch an opera a day for as long as this goes on.


I agree with the first act which is all that I watched. I notice that you didn't comment on acts 2 & 3...


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## Woodduck

Becca said:


> I agree with the first act which is all that I watched. I notice that you didn't comment on acts 2 & 3...


I've just finished act 2. The less of Jonas Kaufmann and the more of Deborah Voigt, the less thrilling it is.


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## mountmccabe

Woodduck said:


> I've just finished act 2. The less of Jonas Kaufmann and the more of Deborah Voigt, the less thrilling it is.


I got bad news for Act 3.


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## mountmccabe

_Das Rheingold_ was the first of the Met streams I watched. I needed a break and it was a good one.

I'm not sure I'll get to _Siegfried_ before it goes away this afternoon; I'm still listening to the 1976 Bayreuth _Die Walkure_ (and ostensibly working).

I would make time for _Götterdämmerung_ from the Met tomorrow, but it's got some competition. Wiener Staatsoper is also streaming the opera, and with a stronger cast (Stephen Gould, Iréne Theorin, Anna Gabler, Tomasz Konieczny, and Falk Struckmann).

I'm also eager to watch the 1980s _Die tote Stadt_ from Deutsche Oper Berlin.

It's nice to have so many options!


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## Woodduck

mountmccabe said:


> I got bad news for Act 3.


Neither act 2 nor act 3 was up to act 1. Kaufmann was excellent, vocally the strongest member of the cast, with Terfel not far behind (not exactly a Wotan voice, but he made the most of what he has). I'm not keen on any of the women; Blythe was solid but not remarkable, Westbroeck has an intrusive vibrato, and Voigt was skinny threadbare Voigt. But the opera made its impact regardless of vocal deficiencies. I expect even less from _Siegfried _today, but we'll see.


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## howlingfantods

mountmccabe said:


> I'm also eager to watch the 1980s _Die tote Stadt_ from Deutsche Oper Berlin.


That Tote Stadt is a very good one--James King is immeasurably better than Kollo on the popular studio recording.


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## interestedin

mountmccabe said:


> _Das Rheingold_ was the first of the Met streams I watched. I needed a break and it was a good one.
> 
> I'm not sure I'll get to _Siegfried_ before it goes away this afternoon; I'm still listening to the 1976 Bayreuth _Die Walkure_ (and ostensibly working).
> 
> I would make time for _Götterdämmerung_ from the Met tomorrow, but it's got some competition. Wiener Staatsoper is also streaming the opera, and with a stronger cast (Stephen Gould, Iréne Theorin, Anna Gabler, Tomasz Konieczny, and Falk Struckmann).
> 
> I'm also eager to watch the 1980s _Die tote Stadt_ from Deutsche Oper Berlin.
> 
> It's nice to have so many options!


So many options indeed!

Tomorrow München offers the Petrenko-Kaufmann Parsifal

https://www.staatsoper.de/spielplan/spielplan/alles.html

Although I'm not sure if it will be available outside of Europe.

Sunday Staatsoper Berlin offers Manon with Netrebko

https://www.staatsoper-berlin.de/de...eo-on-demand-programm-kostenlos-fuer-sie.142/


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## mountmccabe

Attribute it to either me being mixed up on what day it is or figuring the Met were going to stream the rarely heard interstitial opera _Siegfried 2_, but _Götterdämmerung_ from the Met is tonight (March 27).


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## Woodduck

mountmccabe said:


> Attribute it to either me being mixed up on what day it is or figuring the Met were going to stream the rarely heard interstitial opera _Siegfried 2_, but _Götterdämmerung_ from the Met is tonight (March 27).


The streaming begins in the evening and continues through till next evening. I prefer to watch during the day. I'm watching _Siegfried_ now and will watch _Gotterdammerung_ tomorrow.


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## Woodduck

The Met's _Siegfried_ was an example of a well-produced show that made the best of limited vocal talent. I'm inclined to be kind to Jay Hunter Morris, who certainly doesn't have anything close to a heldentenor voice but whose Li'l Abner was so youthfully charming and handsome that I actually believed in the character. He didn't run out of gas before the end, and was a pretty good match for the just-awakened Deborah Voigt, who gave her best with a reduced voice and also acted well in a charming final scene. Bryn Terfel was stretched to the vocal limit and beyond by the Wanderer's part, and I enjoyed neither his anti-heroic characterization nor his homeless hippy wig (and why didn't he have an eye-patch?); this was not the chief of the gods struggling with the loss of his power, but just some old guy down on his luck. Eric Owens repeated his effective Alberich from_ Rheingold,_ and Patricia Bardon's Erda was decent. The standout performance was probably Gerhard Siegel as Mime, a thoroughly engaging characterization and well-sung (though I do wonder where he got his eyegasses; do Nibelungs make them?). Fabio Luisi led a well-paced performance that seemed considerate of the singers; I especially appreciated his quick tempos during the forging of Nothung, and I'd guess that Siegfried did too.

I thought "the machine" was used quite effectively, and the forest atmosphere was created much better than I'd have thought possible, with good use of light and projections. The forest bird was just wonderful, flying about the stage and looking amazingly real. The one scene that I really disliked was Wotan's encounter with Erda. She was far from the hoarfrost-covered, primeval goddess of wisdom envisioned by Wagner, but instead looked rather young and glamorous, walked about, was touched by Wotan, and wore a sleek wig and something like a metallic evening dress right out of StarTrek. While talking to her, Wotan inexplicably tore the point off his spear, and then got down on his hands and knees and rolled out some kind of scroll on the floor. I have no explanation, but his spear should surely remain a potent weapon until Siegfried sunders it with Nothung.

I have to admit to skipping out to make lunch during the Mime-Wanderer scene. It's the one scene in the _Ring_ I wish Wagner had omitted, or maybe condensed to a brief appearance by Wotan just sufficient to put a scare into the Nibelung. The opera would still be four hours long without it.


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## Helgi

interestedin said:


> So many options indeed!
> 
> Tomorrow München offers the Petrenko-Kaufmann Parsifal
> 
> https://www.staatsoper.de/spielplan/spielplan/alles.html


Well, that's my first Wagner opera - finally. I stayed up _late_, glued to the screen for four hours straight.

Plan on watching Tannhäuser tomorrow night at the Met.

The Bayerische Staatsoper Parsifal is available until 11. April, for those interested: https://operlive.de/parsifal/


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## Woodduck

_Gotterdammerung_ is the dramatic and musical climax of the_ Ring,_ and I have to say that in the Met's 2012 production it was a worthy climax. The streamed performance came across as so dedicated on the part of all concerned that I found myself barely noticing the vocal faults of the cast, or at least rarely distracted by them. This opera is in itself an awesome achievement of Wagner's maturity, absorbing all the musical lessons of the previous _Ring_ operas and of _Tristan_ and _Meistersinger_ as well. There isn't an uninspired moment in it, and the performers seemed constantly inspired as they set it forth. The production itself made excellent use of "the machine," which works quite well for the Gibichung hall. By this point in the cycle I was used to it and no longer thought about the basic incongruity between hard-edged planks and the forms of nature. The most delightful touch of all was the life-sized mechanical Grane, who had a moving head and with whom Siegfried and Brunnhilde communicated affectionately as if it were a real horse. He rode with Siegfried down the Rhine, and he bore Brunnhilde into the funeral pyre. Unlikely as it seems, I bought him completely and wanted to give him a carrot.

All the singers were at least adequate except, sadly, Waltraud Meier in the role of Waltraute, whose acting couldn't compensate for thin tone and weakness both high and low; the part needs a contralto or a mezzo with a solid chest voice, and she sounded like a second-rate soprano with a constricted range. Hans-Peter Konig brought a powerful, dark bass to Hagen as he had to Hunding and Fafner, Iain Paterson effectively conveyed Gunther's weakness of character, and Wendy Bryn Harmer was a very attractive and sympathetic Gutrune. The Norns were not outstanding - the first Norn should idally be a deep contralto, not a mezzo with a weakish bottom (where are the chest tones, ladies?) - but the Rhinemaidens were lovely. Deborah Voigt and Jay Hunter Morris both transcended their vocal limitations with strong characterizations; as he had in _Siegfried,_ Morris made Siegfried genuinely likable, effectively communicating his innocence and unpreparedness to deal with the deceiving world, and his death was heart-breakingly sad. Fabio Luisi's conducting missed little in the huge, complex score; I thought his tempi well-judged throughout.

My only major reservation about this production was the drab staging of the ending and, more important, the concept behind it. Wagner specifically says that as the flames seize on Walhall in the heavens, the people assembled at the Gibichung hall watch in great agitation, and the curtain falls as the gods are completely hidden by the fire. There were no onlookers here, and even as the Walhall motif mounted powerfully in the orchestra, we saw nothing more dramatic than a few statues of the gods vanishing in a sort of rosy fog. This quickly transformed back into the strip of blue light we saw at the opening of _Das Rheingold,_ implying that the whole drama was for naught and brought about no apparent change in the world order. Wagner implies that the world is now left to humanity without the gods to intervene in the course of things, which is a much more interesting message than the mere closing of a cycle in time.


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## annaw

Levine's _Meisterisnger_ today! Watched some excerpts and I'm already excited to see the whole production  .


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## Seattleoperafan

I loved Siegfried because Jay Hunter Morris is such a gorgeous Siegfried and really throws himself into the part. Woodduck had a great take on this. It seems like often we are stuck with non Wagnerian voices in Wagner today because the right voices are so very very scarce now. I had more problems enjoying Gotterdammerung because the Bayreuth version with Jones in great voice is so great to me. I am very much looking forward to Norma.


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## WildThing

annaw said:


> Levine's _Meisterisnger_ today! Watched some excerpts and I'm already excited to see the whole production  .


Watched this last night. I thought it would be an excellent opportunity to introduce my wife to Wagner and invited her to watch it with me. It didn't disappoint. My wife thoroughly enjoyed the work -- the fully realized and engaging characters, the pathos and the humor in depicting how people can face the disturbing irrationalities of life and societal expectations and still live lives which are deeply rewarding and worthwhile, and of course the beautiful score and mesmerizing orchestration. Overall it was a really solid performance musically and committed, believable acting all around -- Johannes Martin Kranzle especially being a standout in both departments. I was never overly fond of Otto Schneck's Ring, but this Meistersinger production is absolutely charming, a real classic.


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## Seattleoperafan

WildThing said:


> Watched this last night. I thought it would be an excellent opportunity to introduce my wife to Wagner and invited her to watch it with me. It didn't disappoint. My wife thoroughly enjoyed the work -- the fully realized and engaging characters, the pathos and the humor in depicting how people can face the disturbing irrationalities of life and societal expectations and still live lives which are deeply rewarding and worthwhile, and of course the beautiful score and mesmerizing orchestration. Overall it was a really solid performance musically and committed, believable acting all around -- Johannes Martin Kranzle especially being a standout in both departments. I was never overly fond of Otto Schneck's Ring, but this Meistersinger production is absolutely charming, a real classic.


I think the weight loss allowed Voigt to become more comfortable acting. Her voice was better before but she is more involved as an actress now, and that does count for something.


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## WildThing

Seattleoperafan said:


> I think the weight loss allowed Voigt to become more comfortable acting. Her voice was better before but she is more involved as an actress now, and that does count for something.


Hmm, I think you may have misread my post -- my comments were in reference to the production of Die Meistersinger from 2014 now available on the Met website. Though I don't completely disagree with you about Voigt.


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## DavidA

WildThing said:


> Hmm, I think you may have misread my post -- my comments were in reference to the production of Die Meistersinger from 2014 now available on the Met website. Though I don't completely disagree with you about Voigt.


I have the same production with a different cast on DVD. The problem is the hugely overweight Walther - can this be taken seriously as a dramatic young hero? I think I mentioned elsewhere I watched parts of Gotterdamerung and found the production imaginative although the cast variable.


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## Woodduck

WildThing said:


> Watched this last night. I thought it would be an excellent opportunity to introduce my wife to Wagner and invited her to watch it with me. It didn't disappoint. My wife thoroughly enjoyed the work -- the fully realized and engaging characters, the pathos and the humor in depicting how people can face the disturbing irrationalities of life and societal expectations and still live lives which are deeply rewarding and worthwhile, and of course the beautiful score and mesmerizing orchestration. Overall it was a really solid performance musically and committed, believable acting all around -- Johannes Martin Kranzle especially being a standout in both departments. I was never overly fond of Otto Schneck's Ring, but this Meistersinger production is absolutely charming, a real classic.


I'll be watching today and look forward to it.


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## annaw

WildThing said:


> Watched this last night. I thought it would be an excellent opportunity to introduce my wife to Wagner and invited her to watch it with me. It didn't disappoint. My wife thoroughly enjoyed the work -- the fully realized and engaging characters, the pathos and the humor in depicting how people can face the disturbing irrationalities of life and societal expectations and still live lives which are deeply rewarding and worthwhile, and of course the beautiful score and mesmerizing orchestration. Overall it was a really solid performance musically and committed, believable acting all around -- Johannes Martin Kranzle especially being a standout in both departments. I was never overly fond of Otto Schneck's Ring, but this Meistersinger production is absolutely charming, a real classic.


Finished the first act and thoroughly enjoyed it. A great thing about this production is that most of the singers seem to be great actors (especially Michael Volle as Hans Sachs) and it's very dynamic - the singers express their emotions as a normal human being would.


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## annaw

DavidA said:


> I have the same production with a different cast on DVD. The problem is the hugely overweight Walther - can this be taken seriously as a dramatic young hero? I think I mentioned elsewhere I watched parts of Gotterdamerung and found the production imaginative although the cast variable.


The good thing with _Meistersinger_ is that it has so many characters that when one (even if a major one) isn't 100% fitting for the original role, it doesn't disturb too much. It's different with operas like _Tristan_ where the whole opera focuses on two people - a miscast would probably be much more disturbing but this also depends I suppose.


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## Woodduck

The _Meistersinger_ from 2014 was a thoroughly traditional and wonderfully directed and acted production. It had a terrific feeling of real life, and made me appreciate what a profound observer of human behavior Wagner was, something not everyone notices when watching Rhinemaidens and knights of the Grail. I came away from this performance thoroughly convinced that Hans Sachs is the richest, most fully rounded character in opera, and Michael Volle brought out his every dimension. But then the production expressed vividly and heart-warmingly a full spectrum of human character traits. I particularly enjoyed the portrayal of Beckmesser as less a clownish figure than a man with a certain dignity who is nonetheless disastrously lacking in self-awareness, and whose dishonesty and conceit make him both comical and very much in need of the lesson he is taught. It was absolutely true to life - we see such characters on our public stage every day - and I had no sense whatsoever that his embarassment, superbly acted by Johann Martin Kränzle, was cruel or unfair.

Dramatically, then, the production was all I could have hoped for. The musical side was a bit less satisfying, with several lead singers past their primes and others decidedly second-rate to begin with. Best vocally were Kränzle, whose Beckmesser really could sing, and Paul Appleby, a David who seemed young in voice and body. Johan Botha's Walther didn't suggest a romantic hero but seemed like a friendly, not very bright guy off the street very much in need of losing weight, and Michael Volle achieved far more with his physical acting than with his voice, which wasn't capable of much legato or nuance. Annette Dasche's Eva was pretty and charming but vocally undistinguished, and Hans-Peter König's Pogner sounded worn compared to his Hagen of two years earlier. _Meistersinger_ really demands first-rate singing; I would never want to hear the audio of this alone - but then I'd hardly need it, given some superb recordings of it going back many years. I still love the 1950s Kempe recording with Frantz, Grummer and Schock, and if you have the 1930s excerpts with Friedrich Schorr, Elisabeth Schumann, Lauritz Melchior and others ringing in your mind's ear, you know what Wagner meant when he said to his singers, "There are no recitatives in my music, it's all arias."

James Levine conducted well except for a funereally slow reading of the Act 3 prelude, which depicts the philosophical side of Hans Sachs. Sachs is supposed to be a pensive, melancholy man, sometimes a little grouchy, but not necessarily a profoundly depressed one.

It was good to have subtitles, since even with only partial and not always accurate translations the libretto of this work is a treasure chest of wit and wisdom, overflowing with good humor, pathos and verbal playfulness. Wagner may have loved his verbal inspirations a little too much at times - the opera ended up as the longest he ever wrote - but as always the musician in him made sure that the work only became more dramatically absorbing as it progressed.


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## DavidA

Just watching some of the Tannhauser. Oh dear! This is where opera does enter the realm of the ridiculous. The Venusberg with blithe slim young things cavorting around and then - Venus and Tannhauser - rather more on the sturdy side! Can we take it seriously as drama? Afraid HD does not help matters here!


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## howlingfantods

DavidA said:


> Just watching some of the Tannhauser. Oh dear! This is where opera does enter the realm of the ridiculous. The Venusberg with blithe slim young things cavorting around and then - Venus and Tannhauser - rather more on the sturdy side! Can we take it seriously as drama? Afraid HD does not help matters here!


Peter Mattei's Wolfram, though. Definitely worth checking out.


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## Helgi

Haha. It did make the nymphs seem all the more otherworldly in comparison.


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## Helgi

I thought Johan Botha was wonderful as Tannhäuser, and Wolfram was another highlight. And the shepherd — she was a breath of fresh air after Venus.

I'm curious to know what those of you who were watching thought about DeYoung and Westbroek. I didn't like either of them at all. Admittedly I don't really know much about singing, but so much vibrato — they sounded slightly off-pitch so much of the time.

Anyway, I thoroughly enjoyed it regardless. Thinking of getting a subscription to see the Ring operas that were on last week. It's intimidating to get into them with audio only, much easier seeing a staged production with subtitles.


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## howlingfantods

Helgi said:


> I thought Johan Botha was wonderful as Tannhäuser, and Wolfram was another highlight. And the shepherd - she was a breath of fresh air after Venus.
> 
> I'm curious to know what those of you who were watching thought about DeYoung and Westbroek. I didn't like either of them at all. Admittedly I don't really know much about singing, but so much vibrato - they sounded slightly off-pitch so much of the time.
> 
> Anyway, I thoroughly enjoyed it regardless. Thinking of getting a subscription to see the Ring operas that were on last week. It's intimidating to get into them with audio only, much easier seeing a staged production with subtitles.


I thought DeYoung was pretty terrible and Westbroek decent but audibly over the hill--her vibrato has loosened to something close to a wobble over the years. Groissbock was unremarkable but decent as the Landgraf (watching this production, it finally dawned on me who he reminded me of, he looks just like Andy Samberg, so I was more amused than usual by him), and I agree that Ying Fang was a lovely shepherd. I thought Botha sounded a little past his prime, there was an unpleasant effort in his singing in this performance that wasn't in, for instance, the Bychkov Lohengrin recording, where his voice was much more relaxed and lyrical.

Mattei's Wolfram was as good as expected, although not quite reaching the heights of his searing Amfortas at the Met a few years before this Tannhauser.


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## Woodduck

howlingfantods said:


> I thought DeYoung was pretty terrible and Westbroek decent but audibly over the hill--her vibrato has loosened to something close to a wobble over the years. Groissbock was unremarkable but decent as the Landgraf ... I thought Botha sounded a little past his prime, there was an unpleasant effort in his singing in this performance that wasn't in, for instance, the Bychkov Lohengrin recording, where his voice was much more relaxed and lyrical.
> 
> Mattei's Wolfram was as good as expected, although not quite reaching the heights of his searing Amfortas at the Met a few years before this Tannhauser.


I was planning on watching, but missed the expiration time. I don't feel too bad, as I see from your remarks that the singers sounded exactly as I expected them to sound. Westbroek's vibrato was sometimes intrusive even a few years earlier in _Walkure_, though she gave a very convincing performance opposite Kaufmann. I believe Botha died the year after this performance from cancer, and it seems not unlikely that his extreme obesity, evident also in the _Meistersinger,_ was a factor in his ill health.


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## WildThing

I really enjoyed the stream of Dialogues des Carmélites from last season. It's a bold and harrowing work with a mysterious beauty about it, and more than merely being a catharsis it is an affirmation of solidarity and sacrifice. I had a few minor quibbles with a few of the directorial choices, but overall the staging was simple and austere and effective.


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## DavidA

howlingfantods said:


> Peter Mattei's Wolfram, though. Definitely worth checking out.


I'm afraid I looked at the huge Tannhauser singing with his harp and burst out laughing. It just reinforced all the ridiculous caricatures of opera for me. I mean is this supposed to be drama about a young night wooing Venus? Do we take opera seriously as drama or are we just content to be an oratorio? In other words should singers at least approximate to look the part or have we got to throw that part way out the window especially in the realm of HD?


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## howlingfantods

DavidA said:


> I'm afraid I looked at the huge Tannhauser singing with his harp and burst out laughing. It just reinforced all the ridiculous caricatures of opera for me. I mean is this supposed to be drama about a young night wooing Venus? Do we take opera seriously as drama or are we just content to be an oratorio? In other words should singers at least approximate to look the part or have we got to throw that part way out the window especially in the realm of HD?


To me, it's a nice bonus when opera singers are physically well suited for their roles, but it never bothers me when they're not, whether due to age or physical appearance.

I'm often disappointed by how few recordings and bootlegs exist for some of my favorite singers of the past, but notice how easy it is to collect may live performances by mediocre singers who looked good on stage. Like, I'd much rather have some Arroyo or Margaret Price stage performances from the 70s regardless of how they looked on stage over the masses of Kabaivanska or Malfitano or Stratas videos.


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## mountmccabe

I watched the first act of _Tannhäuser_. I really dislike the faux traditional production, and was not impressed by the singing by most of the principals or conductor (based on seeing this in the theater when it first aired). Peter Mattei, Günther Groissböck, and Ying Fang were great, though. Someone pointed out that Ryan McKinny was Biterolf; I had been planning on skipping Act 2 but it might have been fun to revisit his song contest performance.

But this also has inspired me to revisit the opera in other ways; I listened to most of the 2013 Janowksi recording (I'm happy with Marina Prudenskaya and Nina Stemme, not as sold on Robert Dean Smith) and now have the Staatsoper Berlin video playing. I am on board with Sasha Waltz's production, adore Barenboim's conducting, and am once again happy with Prudenskaya and Mattei, Peter Seiffert is an improvement over RDS, and we have René Pape. Ann Peterson just showed up, and seems to be holding her own admirably.


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## ManateeFL

The biggest problem with the MET Tannhauser was Johan Botha's whiny singing and expressionless performance. Neither of the leading women were altogether satisfactory either, but at least Eva Marie Westbroek is a strong actress. However other than that it was enjoyable and rewarding. The choreography was impressive, the sets were naturalistic and looked remarkably good, which I suppose is a turn off for some. Tannhauser still remains the least satisfactory of Wagner's mature operas for me, but presented like this it's clear it is still a flawed masterpiece by a great artist and much preferable to seeing a polished reinterpretation by a director who are themselves nothing but second rate artist.


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## AeolianStrains

Did anyone else watch Il Barbiere?


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## DavidA

howlingfantods said:


> To me, it's a nice bonus when opera singers are physically well suited for their roles, but it never bothers me when they're not, whether due to age or physical appearance.
> 
> I'm often disappointed by how few recordings and bootlegs exist for some of my favorite singers of the past, but notice how easy it is to collect may live performances by mediocre singers who looked good on stage. Like, I'd much rather have some Arroyo or Margaret Price stage performances from the 70s regardless of how they looked on stage over the masses of Kabaivanska or Malfitano or Stratas videos.


Obviously when it comes to audio recordings it doesn't matter what the protagonists look like. But I find it very difficult to take opera seriously as drama when the whole thing does not look right as he didn't in the Tannhauser nor as it did in the mastersingers. Such a thing would be an acceptable in the theatre . You obviously view opera more as an oratorio a drama?


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## Woodduck

I saw _Dialogues of the Carmelites_ this afternoon. The Met's production has a simple, austere beauty, and there were nicely characterized performances by the entire cast. It's a talky opera, with a lot of reflective and philosophical dialogue exchanged by an assortment of nuns and a few other characters. Their individual personalities and perspectives on life are the main substance of the story, with the fear-ridden, conflicted neophyte Sister Blanche of the Agony of Christ (the very apt name she chose for herself) at the center of things.

I'm not sure you have to be Catholic to embrace this opera fully (Poulenc was), but you do have to be prepared to live in the alternative universe of a convent for two and a half hours, and I confess there was dialogue - about the beauty of martyrdom and such things - that had me rolling my eyes. Most of the opera has a rather subdued atmosphere - it isn't very "operatic" - but there are two strongly dramatic occurrences, one in each act: the agonizing death of the mother superior (intensely played by Karita Mattila), and the famous offstage guillotining of the entire convent at the end. However, most moving to me is the exploration of the psychology of Blanche, an exceptionally complex and well-rounded character. In this production she was beautifully played and sung by Isabel Leonard.

Because of the conversational content of the action and the "talkiness" of much of the vocal writing, I feel that the purely vocal quality of the singing is less critical in this opera than in most, and the audibility of the very intelligent libretto correspondingly more critical. Most of the singing today was good enough to serve its purpose, and some of it better than that, with the words well-projected.


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## NLAdriaan

I dropped by at the Wiener Staatsoper last year, because it was on my bucket list and I had to be in Vienna. They play many different shows a week of varied opera's. Of course this is to please the audience. So, outside of the premieres, you won't hear the big names, but the quality of the singers and musicians is generally very good. In fact the musicians are the training school for the Wiener Philharmoniker. I bought a ticket for only €15 in advance and was in the back of a box with limited view. The tourists in front of me on second row paid €250 per seat through an agency! After the break I sneaked into an empty prime seat downstairs, which is most forbidden in Vienna. I only found out when being there, that there are standing tickets which you can only buy on the same day and only after personal waiting in line, nice! They even have standing places at the Golden hall at the Musikverein, where I went the next day to listen to Bruckner 8 with the VPO and Thielemann, at only €5, very nice! they should do this everywhere!

Anyhow, at the opera they played Madame Butterfly and the scenery was terribly conservative, as to be expected in Vienna. To accomodate the audience, many of them from Asia, subtitles were available in 6 languages on a personal tablet screen. First of all, I only knew Puccini from listening at home. I knew the story, but never read it line for line. So, it occurred to me now that the story of Butterfly is terribly outdated and quite sexist. In today's world, Pinkerton was nothing more than a sex offender, and a coward as well. 

Well, I love Puccini's music and the playing was very good, as well as the singing. The experience of being in the Wiener Staatsoper was a big thing and in general, being at a live event is much better than listening to a CD. But the scenery and the appalling storyline was a real turn-off.

I often read here from more experienced opera-goers, that they are critical about the scenery, the bad acting of singers or the bad singing of actors. Opera remains a difficult genre. At home I mainly listen to the music and read the synopsis. But you only get the full story and the full experience when watching it live. Personally, I like the more radical, modern scenery and stronger stories. Musically, I also love Puccini and Verdi opera, but storywise I don't follow. And when at home, I prefer to listen to opera instead of watching a DVD or a live stream. I do however occasionally like to watch symphonic music at home, though DVD or live stream. 

I admit that this contribution is not that interesting and not on topic, but it took me quite some time, so I will post it. Better next time.


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## howlingfantods

DavidA said:


> You obviously view opera more as an oratorio a drama?


No, and I don't think anything I said reasonably leads to that conclusion. Being able to watch a fat person on stage for a couple of hours doesn't mean I don't care about the dramatic impact.

It's actually pretty weird that people think that the only acceptable shape for protagonists in a drama must conform as closely as possible to a very historically and culturally specific fitness standard--I don't recall anything that Wagner said in the stage instructions for Tannhauser that says that he's supposed to look like Chris Hemsworth. In fact, as a libertine and sensualist, it probably makes more sense that he looks like Botha.


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## DavidA

AeolianStrains said:


> Did anyone else watch Il Barbiere?


I have just watched it. An absolute delight. Di donato on top form and Florez bringing the house down in the last aria which is often cut. No doubt he was the star of the show! It is still available if people have time to watch it and is absolutely fantastic with a great cast. And everybody looks the part too!

Good old Rossini cheering everyone up!


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## DavidA

howlingfantods said:


> No, and I don't think anything I said reasonably leads to that conclusion. Being able to watch a fat person on stage for a couple of hours doesn't mean I don't care about the dramatic impact.
> 
> It's actually pretty weird that people think that the only acceptable shape for protagonists in a drama must conform as closely as possible to a very historically and culturally specific fitness standard--I don't recall anything that Wagner said in the stage instructions for Tannhauser that says that he's supposed to look like Chris Hemsworth. In fact, as a libertine and sensualist, it probably makes more sense that he looks like Botha.


Fine if that's your opinion. I suppose I have perhaps more of a romantic take and have this view that a dashing young knight should approximate to a dashing young knight in looks and that Venus should look like er...Venus. Wagner might even have had the same thing in mind, do you think being a romantic at heart? As to your other point I can't see how Tannhauser looking like Mr Botha advances his cause as a libertine and sensualist. Reminds me of a recent Don Giovanni I saw where the 'licentious young nobleman' looked distinctly 50-ish. rather spoils the effect in HD. For me anyway.


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## DavidA

Deleted"............


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## AeolianStrains

DavidA said:


> I have just watched it. An absolute delight. Di donato on top form and Florez bringing the house down in the last aria which is often cut. No doubt he was the star of the show! It is still available if people have time to watch it and is absolutely fantastic with a great cast. And everybody looks the part too!
> 
> Good old Rossini cheering everyone up!


That's the spirit! I second the sentiment and opinions. Florez was definitely great, but I thought it was actually John Del Carlo who stole the show. His facial animation really elevated the production. Everyone definitely looked and acted the part.


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## Helgi

Just finished watching _Il Barbiere_. A delight it was!

Difficult to pick the star of the show when everyone was that good. Peter Mattei was fantastic.

Would be nice to have on DVD.


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## marceliotstein

Hello friends! I've been away from this forum, but I've also been catching the Met livestream: Il Trovatore, Lucia di Lammermoor, half the Ring cycle and Barbieri di Siviglia last night. In all four cases, I was reliving a production I saw live at the Met with a different cast. So I knew I would like all four of them, but the only one that blew me away compared to the live experience was Lucia. Riveting show from start to finish. I prefer Christine Goerke to Deborah Voigt and Greer Grimsley to Bryn Terfel. (Maybe that last one is sacrilege, but that's what I think.) I also wish this production of Barbieri di Siviglia would ease up on the slapstick, and as I've often observed I wish Joyce DiDonato would do more acting.

Anyway, I'm watching tonight's Met livestream right now - John Adams' "Nixon In China", which I'm completely unfamiliar with. I'm still in Act One, half fascinated, half horrified, and the jury's totally out whether I will eventually conclude that I like this opera or not. I'd love to hear other opinions on "Nixon In China" here ... not only on this production, but also on what the heck John Adams was attempting to do. That's what I'm trying to figure out. I'm enjoying it so far, I think.


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## jorgaba

Hello. I'm new -- I've been lurking for the past several months but the Covid-19 lockdown in my state in the US has finally brought be out of the woodwork! 

I heard about the Met streams in the last week just in time to catch excellent productions of Gotterdammerung, Meistersinger, & Barbiere (unfortunately I missed Tannhauser and The Carmelites, the latter of which I know only by reputation and had hoped to catch, but got too busy.)

I have just watched the first 45 minutes of Nixon in China, and hope to finish tomorrow at some point. This is another opera I have not seen or heard previously. To be honest, am not sure what to think yet...why did Adams choose this, of all topics, as the subject of an opera? The libretto seems well-written (so far as i can tell), but musically it is not so far very interesting; there is a lot of nervous energy and agitation to the score, which would seem to fit Nixon's temperament well, and the circumstances in which he visits China. Dramatically, it is fine; were I in the theater, I would probably be gripped to my seat. At home, however, not so much. Something is missing. We shall see how this goes...


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## DavidA

AeolianStrains said:


> That's the spirit! I second the sentiment and opinions. Florez was definitely great, but I thought it was actually John Del Carlo who stole the show. His facial animation really elevated the production. Everyone definitely looked and acted the part.


Yes I agree. Del Carlo was fantastic! But so was Joyce as well. And everyone else! Such a pleasure to watch when there was so much talent on display. No wonder the audience went mad at the end


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## MaxKellerman

This was my first experience with Nixon in China, and it was certainly a strange but intriguing work. There are moments where the score is rich and musically exhilerating, like when Nixon first arrives by plane or when there is the grand toast at the banquet at the end of Act I. To me those were the highlights. There were also some poignant scenes and humorous touches. But much of the dialogue, especially in Act III, is cryptic and esoteric. I understand it is kind of a "dream sequence" or reminiscence by the characters, but overall it came across as a little dense and overstuffed with various unrelated ideas without ever obtaining any dramatic focus or force. Which I suppose kind of sums up my impressions overall: a highly stylized and poetic representation of the historic events with little to no dramatic tension or feeling that the story is building up towards something.


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## DavidA

I've just given Nixon in China half an hour and that's enough. Just glad I never paid to see it. Some people obviously liked it better than me but can't stand this sort of music. I'll go out and clap our health workers instead!


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## Woodduck

I wonder whether Adams learned how not to write an opera from working on _Nixon in China. _ The extreme artificiality of the minimalist style, the weird vocal lines, the strange dialogue, the meaningless repetition of words and phrases ("The rats begin to chew the sheets! The rats begin to chew the sheets! The rats begin to chew the sheets! The sheets! The rats begin to chew the sheets! The rats begin to chew the sheets!"...) What's the appeal?


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## Red Terror

Woodduck said:


> I wonder whether Adams learned how not to write an opera from working on _Nixon in China. _ The extreme artificiality of the minimalist style, the weird vocal lines, the strange dialogue, the meaningless repetition of words and phrases ("The rats begin to chew the sheets! The rats begin to chew the sheets! The rats begin to chew the sheets! The sheets! The rats begin to chew the sheets! The rats begin to chew the sheets!"...) What's the appeal?


What's the appeal? It's right there in the text, man! _"The rats begin to chew the sheets! The sheets! The rats begin to chew the sheets! The rats begin to chew the sheets!"_... What's not to love?!

:tiphat:


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## mountmccabe

I'd call _Nixon In China_ Adams' most conventional opera, though I will admit that I don't know _A Flowering Tree_.

All of his other works are essentially oratorios. _The Death of Klinghoffer_ doesn't have found/pastiche text like the later works, but it also does less at depicting action than _Nixon_.

I like _Doctor Atomic_, but it is barely a traditional opera. I wish we could see what would have happened had Goodman not left the project, but she did, and Adams and Sellars went the found text route that would dominate everything they've done since.

I really love _The Gospel According to the Other Mary_, but it doesn't even attempt to tell a narrative story. I really disliked _Girls of the Golden West_, but it barely attempts to be dramatic. It's a bunch of things centered around Dame Shirley and her letters, the characters don't really interact to drive a plot.


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## Woodduck

Red Terror said:


> What's the appeal? It's right there in the text, man! _"The rats begin to chew the sheets! The sheets! The rats begin to chew the sheets! The rats begin to chew the sheets!"_... What's not to love?!
> 
> :tiphat:


Rats per se are acceptable.


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## Becca

Woodduck said:


> Rats per se are acceptable.


Only in Lohengrin


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## OperaChic

Woodduck said:


> I wonder whether Adams learned how not to write an opera from working on _Nixon in China. _ The extreme artificiality of the minimalist style, the weird vocal lines, the strange dialogue, the meaningless repetition of words and phrases ("The rats begin to chew the sheets! The rats begin to chew the sheets! The rats begin to chew the sheets! The sheets! The rats begin to chew the sheets! The rats begin to chew the sheets!"...) What's the appeal?


I tend to agree. I realize this opera has been hailed as a modern classic in some quarters, but I mostly found it to be dull. I actually enjoyed some of the music and Adams' ability to swiftly establish a mood, although it was rarely sustainable. It is far less human, still less entertaining than other politically charged operas like L'incoronazione di Poppea, Don Carlo, or Boris Godunov. The enigmatic libretto can at times be fascinating in its weird blending of actual conversation and metaphor, but the purposely abstruse style gets tiresome. I'm sure there's an explanation for why Nixon says, about his plane trip, "The rats begin to chew the sheets", but it just doesn't work as a musical drama. An opera is not a puzzle. While a rare work like Pelléas et Mélisande or Parsifal walks that fine line of being mysterious and ambiguous while still managing to be engaging and challenging, Nixon in China is proud of its puzzles but utterly ponderous.


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## Admiral

I was at the Met for the Meistersinger cast, my first live viewing of that opera. Was simply taken into the clouds by the glory of it. Before I saw it live I thought it was hokey but have a different view after seeing it live.

Sadly, that year I saw both Botha and Dimitri Hvortovsky, who both have since passed away.


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## Admiral

With regard to _Carmelites_, I had to say 20 Hail Marys after some impure thoughts about Isabel Leonard...


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## Woodduck

Admiral said:


> With regard to _Carmelites_, I had to say 20 Hail Marys after some impure thoughts about Isabel Leonard...


To the guillotine with you!


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## DavidA

Watching Don CarLo. Unfortunately don’t thinkI’ll see it all before time runs out as it’s superb.


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## Helgi

I think that once you've started streaming you can watch beyond the cut-off, or at least I haven't had any issues.


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## Woodduck

DavidA said:


> Watching Don CarLo. Unfortunately don't thinkI'll see it all before time runs out as it's superb.


You will if you don't close the tab when you break for dinner. If you turn it off you won't get it back once the next day's opera begins.


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## Woodduck

The pessimistic sense of life embodied in the libretto to _Don Carlo,_ with human loves, hopes and virtues crushed by church, state, and jealousy, inspired some of Verdi's greatest music. I feel that the composer's inspiration took some time to warm up, and some scenes aren't on his highest level; the _auto da fe_ doesn't have the grim power its subject deserves, and smacks a bit of "entertainment." But the work hits its full stride with the fourth act, which opens with perhaps the most poignant aria ever written for bass, and from that point on the score is riveting. The conversation between King Philip and the Grand Inquisitor, both of them basses, isn't the sort of thing one would expect to bring out a composer's best, but I find it far more intense than the love scenes. Anyway, the emotional heart of the opera isn't the unrequited passion between Carlo and Elisabetta, but the friendship of Carlo and Rodrigo. Both relationships are doomed in the dark world of the Spanish Inquisition.

I've never actually watched this opera before, and I was happy to see the Met's 2010 production, which was not glamorous but was quite straightforward and visually comprehensible (we have to say that nowadays), even if the singing was not consistently good (which we also have to say most of the time nowadays). Roberto Alagna's Rodrigo was unremarkable but mostly satisfactory except for a few strained high notes; Marina Poplavskaya's Elisabetta was mostly good and sometimes quite lovely, despite a certain lack of heft and core to the sound and an underdeveloped chest voice. Simon Keenlyside's baritone may be a piston or two short of ideal for Rodrigo, or for Verdi generally, but he's solid and sympathetic. Vocally, things went downhill from there, with the dry, aging bass of Ferruccio Furlanetto, who nevertheless made a strong and sympathetic Philip, and the horrific vibrato of Anna Smirnova as Eboli, whose heroic efforts in "O don fatale" nevertheless drew cheers from the audience. The monk was also plagued by a vibrato so wide it sounded like a continuous trill, and the Grand Inquisitor made ghastly noises. Why do opera houses put unlistenable voices like this on the stage? Because they're loud? When they sing in ensemble there are so few actual pitches discernible that we may as well be listening to radio static. The ghost of Mathilde Marchesi must surely have grimaced and covered her ears.

The vexed question of how the opera should end was answered very appropriately by having Carlo killed as a traitor on orders of his father the King. After that, I imagine Elisabetta's life with father to have been thoroughly miserable. There's no light at the end of this opera's tunnel.


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## DavidA

Helgi said:


> I think that once you've started streaming you can watch beyond the cut-off, or at least I haven't had any issues.


Thanks. I did manage to see it all. What a fantastic opera! Really enjoyed it. Great staging too.


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## DavidA

The Pearl Fishers is on at the moment. Even if you don’t care for the opera it’s worth seeing the remarkable opening sequence which simulates diving.


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## Seattleoperafan

I watched a good bit of Macbeth. It was a gorgeous production. I was very impressed with Anna Netrebko. She really has become a solid Verdian soprano. It doesn't sound like she is pushing. She was not my all time favorite Lady Macbeth, but she might be the casting choice for the moment.


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## mountmccabe

I mostly watched the first three acts of _Don Carlo_ the other day. I don't really prefer the five act hybrid Italian version, but I am coming around to it. I was impressed by how effective it was as a set-up, the rug being pulled out from under Carlo and Elisabetta. I didn't have a chance to get back to the final two acts. I talked up the opera to a friend of mine who has a young daughter that is a burgeoning opera fan, and they watched too. From what I can tell she really took to it.

Yesterday I chose _Così fan tutte_ from Staatsoper Berlin; a performance (also available on video) from 2002. Barenboim conducts Dorothea Röschmann, Katharina Kammerloher, Daniela Bruera, and Roman Trekel. I really loved the production set in the 70s by Doris Dörrie; the person-regie by the singers was excellent (especially the women). I'd link to it, but it seems to be gone.

I'm currently listening to Lohengrin, in a 2009 radio broadcast from Houston Grand Opera. Günther Groissböck, Richard Paul Fink, Adrianne Pieczonka, Simon O'Neill, and Christine Goerke (and Ryan McKinney and Michael Sumuel in smaller roles) from a decade ago, you've got until May 18. Patrick Summers conducts. He seems effective without blowing me away. I haven't gotten to O'Neill (soon) or Goerke yet, but the others sound good.


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## howlingfantods

Seattleoperafan said:


> I watched a good bit of Macbeth. It was a gorgeous production. I was very impressed with Anna Netrebko. She really has become a solid Verdian soprano. It doesn't sound like she is pushing. She was not my all time favorite Lady Macbeth, but she might be the casting choice for the moment.


I watched this when they first broadcast it five or six years ago, and found it enjoyable to revisit it. Good production except for the comical and ludicrous costuming for the witches. The vaguely post-soviet eastern bloc feel of the setting and the portrayal of Netrebko's lady as a sexy but vicious trophy wife--like a Machiavellian Melania--were very effective. Well acted by both Lukic and Netrebko.


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## howlingfantods

mountmccabe said:


> Yesterday I chose _Così fan tutte_ from Staatsoper Berlin; a performance (also available on video) from 2002. Barenboim conducts Dorothea Röschmann, Katharina Kammerloher, Daniela Bruera, and Roman Trekel. I really loved the production set in the 70s by Doris Dörrie; the person-regie by the singers was excellent (especially the women). I'd link to it, but it seems to be gone.


Thanks for the heads up on the Staatsoper Berlin streaming--I am about 3/4 of the way through their very fine Barenboim Tannhauser from 2014 with Seiffert, Peterson, Prudenskaya, Mattei and Pape. Good stuff, significantly better than the Met Tannhauser we chatted about a few days ago. Seiffert is definitely not what he was 20 years ago but he's still one of the better Tannhausers of recent vintage.

Also while wiki'ing him to doublecheck his age, TIL that Seiffert was married to Lucia Popp, a factoid that I had been completely unaware of.


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## mountmccabe

I also did not know that!

I really love that _Tannhauser_; I watched it as a palate cleanser following the recent Met offering.


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## howlingfantods

Holy cow, Antonenko, what a trainwreck. This might be the worst singing I've ever heard from the Met.


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## Rogerx

Seattleoperafan said:


> I watched a good bit of Macbeth. It was a gorgeous production. I was very impressed with Anna Netrebko. She really has become a solid Verdian soprano. It doesn't sound like she is pushing. She was not my all time favorite Lady Macbeth, but she might be the casting choice for the moment.


I found it horrible 5 years ago and still do.
I cached a recording from Barcelona last night on telly, from another planet .


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## The Conte

Rogerx said:


> I found it horrible 5 years ago and still do.
> I cached a recording from Barcelona last night on telly, from another planet .


Who's the Lady?

N.


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## Rogerx

The Conte said:


> Who's the Lady?
> 
> N.




Sorry forgot:Full cast

Macbeth: Ludovic Tézier

Banquo: Vitalij Kowaljow

Lady Macbeth: Martina Serafin

Lady-in-waiting: Anna Puche

Macduff: Saimir Pirgu

Malcolm: Albert Casals

Doctor: David Sánchez

Servant, herald and assassin: Marc Canturri

etc


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## DavidA

Just tuned into the Aida which I saw live on the big screen. The two ladies had a good night but the tenor, Aleksandrs Antonenko, gives an object lesson in bawling.


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## annaw

I'm currently finishing the fourth act of Aida - the good thing with that production is that the overall acting and staging balances out the shortcomings of singing, at least to some extent.


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## Woodduck

Listening to _Aida_ now. I recommend it to everyone interested in the technique of singing, and particularly in the subject of vibrato. It's providing a lesson in the meaning of the term "wobble," with its lead singers demonstrating differing degrees of that vocal affliction.

I believe that Aleksandr Antonenko's top notes are exhibiting the slowest pulsation I've ever heard in a human voice. His entire range is afflicted with wobble, which in the usual way becomes worse as he ascends in pitch and increases the volume. His voice really is a mess, and "Celeste Aida" is a disaster. Anna Netrebko hasn't yet undergone quite that level of vocal deterioration; she's generally able to confine the really big wobble to high notes, which are sometimes better and sometimes worse, but her vibrato has in general slowed down, caused no doubt by her taking on parts too heavy for her. Dmitry Belosselskiy, the Ramfis, is slightly wobbly too, Anita Rachvelishvili (Amneris) wobbles moderately whenever she presses on the voice, and Quinn Kelsey (Amonasro) is showing signs of wobble at the top of his range. I was pleased to hear the tenor Arseny Yakovlev, the messenger in Act 1, who seems to have a normal vibrato. Too bad he wasn't cast as Radames.

I wonder how many opera listeners have come to think that wobble is just normal vibrato in classical singing. It does seem inescapable these days, especially in voices that purport to be of "dramatic" calibre. An interesting fact is that it's actually been determined, by sampling recordings of opera singers made over the course of the 20th century, that the average rate of pulsation in vocal vibrato seems to have decreased over time, mainly during the post WW II period. Vibratos vary normally in rate of pulsation, but it seems unlikely that the human vocal mechanism has changed in such a basic way. Naturally slower vibratos don't necessarily develop into wobbles, but changes in vocal pedagogy that favor slower vibratos might plausibly be setting singers up for this problem.


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## annaw

.......................................................


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## Helgi

Hmm, I feel like I've had all the lessons I need for now in wide vibrato. Thinking of DeYoung's Venus and more recently Princess Eboli. Think I'll skip the Aida.

I watched Don Carlo today, had a tab still open from this weekend 

Loved Poplavskaya as Elisabeth, a beautiful performance in both singing and acting I thought.


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## DavidA

Helgi said:


> Hmm, I feel like I've had all the lessons I need for now in wide vibrato. Thinking of DeYoung's Venus and more recently Princess Eboli. Think I'll skip the Aida.
> 
> I watched Don Carlo today, had a tab still open from this weekend
> 
> Loved Poplavskaya as Elisabeth, a beautiful performance in both singing and acting I thought.


I enjoyed Don Carlo immensely. Aida is pretty good apart from the tenor.


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## Sieglinde

Tézier is just on a whole different level than Lucic... it's like comparing Ludwig the Holy Blade (to stay close to the name) to the Celestial Emissary.


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## vivalagentenuova

Woodduck said:


> I wonder how many opera listeners have come to think that wobble is just normal vibrato in classical singing. It does seem inescapable these days, especially in voices that purport to be of "dramatic" calibre. An interesting fact is that it's actually been determined, by sampling recordings of opera singers made over the course of the 20th century, that the average rate of pulsation in vocal vibrato seems to have decreased over time, mainly during the post WW II period. Vibratos vary normally in rate of pulsation, but it seems unlikely that the human vocal mechanism has changed in such a basic way. Naturally slower vibratos don't necessarily develop into wobbles, but changes in vocal pedagogy that favor slower vibratos might plausibly be setting singers up for this problem.


Interesting. Caprino is a relatively common problem in old recordings, but I've almost never heard a real wobble in a historic recording. The only prominent singer of the generation right after Caruso who I recall having a wobble is later Lauri-Volpi, where he wobbles pretty badly on high notes. He had a caprino when he was younger though.

I agree that wobble has become a bigger and bigger problem in recent times. Antonenko has a dial-up vibrato in that _Aida_ performance. Although there are a few notable instances of caprino. Calleja, DiDonato, Brownlee and a few others currently have caprino.

I'm watching with trepidation the 2010 _Fanciulla_. I attended the livestreams of both the 2010 and 2019 _Fanciulla_s and I must say that I didn't really like either, although Marco Armiliato conducted the latter performance with exceptional ability. He did it from memory and was able to really manage a dialogue with the singers. If they had been better, it would have been an truly special performance. As is, it's a great orchestral recording of the opera with mediocre singing. Still, the 2019 singers are all around preferable to the 2010 and I don't know why they chose that. Lucio Gallo in particular is horrible. A wooden, colorless voice with a wobble on top. Sigh.


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## Helgi

So I watched Aida, glad I did — what a show, production wise. I was happy with Netrebko and Rachvelishvili was very convincing! As for Radames... well.

That makes it six and a half hours of Verdi for me today.


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## vivalagentenuova

Gave up. Voigt has some clarity in the middle, but the top is so nasal and collapsed. The bottom is there but not strong. But _Fanciulla_ has its fair share of exposed high notes, and so I spent the whole time dreading the next one. Didn't really make it out of Act I. Giordani could have a great voice, but wobble, other problems. Gallo is incomprehensible: how did he get famous? During his aria, some passages were straight tone, some wobble, sounding off pitched and dry. Lucic was way, way better as Rance in the 2019 performance, if not nearly ideal. Orchestra did a good job, though nothing really inspired in the parts I listened to.
If you want to watch this opera, try this:




Not my first choice cast, but overall decently sung and with some charm.

Just the Poker Scene, unfortunately:





But this is the really good stuff, though audio only:


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## Woodduck

I came away from the Met's _Fanciulla_ charmed by the realistic production and feeling forgiving of some mediocre singing. Isn't that what Minnie asks us all to do? Forgive? How can we deny Minnie anything? :angel:

Though not a fan of Deborah Voigt's post-bypass voice, and convinced that dramatic soprano repertoire was never for her - the high notes were desperate and under pitch - I'll credit her with a devoted, heart-warming performance. About Giordani and Gallo I shall not speak (consult vivalagentenuova), but I'll put in a good word for Ginger Costa-Jackson, whose firm mezzo as Wowka provided the best singing of the entire performance. I recall her as Lola in the Met's _Cavalleria Rusticana_ a few seasons back, completely outsinging the Santuzza, Eva-Maria Westbroek, one of our current wobble queens. Considering the disconcerting coincidence that the best vocalist in yesterday's _Aida_ was the tenor who sang the messenger in Act 1, I have to ask what it says about opera today when the most attractive voices we hear are the comprimarios.

_Fanciulla_ is a peculiar opera. Maybe being an American gives me both a special affection for it and a certain cringey feeling while watching it. Those gold miners singing "Hello!" to each other don't convince me for a minute that they aren't Italians playing a wild west comedy. It takes me half an hour to begin to be persuaded that the whole thing isn't ridiculous, but once I'm hooked - it happens toward the end of Act 1, with the waltz tune that becomes a love theme - I'm in for a good time. The atmospheric score, hybridizing verismo with Debussy, is certainly the reason; what other reason could there be? I wouldn't call the opera Puccini's best-shaped work - Act 1 is slow to work up a heat, and the interruption of the action in Act 3 for a stand-and-sing aria by Johnson is certainly a mistake - but the exchanges between Minnie and Johnson are psychologically delicate and moving. Besides, Minnie insists that I forgive any faults the work may have. For her I'll do anything, and so should you.


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## DavidA

Helgi said:


> So I watched Aida, glad I did - what a show, production wise. I was happy with Netrebko and Rachvelishvili was very convincing! As for Radames... well.
> 
> That makes it six and a half hours of Verdi for me today.


Yes I had see it live. It was a good, spectacular production which suited the Met stage. The ladies were good as was the baritone. Pity about the tenor!


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## damianjb1

Woodduck said:


> Neither act 2 nor act 3 was up to act 1. Kaufmann was excellent, vocally the strongest member of the cast, with Terfel not far behind (not exactly a Wotan voice, but he made the most of what he has). I'm not keen on any of the women; Blythe was solid but not remarkable, Westbroeck has an intrusive vibrato, and Voigt was skinny threadbare Voigt. But the opera made its impact regardless of vocal deficiencies. I expect even less from _Siegfried _today, but we'll see.


I saw it in HD when it was originally screened in cinemas and the thing that impressed me most was the conducting. The whole thing sounded so incredibly beautiful. Especially Wotan's Farewell and the Magic Fire Music. Are we allowed to say that James Levine was a magnificent conductor?


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## damianjb1

Helgi said:


> I thought Johan Botha was wonderful as Tannhäuser, and Wolfram was another highlight. And the shepherd - she was a breath of fresh air after Venus.
> 
> I'm curious to know what those of you who were watching thought about DeYoung and Westbroek. I didn't like either of them at all. Admittedly I don't really know much about singing, but so much vibrato - they sounded slightly off-pitch so much of the time.
> 
> Anyway, I thoroughly enjoyed it regardless. Thinking of getting a subscription to see the Ring operas that were on last week. It's intimidating to get into them with audio only, much easier seeing a staged production with subtitles.


I agree. Just to hear one of the most impossibly difficult roles (Tannhäuser) in all Opera sung so beautifully was thrilling.


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## vivalagentenuova

> Fanciulla is a peculiar opera. Maybe being an American gives me both a special affection for it and a certain cringey feeling while watching it. Those gold miners singing "Hello!" to each other don't convince me for a minute that they aren't Italians playing a wild west comedy. It takes me half an hour to begin to be persuaded that the whole thing isn't ridiculous, but once I'm hooked - it happens toward the end of Act 1, with the waltz tune that becomes a love theme - I'm in for a good time. The atmospheric score, hybridizing verismo with Debussy, is certainly the reason; what other reason could there be? I wouldn't call the opera Puccini's best-shaped work - Act 1 is slow to work up a heat, and the interruption of the action in Act 3 for a stand-and-sing aria by Johnson is certainly a mistake - but the exchanges between Minnie and Johnson are psychologically delicate and moving. Besides, Minnie insists that I forgive any faults the work may have. For her I'll do anything, and so should you.


My only big disagreement with you is about Ch'ella mi creda. I think it's a sublime moment if well sung. Perhaps it's the Italian opera fan in me, but I often like the way that arias interrupt the action. They give a chance to reflect on what is at stake, and send us into what I call "opera time." It's not real time, and looked at from the perspective of real time, it's ludicrous; but just as Shakespeare expands thoughts and feelings that would have lasted seconds in a character's mind into long speeches that take minutes, I like the way that an aria like that takes the feeling or thought of a character and expands into something big. The text doesn't add anything terribly new to Johnson's character, but it is nice to hear some thought about how this will impact Minnie. It also makes some sense out of why some of the miners are ultimately willing to forgive him: they know that he truly loves Minnie, in a way that they can't help but feel kinship with.

The success of Act One for me depends on repeated listening. The first few times I heard the opera, I felt that it was a bunch of local color that was intermittently accidentally hilarious. I've come to really appreciate it though, as the depth of musical and dramatic themes laid out in it really does help bring the rest of the work, where the most intense drama is, into focus. The opening "Alla Polka" "Alle palme" scene may sound like wayward Italians, but it's really important, and Puccini sneakily tells us something profound. The melody there in E-major, the most important key of the opera, is a variation of the melody to Minnie's "E anche tu lo vorrei Joe" in Act III. The choice of the miners to forgive was incipient in their choice to seek out Minnie's company at the very beginning of the opera. This helps us see that their willingness to forgive is not just a debt to Minnie, but a transformation. Minnie is kind of a stand in for their wives back home, for whom they are braving the mines to send a little money. Compare that to Rance who has nothing waiting for him back home, and doesn't care about his wife. His love for Minnie is selfish compared to the miners' selflessness. Minnie helps the miners forgive not by telling them how good she is, but by reminding them of the how good _they_ are. She helps them to see that they already want to forgive. The moment of forgiveness is underscored by E-major, on on the word "redenzione!" The opera then ends in E major. (Interestingly, Rance's aria in Act I is in E major.) This is why I love this work so much. So much depth, so much truth, so much goodness. It never fails to leave me feeling purified, like the Psalmist, "come neve."

I'm happy you like the verismo-Debussy fusion, as that to me is the essence of Puccini's later style and really is a huge part of the appeal of the work. There's a hefty dose of Wagner in there, and a lot of Puccini's own innovation. He really succeeds in giving the work a unique color and atmosphere, in which the drama can unfold, which is an underrated part of his success as an opera composer. He always does this, but achieves perhaps his most unique sound world here (_Il tabarro_ and _Turandot_ being the other contenders, of course). One can see why Webern and Ravel were very impressed with this opera.


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## Woodduck

_Falstaff_ set in the 1950s? Why? What's gained to compensate for the coherence that's lost? Who believes in the Black Huntsman and fatal confrontations with fairies in the mid-20th century?

This was a drab-looking production, its first act taking place in a dingy brown inn/restaurant where Falstaff's bed appeared to be parked in an empty dining room (or where tables were stored in his bedroom. Whatever.) The third act too was dark and drab. Only the second act, set in Alice Ford's expansive !950s pastel-and-chrome kitchen, had much to offer the eye. The action was lively enough, and few attempts were made to update the characters' attitudes or behavior to match their more modern, but sometimes odd, costumes (Falstaff wore a waistcoat that looked 19th-century, and Ford looked a bit like a sleazy rock star, or something, when visiting Falstaff). The text remained intact regardless of the occasional anachronisms. On an incidental note, it may be ungracious to remark on the absurdity of the very fat Angela Meade and the even fatter Stephanie Blythe repeatedly mocking Falstaff for his obesity.

The musical presentation was generally competent, although the a cappella ensembles - the satirical "amen" and the plotting ladies - were so vibrato-ridden that few pitches were discernible and the effect was mostly noise. The best singing came from Lisette Oropesa as Nannetta, whose Queen of the Fairies gave me my only real vocal pleasure of the performance. For all its delightful gone-before-you-know-it musical detail, I don't find _Falstaff _a very endearing opera - the kids, Nannetta and Fenton, provide virtually the only emotional warmth, and that of a rather pale sort - and I really need an enchanting production and superb singing and acting to sustain my enjoyment. I recall seeing such a production, in fully Elizabethan style, live in Boston in the 1970s; this one didn't do it for me, and I regret that the Met's long-running Zeffirelli production was scrapped for this rather dreary, and frankly cheap-looking, one.

Tomorrow is the Girard production of _Parsifal,_ with Jonas Kaufmann in the title role. I found much to enjoy in the radio broadcast seven years ago, but then I was free to imagine the work as I wanted to. I didn't imagine a stage full of blood...


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## The Conte

Woodduck said:


> _Falstaff_ set in the 1950s? Why? What's gained to compensate for the coherence that's lost? Who believes in the Black Huntsman and fatal confrontations with fairies in the mid-20th century?


I don't agree with you about this production, I really enjoyed it seeing it live when it was in London (it's a co-pro between the Met and the ROH, and possible others).

I thought the idea that Falstaff believes there are fairies etc. in the woods down the bottom of the garden added to the humor for me and the costuming was all done to suggest a certain class of person in 50s England. That said, I preferred the previous production at the ROH, which was full of colour, kept to the original time period (which is 15th rather than 16th century) and sparkled more than this one.









N.


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## mountmccabe

I watched the first two acts of that _Falstaff_ last night. The production seemed a little busy, but otherwise seemed to understand the characters. It is of course not a funny opera, but the attempts at broad amusement were there.

I liked Maestri, and found it fitting that his look reminded me of Stephen Fry. Few of the other characters had much chance to show off in the first two acts; Ford did but was merely fine. The main reason I didn't keep watching was Levine. I heard little unity in the score, so it just sounded like empty background music.


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## DavidA

mountmccabe said:


> I watched the first two acts of that _Falstaff_ last night. The production seemed a little busy, but otherwise seemed to understand the characters. It is of course not a funny opera, but the attempts at broad amusement were there.
> 
> I liked Maestri, and found it fitting that his look reminded me of Stephen Fry. Few of the other characters had much chance to show off in the first two acts; Ford did but was merely fine. The main reason I didn't keep watching was Levine. I heard little unity in the score, so it just sounded like empty background music.


I saw this on the big screen and have it on DVD. Must say it was one of the most enjoyable nights at the opera ever. Fantastic!

If it was busy, well it is a busy opera!


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## Helgi

Feel like I'm cheating a bit, but this image from the recent Turandot kept catching my eye so I signed up for a subscription to watch it. A very enjoyable night at the Met on my couch, I must say. An excellent production, mostly unchanged from 1987 if I'm not mistaken. Christine Goerke was great as Turandot but the highlight performance for me was Eleonora Buratto as Liu.

I'd been listening to the Calafs of Jussi Björling and Franco Corelli earlier in the day. Tough acts to follow for Yusif Eyvazov I suppose, but he did alright.


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## Woodduck

Anyone who wants to say anything about _Parsifal_ is going to have to make some decisions at the outset about what he _isn't_ going to say, and then proceed without looking back. The Girard production at the Met is successful in raising many of the questions surrounding this deepest and strangest of Wagner's works, and whether its answers to those questions satisfy you may determine whether you find the production a success. For me it gets close enough to the heart of the work to be deeply moving in the end, despite letting Wagner down in a few respects along the way.

Girard's conception of the Grail's realm of Montsalvat is not Wagner's. There is no forest, no lake, no sacred spring, no temple on the horizon (and in fact there's no temple in the production at all, with all the action transpiring outdoors). There is only a bleak barrenness looking like something between the lunar surface and a gravel pit. The beneficence of nature, which plays a not unimportant part in the symbolism of the story and the imagery of the libretto, is notable for its complete absence. The action begins during the prelude; Girard chooses, in the annoyingly customary modern way, to distract us from the music and vitiate its intrinsic power over our imaginations by showing us the knights of the Grail, dressed like bankers, removing their jackets and ties and then assembling in a circle downstage right, where they will remain through the entire act. There is also a bevy of unidentified women who gather upstage left, where they too will remain. The two groups remain separated by a gash in the ground, which runs first with water and then, after the entrance of Amfortas, with blood. This obviously symbolizes his wound, and by extension the woundedness of spirit which oppresses the Grail's realm. One wonders how a swan ever wandered into a place like this! The third act manages to be even more desolate, opening with another action-filled prelude, this time showing us the Grail knights (if that's the right word for people in modern shirts and pants), along with those unidentified women, engaged in burying an unidentified corpse in a featureless expanse of gray earth under a gray sky. This is, of course, not what Wagner's prelude is about; it depicts the wanderings and struggles of Parsifal's quest to return to the Grail kingdom.

The most notorious departure from Wagner is the staging of act 2. Here, Klingsor's castle and garden do not exist, the flower maidens have been turned into a bunch of women in white tunics and holding spears, and all the action takes place in a pool of blood. Yes, you heard me. I'm supposing that this represents the wound of Amfortas into which Parsifal enters, or perhaps the blood of the womb into which Kundry tries to seduce him. Whatever it is, I find it silly and distracting, adding nothing to my understanding of the opera. All I can think about, as all the characters slosh around in red food coloring, are the Met's laundry bills.

As I've implied, somehow the power of the opera, and its basic theme of spiritual growth through suffering, comes across despite what I see as a narrowing of Wagner's vision to focus on desolation and pain, and I give credit for that to the direction, acting and singing, which were of a generally high caliber. There were many moving touches in the interaction of the characters, and the dedication of the cast was palpable. Of the singers, Jonas Kaufmann (Parsifal), Peter Mattei (Amfortas) and Rene Pape (Gurnemanz) were superb both vocally and histrionically, and Katarina Dalayman and Evgeny Nikitin were effective, if not vocally impeccable. Daniele Gatti conducted with great sensitivity, perhaps a little too much at times, relishing the music's lyric beauties and indulging his singers when a bit more momentum would have been preferable.

I'm glad to have finally seen this much-talked-about production, and have to say that I was more moved by it than I expected to be, despite its absurdly staged second act, in which Jonas Kaufmann sang so splendidly that I could forget momentarily about food coloring and laundry bills.


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## DavidA

Helgi said:


> Feel like I'm cheating a bit, but this image from the recent Turandot kept catching my eye so I signed up for a subscription to watch it. A very enjoyable night at the Met on my couch, I must say. An excellent production, mostly unchanged from 1987 if I'm not mistaken. Christine Goerke was great as Turandot but the highlight performance for me was Eleonora Buratto as Liu.
> 
> I'd been listening to the Calafs of Jussi Björling and Franco Corelli earlier in the day. Tough acts to follow for Yusif Eyvazov I suppose, but he did alright.


I saw this on the big screen and it was a good night. It is of course a ghastly plot full of cruelty but then Puccini had a bent that way. Just a pity that smoking claimed him before he finished it


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## Helgi

^ Could do with more cruelty if you ask me – I always regret listening or watching past the magical kiss. Would be a lot more satisfying if she had, with regret in her heart, had him led away to be executed instead. Just that hand gesture and... curtain!

Going to watch Parsifal tonight if I can get away with it.


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## Tsaraslondon

Woodduck said:


> _Falstaff_ set in the 1950s? Why? What's gained to compensate for the coherence that's lost? Who believes in the Black Huntsman and fatal confrontations with fairies in the mid-20th century?
> 
> This was a drab-looking production, its first act taking place in a dingy brown inn/restaurant where Falstaff's bed appeared to be parked in an empty dining room (or where tables were stored in his bedroom. Whatever.) The third act too was dark and drab. Only the second act, set in Alice Ford's expansive !950s pastel-and-chrome kitchen, had much to offer the eye. The action was lively enough, and few attempts were made to update the characters' attitudes or behavior to match their more modern, but sometimes odd, costumes (Falstaff wore a waistcoat that looked 19th-century, and Ford looked a bit like a sleazy rock star, or something, when visiting Falstaff). The text remained intact regardless of the occasional anachronisms. On an incidental note, it may be ungracious to remark on the absurdity of the very fat Angela Meade and the even fatter Stephanie Blythe repeatedly mocking Falstaff for his obesity.
> 
> The musical presentation was generally competent, although the a cappella ensembles - the satirical "amen" and the plotting ladies - were so vibrato-ridden that few pitches were discernible and the effect was mostly noise. The best singing came from Lisette Oropesa as Nannetta, whose Queen of the Fairies gave me my only real vocal pleasure of the performance. For all its delightful gone-before-you-know-it musical detail, I don't find _Falstaff _a very endearing opera - the kids, Nannetta and Fenton, provide virtually the only emotional warmth, and that of a rather pale sort - and I really need an enchanting production and superb singing and acting to sustain my enjoyment. I recall seeing such a production, in fully Elizabethan style, live in Boston in the 1970s; this one didn't do it for me, and I regret that the Met's long-running Zeffirelli production was scrapped for this rather dreary, and frankly cheap-looking, one.
> 
> Tomorrow is the Girard production of _Parsifal,_ with Jonas Kaufmann in the title role. I found much to enjoy in the radio broadcast seven years ago, but then I was free to imagine the work as I wanted to. I didn't imagine a stage full of blood...


Your comments about the two fat ladies made me smile and surely this is one of those occasions where disbelief would be hard to suspend, esepcially, as you say, because they spend much of the opera mocking Falstaff's girth. Maybe Stephanie Blythe should have played Falstaff. I hear her voice keeps getting lower! :devil:

On the other hand I don't see a problem in updating it. Many years ago I remember seeing a fantastic RSC production of the _The Merry Wives of Windsor_ which also set it ine the 50s, with a rogueish slightly RAF-ish Falstaff, Fenton a young teddy boy, Nanetta a young bobby socked girl and the merry wives meeting for in a hair salon and chattering in south London accents. It was hilarious.


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## DavidA

Tsaraslondon said:


> Your comments about the two fat ladies made me smile and surely this is one of those occasions where disbelief would be hard to suspend, esepcially, as you say, because they spend much of the opera mocking Falstaff's girth. Maybe Stephanie Blythe should have played Falstaff. I hear her voice keeps getting lower! :devil:
> 
> On the other hand I don't see a problem in updating it. Many years ago I remember seeing a fantastic RSC production of the _The Merry Wives of Windsor_ which also set it ine the 50s, with a rogueishm slightly RAF-ish Falstaff, Fenton a young teddy boy, Nanetta a young bobby socked girl and the merry wives meeting for in a hair salon and chattering in south London accents. It was hilarious.


No problem in this updating of this opera as it remained faithful to what Verdi set. It's a farce anyway! I thought it was a hugely enjoyable production and the somewhat large ladies entirely believable in the context - after all they are middle aged! Stephanie Blythe mocking Falstaff was entirely appropriate - unless you live in a cave you must have heard a fat person mocking someone else's girth oblivious of their own weight problem! :lol:
Rather this unless you like your opera so po-faced that the comedy is lost. Verdi set a rip roaring farce which this this production was. This of all operas was not meant to be taken too seriously. 
"We've all been fooled!"


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## Byron

What's gained by setting Falstaff in the 1950s that can't be accomplished by placing the story in its proper medieval backdrop? Nothing that I can see. A purely cosmetic and shallow excercise.


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## DavidA

Byron said:


> What's gained by setting Falstaff in the 1950s that can't be accomplished by placing the story in its proper medieval backdrop? Nothing that I can see. A purely cosmetic and shallow excercise.


Just a fresh look to me. Set in reign of Elizabeth 2 instead of Elizabeth 1. It was joyous.


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## Byron

DavidA said:


> Just a fresh look to me.


Precisely. That's all its going for.


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## DavidA

Byron said:


> Precisely. That's all its going for.


What's wrong with that? It was very well done. And very funny


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## Byron

DavidA said:


> What's wrong with that? It was very well done. And very funny


Oh, its ultimately pretty harmless granted. It just adds nothing to the opera except unnecessary discord between visuals, music and story. Boito and Verdi didn't write an opera an about a guy in the middle of the 20th century smoking cigarettes and typing away at a typewriter.


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## DavidA

Byron said:


> Oh, its ultimately pretty harmless granted. It just adds nothing to the opera except unnecessary discord between visuals, music and story. Boito and Verdi didn't write an opera an about a guy in the middle of the 20th century smoking cigarettes and typing away at a typewriter.


I can't remember there being a typewriter in it? And I can't remember anyone smoking?


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## The Conte

DavidA said:


> Just a fresh look to me. Set in reign of Elizabeth 2 instead of Elizabeth 1. It was joyous.


It's not set in the reign of Elizabeth 1! The original setting is the reign of Henry IV or V. (Of course, Shakespeare's play would have been staged in contemporary dress as was customary at the time and so I can see where the idea that it is set in the Elizabethan period comes from.) Now you may say I am taking all this 'too seriously', but how can people complain about an opera being set at a time other than that which the composer wanted when they are ignorant of the composer's original setting?

Verdi set the opera during "The reign of Henry IV, 1399 to 1413" and that is why the previous ROH production had a medieval slant to the style (See the image of Bryn on the DVD cover in my post up thread). Like you I have no problem with the opera being updated to either the Elizabethan era or the 50s.

N.


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## DavidA

The Conte said:


> It's not set in the reign of Elizabeth 1! The original setting is the reign of Henry IV or V. (Of course, Shakespeare's play would have been staged in contemporary dress as was customary at the time and so I can see where the idea that it is set in the Elizabethan period comes from.) Now you may say I am taking all this 'too seriously', but how can people complain about an opera being set at a time other than that which the composer wanted when they are ignorant of the composer's original setting?
> 
> Verdi set the opera during "The reign of Henry IV, 1399 to 1413" and that is why the previous ROH production had a medieval slant to the style (See the image of Bryn on the DVD cover in my post up thread). Like you I have no problem with the opera being updated to either the Elizabethan era or the 50s.
> 
> N.


Yes I stand corrected. Of course Falstaff was a main character in Henry IV. The play, 'Marry Wives of Windsor' was alkedgly written by Shakespeare on the suggestion of Elizabeth I who wanted to see St John in love.


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## Byron

DavidA said:


> I can't remember there being a typewriter in it? And I can't remember anyone smoking?


There was another recent production of the opera that also set it in the 1950s. It's a very trendy idea. See the recent Met Cosi fan tutte. But the operas weren't written to reflect life in the 1950s, and it leads to all sorts of pointless inconsistencies and incongruities.


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## DavidA

Byron said:


> There was another recent production of the opera that also set it in the 1950s. It's a very trendy idea. See the recent Met Cosi fan tutte. But the operas weren't written to reflect life in the 1950s, and it leads to all sorts of pointless inconsistencies and incongruities.


Yes that one is coming up this week. I did see it but unfortunately there was problems with the transmission to the cinema. Of course there are inconsistencies and incongruities but it was quite fun. In any case the biggest incongruity lies in the plot! Just happens to be surrounded by some of the greatest opera music ever written


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## nina foresti

Am I the only one to see this stupendous _Parsifal_ with Pape, Mattei, Dalayman, Kaufmann et al. What a tour de force.
I saw the original in-house and am so glad to have been able to see it again as I always miss something important the first time.
Bravo Wagner!


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## mountmccabe

I also saw it in the house. I have the Blu ray, so I may watch that if I can't get any of the other streaming options to work.

I have not had any luck streaming anything from Wiener Staatsoper, or I would try there. My next attempt will be the one from Opera Vlaanderen.


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## Helgi

There's also a Parsifal from Bayerische Staatsoper available to stream, with Jonas Kaufmann, René Pape and Nina Stemme: https://operlive.de/parsifal/


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## Woodduck

nina foresti said:


> Am I the only one to see this stupendous _Parsifal_ with Pape, Mattei, Dalayman, Kaufmann et al. What a tour de force.
> I saw the original in-house and am so glad to have been able to see it again as I always miss something important the first time.
> Bravo Wagner!


See post #98. ................


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## nina foresti

Woodduck: Yes I just got finished reading it and I found myself nodding my head more than once in agreement by your very fine assessment. It was particularly well done despite the unnecessary updating -- and I can also forgive those stupid 2nd act machinations.
In all, that last act left me like a blubbering idiot.


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## Admiral

This is of course the production that gave rise to my avatar (the Parsifal banner outside the Met) on what I can only describe as a weekend trip to NYC that was magic. In the span of 3 days I saw_ Parsifal, Don Carlo_, the Vienna Philharmonic, and a jazz concert at Birdland. Also spent about 12 hours in museums. It was the trip of a lifetime.

So I can't give a critique, as such, because I have so much emotionally invested in this memory - how many do we get like that in a lifetime? - suffice it to say that I agree with Woodduck's post and (refreshing my recollection) with the NYT Anthony Thomasini review, which shares many of the same concerns.

What stays with me the most was the staggering performance of Peter Mattei. I enjoyed it more on this broadcast because I could see the up-close integration of the acting with his singing, a true artist (and showing that a Mozartian can sing this). Kaufman was excellent, and so was Pape, although I thought he sounded less dry in person.

From where I sit today, working on the virus response but helpless against it, this performance seems a lifetime ago.


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## Helgi

Peter Mattei seems to be good at everything.

I prefer the more straightforward production of the München Parsifal, but this one is rather magical — once you get acclimated to it. The scorched-earth scenery and modern business attire etc.

A slightly younger Jonas Kaufmann is also a plus!


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## Woodduck

Helgi said:


> There's also a Parsifal from Bayerische Staatsoper available to stream, with Jonas Kaufmann, René Pape and Nina Stemme: https://operlive.de/parsifal/


This is worth looking in on. I put it that way because your decision as to whether to watch it entire may depend on your tolerance for ugliness. Ugliness is something the Germans specialize in; they've been practicing since the age of Expressionism and Bauhaus, and they really have it down pat. Not being masochistic by nature, I skipped around, but the one part I found absolutely riveting was the Kundry-Parsifal scene in Act 2. This is certainly one of the most difficult scenes in opera to bring off; it's all there in the music, but the actors have their work cut out for them. Nina Stemme and Jonas Kaufmann are fantastic, and Kaufmann surpasses in vocal strength and expressive variety even his Met performances of several years earlier. If this is a preview of his Tristan, we may be in very good hands (as long as the now wobbly Stemme isn't his Isolde).

Start at Kundry's entrance at 2:05:00, and try to ignore the "flower maidens"; they'll be gone momentarily.


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## howlingfantods

nina foresti said:


> Am I the only one to see this stupendous _Parsifal_ with Pape, Mattei, Dalayman, Kaufmann et al. What a tour de force.
> I saw the original in-house and am so glad to have been able to see it again as I always miss something important the first time.
> Bravo Wagner!


I have it on Blu-ray. I love Mattei's performance--his Amfortas is the only one I think that competes with Van Dam in the role. But I found Pape and Kaufmann mildly disappointing. They're pretty good, but I expected more, and I think this was the first time I realized that Pape was on the downswing of his career.

I do like the production--it reminded me of Philip K Dick's Deus Irae, which is set in a blasted post-apocalyptic future where the survivors live in bands of religious cults.


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## nina foresti

Howling:
I agree with you about Mattei. But I thought Pape also did a great job and was very into his role -- not an easy one in that 1st Act.
I like watching him when he is just on the sidelines. His character is always involved with the one who is singing. This, to me, is the sign of a fine performer.
I was a bit disappointed in Kaufmann but I am really nit-picking. The audience clearly showed their preference by their applausewhich was a runaway for both Mattei and Pape and a standing ovation for each. I thought Dalayman also did a fine job.
Despite the updated production and those annoying flowermaidens,, this was a very satisfying production for me.


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## ManateeFL

The brooding landscapes and stormy skies in Girard's production were inventive and mostly impressive. Unfortunately the staging mostly rewrote and often undermined the narrative and Wagner's dramatic vision. Still, I've found that I can tolerate almost any production of Parsifal and come away stirred and overwhelmed if the cast is adequate and the work sensitively conducted, which was certainly the case here.


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## Helgi

Woodduck said:


> This is worth looking in on. I put it that way because your decision as to whether to watch it entire may depend on your tolerance for ugliness. Ugliness is something the Germans specialize in; they've been practicing since the age of Expressionism and Bauhaus, and they really have it down pat. Not being masochistic by nature, I skipped around, but the one part I found absolutely riveting was the Kundry-Parsifal scene in Act 2. This is certainly one of the most difficult scenes in opera to bring off; it's all there in the music, but the actors have their work cut out for them. Nina Stemme and Jonas Kaufmann are fantastic, and Kaufmann surpasses in vocal strength and expressive variety even his Met performances of several years earlier. If this is a preview of his Tristan, we may be in very good hands (as long as the now wobbly Stemme isn't his Isolde).
> 
> Start at Kundry's entrance at 2:05:00, and try to ignore the "flower maidens"; they'll be gone momentarily.


The Germans also specialize in casual nudity, so imagine my disappointment!

Another thing lacking in this production is that Gurnemanz and Parsifal look no worse for wear in act 3.


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## Spy Car

nina foresti said:


> Am I the only one to see this stupendous _Parsifal_ with Pape, Mattei, Dalayman, Kaufmann et al. What a tour de force.
> I saw the original in-house and am so glad to have been able to see it again as I always miss something important the first time.
> Bravo Wagner!


I was so grateful to be able to enjoy the Met's broadcast of Parsifal in my home during this lockdown.

In the past couple of years, Parsifal has leaped to the top of my most cherished musical works. I've listened to dozens of outstanding recordings but being able to see such a spectacular production on screen was very much appreciated.

I felt the production honored Wagner's genius and any quibbles I may have had (like putting knights in business suits) pales in comparison to what made this production shine.

I was moved. Parsifal is a work of sublime beauty. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

To have seen it in person, as you did, must have been extraordinary.

Bill


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## howlingfantods

nina foresti said:


> Howling:
> I agree with you about Mattei. But I thought Pape also did a great job and was very into his role -- not an easy one in that 1st Act.
> I like watching him when he is just on the sidelines. His character is always involved with the one who is singing. This, to me, is the sign of a fine performer.
> I was a bit disappointed in Kaufmann but I am really nit-picking. The audience clearly showed their preference by their applausewhich was a runaway for both Mattei and Pape and a standing ovation for each. I thought Dalayman also did a fine job.
> Despite the updated production and those annoying flowermaidens,, this was a very satisfying production for me.


I think my mild disappointment with Pape and Kaufmann were pretty dissimilar. I think with Pape, I felt like he acted and performed well, but it was noticeable how much his voice had dried out. 15 to 20 years ago, Pape had one of the beautiful bass cantante voices in recorded history, but by this performance 5 or 6 years ago, it had lost some of its beauty and was merely a very good voice.

With Kaufmann, I thought his voice sounded great, strong, as vocally beautiful as ever. I just thought he didn't do much to dramatize the character growth. He sounds exactly the same as a young dummy in act 1 as he does as the hero and king revealed after decades of suffering and growth in act 3.


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## Woodduck

ManateeFL said:


> The brooding landscapes and stormy skies in Girard's production were inventive and mostly impressive. Unfortunately the staging mostly rewrote and often undermined the narrative and Wagner's dramatic vision. Still, I've found that *I can tolerate almost any production of Parsifal and come away stirred and overwhelmed if the cast is adequate and the work sensitively conducted,* which was certainly the case here.


Thinking about this performance afterward, I came to a similar conclusion. If the musical and dramatic presentation - the conducting, singing and acting - had been less strong, I would have felt much less acquiescent in what Girard did to the opera. I still can't entirely make sense out of his second act, and what did make sense was ridiculously crude. I mean, a _bed_ that rolls in just in time for a seduction? Surrounded by girls with spears? In a pool of blood? Is this the honeymoon suite in the Addams Family Motel? In the first and third acts the "post-apocalyptic" landscape and cosmic sky projections were visually striking, but how does a view of Jupiter from the surface of Mars relate to all the references in the libretto to forests and lakes and swans and springs and flowers and nature renewed and redeemed? Good Friday ain't lookin' so good...

A friend who shares my interest in Wagner watched this with his partner, who had no advance preparation. The poor fellow couldn't make head or tail of it, but he did remark that the men sitting in a circle, wearing white shirts and black slacks, looked like Mormons.


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## Resurrexit

Woodduck said:


> A friend who shares my interest in Wagner watched this with his partner, who had no advance preparation. The poor fellow couldn't make head or tail of it, but he did remark that the men sitting in a circle, wearing white shirts and black slacks, looked like Mormons.


I'm reminded of some words from Robert Donington:

"The grievance is that opera producers today are pressing to an extreme a principle of which the motives are excellent but the effects are almost infallibly counter-productive. An opera is an artwork to which three components chiefly and jointly contribute: words, music, staging. Words and music come down to us more or less intact; staging does not, since any production is ephemeral and must be recreated when the opera is to be newly staged. Nevertheless, the components can only add up if they are treated as a threefold challenge that has to be taken as one.

When the words and the music are in a certain congruous style, so too, within reason, must the staging be; for if it is set out with the period changed and the idiom modernized and all manner of gimmicks used which are of our own age, with the laudable but misjudged intention of involving the modern audience more enticingly, then the clash of styles overpowers the totality of the whole, and the modern audience, so far from becoming more involved, is left confused by the inconsistencies and robbed of the naturalness which that totality has all along been able to establish, and no misalliance of words and music with an incongruously modern staging can ever really hope to achieve.

Opera is a great purveyor of symbols, both individual and archetypal. You do not make up a symbol; if you are perceptive enough you find it in the work itself - and stage it. The fatal mistake is to muddle it up with personal preoccupations or polemical insinuations or any other contaminations from the intellectual sphere, and least of all as well-meant social propaganda. We do not want slanted productions; we want straight productions [...] in an idiom compatible enough to give us the true flavour of the total artwork..."

I have to admit to a bit of admiration for those who can actually sit through interventionist productions like this long enough to consider and critique the way they are fundamentally altering the opera and making them incomprehensible. After tiring of the frustration and annoyance I long ago retreated to my audio collection and my own imagination. I suspect directors get away with it because of the preeminence of the music in an opera, and most people who attend are familiar with the story and will often go along with looking at some exotic/provocative/spectacular/attractive visuals while enjoying the music and characters they already know and love without considering or caring about how the visual and aural elements correspond.


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## Woodduck

Resurrexit said:


> I'm reminded of some words from Robert Donington:
> 
> "The grievance is that opera producers today are pressing to an extreme a principle of which the motives are excellent but the effects are almost infallibly counter-productive. An opera is an artwork to which three components chiefly and jointly contribute: words, music, staging. Words and music come down to us more or less intact; staging does not, since any production is ephemeral and must be recreated when the opera is to be newly staged. Nevertheless, the components can only add up if they are treated as a threefold challenge that has to be taken as one.
> 
> When the words and the music are in a certain congruous style, so too, within reason, must the staging be; for if it is set out with the period changed and the idiom modernized and all manner of gimmicks used which are of our own age, with the laudable but misjudged intention of involving the modern audience more enticingly, then the clash of styles overpowers the totality of the whole, and the modern audience, so far from becoming more involved, is left confused by the inconsistencies and robbed of the naturalness which that totality has all along been able to establish, and no misalliance of words and music with an incongruously modern staging can ever really hope to achieve.
> 
> Opera is a great purveyor of symbols, both individual and archetypal. You do not make up a symbol; if you are perceptive enough you find it in the work itself - and stage it. The fatal mistake is to muddle it up with personal preoccupations or polemical insinuations or any other contaminations from the intellectual sphere, and least of all as well-meant social propaganda. We do not want slanted productions; we want straight productions [...] in an idiom compatible enough to give us the true flavour of the total artwork..."
> 
> I have to admit to a bit of admiration for those who can actually sit through interventionist productions like this long enough to consider and critique the way they are fundamentally altering the opera and making them incomprehensible. After tiring of the frustration and annoyance I long ago retreated to my audio collection and my own imagination. I suspect directors get away with it because of the preeminence of the music in an opera, and *most people who attend are familiar with the story and will often go along with looking at some exotic/provocative/spectacular/attractive visuals while enjoying the music and characters they already know and love without considering or caring about how the visual and aural elements correspond.*


This may be true of many operagoers, who basically respond to the work they're familiar with and don't worry too much about the oddities presented to them, particularly as they know nowadays to expect things that won't make sense. There are those who actually relish incongruities, as they derive intellectual pleasure from an "alternative view," a "deeper insight," or a "political correction" of a work of art that seems to them to represent obsolete ways of thinking and feeling. Wagner's mythic tales are irresistible to directors who see all sorts of opportunities to put their own views across, and _Parsifal_ seems an especially attractive target for the deconstructive impulse, being so heavy with meanings and generative of such controversy over what it means and what it ought - or ought not, according to contemporary sensibilities - to mean.

Conrad L. Osborne, whose views echo those of Donington, wrote about the Girard production in his blog in March of 2018. About the introduction and deployment of women where Wagner doesn't ask for them, he wrote:

"The introduction of the women is a cheap exploitation of current feminist sentiments...Kundry herself takes the Grail from its shrine and holds it aloft before handing it over to Parsifal-a real glass-ceiling-breaker there-before dying. As the curtain starts to descend on the final tableau, the women...swarm into the male domain (this would be a trifle too shocking if there were a physical sanctuary, and this is a typical modern reason for turning a place into a space)."

About the use of modern dress, the "timeless" sets, and the elimination of nature imagery:

"The pandating detaches the story from its early-Medieval, Legendary Times source, the deep background of myth from which Wagner's fantasy grew. It is meant to persuade us that the myth is timeless, and lives yet amid the businessmen hunched on their chairs in a gloomy space. But the timeless parts of the myth would be those that survive the trip from Legendary Times to ours, that remain true despite the great difference between those worlds, between then and now... Wagner had in mind the borderland between legend and history. Parsifal, like Lohengrin, also has a real and particular place-in Parsifal's case, the Northern Pyrenees. To the immediate North is the Languedoc, and beyond, the rest of Christianizing Western Europe. Montsalvat, the Grail Castle, faces that way. To the South and East lie Moorish Spain, the Holy Land, and Arabia. Klingsor's tower, on the other side of Montsalvat's mountain, faces that way. His Magic Garden is one of blooming Orientalist exotica/erotica, and contrasts with the deep forest and holy lake of the Grail dominion, the flowering meadow of the Good Friday Spell. This contrast touches on the production's third departure, from Nature. Composing near the end of a lifetime of industrialization's despoiling of Nature and science's fragmentation of it, and working on what he surely knew was his last artistic testament, Wagner wrote into his music not merely Nature's beauties and temptations, but his belief in the necessity of seeing Nature as an embracing wholeness, and of recognizing humankind's mortal place in it. His music could not possibly have arisen from among the businessmen stage left, or the women stage right, or from anywhere in our urbanized, unmiraculous culture. Or from a pool of blood. But I'm sure you've heard about the blood, through which everyone sloshes for the duration of Act 2."

On "auteuristic" (_regie_) productions:

"Now, none of these departures will matter to anyone who subscribes to the auteuristic theory of opera production. To them, Wagner's music is the only aspect of his work that need be reproduced more or less according to his specifications. Further, the true postmodernists among them endorse the separation of a work's elements, believing that each functions independently of the others, on its own interpretive plane. That-and this should be self-evident-is in direct contradiction not only of Wagner's concept of a Gesamtkunstwerk, but of the more general modern notion of an integrated production, in which the elements agree with and reinforce one another, and also accord with what is in the text. In that view, the creative aspect of interpretation lies not with re-conceptualization, but with answering the myriad interpretive questions-musical, verbal, scenic-left unanswered by even the most highly elaborated text."


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## nina foresti

I never thought I'd have tears enough left over after my wonderful Met _Parsifal_ experience yesterday but lo and behold the coupling of Grigolo and Damrau in _Romeo et Juliette_ found me blubbering all over the place.
I've seen a lot of R & J but I must admit that the chemistry between these two was simply spectacular.
I had seen this same production in-house and never dreamed that it could again touch me anew. 
Talk about singers who know how to characterize a role!
Highly recommended.


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## Woodduck

nina foresti said:


> I never thought I'd have tears enough left over after my wonderful Met _Parsifal_ experience yesterday but lo and behold the coupling of Grigolo and Damrau in _Romeo et Juliette_ found me blubbering all over the place.


Don't hesitate to add salt to your food. Opera can deplete you of electrolytes.


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## Admiral

howlingfantods said:


> I think my mild disappointment with Pape and Kaufmann were pretty dissimilar. I think with Pape, I felt like he acted and performed well, but it was noticeable how much his voice had dried out. 15 to 20 years ago, Pape had one of the beautiful bass cantante voices in recorded history, but by this performance 5 or 6 years ago, it had lost some of its beauty and was merely a very good voice.
> 
> With Kaufmann, I thought his voice sounded great, strong, as vocally beautiful as ever. I just thought he didn't do much to dramatize the character growth. He sounds exactly the same as a young dummy in act 1 as he does as the hero and king revealed after decades of suffering and growth in act 3.


I saw this production (though not this night) and thought Pape in particular sounded better in person.


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## Admiral

I don't recall if it's been mentioned but the Salzburg Festival is also free streaming: _Pagliacci with Jonas Kaufmann up today, Arabella_ with Fleming and Hampson tomorrow.


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## howlingfantods

Deutche Oper Berlin is streaming Fricsay's Don Giovanni with Fischer-Dieskau, Grummer, Lorengar, Berry etc. Looks promising on paper at least.

Just got through the overture--this is in German translation, fair warning.


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## Woodduck

The Met's _Don Pasquale_ is marvelous. I had no idea that Anna Netrebko was such a comedian; her Norina was brilliant. John Del Carlo reveals his comic genius here as he does in _Barbiere_. Everyone else is first-rate too; to mention minor vocal flaws would be beside the point. I think this is the best all-around production I've seen yet in these daily streamings: sets, costumes, direction, singing, acting - what a pleasure. Watch it!


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## vivalagentenuova

Have only watched the overture and first scene so far. Delightful overture! So much vitality and fun. Like the staging a lot. Nice colors, "location shot", design.


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## Becca

Woodduck said:


> ...I had no idea that Anna Netrebko was such a comedian...


One only has to look at some of the roles that she is considering (Isolde?!!) to realize what a comedian she is :lol:


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## Woodduck

Becca said:


> One only has to look at some of the roles that she is considering (Isolde?!!) to realize what a comedian she is :lol:


Why not? We could have Juan Diego Flores as Tristan, Cecilia Bartoli as Brangaene, Thomas Hampson as Kurwenal, and Ewa Podles as Marke. The 30-piece orchestra could put N-95 masks over the brasses and winds to contain droplets, and should just about fill the pit if they social distance at six feet apart.


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## DavidA

Just watching Don Pasquale. Real fun! :lol:


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## nina foresti

I just wish I could love those buffo operas more.
I found it cute but so busy, busy, busy.
Her Nebs was a fine comedienne and in good voice as well. Kwiecien is sexy and played his role with sardonic humor. The Don himself was a riot. He pulled out all the stops.
And of course Polenzani, he of the rich tenor sound, did a fine job as well.
Seems strange to view Levine after all that has happened in those 10 years.


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## Woodduck

I was sincerely hoping that the Met's 1950s-style Coney Island setting for _Cosi fan tutte_ would prove amusing enough to make me tolerate the heartless silliness of the opera's plot, which has always left me cold. But despite some clever staging, it failed. I found myself as irritated as ever with the opera's collection of dumb sitcom characters, and perilously on the edge of boredom much of the time. _Cosi_'s cynical falseness - no, all women are NOT like that - could work just fine for an actual sitcom of about half an hour's duration - an episode of _I Love Lucy_, say (to keep the '50s motif) - but for a three-hour-plus opera it offers a shallow situation stretched paper-thin and cardboard characters repeating the same predictable sentiments over and over and over, only occasionally given a hint of dimensionality by the fact that the music is by Mozart. But even musically I find _Cosi_ to be inferior to his other popular operas; remove the heavenly "breeze" trio, "Come scoglio" and "Un aura amorosa," and most of it is unremarkable by Mozart's own high standard. Great music has redeemed some weak stories in opera, but even Mozart could only do so much with a plot as callous and frivolous as this, in which his moments of sincere emotion sit uncomfortably in a context unworthy of them.

It's really up to the singers to evoke in us what little sympathy we can have for the characters in this opera, and the performers in this production were variable. We did get some first-class singing from Ben Bliss (Ferrando), one of the most pleasing of what seems like a constant supply of Mozart and Rossini tenors the Met offers us while we're waiting a few good Verdi singers to come along. Next to Bliss I most enjoyed the perky, red-haired Despina, Kelli O'Hara, who did absolutely everything a Despina should do, even when disguised as a notary in sequins and cowboy hat from Texas (don't ask).

I suppose one may as well put _Cosi_ on Coney Island in the '50s. It's an amusement park, and we're supposed to be amused. But, being sensitive to the interaction of the various elements of an operatic production, I often felt a disturbing incongruity between the formal elegance and symmetry of 18th-century Classical music and the sights, fashions and manners of the era of Patti Page, Chuck Berry and Lawrence Welk. "And a one, and a two..."


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## DavidA

nina foresti said:


> I just wish I could love those buffo operas more.
> I found it cute but so busy, busy, busy.
> Her Nebs was a fine comedienne and in good voice as well. Kwiecien is sexy and played his role with sardonic humor. The Don himself was a riot. He pulled out all the stops.
> And of course Polenzani, he of the rich tenor sound, did a fine job as well.
> Seems strange to view Levine after all that has happened in those 10 years.


You just sit back and laugh and enjoy. In fact nothing not to enjoy!


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## annaw

Started watching _Don Pasquale_ through the streaming. Very delightful and amusing - especially Mariusz Kwiecien seems to really enjoy himself :lol: .


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## The Conte

annaw said:


> Started watching _Don Pasquale_ through the streaming. Very delightful and amusing - especially Mariusz Kwiecien seems to really enjoy himself :lol: .


It's great performance and filmed recording of the opera.

N.


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## DavidA

The Conte said:


> It's great performance and filmed recording of the opera.
> 
> N.


Unfortunately only saw the first part before it timed out. But watching the Cosi. Saw it in the cinema among technical problems so hopefully see it all today


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## The Conte

DavidA said:


> Unfortunately only saw the first part before it timed out. But watching the Cosi. Saw it in the cinema among technical problems so hopefully see it all today


The Pashquale is available on DVD and Blu ray, well worth having.

N.


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## DavidA

Listening to Cosi. Madcap production which is most enjoyable as long as you’re not stuffy about it. As for the music. You just marvel!


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## DavidA

Just finished the Cosi fan Tutte. Soprano a bit shrill but the production is great fun. Not exactly what Mozart / da Ponte had in mind but sure they would have loved it. Worth a watch.


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## Barelytenor

I wish the Met would just make the damned things available on our schedules rather than theirs! And then the unmitigated chutzpah to ask for donations in "this time of crisis." Their motto should be "We're there for you ... one day a week."


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## Helgi

You can sign up for a subscription and watch whenever you choose


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## Woodduck

I can strongly recommend seeing the Met's _Rusalka_ if you haven't yet. It's a thoroughly traditional staging and quite beautiful in its color and atmosphere, poetically evoking the world of forest and water spirits. I'd forgotten what a sad opera it is, though Dvorak's melodic sweetness and delicate orchestration keep it from being depressing. It's also very Wagnerian in both its choice of fairy tale material and its use of leitmotif. The idea of a supernatural, spiritual or otherwise nonhuman being seeking the experience of being human crops up throughout history from ancient myths to Star Trek: The Next Generation, and it just occurred to me that, in opera, Lohengrin's search for love with Elsa is a variant on the theme. Like _Rusalka_, _Lohengrin_ ends tragically with the death of the human being and the return of the spiritual being to his or her place of origin. All such stories speak of the difficulty of harmonizing the sometimes conflicting elements of our psyches.

The performance from 2014 was a good one, dramatically effective if not absolutely first-class vocally. Rene Fleming sounded less fresh than in earlier years, and I didn't feel that her sincere acting quite solved the problem of what to do with a character who is almost entirely reactive and doesn't actually do very much. Perhaps a stronger directorial concept was needed. Piotr Beczala isn't the heroic tenor the role of the prince ideally wants, but he played his part creditably. John Relyea made a fine water gnome, thanks partly to incredible makeup and costuming that must have taken hours to apply. Emily Magee was a strong foreign princess, and Dolora Zajick was a delight as the witch Jezibaba. Minor parts were effectively taken. Nezet-Seguin's conducting seemed fine to me; if Act 3 dragged a bit I'm inclined to blame Dvorak and his librettist, who give us a longish number sung by the wood sprites that interrupts the work's dramatic momentum. I'm reminded that when Wagner brings back his own trio of nature spirits in _Gotterdammerung,_ he has the good judgment to put them at the beginning of Act 3 where they set the scene for the devastating tragedy to come rather than interrupt it.


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## mountmccabe

howlingfantods said:


> With Kaufmann, I thought his voice sounded great, strong, as vocally beautiful as ever. I just thought he didn't do much to dramatize the character growth. He sounds exactly the same as a young dummy in act 1 as he does as the hero and king revealed after decades of suffering and growth in act 3.


Curious. His vocal change over the evening was one of the most remarkable things about those performances.

I attended two performances of the first run of the Girard Parsifal at the Met. I had not heard Kaufmann previously and after the first act was feeling underwhelemed. His performance seemed light and tenative. But then he was commanding and powerful for the third act.

Perhaps this doesn't come off as strongly in the recording, or maybe my inexperienced ears missed a lot seven years ago, but I was blown away.


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## mountmccabe

I watched _Boris Godunov_ last night. I really love this score. I read that Gergiev used the original Mussorgsky orchestrations, but for whatever reason it came off beautifully.

But what I would most like to see is the reasoning behind the choice of what scenes to include. It seems like the answer here was "all of them." It makes for a really long evening. I suppose it is interesting to hear almost all of the music, but I had a hard time getting engaged.

Alexey Markov was really quite wonderful as Shchelkalov, and Andrey Popov stood out as the Holy Fool. I'm not sure I have heard Aleksandrs Antonenko before and I was concerned given his reputation, but I thought he did very well as Grigory. I suppose it is a very different role from the big ones he's been doing recently, plus this was almost a decade ago. René Pape was perfectly fine as Boris, but he's off stage for so much of the opera, especially with this extra-long edition.


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## DavidA

mountmccabe said:


> I watched _Boris Godunov_ last night. I really love this score. I read that Gergiev used the original Mussorgsky orchestrations, but for whatever reason it came off beautifully.
> 
> But what I would most like to see is the reasoning behind the choice of what scenes to include. It seems like the answer here was "all of them." It makes for a really long evening. I suppose it is interesting to hear almost all of the music, but I had a hard time getting engaged.
> 
> Alexey Markov was really quite wonderful as Shchelkalov, and Andrey Popov stood out as the Holy Fool. I'm not sure I have heard Aleksandrs Antonenko before and I was concerned given his reputation, but I thought he did very well as Grigory. I suppose it is a very different role from the big ones he's been doing recently, plus this was almost a decade ago. René Pape was perfectly fine as Boris, but he's off stage for so much of the opera, especially with this extra-long edition.


Just seen a bit of it. Not the sort of thing to cheer one up during a lockdown!


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## MaxKellerman

mountmccabe said:


> But what I would most like to see is the reasoning behind the choice of what scenes to include. It seems like the answer here was "all of them." It makes for a really long evening. I suppose it is interesting to hear almost all of the music, but I had a hard time getting engaged.


Yeah, there was a lot to like about this production, but I would have preferred either the 1869 original or the revised 1872 version because they are both different and distinct and effective in their own way, rather than the conflation of both that we got.


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## DavidA

Just watching La Rodine. I don’t know it at all. Goerghiu singing wonderful


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## Woodduck

Yesterday's _Boris Godunov_ was pretty powerful, with the excellent Rene Pape. Not having some others' knowledge of the various versions - I grew up with the Rimsky-Korsakov arrangement - I can't comment on the Met's choice of edition, but the key roles were well taken and I emerged properly depressed about human history and mankind's need to look to gods and tsars for salvation while behaving abominably.

Today's _La Rondine_ should be a pleasant change, but after the first act I'm feeling that it's too much of a change. Puccini apparently intended to write an operetta, which usually means a sentimental and/or frivolous plot, light and pleasantly melodious music, and spoken dialogue, but La Rondine is through-composed. Most of the score so far seems the musical equivalent of chit chat, apt enough, I guess, for the rich party guests lounging about Magda's living room, but running the gamut of emotion only from A to B (or maybe C in "Doretta's Song"). At this point the opera feels pretty inconsequential, but the romance coming up in Acts 2 and 3 should warm things up. Back to it, then...


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## Woodduck

Yes, _La Rondine_ was very good. Gheorghiu was beautiful and sang beautifully, Alagna was still sounding pretty good in 2009 and milked the sad ending for all it was worth (probably more), Lisette Oropesa was a complete delight, and although I don't know why they cast Samuel Ramey, whose voice by this date was as rough as cobblestone pavement, his role didn't involve too much singing.

Basically, _La Rondine_ is _La Traviata_ without TB.


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## vivalagentenuova

Woodduck said:


> Yesterday's _Boris Godunov_ was pretty powerful, with the excellent Rene Pape. Not having some others' knowledge of the various versions - I grew up with the Rimsky-Korsakov arrangement - I can't comment on the Met's choice of edition, but the key roles were well taken and I emerged properly depressed about human history and mankind's need to look to gods and tsars for salvation while behaving abominably.


_Boris_ is really a great opera from a literary perspective, one of the best I've seen. The issues at stake and level of tragic irony is well beyond most opera. Watching the Stroyeva film, which is also among the best I've seen, was very powerful. The simultaneous sense of momentous change and deep pointlessness reminded me of the movie _Ran_, and of _Lear_, which it's based on.

_Rondine_ is indeed a big change from that. It's more stealthy in its greatness and interest, but there's a lot of interesting meta-commentary and heaping bushels of irony. Adami also wrote the libretto for _Il tabarro_, which is one of the best there is. For _Rondine_ he had to work with a pre-existing German text and suit it to Puccini's wishes and needs. The music is as you describe: casual conversation. It flows with ease, sometimes becomes more intense, but is easy. In the score there are a lot of delightful subtleties.

Gheorghiu had a very weak middle in this performance. I wondered if she was sick as she seemed to mostly lean against a pillar in act I, but then maybe that's the direction she was given.


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## DavidA

Just seen Le Compte Ory. Terrific singing. Enjoyed the production first half but unfortunately it lost its way towards the end and over-egged the pudding and became rather annoying. I know it's a farce but a farce should be played straight to get the maximum effect of the comedy.

Apparently Florez had just witnessed the birth of his baby then rushed to the Met to perform. Quite a feat!


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## DavidA

Just watching Butterfly from the Met. Pinkerton is surely one of the most disgusting characters in opera


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## DavidA

DavidA said:


> Just watching Butterfly from the Met. Pinkerton is surely one of the most disgusting characters in opera


Mangella's production is stunning though


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## vivalagentenuova

DavidA said:


> Just watching Butterfly from the Met. Pinkerton is surely one of the most disgusting characters in opera


I've read some commentators say that "Addio fiorito asil" redeems him somewhat. That's bizarre to me. The fact that he realizes that he's crushed this girl's life and then runs away and avoids taking any responsibility or, you know, actually helping her, makes him _worse_, not better.


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## vivalagentenuova

DavidA said:


> Mangella's production is stunning though


One of the more interesting non-traditional productions I've seen from the Live in HD series. The bunraku influence is a cool idea, although I kind of wonder, Why not go all the way? Have the singers to one side like the reader in bunraku, and just have all the characters acted out by puppets.


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## DavidA

vivalagentenuova said:


> I've read some commentators say that "Addio fiorito asil" redeems him somewhat. That's bizarre to me. The fact that he realizes that he's crushed this girl's life and then runs away and avoids taking any responsibility or, you know, actually helping her, makes him _worse_, not better.


Oh absolutely. As a father, you want to get on the stage and throttle him! But the poor girls father had already committed suicide himself.


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## Barelytenor

DavidA said:


> Just watching Butterfly from the Met. Pinkerton is surely one of the most disgusting characters in opera


Yeah, I couldn't agree more. Nearly as monstrous as Scarpia. Well, OK, not a sadomasochist and mass murderer, but at least Scarpia doesn't even try to hide who he is. Pinkerton is just in it for the good lay even though he momentarily convinces himself he is in love ... with a girl of 15. I can't bear to watch the last act of Butterfly, never been able to get through it.


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## Woodduck

Barelytenor said:


> Yeah, I couldn't agree more. Nearly as monstrous as Scarpia. Well, OK, not a sadomasochist and mass murderer, but at least Scarpia doesn't even try to hide who he is. Pinkerton is just in it for the good lay even though he momentarily convinces himself he is in love ... with a girl of 15. I can't bear to watch the last act of Butterfly, never been able to get through it.


Scarpia gets what he deserves. We don't know what Pinkerton gets, except for a momentary pang of something that might be taken for conscience. This opera is a masterpiece (an argument could be made that it's Puccini's greatest), but I find it unbearable to watch a completely disgusting character crush a completely innocent one. It's child abuse.

It's about time B. F., alias F. B., Pinkerton got his comeuppance. In my production he'll scream "Butterflyee! Butterflyee" (the tenor is Italian), pick up Butterfly's dagger, stab himself in the chest, and fall dead on her body, whereupon Kate, running in and seeing the two of them lying in a pool of blood, will simply sigh in resignation and say, Ja, ja" while the kid, oblivious, will gallop around the stage on his hobby horse saying "Hopp hopp! Hopp hopp!"


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## vivalagentenuova

What gets me about the end of _Butterfly_ is how Puccini makes sure we know that her last shred of innocence is destroyed before she dies. 'Un bel di' is a fantasy, but it's also a prophecy. "Chiamera' Butterfly (or Butterflyee) dalla lontano" He sure will. And Puccini underscores this in the orchestra, by giving us this last little trumpet blast here:








This recalls the line from 'Un bel di' where she says "He'll come up the hill" "S'avia per la collina":








In Act I Pinkerton is clearly a kind of idol for her, but by act III the child is her idol. Her suicide ensures that her son can live out the fantasy that she no longer can: going across the sea with Pinkerton to live a happy life.

It is one of the hardest operas to get through. The destruction of Butterfly is just so complete and so awful. I've heard many say this. The unresolved final chord does sort of push the ball to Pinkerton's court. I imagine it as showing the image of Butterfly that he carries forever. I at least like to think that this guilt pushes him to take care of the child well, though based on what we've seen of him that is perhaps unrealistic.


----------



## Kieran

Watched Adriana Lecouvreur today, was wholly unfamiliar with it going in, but thoroughly enjoyed it...


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## Woodduck

vivalagentenuova said:


> What gets me about the end of _Butterfly_ is how Puccini makes sure we know that her last shred of innocence is destroyed before she dies. 'Un bel di' is a fantasy, but it's also a prophecy. "Chiamera' Butterfly (or Butterflyee) dalla lontano" He sure will. And Puccini underscores this in the orchestra, by giving us this last little trumpet blast here:
> View attachment 134134
> 
> 
> This recalls the line from 'Un bel di' where she says "He'll come up the hill" "S'avia per la collina":
> View attachment 134135


A great example of leitmotiv psychology. Puccini's hours of studying _Tristan_ and _Parsifal_ paid off.



> It is one of the hardest operas to get through. The destruction of Butterfly is just so complete and so awful. I've heard many say this.


I watched the first act of the Met's production, mainly to enjoy the "Japanese modern" decor. It's been years since I listened to the whole opera, and I'll probably never do so again. I've long felt a little repulsed, even a little soiled, by what I've felt to be Puccini's relish in torturing young women to death in opera after opera, squeezing the last drop of emotion out of the process in the most seductively romantic melodies. What's done to the 15-year-old Cio Cio San is the worst.


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## Barelytenor

I couldn't agree more with Woodduck. First act only for me too. Afterward, I need some "Ho una casa nell'Honan" to calm my pulse. (I know, different opera.) I found Patricia Racette pretty impressive vocally in a difficult role (this is a spinto part; but then, I just heard the first act), and I was quite impressed that Marcello Giordani could manage to keep her up in the air for a beat when she took a flying leap into his arms. She's not a big woman, but she's not small, either.


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## Woodduck

Barelytenor said:


> I couldn't agree more with Woodduck. First act only for me too. Afterward, I need some "Ho una casa nell'Honan" to calm my pulse. (I know, different opera.)


But in that opera another Asian girl is tortured and kills herself, after which the man she died for runs off with a dragon lady who decapitates men.


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## nina foresti

Woodduck said:


> Scarpia gets what he deserves. We don't know what Pinkerton gets, except for a momentary pang of something that might be taken for conscience. This opera is a masterpiece (an argument could be made that it's Puccini's greatest), but I find it unbearable to watch a completely disgusting character crush a completely innocent one. It's child abuse.
> 
> It's about time B. F., alias F. B., Pinkerton got his comeuppance. In my production he'll scream "Butterflyee! Butterflyee" (the tenor is Italian), pick up Butterfly's dagger, stab himself in the chest, and fall dead on her body, whereupon Kate, running in and seeing the two of them lying in a pool of blood, will simply sigh in resignation and say, Ja, ja"_ while the kid, oblivious, will gallop around the stage on his hobby horse saying "Hopp hopp! Hopp hopp!"_




Hey! How did _Wozzeck_ get into this opera?


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## nina foresti

Just saw the Met offering Adriana Lecouvreur (one of my top 20 -- actually 20th)

Rarely have I come across an opera that I feel so two-faced about. This opera has all the earmarks of just that. I get a lump in my throat when I hear Cilea's romantic score and the arias that Adriana, Maurizio, the Princess and Michonnet sing. So what's left you say? 
Everything else in between. The silly backstage goings-on that are corny and annoying. The fake overacting. So much wasted time for trivialities.
I feel like I just want to scroll right past this stuff and get to the good stuff ... like the last act.
Anyway, that's my take on this opera which I am now watching with her Nebs (who almost sounds like a very fine mezzo) and the always charming Beczala.

The best of the best was: Olivero/Corelli/Bastianini/Simionato


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## Woodduck

nina foresti said:


> [/I]
> 
> Hey! How did _Wozzeck_ get into this opera?


_Rosenkavalier_'s in there too. Yes, yes.


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## The Conte

Woodduck said:


> I watched the first act of the Met's production, mainly to enjoy the "Japanese modern" decor. It's been years since I listened to the whole opera, and I'll probably never do so again. I've long felt a little repulsed, even a little soiled, by what I've felt to be Puccini's relish in torturing young women to death in opera after opera, squeezing the last drop of emotion out of the process in the most seductively romantic melodies. What's done to the 15-year-old Cio Cio San is the worst.


I know what you mean, of course. However I think the opera shows Cio Cio San's side of the story (and she's a strong character - think how she turns away Yamadori). I don't see her as a victim who has something done to her either (she could always tell Yamadori that she's changed her mind at the end), instead she chooses what she considers to be an honorable outcome. Had there been career women in early 20th century Japan (other than geishas) then she would have chosen a different route. In a way it's a feminist opera as it's showing the lack of opportunity available to women at that time and shining a light on it. Pinkerton, on the other hand, remains an enigma. How remorseful is he really at the end?

I do understand if some can't take the cruel brutality of the piece and don't find it an enjoyable experience. I just find it has so much truth to it, sad, but true.

N.


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## nina foresti

I stand alone over here is the corner.

I do not view Pinkerton as an evil man. Evil men are persons like Iago, Claggart, and Scarpia.
Sadly, I see him as something possibly even worse -- a selfish, self-centered American naval soldier who is young and full of active testosterone and thinking only of where his next lay will come from. When he finally discovers the horror he has wrought, he has not the character to stand up to the situation and rather takes the back door out of there, like a true cad.
The only reason he returned was because Cio Cio San requested it if he wants his son. 
So his last act was one of selfishness along with a deeper feeling of remorse that he has not yet come completely to grips with.
(running for cover)


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## The Conte

nina foresti said:


> I stand alone over here is the corner.
> 
> I do not view Pinkerton as an evil man. Evil men are persons like Iago, Claggart, and Scarpia.
> Sadly, I see him as something possibly even worse -- a selfish, self-centered American naval soldier who is young and full of active testosterone and thinking only of where his next lay will come from. When he finally discovers the horror he has wrought, he has not the character to stand up to the situation and rather takes the back door out of there, like a true cad.
> The only reason he returned was because Cio Cio San requested it if he wants his son.
> So his last act was one of selfishness along with a deeper feeling of remorse that he has not yet come completely to grips with.
> (running for cover)


That certainly works for me. I think he can be interpreted in that way and a director or singer can bring that out in performance. I like the idea of Butterfly's death being a wake up call for Pinkerton. After the curtain falls can he ever enjoy his life with Kate and his son?

N.


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## vivalagentenuova

nina foresti said:


> I stand alone over here is the corner.
> 
> I do not view Pinkerton as an evil man. Evil men are persons like Iago, Claggart, and Scarpia.
> Sadly, I see him as something possibly even worse -- a selfish, self-centered American naval soldier who is young and full of active testosterone and thinking only of where his next lay will come from. When he finally discovers the horror he has wrought, he has not the character to stand up to the situation and rather takes the back door out of there, like a true cad.
> The only reason he returned was because Cio Cio San requested it if he wants his son.
> So his last act was one of selfishness along with a deeper feeling of remorse that he has not yet come completely to grips with.
> (running for cover)


I think this is totally true, although I'm not sure I'd say that he isn't evil because he's normal. I'd turn it around: he shows the evil of which normal, self-centered people are capable of. Which, as you say, is far scarier than the occasional tyrant. Sharpless is also not immune: he warns Pinkerton, and has sympathy for Butterfly, but what does he really do? He merely plays his part of looking out for the interests of the American. That's his job. But what about her? That's perhaps another aspect of evil: even good, sympathetic people who will go along with immoral systems out of deference.

The great irony is that for all the focus on Butterfly's innocence and naivete, _Pinkerton_ is the one who's truly naive. He thinks he can do things like this and that there are no consequences. As Conte said, Butterfly is the one who by the end knows who she is and what she's doing. Unfortunately, by that point there's nothing left for her to live for. Her suicide is interesting, though: it can be seen in many different ways. Suicide is not a shameful or sinful death in Japanese culture. It's an honorable death, befitting a samurai warrior. Butterfly's suicide from a Japanese perspective would be seen very differently than from a Western perspective, where it's kind of a sinful abandonment of life done out of desperation. There's also the element of sacrifice: she says straight out that she's sacrificing herself for her "piccolo Iddio", her little god.



The Conte said:


> I like the idea of Butterfly's death being a wake up call for Pinkerton. After the curtain falls can he ever enjoy his life with Kate and his son?


That's how I interpret the unresolved final chord: Butterfly's death leaves things suspended in the air, incapable of ever being resolved. We can hope he is shocked into treating his wife and child well, but who knows.


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## nina foresti

I guess the bottom line is what each person considers the word "evil" to mean. To me it is tantamount to being the devil. 
The Bad Seed movie -- _there_ was an evil kid. Hitler was evil.
Pinkerton just doesn't fit the word "evil" to me.


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## Barelytenor

On to Rosenkavalier. 

The production itself was gorgeous. I made it through Act I. I did not know that both Renée Fleming and Elina Garança were retiring their respective roles of the Marschallin aka Theresa aka Resi aka Bichette and Octavian aka QuinQuin aka Mariandel aka Octavian Maria Ehrenreich Bonaventura Fernand Hyacinth with that Live From the Met performance of 2017. (I can just imagine Pugg somewhere weeping unconsolably.) It was certainly not lost on any listeners to hear and see the parallel between the Marschallin's lamenting the passage of time and its application to Fleming, a voice I respect and admire even if not one that I have ever really placed among the greats. I thought Garança was smashing. Both Gunter Groissbock (oh, just insert a bunch of diacritical marks) and Baron Ochs were tiresome, to me. I did start Act II and got to see Erin Morley, alas, still 3-ish hours to go today.

Did anyone make it through yesterday? Comments?

Elektra today with Nina Stemme. Hmmm. Gonna be a lot of shouting and approximatura soprano.


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## DavidA

Barelytenor said:


> On to Rosenkavalier.
> 
> The production itself was gorgeous. I made it through Act I. I did not know that both Renée Fleming and Elina Garança were retiring their respective roles of the Marschallin aka Theresa aka Resi aka Bichette and Octavian aka QuinQuin aka Mariandel with that Live From the Met performance of 2017. (I can just imagine Pugg somewhere weeping unconsolably.) It was certainly not lost on any listeners to hear and see the parallel between the Marschallin's lamenting the passage of time and its application to Fleming, a voice I respect and admire even if not one that I have ever really placed among the greats. I thought Garança was smashing. Both Gunter Groissbock (oh, just insert a bunch of diacritical marks) and Baron Ochs were tiresome, to me. I did start Act II and got to see Erin Morley, alas, still 3-ish hours to go today.
> 
> Did anyone make it through yesterday? Comments?
> 
> Elektra today with Nina Stemme. Hmmm. Gonna be a lot of shouting and approximatura soprano.


I saw part of Rosenkavelier. I do have a problem with the morality of the piece - it's OK to blame Ochs for being a boorish rake but then there's the Marschallin carrying on with a teenage boy! Thought the Ochs was very over-played and it becomes a pain. Loved the tenor.

I have seen the Elektra at the cinema so do not particularly want to subject myself to that again especially as the production was imo quite dull.


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## Flamme

Why I alwas read meth...


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## mountmccabe

DavidA said:


> I saw part of Rosenkavelier. I do have a problem with the morality of the piece - it's OK to blame Ochs for being a boorish rake but then there's the Marschallin carrying on with a teenage boy! Thought the Ochs was very over-played and it becomes a pain. Loved the tenor.
> 
> I have seen the Elektra at the cinema so do not particularly want to subject myself to that again especially as the production was imo quite dull.


I think some people see a difference in consent. Ochs was a boorish rake and wanted Sophie even though she wasn't interested. The Marschallin and Octavian were both very interested in each other, and when Octavian wanted to move on, the Marschallin did not stand in his way.

I think the piece also wants us to ponder those differences, along with the complication of marriage. Baron Ochs wanted to marry Sophie, but does that make his unwanted advances acceptable? The relationship between the Marschallin and Octavian was never going to move to marriage, but does that make it wrong? And the Marschallin is obviously married to another man, but it is implied that her marriage many years ago was not unlike the one that was to happen between Ochs and Sophie, with her as just the possession of an older more powerful man.

I didn't watch _Der Rosenkavalier_ on the stream, but I have the disc and I saw that performance in the house. It was one of the best things I've ever seen.

I did watch the _Elektra_ last night; I find Chéreau's production quite exquisite, as I expect from him. Well-detailed without being distracting. i think Stemme has her moments here, and enough of them to leave me happy. Esa-Pekka Salonen brings out the great range in the score; the moments of beauty really come off.


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## Barelytenor

Made it through the "Allein, ganz allein"of Elektra before deciding it was enough. On to Tosca. I loved the off-center church view in the gorgeous new production. Vittorio Grigolo seems to be working rather hard to not produce a whole lot of sound. Zejlko Lucic (insert diacritics) has never been my favorite baritone, wooden in face and voice. I love the Tosca whose name I did not yet capture, but then, I just made it through Act I. I am going to make a contribution to the Met tomorrow and encourage others to do the same. We cannot lose this.

Kind regards, :tiphat:

George


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## nina foresti

Sonya Yoncheva deserves to be named -- she's THAT fine a Tosca. And Zejlko Lucic is, for me, an outstanding Scarpia with acting skills to match that are never over-the-top like too many others I could name. Oh if only he had a more powerful baritonal sound because he really knows how the part should be handled. Strange that you can call him wooden and yet you never saw his big Act 2 where he let's all the stops out. 

I just finished watching Les Contes d'Hoffmann and loved every minute of it. What fun. And that doll -- so pert and hitting those high notes like it's nothing.
Netrebko looked stunning and Lindsey was wonderfu as well. Joseph Calleja has such a distinctive quality to his voice. His sound reminds me of the golden age of opera.
Bless you Met for bringing back these HD's. I have seen them all and it is such fun to see some of the things I missed back then.


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## Barelytenor

I have watched Lucic a lot in other roles such as Rigoletto so it's not an uninformed opinion. I'm glad you like him and look forward to him surprising me today.


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## nina foresti

Observe his body language. He is subtle and not grandiose. The character of Scarpia needs to be laid back. He's the police chief and should be cool and show a certain dignity of his position. The ones that portray him like a lewd slob are way off base IMO. By the way, that act is, for me, the meat and potatoes of the opera and he and Yoncheva have a good chemistry going together.
I think you will be pleasantly surprised.
I wonder if you ever saw his Jack Rance. Again, laid back without needing histrionics, yet clearly making his point. 
I think he'd make an excellent Iago. (maybe he already has)


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## DavidA

Looking at the Merry Widow. What a load of tosh it is. Fleming not in good voice. Being in English appears to make it even sillier.


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## nina foresti

The most disgusting conception of a Verdi opera was the Decker "clock" production of _La traviata_ with such fine principals like Dessay, who never changed her ratty looking dress the entire time, and Polanzani who got a good slapping around by his papa Germont done magnificently well by Dima, who caused the tears to flow by looking at him and wishing he were still here with us.
Shame on Decker. He's one of the worst "dreck-tors" to be invited onto the Met stage. Only Bieito beats him in the hubristic director award.


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## vivalagentenuova

Ah yes, the big clock production. Violetta is dying. And there's a big clock. It's deep because it's obvious.
Or something.


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## DavidA

vivalagentenuova said:


> Ah yes, the big clock production. Violetta is dying. And there's a big clock. It's deep because it's obvious.
> Or something.


Just watching. Old boy with a beard wandering around. Don't know what he's doing. Doesn't help Alfredo looks older than his dad! Hopeless!


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## DavidA

Just about to watch Cenerentola with Di Donato and Florez. Oh Boy!


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## DavidA

Just seen the Cenerentola. Ultimate feel-good opera. Always end up hopelessly in love with Angelina! :kiss:

Saw it live in cinema in 2014 which was Joyce Di Donato's last Cenerentola. Wonderful seeing it again.


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## DavidA

Watching Price’s final Aida.scenically ludicrous show.the great voice past it’s best of course but still there


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## DavidA

Prince Igor? Anyone indulging?


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## DavidA

DavidA said:


> Prince Igor? Anyone indulging?


I was disappointed to miss the Prince Igor live broadcast. Now having seen some of it I'm glad I missed it. The production is incomprehensible rubbish. Even the Polvotsian dances are just some scantily clad creatures writhing in a field of poppies. Why on earth to they employ these untalented morons to direct?


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## DavidA

Nozzle de Figaro with Fleming, Terrell, Bartoli, etc.

Is this th3 most revolutionary opera ever written I think?


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## The Conte

DavidA said:


> Nozzle de Figaro with Fleming, Terrell, Bartoli, etc.
> 
> Is this th3 most revolutionary opera ever written I think?


The subject matter was controversial in its day, but why do you think the opera itself is revolutionary? I don't think the music is any more revolutionary that Cosi for example. Musically I would say Don Giovanni was far more revolutionary (without going on to mention other operas).

N.


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## annaw

The Conte said:


> The subject matter was controversial in its day, but why do you think the opera itself is revolutionary? I don't think the music is any more revolutionary that Cosi for example. Musically I would say Don Giovanni was far more revolutionary (without going on to mention other operas).
> 
> N.


Wasn't _Die Zauberflöte_ the most revolutionary of them all :lol:? It was in German!


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## DavidA

The Conte said:


> The subject matter was controversial in its day, but why do you think the opera itself is revolutionary? I don't think the music is any more revolutionary that Cosi for example. Musically I would say Don Giovanni was far more revolutionary (without going on to mention other operas).
> 
> N.


Yes if you think what went before it. The opera made a quantum advance on anything that had been composed previously not just in the music but in the treatment of the subject matter. Obviously the Don represents another advance but Figaro to me started the revolution.


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## DavidA

annaw said:


> Wasn't _Die Zauberflöte_ the most revolutionary of them all :lol:? It was in German!


So was Seraglio


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## annaw

DavidA said:


> So was Seraglio


Let me rephrase. "In addition it was in German" . (Imo the music is equally wonderful, if not even more so, as that in _Figaro_ and _Don Giovanni_.)


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## The Conte

annaw said:


> Let me rephrase. "In addition it was in German" . (Imo the music is equally wonderful, if not even more so, as that in _Figaro_ and _Don Giovanni_.)


Wonderful yes, but is it _revolutionary_?

N.


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## The Conte

DavidA said:


> Yes if you think what went before it. The opera made a quantum advance on anything that had been composed previously not just in the music but in the treatment of the subject matter. Obviously the Don represents another advance but Figaro to me started the revolution.


It's certainly a huge step forward for Mozart and if we are looking at it as a comic opera, what can we compare it to? Is it that much of a step ahead from Haydn's comic opera. The melodies are certainly more inspired and I would say it's the greatest comic opera from the first two hundred years of opera. That's certainly some achievement. I think the Don represents a much greater advance musically than Figaro (for opera, not necessarily as far as Mozart's output is concerned).

N.


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## DavidA

The Conte said:


> It's certainly a huge step forward for Mozart and if we are looking at it as a comic opera, what can we compare it to? Is it that much of a step ahead from Haydn's comic opera. The melodies are certainly more inspired and I would say it's the greatest comic opera from the first two hundred years of opera. That's certainly some achievement. I think the Don represents a much greater advance musically than Figaro (for opera, not necessarily as far as Mozart's output is concerned).
> 
> N.


Ahead? Off the scale I would think! Just listen to Fleming singing Dove Sono. You just wonder how Wofie did it!


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## annaw

The Conte said:


> Wonderful yes, but is it _revolutionary_?
> 
> N.


Yes, probably revolutionary was an exaggeration, but just... important. I think that's the word. I was talking in the context of DavidA's comments and thus only comparing it to other Mozart operas and excluding other composers from the comparison. I'm sure that _Die Zauberflöte_ and its popularity played a part in the development of German opera. Of course, as also DavidA pointed out, it wasn't Mozart's only German opera but it's quite probably his most famous one.


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## DavidA

I think we are so used to Figaro that we tend to underestimate just how revolutionary it was. It left behind all the images of gods and heroes that most of the operas had been dominated by. I know it’s a farce but you can say it’s almost about ordinary people we can identify with. And set the music the like of which certainly hadn’t been heard before


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## annaw

DavidA said:


> I think we are so used to Figaro that we tend to underestimate just how revolutionary it was. *It left behind all the images of gods and heroes that most of the operas had been dominated by. I know it's a farce but you can say it's almost about ordinary people we can identify with. *And set the music the like of which certainly hadn't been heard before


I find some certain gods and heroes in some certain operas by a certain composer sometimes almost more humanly and relatable than many humans themselves. (I guess it's very personal)


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## DavidA

annaw said:


> I find some certain gods and heroes in some certain operas by a certain composer sometimes almost more humanly and relatable than many humans themselves. (I guess it's very personal)


Oh yes. I find those gods and heroes impossible to identify with. It's probably a personality thing


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## mountmccabe

I watched most of Thomas's _Hamlet_ from the Met today, though I only was able to focus on Acts 4 and 5. I quite like the conducting from Langrée, and Simon Keenlyside and Marlis Petersen were great as Ophélie and Hamlet.

I'm glad the opera has seen a bit of a revival, but I really wish it wasn't so dominated by this production from Patrice Caurier and Moshe Leiser.

It makes me wonder what other operas could be "improved" by lopping off the ending, ignoring the drama. My first thought was _La traviata_, but I think _Tosca_ would be better. Stop the libretto with "Ecco un artista!" and have Cavaradossi get up, the lovers embrace, and they run off. Or _Der fliegende Holländer_ could end with Senta's "Das Ende deiner Qual ist da: Ich bin's, durch deren Treu' dein Heil du finden sollst!" and he can come walk off his ship and they embrace; no need to decide on using the harp ending or not.

The change doesn't have to be to a happy ending (those just seem easier); we could also end Turandot with "Padre augusto...Conosco il nome dello straniero!" and then cut off Calaf's head as the music stops and the curtain goes down.

But mostly I'm glad that this reminded me that finally there's another DVD of _Hamlet_ available, this one from Opéra Comique and also conducted by Louis Langrée. The production uses the ending Thomas wrote, rather than trying to appeal to people who can't be bothered to follow what is happening, dramatically, in the opera.


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## DavidA

Popped in at Boheme last night. Pavorotti hardly looked like a starving poet! Massive suspension of disbelief needed! :lol:


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## The Conte

DavidA said:


> Popped in at Boheme last night. Pavorotti hardly looked like a starving poet! Massive suspension of disbelief needed! :lol:


I have a performance I am going to watch later with Pavarotti and Freni late in their careers from San Francisco. Neither will look the right ages for Rodolfo and Mimi (but then who does). I feel a reversal of the famous comment about Toti dal Monte and Callas is in order. It doesn't matter because when Pavarotti and Freni are singing you just close your eyes and you are in heaven!

N.


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## DavidA

The Conte said:


> I have a performance I am going to watch later with Pavarotti and Freni late in their careers from San Francisco. Neither will look the right ages for Rodolfo and Mimi (but then who does). I feel a reversal of the famous comment about Toti dal Monte and Callas is in order. It doesn't matter because when Pavarotti and Freni are singing you just close your eyes and you are in heaven!
> 
> N.


I just prefer the audio recording!


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## nina foresti

It is true that a certain suspension of disbelief is necessary when viewing a bit more avoirdupois than is called for but the minute both Pavarotti and Scotto open their mouths gems come floating out and all else is veiled behind them.
Despite the fact that they had a major tiff during this historic production from the old Met to the new one, their magnificent and fresh sounds carried the day. A memorable production.


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## The Conte

Opera wasn't designed to be watched up close, but heard far away.

In any case, say what you like about Freni and Pavarotti in 1988, they still had it.

N.


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## The Conte

DavidA said:


> I just prefer the audio recording!


Why not enjoy both?

(Besides, what qualifications do you have to ascertain whether Pavarotti looks like a poor poet or not?)

N.


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## Rogerx

There's always this famous production to watch after the Freni / Pavarotti one.


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## DavidA

The Conte said:


> Why not enjoy both?
> 
> (Besides, what qualifications do you have to ascertain whether Pavarotti looks like a poor poet or not?)
> 
> N.


Just this - I have visited parts of the world where people are poor and never seen a man with Pavorotti's girth! So experience? Your qualifications?


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## nina foresti

DavidA said:


> Just this - I have visited parts of the world where people are poor and never seen a man with Pavorotti's girth! So experience? Your qualifications?


Glory be! I don't know what parts of the world you might be referring to but it is likely there are more heavy ones than thin ones because they probably use their food stamps, etc. to comfort them.


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## DavidA

nina foresti said:


> Glory be! I don't know what parts of the world you might be referring to but it is likely there are more heavy ones than thin ones because they probably use their food stamps, etc. to comfort them.


I just relate my experience. I can assure you there are no food stamps. If the harvests fail there is no food either!


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## The Conte

DavidA said:


> I just relate my experience. I can assure you there are no food stamps. If the harvests fail there is no food either!


Well unless you have a time machine and you are travelling to nineteenth century Paris, it may not be relevant experience.

N.


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## DavidA

The Conte said:


> Well unless you have a time machine and you are travelling to nineteenth century Paris, it may not be relevant experience.
> 
> N.


Well when you visit some countries which aren't even up to the 19th century in the way they feed people then it probably is a relevant experience. Poor people tend to be thin people whenever the time curve


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## DavidA

Just listening to Werther. One does think: “Get a job mate and get over it!”


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## DavidA

Well Werther was superbly sung by Kaufmann with Koch a really good Charlotte but as Kaufmann himself said, you wanna say to the guy, "Come on, get over it! Get a grip, man!" :lol:


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## DavidA

Peter Grimes! Striking production.


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## DavidA

Just watching the Rigoletto. Looks like a version of Miller's update. However it is sung in Italian (in the original) and the subtitles are different from what they are singing! So all a bit confusing. They should have set it in English and it might have worked.


----------



## DavidA

In the end I finished the Rigoetto. Picked up after the first act and was most enjoyable.


----------



## DavidA

Looking at Nabucco. I never know why Domingo wanted to come back as a baritone. He doesn’t convince at all. Why wasn’t he content to be regarded as one of the greatest tenors ever?


----------



## nina foresti

After seeing the original in HD I decided to watch the Rat Pack Rigoletto once again and found that, despite the unique idea of Vegas casinos, I became surprisingly charmed by the voices to such a degree that I found the upgraded production didn't harm the original intent of the composer.
It was one of the first regies I have seen that did not seem to intrude on the story or, more importantly, the voices.
I ended up enjoying it immensely. So regies CAN work if done properly. It takes a creative director -- someone the opera world needs more of.

But I am puzzled about something.
Exactly what is it about Lucic that grabs me? Not only do I recognize him to be a fine baritone, even though his is not one of the
more powerful voices -- yet the way he handles his roles are so professional and appealing, and his acting is so supreme, that I am completely taken with him as a singer of high regard. 
He is an actor that doesn't need to chew the scenery. He is able to express what is going on in the interior without overplaying his parts.
His expressions when simply being a "re-actor" are among the best in the business. One knows exactly what's going on inside the evil brain of his characters like Iago, Scarpia, Rance, and Wurm. 
Yet very little is ever written about him and that's my puzzlement.
Maybe someone can explain why.


----------



## DavidA

nina foresti said:


> After seeing the original in HD I decided to watch the Rat Pack Rigoletto once again and found that, despite the unique idea of Vegas casinos, I became surprisingly charmed by the voices to such a degree that I found the upgraded production didn't harm the original intent of the composer.
> It was one of the first regies I have seen that did not seem to intrude on the story or, more importantly, the voices.
> I ended up enjoying it immensely. So regies CAN work if done properly. It takes a creative director -- someone the opera world needs more of.
> 
> But I am puzzled about something.
> Exactly what is it about Lucic that grabs me? Not only do I recognize him to be a fine baritone, even though his is not one of the
> more powerful voices -- yet the way he handles his roles are so professional and appealing, and his acting is so supreme, that I am completely taken with him as a singer of high regard.
> He is an actor that doesn't need to chew the scenery. He is able to express what is going on in the interior without overplaying his parts.
> His expressions when simply being a "re-actor" are among the best in the business. One knows exactly what's going on inside the evil brain of his characters like Iago, Scarpia, Rance, and Wurm.
> Yet very little is ever written about him and that's my puzzlement.
> Maybe someone can explain why.


Yes quite agree. I also agreed about the production in the end in that it wasn't quite as Regie as it might be. The idea of course was taken from Jonathan Millers original English National production but he did serve the original pretty well Without the director putting himself between us and the composer. I didn't think having Monterone as an Arab workEd at all but that was a small point. All three principles took their parts well and the minor character was good too. This opera though is wonderful.


----------



## DavidA

Lohengrin - one thing we do not have to use any suspension of disbelief about Peter Hofmann's hero - must be the most handsome Lohengrin in history - real pop star looks. But then I believe he was a pop star!


----------



## Bonetan

nina foresti said:


> But I am puzzled about something.
> Exactly what is it about Lucic that grabs me? Not only do I recognize him to be a fine baritone, even though his is not one of the
> more powerful voices -- yet the way he handles his roles are so professional and appealing, and his acting is so supreme, that I am completely taken with him as a singer of high regard.
> He is an actor that doesn't need to chew the scenery. He is able to express what is going on in the interior without overplaying his parts.
> His expressions when simply being a "re-actor" are among the best in the business. One knows exactly what's going on inside the evil brain of his characters like Iago, Scarpia, Rance, and Wurm.
> Yet very little is ever written about him and that's my puzzlement.
> Maybe someone can explain why.


That's so interesting! I find his singing to be dull, but I can't disagree with anything you said on the acting side. I'm much more interested in the voices than the stage action though, so that's really more of a defect in me than anything else lol

I'd much rather listen to Tezier in Lucic's roles


----------



## nina foresti

Bonetan said:


> That's so interesting! I find his singing to be dull, but I can't disagree with anything you said on the acting side. I'm much more interested in the voices than the stage action though, so that's really more of a defect in me than anything else lol
> 
> I'd much rather listen to Tezier in Lucic's roles


That's no defect in you at all.
Voices in opera come first and foremost and that's why we have cds so we can listen to those beautiful voices to our hearts content.
But there certainly is no harm in watching those wonderful voices come to life through a fine interpreter who is able to add a visual aspect to the music. After all, opera is drama per musica.
Actually, the only difference is our subjective opinion of who has the better voice. And again, there is no right or wrong. It is merely our own personal perception. So, in the end, it's all good!


----------



## Seattleoperafan

Un Ballo was wonderful. All the principles were tremendous. I wish Blythe had some Verdi on Youtube as her voice is great in this genre, where you can hear the amplitude of her voice more than in the Handle that dominates her Youtube selections. Her size seemed more of an issue in this production and I think it was the style of the costumes fault. God, Verdi wrote some great music for this opera!!!!!!!!!!! What really stood out for me in this production was the peppy aria Giordano sang with chorus after he was told he would die. I had never seen him before and he both sings and acts spectacularly. He is a real Verdi tenor!


----------



## Bonetan

Seattleoperafan said:


> Un Ballo was wonderful. All the principles were tremendous. I wish Blythe had some Verdi on Youtube as her voice is great in this genre, where you can hear the amplitude of her voice more than in the Handle that dominates her Youtube selections. Her size seemed more of an issue in this production and I think it was the style of the costumes fault. God, Verdi wrote some great music for this opera!!!!!!!!!!! What really stood out for me in this production was the peppy aria Giordano sang with chorus after he was told he would die. I had never seen him before and he both sings and acts spectacularly. He is a real Verdi tenor!


Who was the Renato?? How was he?


----------



## nina foresti

Today I can't wait to see it. Hvorostovsky is Renato. How will I ever stop my tears each time I look at him?
I didn't realize Marcello Giordano was the King. I thought it was Marcelo Alvarez. Are you sure?


----------



## Seattleoperafan

Bonetan said:


> Who was the Renato?? How was he?


Dmitri..... he was of course wonderful. His silver hair was too short... I like him with longer hair. Only complaint.


----------



## Seattleoperafan

nina foresti said:


> Today I can't wait to see it. Hvorostovsky is Renato. How will I ever stop my tears each time I look at him?
> I didn't realize Marcello Giordano was the King. I thought it was Marcelo Alvarez. Are you sure?


Alvarez.... you are correct. I was tired as I typed it and current tenors aren't my specialty. He was wonderful. Never seen either of them before, hence the mixup.


----------



## Bonetan

Seattleoperafan said:


> Dmitri..... he was of course wonderful. His silver hair was too short... I like him with longer hair. Only complaint.


Oh duh, I watched that production just recently lol. I don't know why I thought it was a newer one smh. Thanks!


----------



## howlingfantods

Good singing overall--I think I found Kathleen Kim's Oscar probably the most impressive, although Blythe and Hvorostovsky were very good as well. The leads were pretty good--Alvarez's voice isn't quite big enough for the role or the hall and Radvanovsky did well enough but it wasn't a particularly special performance. 

The biggest problem, I thought, was Luisi. That opera can sound so much more fun and sparkling. I'm not sure what he's good in, I still haven't heard him in anything where I felt like he displayed any particular affection or understanding.


----------



## nina foresti

I did not find this production measured up to so many other Ballos I have seen.
Certain incongruous stagings were annoying too like Amelia should not be thinking of wearing drop earrings and diamond bracelets in her more relaxed dress when her heart is breaking. She should look drained and not glamorous as she pleads to see her son. It makes no sense.

As for the important things like the singing, I have no quibbles with any of the singers. It is just that, except for Hvorostovsky and his ever constant perfection of "Eri tu", and Blythe whose performance was right on the money, no one really stood out. I have seen Sondra do _Orrors_ many times but this time she seemed more hellbent on draping her body and lying on the floor "Netrebko-style"-- too much movement -- where minimal should suffice. No doubt she was directed to do so.

This upgraded production left a lot to be desired and I absolutely detested the soldier who picked up her scarf and started to sexually run his nose through it. Very bad taste and not necessary to the story. 
I think the director suffered from trying too hard to meld the comic aspects with the tragic.


----------



## Seattleoperafan

I thought the cast of Turandot was great. I've never heard of a singer from Azerbaijani and I would love to hear how Yusef got interested in opera from his culture. I was surprised that Goerke's heavy voice could scale the heights of Turandot, but she sang and acted the part very well. They made her look really good. I wonder if they have paid off Zeffirelli's set yet. It is the definition of grand opera.


----------



## nina foresti

I saw this in the HD and enjoyed it. I thought Yusef (Netrebko's DH) did a fine job.
I will watch the entire production again tomorrow.
Love these Met things!:lol:


----------



## DavidA

howlingfantods said:


> Good singing overall--I think I found Kathleen Kim's Oscar probably the most impressive, although Blythe and Hvorostovsky were very good as well. The leads were pretty good--Alvarez's voice isn't quite big enough for the role or the hall and Radvanovsky did well enough but it wasn't a particularly special performance.
> 
> The biggest problem, I thought, was Luisi. That opera can sound so much more fun and sparkling. I'm not sure what he's good in, I still haven't heard him in anything where I felt like he displayed any particular affection or understanding.


Because of commitments I was only able to see parts of Ballo but thought the production fell rather between two stools in that it was not realistic and neither went too much for the absurd. The end to me was totally unconvincing. Good singing though.


----------



## DavidA

Seattleoperafan said:


> I thought the cast of Turandot was great. I've never heard of a singer from Azerbaijani and I would love to hear how Yusef got interested in opera from his culture. I was surprised that Goerke's heavy voice could scale the heights of Turandot, but she sang and acted the part very well. They made her look really good. I wonder if they have paid off Zeffirelli's set yet. It is the definition of grand opera.


I saw this in the cinema live and it was good. This opera does stick in my craw though because of the sheer love of cruelty with no resolution.


----------



## DavidA

Turandot - frigid woman syndrome! :lol:

The guy should have stuck to Liu. She was better looking anyway!


----------



## Seattleoperafan

I wasn't in the mood for all of Don Giovanni tonight, but in addition to the spectacular scene with the ghost at the end I just watched all the Sutherland bits. Her voice is so gorgeous here and HUGE!!!! Effortlessly HUGE!!! Especially when you are used to more lyric voices singing Mozart. Donna Anna asks for a dramatic soprano with flexibility and she delivers it. No one is Callas, but I find Joan to be a very involved actress. I don't see where people get off saying she was a bad actress. She likely had to work very hard to develop those skills but she delivered, especially as she got older. She was 52 and in great voice here.


----------



## DavidA

The Don was a very old fashioned production with a pretty good cast. The star was Sutherland of course but James Morris made a dashing Don. Bonynge was pretty routine in the pit.


----------



## DavidA

Faust - some terrific singing but what a potty production! Makes no sense whatever!


----------



## DavidA

DavidA said:


> Faust - some terrific singing but what a potty production! Makes no sense whatever!


Kaufmann quite outstanding


----------



## DavidA

DavidA said:


> Kaufmann quite outstanding


At the end of the day Faust was highly enjoyable for some great singing. A very striking production which unfortunately did not make sense with what was going on in the music and libretto. But at least it wasn't boring. Kind of 'guess what's going on now?'


----------



## nina foresti

Whoever decided that Des Mcanuff was some kind of classical director got the words all wrong. He's actually a "DRECK-tor". His disgusting production of Gounod's Faust was a disgrace and his hubristic approach to staging was horrible.
I was extremely disappointed in Pape's interpretation. He seemed like he was singing the telephone book throughout. He has admitted in the past that he does not particularly like the role or the opera for that matter and it shows. Take the money and run, sez I.
Kaufmann held his own in a ratty role. The outstanding saving grace was the dedicated and involved singing of Marina Poplavskaya who always manages to get to the guts of a role and add that extra something to the character, be it Marguerite or Tatiana.
Too bad that shortly after that she had serious voice problems and retired from the opera stage.


----------



## Seattleoperafan

DavidA said:


> Kaufmann quite outstanding


I had heard bits and pieces of Faust in the past and saw a live production 20 odd years ago. I had not seen the whole opera complete in eons. The first 3rd has some of my favorite music from any opera overall, but the moralism and sappiness of the rest doesn't really draw me in. Kaufmann, after seeing him in a number of productions, is my favorite big name singer today. Movie star looks, great acting and a wonderful voice make him riveting. Pape was fun to watch and hear for me, especially his big, fast number with the dancing. The soprano was very good in the part. Her top seemed 3 times bigger than the rest of the voice. Maybe that is where her problems arose later. She seemed so undernourished to me LOL. Like a size 2. The production was ugly and cheap but worked dramatically.


----------



## DavidA

nina foresti said:


> Whoever decided that Des Mcanuff was some kind of classical director got the words all wrong. He's actually a "DRECK-tor". His disgusting production of Gounod's Faust was a disgrace and his hubristic approach to staging was horrible.
> I was extremely disappointed in Pape's interpretation. He seemed like he was singing the telephone book throughout. He has admitted in the past that he does not particularly like the role or the opera for that matter and it shows. Take the money and run, sez I.
> Kaufmann held his own in a ratty role. The outstanding saving grace was the dedicated and involved singing of Marina Poplavskaya who always manages to get to the guts of a role and add that extra something to the character, be it Marguerite or Tatiana.
> *Too bad that shortly after that she had serious voice problems and retired from the opera stage.*


*
*

Apparently it was not just voice problems:

https://slippedisc.com/2020/05/when-kaufmann-sang-with-a-real-estate-agent/


----------



## nina foresti

Well, actually it was. One can hear pitch problems and forcing but she had a way of engulfing a role that made you sit up and take notice. She seemed like she truly inhabited Marguerite.
Sadly, however poorly she was voice-trained (can you say Villazon?) she had a vocal crisis.
I am glad she is a real estate agent in NY.
May she be ever happy.


----------



## DavidA

Monon. Have seen this production with Lisette Oropesa as Manon. But Anna is absolutely captivating too.


----------



## Seattleoperafan

DavidA said:


> [/B]
> 
> Apparently it was not just voice problems:
> 
> https://slippedisc.com/2020/05/when-kaufmann-sang-with-a-real-estate-agent/


My sister gave up singing not too many years after having a daughter as having an au pair becomes a problem after a while. It is hard to fit in an opera career for a mother. Even without voice problems it becomes more problematic playing the young ingenue when one gets past middle age, an age when dramatic sopranos come into their own. Many wealthy New Yorkers are opera fans and I think they might be intrigued to have a diva as an agent, especially one so lovely and nice. If her husband is an Upper Manhattan real estate agent, they must be doing well.


----------



## The Conte

Poplavskaya didn't have a particularly beautiful voice, but she could be dramatically convincing. Unfortunately her high notes were often shrill screams that were way under the note. I'm not surprised that she changed career.

N.


----------



## Seattleoperafan

The Conte said:


> Poplavskaya didn't have a particularly beautiful voice, but she could be dramatically convincing. Unfortunately her high notes were often shrill screams that were way under the note. I'm not surprised that she changed career.
> 
> N.


I found out she married an opera singer who is the uncle of an acquaintance of mine. She is no longer married to him but was rumored to have married him for a green card. I agree, her voice wasn't very pretty but she was was dramatically good for the part. I would have loved to have heard Joan Sutherland singing the part.


----------



## DavidA

Seattleoperafan said:


> I found out she married an opera singer who is the uncle of an acquaintance of mine. She is no longer married to him but was rumored to have married him for a green card. I agree, her voice wasn't very pretty but she was was dramatically good for the part. *I would have loved to have heard Joan Sutherland singing the part.*











This one?


----------



## Seattleoperafan

DavidA said:


> View attachment 136696
> 
> 
> This one?


I've heard bits of it on Youtube but actually I now remember hearing Sutherland in a historic Saturday matinee performance on Sirius years ago and it was great. I'm sure this lady was much lovelier on video than Joan in the part, but Joan was vocally leaps and bounds better.


----------



## DavidA

Damnation of Faust. Looks amazing


----------



## DavidA

Ernani - great singing. Pity about the plot!


----------



## Sieglinde

I wish they cast a dashing, broody tenor who can act as Ernani just ONCE, then I would maybe understand why Elvira prefers him over dat hot baritone... 

Castronovo could probably be great. Jonas too but he's doing heavier rep.


----------



## annaw

Sieglinde said:


> I wish they cast a dashing, broody tenor who can act as Ernani just ONCE, then I would maybe understand why Elvira prefers him over dat hot baritone...
> 
> Castronovo could probably be great. *Jonas too but he's doing heavier rep.*


This is no excuse :lol: Del Monaco and Domingo did also heavier (Italian) rep.


----------



## DavidA

Les Troyans by Berlioz

Magnificent production but I won’t be able to see it all in one evening. Berlioz did get a bit carried away!


----------



## VitellioScarpia

DavidA said:


> Les Troyans by Berlioz
> 
> Magnificent production but I won't be able to see it all in one evening. Berlioz did get a bit carried away!


I agree... But we can happily sit through Götterdämmerung without batting an eye!


----------



## DavidA

VitellioScarpia said:


> I agree... But we can happily sit through Götterdämmerung without batting an eye!


Correction - you can! :lol:


----------



## DavidA

Bellini La Sonnambula

Beautiful,y sung but the most idiotic production imaginable which makes no sense whatever. Who on earth employs these hacks?


----------



## nina foresti

Ironically, Dessay was thrilled with the Met's new modern concept conceived by Mary Zimmermann and expressed enthusiasm for the scene where a long wooden plank extended out past the orchestra into the audience while she sang her favorite "Ah non credea". I was at this performance and much as I was not a fan of the updated production, was enthralled with her performance.
It sadly became the last time she ever sang a complete opera again at the Met, or any other stage, due to voice problems.
Being a devoted fan of her work, Peter Gelb extended an invitation to return to the Met in something fashioned for her when she felt ready.
Not only did she have an exceptionally beautiful voice but she topped it off with a talent for acting that was not only consummate but extremely appealing as well.


----------



## The Conte

nina foresti said:


> Ironically, Dessay was thrilled with the Met's new modern concept conceived by Mary Zimmermann and expressed enthusiasm for the scene where a long wooden plank extended out past the orchestra into the audience while she sang her favorite "Ah non credea". I was at this performance and much as I was not a fan of the updated production, was enthralled with her performance.
> *It sadly became the last time she ever sang a complete opera again at the Met, or any other stage, due to voice problems.*
> Being a devoted fan of her work, Peter Gelb extended an invitation to return to the Met in something fashioned for her when she felt ready.
> Not only did she have an exceptionally beautiful voice but she topped it off with a talent for acting that was not only consummate but extremely appealing as well.


Dessay's last role on stage in a complete opera was Manon in 2013 (either in Toulouse or Vienna). The Sonnambula performances may well have been her last at the Met.

N.


----------



## DavidA

nina foresti said:


> Ironically, Dessay was thrilled with the Met's new modern concept conceived by Mary Zimmermann and expressed enthusiasm for the scene where a long wooden plank extended out past the orchestra into the audience while she sang her favorite "Ah non credea". I was at this performance and much as I was not a fan of the updated production, was enthralled with her performance.
> It sadly became the last time she ever sang a complete opera again at the Met, or any other stage, due to voice problems.
> Being a devoted fan of her work, Peter Gelb extended an invitation to return to the Met in something fashioned for her when she felt ready.
> Not only did she have an exceptionally beautiful voice but she topped it off with a talent for acting that was not only consummate but extremely appealing as well.


I loved Dessay's and Florez's singing. Sadly didn't get through all of it doe to other commitments. Could not make head nor take of what was going on on stage


----------



## nina foresti

The Conte said:


> Dessay's last role on stage in a complete opera was Manon in 2013 (either in Toulouse or Vienna). The Sonnambula performances may well have been her last at the Met.
> 
> N.


Mea culpa Mea culpa (I have to do it twice or they won't take it. Now ain't dat jest da silliest ting?)


----------



## DavidA

L’elise D’Amore - daft but great fun. Some fine singing


----------



## DavidA

DavidA said:


> L'elise D'Amore - daft but great fun. Some fine singing


Just finished this. Thoroughly enjoyable. Three really good leads


----------



## Seattleoperafan

DavidA said:


> Just finished this. Thoroughly enjoyable. Three really good leads


I had never heard either of the leads before and they were both incredible. Matthew Polenzani not only has a ridiculously beautiful voice but he is a very engaging actor and is cute to look at. Pretty Yende is not only gorgeous but has the most beautiful lyric coloratura since the heyday of Kathleen Battle. Beautiful production. It is one of my very favorite operas to listen to in the car when they used to play it when I had Sirius Met Opera.


----------



## Barelytenor

I'm getting to really like Thomas Adés' operas. After trying twice (unsuccessfully) to make it through the first act of The Tempest (without success), I made it today through nine minutes of The Exterminating Angel! Really, is this supposed to be great music? Everyone just screaming out the highest notes they can possibly manufacture, no sense of melody whatsover.

The Horror!

In contrast, yesterday's classic performance of Tosca with Shirley Verrett, Luciano Pavarotti, and Cornell Macneil was sheer heaven!

I'll check back in another week after the incoming has died down.


----------



## The Conte

I like Ades, yes, it is contemporary opera and I wouldn't want to put it on whilst I do the ironing, but his operas are well constructed and are great in the theatre as an all round experience.

N.


----------



## DavidA

The Conte said:


> I like Ades, yes, it is contemporary opera and *I wouldn't want to put it on whilst I do the ironing, *but his operas are well constructed and are great in the theatre as an all round experience.
> 
> N.


Frankly I wouldn't want to put it on at all! the sort of thing I can't get on with. I was fortunate to see the trailer in the cinema which saved me the expense of a ticket and sitting through the ting.


----------



## The Conte

DavidA said:


> Frankly I wouldn't want to put it on at all!


My meaning was that it is opera to watch, rather than just to listen to (for me, of course).

This probably is one of those cases where it is each to his/her own.

N.


----------



## DavidA

The Conte said:


> My meaning was that it is opera to watch, rather than just to listen to (for me, of course).
> 
> This probably is one of those cases where it is each to his/her own.
> 
> N.


Yes I just can't stand the music. Afraid modern opera isn't for me. Saw Wozzek live and wanted to put a gun to my head after! :lol:


----------



## nina foresti

DavidA said:


> Yes I just can't stand the music. Afraid modern opera isn't for me. Saw Wozzek live and wanted to put a gun to my head after! :lol:


Wasn't that the purpose?:devil:


----------



## DavidA

nina foresti said:


> Wasn't that the purpose?:devil:


Well some of us look for opera as entertainment. If I want to see human depravity and misery I can see it for free.


----------



## JAS

DavidA said:


> Well some of us look for opera as entertainment. If I want to see human depravity and misery I can see it for free.


Or just watch the news. I keep saying that the evening news should be accompanied by a Greek chorus, and that was _before_ the COVID-19 situation.


----------



## DavidA

JAS said:


> Or just watch the news. I keep saying that the evening news should be accompanied by a Greek chorus, and that was _before_ the COVID-19 situation.


Especially the BBC. That is a tragedy in itself!


----------



## DavidA

Otello. Anyone watching?


----------



## DavidA

Otello. You could pick fault with the production but it was really pretty enjoyable on his own terms. The problem of course with the white Otello now they are not allowed black make up is to make him look the outcast that Shakespeare and of course Verdi intended. It didn’t do this very well but then it’s almost impossible given the set up. I thought Lucic sang well if hardly subtle and Antonenko was pretty good in the lead.but the star was Sonya Yoncheva as Desdemona, looking and singing beautifully. Great support from the pit. Viva Verdi!


----------



## nina foresti

Agree that Yoncheva is absolutely a fine soprano and we are lucky to have her. I thank the Met audience for refraining from applause after the reverent "Ave Maria" that was done so beautifully.
I am a huge Lucic fan and I enjoyed his Iago very much. His "Credo" was satisfyingly frightening. 
This was an early Antonenko before his wobble problems overcame his voice and ended his career at the Met. His "Esultate" was excellent.
Yannick was his usual spectacular self and brought everything together perfectly.
I thought the acting on all counts was excellent.
Being that it is one of my top 3 favorite operas "depending" (when I am with the opera I love, I love the opera I'm near) and Arrigo Boito and Joe Green hit a home run again, as usual.


----------



## DavidA

Mozart La Clemenza di Tito

All star cast!

Ponnelle production!

What could be better?


----------



## DavidA

Tito - lovely production. Just how did Wolfie do this?


----------



## The Conte

DavidA said:


> Tito - lovely production. Just how did Wolfie do this?


What? How did he manage to be more prosaic, predictable and yawny than Papa Haydn? Probably spent too much time shagging and not enough time on the music!

N.


----------



## DavidA

The Conte said:


> What? How did he manage to be more prosaic, predictable and yawny than Papa Haydn? Probably spent too much time shagging and not enough time on the music!
> 
> N.


Well some of us like sheerly beautiful music. Will leave the rug cutting stuff to you! Quote D H Lawrence!


----------



## Seattleoperafan

DavidA said:


> Well some of us like sheerly beautiful music. Will leave the rug cutting stuff to you! Quote D H Lawrence!


Beautiful production but for some reason I found it a yawn. BUT, in Idomeneo's defense, it was one of the operas Sirius used to do that I would always listen to and enjoy in it's entirety on radio. Perhaps video as a different media for me suffered for visual involvement to what seeing a performance live would contribute.


----------



## DavidA

Seattleoperafan said:


> Beautiful production but for some reason I found it a yawn. BUT, in Idomeneo's defense, it was one of the operas Sirius used to do that I would always listen to and enjoy in it's entirety on radio. Perhaps video as a different media for me suffered for visual involvement to what seeing a performance live would contribute.


It was actually Tito I saw!


----------



## DavidA

Hansel and Gretel

Why do modern productions manage to remove any element of charm from this opera? Is it a crime?


----------



## DavidA

DavidA said:


> Hansel and Gretel
> 
> Why do modern productions manage to remove any element of charm from this opera? Is it a crime?


Mind you the dream sequence was brilliant


----------



## DavidA

DavidA said:


> Mind you the dream sequence was brilliant


So a bit of a curate's egg. Musically brilliant and well sung and choreographed. Do not like a male drag witch although Langridge did his best. It was different but wish it could be done without making the points with the subtlety of a sledgehammer. But for what it was it was well done. Juruwski superb in the pit. Schafer and Coote excellent as children. So very interesting. Some parts brilliantly done.


----------



## Ice Dragon

Just finished watching/listening to the online Gala for the second time this weekend. I missed it in April, as I didn't realize the Met was doing these streams until week 8. Highlights for me were Don Giovanni on accordion, the Largo from "Xerxes" (I went over that one several times), and "Danny Boy."


----------



## Dick Johnson

Also watched the online Gala for the first time yesterday and enjoyed it very much. The poor production values that resulted from broadcasting from the singers home computers in their living rooms added greatly to the charm. In addition to the highlights noted by Ice Dragon, I thought Erin Morley's rendition of La Fille du Regiment on piano was lots of light-hearted fun. The husband and wife team of Alagna and Kurzak deserve credit for putting a huge effort into their home performance. It was also fun to see the team of Ambrogio Maestri and Marco Armiliato who are neighbors in Lugano so were able to record together. Kaufmann was great as always.
Although I consider myself a Netrebko fan, I thought her pre-recorded studio video was not as charming as the simple home-recordings that constituted most of the program. A studio recording seemed out of place - even if it was done well. 
Taken together, the entire production was very enjoyable - it gives opera lovers a rare chance to see our favorite singers in a less structured environment.


----------



## DavidA

Watching the Rodelinda. Some very beautiful singing.


----------



## Seattleoperafan

I enjoyed Armida. Larry Brownlee looked and sounded great. Fleming did a great job considering the ghost of Callas that hangs over the role. The production worked well. It has some great music you don't hear often.


----------



## Dick Johnson

Agree - Armida was great! Armida is an opera that deserves to be heard and recorded more than it is. Brownlee and Fleming were convincing in the leading roles. The Mary Zimmerman production was a mixed bag: some of her regie touches (e.g. giant bugs) seemed out of place but she did a great job with the setting the atmosphere for the later romantic scenes (soavi catene in particular) as well as the scenes with the furies (which Rossini did before Weber). I hope the Met brings Armida back soon.


----------



## Seattleoperafan

Semiramide really excited me. Such great music. The whole cast was great. I had never heard Elizabeth Deshong before but OMG! She holds her own with the great Ascace's of the past: Horne, Verrett, Podles!!! My!!! She is great. I know some of you don't like Angela Meade, but I thought she was a wonderful Semiramide, complete with High E's. To me her voice is spinto soprano big up to C6 and slightly smaller but still effective above C. The coloratura was very well done.She has a pretty face but certainly takes up a lot of the stage. I don't mind when she sings the way she does. No one will equal Sutherland in this role, but Meade was very very satisfying in the part. The sets and costumes were the way you expect the Met to handle a historical piece. Meade and Deshong actually bettered Sutherland and Horne in a fast duet late in the second act: Madre addio. They nailed it.


----------



## VitellioScarpia

Dick Johnson said:


> Agree - Armida was great! Armida is an opera that deserves to be heard and recorded more than it is. Brownlee and Fleming were convincing in the leading roles. The Mary Zimmerman production was a mixed bag: some of her regie touches (e.g. giant bugs) seemed out of place but she did a great job with the setting the atmosphere for the later romantic scenes (soavi catene in particular) as well as the scenes with the furies (which Rossini did before Weber). I hope the Met brings Armida back soon.


Fleming is even more successful in this 1993 recording from the Pesaro Rossini Festival when she substituted for an ailing Ruth Falcon before she became "La Fleming." The whole recording is very good overall and one is not distracted from the Zimmerman staging which I found ludicrous.


----------



## Seattleoperafan

Seattleoperafan said:


> Semiramide really excited me. Such great music. The whole cast was great. I had never heard Elizabeth Deshong before but OMG! She holds her own with the great Ascace's of the past: Horne, Verrett, Podles!!! My!!! She is great. I know some of you don't like Angela Meade, but I thought she was a wonderful Semiramide, complete with High E's. To me her voice is spinto soprano big up to C6 and slightly smaller but still effective above C. The coloratura was very well done.She has a pretty face but certainly takes up a lot of the stage. I don't mind when she sings the way she does. No one will equal Sutherland in this role, but Meade was very very satisfying in the part. The sets and costumes were the way you expect the Met to handle a historical piece. Meade and Deshong actually bettered Sutherland and Horne in a fast duet late in the second act: Madre addio. They nailed it.






 I taped this aria by Elizabeth DeShong as Arsace and put it on Youtube. She ROCKS.


----------



## Seattleoperafan

I loved Forza. I forget how wonderful Price was. Her voice was pure bliss to listen to. Those shimmering high notes with just a hint of vibrato just slay me. I'm so proud she is from Mississippi, where I hale from.


----------



## Seattleoperafan

Seattleoperafan said:


> I loved Forza. I forget how wonderful Price was. Her voice was pure bliss to listen to. Those shimmering high notes with just a hint of vibrato just slay me. I'm so proud she is from Mississippi, where I hale from.


It is hard to believe that she was only a year from retiring from opera when she sang this performance. She looked and sounded like she was 40, not in her upper 50's.


----------



## Barelytenor

I made it through about an hour of Satyagrahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha today.


----------



## Ice Dragon

Barelytenor said:


> I made it through about an hour of Satyagrahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha today.


I'm not sure how I made it through both Glass operas, though I imagine it had to do with skipping through portions--I'd skip five minutes and find myself in exactly the same music and lyrics. Besides the repetitive music, the lack of subtitles and no clear story made it impossible for me to attach to any of the characters, all of which kept me from investing in the work. I had to watch Act I of Die Walkure to remind myself why I like opera.

Hopefully, Doctor Atomic will be better. It's the only opera this week I haven't seen.


----------



## DavidA

Barelytenor said:


> I made it through about an hour of Satyagrahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha today.


I didn't bother


----------



## Barelytenor

Traviata. Michael Fabiano and Sonia Yoncheva make a believable couple and both have beautiful voices. Yoncheva's voice is to me a lirico-spinto, more at home in Tosca than Traviata. Her Sempre libera high notes, the Cs and D-flats, had some desperation in them and she smartly avoided (likely just doesn't usually have) the high E-flat. But she has wonderful dramatic instincts and lovely colors in the voice that more than compensate. I doubt I will listen to much of Thomas Hampson, even though I acknowledge his excellent musicianship. But the years have taken a toll on his voice, and I don't much enjoy it any more.

And enough with the old man and the clock!


----------



## DavidA

I thought the singing in Teaviata most enjoyable. The production works against anyone’s enjoyment though. Hopeless!


----------



## Barelytenor

Dr Atomic is on today with Gerald Findley, Eric Owens, and Sasha Cooke. But Findley steals the show, a real tour de force. I have the DVD and was spellbound with it. I recommend it very highly to those able to watch it by this evening.


----------



## nina foresti

HAving seen this already in HD I couldn't bear to watch this director's faux pas of the Trav Clock fiasco again, with the pulling off furniture coverings -- on and off and on and off --and the lack of chemistry between the two lovers thanks to Fabiano's non-existent passion. And that distracting wig of his didn't help either. 
Yoncheva is a gem and we're lucky to have her. She's got the goods in everything she does.
Hampson? A classic gentleman who has gone the miles.


----------



## DavidA

L'Elise d"Amore

Or was it Falstaff??

Good to hear the great man but he had really gone to seed by that time. Some fine singing.


----------



## nina foresti

As for opposites: Kathleen Battle is absolutely the most beautiful and charming Adina and the most miserable and nasty person at the same time. Sad.
Pav looked like a beached whale but doggone it, his "Una furtiva lagrima" was absolutely stirring. He owns it, as far as I am concerned.


----------



## DavidA

nina foresti said:


> As for opposites: Kathleen Battle is absolutely the most beautiful and charming Adina and the most miserable and nasty person at the same time. Sad.
> Pav looked like a beached whale but doggone it, his "Una furtiva lagrima" was absolutely stirring. He owns it, as far as I am concerned.


Battle is an actress. They are not usually what they appear on stage.


----------



## mikeh375

nina foresti said:


> As for opposites: Kathleen Battle is absolutely the most beautiful and charming Adina and the most miserable and nasty person at the same time. Sad.
> Pav looked like a beached whale but doggone it, his "Una furtiva lagrima" was absolutely stirring. He owns it, as far as I am concerned.


After a season at the MET with Kathleen Battle, the backstage staff wore tea-shirts with "I survived the Battle" printed on them.


----------



## Barelytenor

Actually it wasn't the end of a season. Battle was dismissed permanently (well, for 20 years but who's counting) after she dissed Rosalind Elias. But it was just the final straw. One bitch fit too many from someone who thought she was above _anyone else's_ raisin'.

https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/bloody-battle-at-the-met-prima-donna-chief-female-singer-in-opera-temperamentally-self-important-1394669.html


----------



## mikeh375

Barelytenor said:


> Actually it wasn't the end of a season. Battle was dismissed permanently (well, for 20 years but who's counting) after she dissed Rosalind Elias. But it was just the final straw. One bitch fit too many from someone who thought she was above _anyone else's_ raisin'.
> 
> https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/bloody-battle-at-the-met-prima-donna-chief-female-singer-in-opera-temperamentally-self-important-1394669.html


Thanks BarelyTenor for the correction. I have a CD of her singing in Salzburg with Levine on piano. She sings 'Music' by Purcell and I think it is the most gorgeous interpretation I have ever, ever heard of that sublime music.


----------



## nina foresti

Sad that such a lovely voice had such inner turmoil with her own temple to the point that she insisted that whoever sang with her was never to look directly into her mouth when she sang.
And if you noticed her chemistry with Pavarotti -- she never once looked directly into his eyes -- even while declaring her love for him. In fact she did so with her back turned away, up until the very end when she hugged him.


----------



## DavidA

nina foresti said:


> Sad that such a lovely voice had such inner turmoil with her own temple to the point that she insisted that whoever sang with her was never to look directly into her mouth when she sang.
> And if you noticed her chemistry with Pavarotti -- she never once looked directly into his eyes -- even while declaring her love for him. In fact she did so with her back turned away, up until the very end when she hugged him.


Many artists have their own inner turmoil. Look at Callas. Great artist - highly unsuccessful woman.


----------



## nina foresti

DavidA said:


> Many artists have their own inner turmoil. Look at Callas. Great artist - highly unsuccessful woman.


Yes Maria could lash out and be spoiled and even mean at times, but rarely 
vicious and unfriendly to her own peers.


----------



## PaHaydnAdventure

That is sad to hear about Kathleen Battle. I enjoyed her in the Met's _Adriadne auf Naxos_ as well.

Edit, finished reading the linked article. Sounds like there is quite a history for which Battle should be faulted. OTOH, I didn't like the racial allegations (her nickname backstage, "UN" for "uppity n___"). No need for that.


----------



## PaHaydnAdventure

I have been enjoying the Met's streams tremendously. It's a bit of a silver lining to the pandemic and having all the concerts cancelled.
I've watched a ton of their broadcasts, giving me a chance to watch a lot of operas.

The Met has quite a collection. One they're missing (on video, they have audio recordings) is _Pelleas et Melisande_. I get that that one's not an audience favorite, but it looks like they did it in the 2018-2019 season. I wonder why they don't have it on video/streaming? It's one of just a few they're missing.

Edit: I get that the Met is conservative. Is _Pelleas_ that far out there? They have done some contemporary stuff, two Glass pieces, two Adams, two by Ades, a Saariaho...


----------



## DavidA

Just looked at the Cinderella. Beautiful production and great fun. Saw it at the cinema live. Joyce a bit old for the part but singing wonderfully.


----------



## DavidA

PaHaydnAdventure said:


> That is sad to hear about Kathleen Battle. I enjoyed her in the Met's _Adriadne auf Naxos_ as well.
> 
> Edit, finished reading the linked article. Sounds like there is quite a history for which Battle should be faulted. OTOH, I didn't like the racial allegations (her nickname backstage, "UN" for "uppity n___"). No need for that.


I can't think why we are surprised that artists are 'difficult' as people. Think of Heifetz and Horowitz or either of the Kleibers. Or Beethoven and Wagner!


----------



## nina foresti

PaHaydnAdventure said:


> That is sad to hear about Kathleen Battle. I enjoyed her in the Met's _Adriadne auf Naxos_ as well.
> 
> Edit, finished reading the linked article. Sounds like there is quite a history for which Battle should be faulted. OTOH, I didn't like the racial allegations (her nickname backstage, "UN" for "uppity n___"). No need for that.


It is a disgrace to read about the racial slurs backstage. I don't care how horrid Battle was. It shows a lack of character and whoever showed their bigoted side should be ashamed of themselves.
Racial prejudice, I am sorry to say, is alive and thriving.


----------



## DavidA

Magic Flute. Production full of magic.


----------



## DavidA

DavidA said:


> Magic Flute. Production full of magic.


Just finished the Flute. Hugely enjoyable. Believe they also did a children's version of the same production lasting 85 minutes. Seems a very good idea.


----------



## mountmccabe

PaHaydnAdventure said:


> The Met has quite a collection. One they're missing (on video, they have audio recordings) is _Pelleas et Melisande_. I get that that one's not an audience favorite, but it looks like they did it in the 2018-2019 season. I wonder why they don't have it on video/streaming? It's one of just a few they're missing.
> 
> Edit: I get that the Met is conservative. Is _Pelleas_ that far out there? They have done some contemporary stuff, two Glass pieces, two Adams, two by Ades, a Saariaho...


Those productions were new, or relatively new, which the Met has been prioritizing in their Live in HDs. The operas are also all much newer, and none of them have yet been revived (though they announced Akhnaten for 2021-22). So I look at it as a rather shallow nod to new works, rather than any devotion.

I also think it is relevant that _Pelléas et Mélisande_ debuted in NYC at the Manhattan Opera House rather than at the Met Opera. It was 1908; I believe Mary Garden sang Mélisande, as she did at the premiere. The Met did not get to the opera until 1925. It hasn't been neglected, exactly, but it isn't common. Fewer times than _Simon Boccanegra_, _Don Pasquale_, or _Les Huguenots_*, but more than _La Fille du Régiment_, _Elektra_, or _La Fanciulla del West_.

That run in January 2019 was the fifth revival of that Jonathan Miller production from 1995 (when it was new for Frederica Von Stade 25th anniversary). I suppose they could have filmed it during one of the first runs, but the only times it could have been on the Live in HD schedule were 2010-11 and 2018-19. The 2010 performances were during December, and they aired a new production of _Don Carlo_ instead. For the 2018-19 the run was in January, when they aired the new production of _Adriana Lecouvreur_ (with Netrebko) instead. I believe Yannick Nézet-Séguin was added as conductor too late for that to push the performance onto the schedule.

I expect it will get on film whenever they get around to a new production.

* This opera has not been filmed at the Metropolitan Opera because the last performance was in 1915.


----------



## DavidA

Just watching the rather elderly Walkure production with some fine singing. I only watch the best bits as can’t stand Wagner’s longeurs. I get so annoyed with Wotan. You think, “What a plonker! Pompous ***!”


----------



## howlingfantods

Don't blame Wagner. That Levine Ring is a snoozefest. I tried watching some of it last night but I switched it off and watched parts of Barenboim's Bayreuth Ring that I own instead. The singing isn't that great on the Barenboim but at least it's not boring like the Levine.


----------



## annaw

Duh, I love that old Levine _Ring_! But then again I'm a traditionalist when it comes to _Der Ring_. For each their own . (I'm not a huge fan of the Völsung pair in that production though.)


----------



## Itullian

annaw said:


> Duh, I love that old Levine _Ring_! But then again I'm a traditionalist when it comes to _Der Ring_. For each their own . (I'm not a huge fan of the Völsung pair in that production though.)


Agree. For a much better pair check out the Boulez Walkure.
They are awesome.


----------



## annaw

Itullian said:


> Agree. For a much better pair check out the Boulez Walkure.
> They are awesome.


Oh, the good old Chreau _Ring_! If I recall correctly then the first time I watched _Das Rheingold_, I couldn't really understand that something was not exactly how it was supposed to be, except that the scenery was strangely dark :lol:. (It was the first _Das Rheingold_ I saw, so it's maybe forgivable.) I finally realised that something is wrong when Wotan wore a suit or something in _Die Walküre_. I didn't watch it entirely though, maybe I should...


----------



## Itullian

annaw said:


> Oh, the good old Chreau _Ring_! If I recall correctly then the first time I watched _Das Rheingold_, I couldn't really understand that something was not exactly how it was supposed to be, except that the scenery was strangely dark :lol:. (It was the first _Das Rheingold_ I saw, so it's maybe forgivable.) I finally realised that something is wrong when Wotan wore a suit or something in _Die Walküre_. I didn't watch it entirely though, maybe I should...


True, it has weirdness to it, but the first act is great.


----------



## Ice Dragon

I enjoy the Schenk/Levine Ring. It was the second opera (well, second-fifth operas) I saw and I liked it right away. I watched it again recently during quarantine and it was very pleasant and soothing. The Chereau Ring, for some reason, left me cold, although Heinz Zednik was AMAZING as Loge (and Mime), and Salminen was his usual great self. For Walkure's Act I, I prefer the LePage production and really connect with it. I don't know how many times I've seen it in the past two years.

Well, off to watch The Nose. Looks weird.


----------



## DavidA

Ice Dragon said:


> I enjoy the Schenk/Levine Ring. It was the second opera (well, second-fifth operas) I saw and I liked it right away. I watched it again recently during quarantine and it was very pleasant and soothing. The Chereau Ring, for some reason, left me cold, although Heinz Zednik was AMAZING as Loge (and Mime), and Salminen was his usual great self. For Walkure's Act I, I prefer the LePage production and really connect with it. I don't know how many times I've seen it in the past two years.
> 
> *Well, off to watch The Nose. Looks weird.*


I managed the first hour. Brilliant production but after a time the one joke trick became wearisome.


----------



## DavidA

Carmen. How good opera is when you do it the way it’s intended!


----------



## Barelytenor

The Nose stank. 

Kind regards, :tiphat:

George


----------



## DavidA

Don Giovanni. I saw this production at the cinema live but with an inferior and much less interesting cast. This is much better


----------



## Barelytenor

I'm really looking forward to this one. AND starting with enough time to finish it!


----------



## DavidA

DavidA said:


> Don Giovanni. I saw this production at the cinema live but with an inferior and much less interesting cast. This is much better


Yes this was really goof.some fiery singing and conducting and acting. Great!

Kwiecien one of the great Dons. Looked and acted the part. Really good cast around him.

Lots of fire and brimstone at end. Mozart's warning to womanisers!


----------



## nina foresti

I second that. (well, not your "goof")
The entire cast was really on their game.
A very entertaining production.


----------



## Seattleoperafan

It is worth watching Don Pasquale just to see Sill's outfits!!!!!! She is past her prime, but better than most nowadays even so. The duet with the two lovers late in the show is so gorgeous.


----------



## Barelytenor

Great, great production and fantastic singing. Not a single grouse from me! I don't believe I ever heard "Finch' han dal vino" sung faster! It's a mouthful if you've never tried it ... or if you have! I thought the Don G-Leporello ensemble was perfect. And Ramón Vargas did as well as any tenor could at making Don Ottavio more than a cipher, such beautiful soft pianissimi in "Dalla sua pace" and good, clean fioritura in "Il mio tesoro intanto."


----------



## Ice Dragon

All I got to see of this Don Giovanni was the ending (well, what should be the ending, with the Don being dragged off), but I was very impressed. Strong singing and great pyrotechnics! Too bad it's not on DVD, or I'd rent it.


----------



## DavidA

Ice Dragon said:


> All I got to see of this Don Giovanni was the ending (well, what should be the ending, with the Don being dragged off), but I was very impressed. Strong singing and great pyrotechnics! Too bad it's not on DVD, or I'd rent it.


You can rent it from the Met online


----------



## DavidA

Seattleoperafan said:


> It is worth watching Don Pasquale just to see Sill's outfits!!!!!! She is past her prime, but better than most nowadays even so. The duet with the two lovers late in the show is so gorgeous.


Yes HD does not do cast favours. Not as ribtickling as the one with Nebtrebko


----------



## Barelytenor

Really enjoyed the classic Trovatore yesterday. Pavarotti in top King of the high Cs form and Dolora Zajick in one of her best roles. Sherrill Milnes was already showing some of the vocal problems that afflicted his production, not quite getting to the center of the pitch even on notes as low as D above middle C due to a wobble and too much cover/forced sound. And yet he sang some gorgeous lines in Il Balen ... Eva Marton is no one's idea of the perfect Leonora, but this was the first time I ever "got" her voice. I have a couple of later DVDs of her, Turandot and Salome, where she just yells all the way through. But in this Trovatore, she really had some pretty moments of lyricism in "D'amor sull'ali rosee" and especially earlier in "Tacea la notte placida." Her voice was a bit short of high notes even in this 1988 production, but I did enjoy a lot of her performance. It's a big dramatic voice, but back then she could scale it back quite well.

Anyone else watch this one?

Kind regards, :tiphat:

George


----------



## DavidA

Barelytenor said:


> Really enjoyed the classic Trovatore yesterday. Pavarotti in top King of the high Cs form and Dolora Zajick in one of her best roles. Sherrill Milnes was already showing some of the vocal problems that afflicted his production, not quite getting to the center of the pitch even on notes as low as D above middle C due to a wobble and too much cover/forced sound. And yet he sang some gorgeous lines in Il Balen ... Eva Marton is no one's idea of the perfect Leonora, but this was the first time I ever "got" her voice. I have a couple of later DVDs of her, Turandot and Salome, where she just yells all the way through. But in this Trovatore, she really had some pretty moments of lyricism in "D'amor sull'ali rosee" and especially earlier in "Tacea la notte placida." Her voice was a bit short of high notes even in this 1988 production, but I did enjoy a lot of her performance. It's a big dramatic voice, but back then she could scale it back quite well.
> 
> Anyone else watch this one?
> 
> Kind regards, :tiphat:
> 
> George


Tried it but the picture was terrible


----------



## DavidA

Cost fan Tuttle

Mozart’s sublime ensemble opera. Just how did he do it? Melody after melody!

Traditional performance very well done


----------



## Ice Dragon

I finally watched Cosi. I'm not fond of Mozart, and I didn't like the story. Danielle de Niese was the only person who got me through it. I love watching her--she's so charming and perky and has great stage presence.


----------



## DavidA

DavidA said:


> Cost fan Tuttle
> 
> Mozart's sublime ensemble opera. Just how did he do it? Melody after melody!
> 
> Traditional performance very well done


Always wonder whether this is the greatest of all operas. Perfect libretto and perfect music


----------



## Woodduck

DavidA said:


> Always wonder whether this is the greatest of all operas. Perfect libretto and perfect music


Among the criteria of greatness, perfection ranks low, assuming that it exists at all. If some sort of aesthetic perfection is required, Shakespeare comes up an inferior playwright compared to, say, Eugene Scribe, whose "perfect" theatrical sense gave Puccini the chance to compose that "perfect" greyhound of an opera, _Tosca,_ alongside which _Tristan und Isolde_ is a lumbering mastodon (which nonetheless reached a level of greatness that Puccini envied and aspired to right up to the day he died).

All sorts of things have been called "perfect." That tells us nothing about what they're "perfect" at being, which is all that matters. _Mairzydoats_ has "perfect" words and music too. And Donald Trump is a perfectly disastrous president and human being.

A work in which undeniable musical beauties are as much at odds with dramatic frivolity, cynicism and outright misogyny as they are in _Cosi fan tutte_ can hardly be called "perfect," and to some of us the whole silly show is almost perfectly uninteresting. I enjoyed seeing how well the Met's production adapted it to the 1950s, and now I can go back to ignoring it until someone sets it in the Paleolithic era, complete with pet mastodons. That would be just perfect.


----------



## nina foresti

To me one of the top operas of all time is the Pushkin tale composed so brilliantly by Tchaikovsky, _Eugene Onegin_. 
I just finished watching through misty eyes once again after seeing it in HD -- this magnificent work with Netrebko/Kwiecien/Beczala, and all three did themselves justice -- thanks to the kindness of the Met online apps every day.
I also saw the memorable HD (the one with all the autumn leaves), starring Hvorostovsky/Fleming/Vargas. 
And then there was the magnificent rendering with Mattei/Poplavskaya/Villazon which I saw in house so that I could be up close to watching Villazon sing my favorite tenor aria "kuda, kuda".
I guess you could say that makes me an "Onegin groupie" eh?


----------



## The Conte

Anna gets a lot of flack in these parts (and not only here), however I think her Tatiana was a complete triumph and Kwiecen was one of the few Onegin's who really made the part work for me.

N.


----------



## DavidA

Tristan und Isolde

Heavyweight championship?


----------



## Barelytenor

Bring snacks and water! Comfy pillows!


----------



## DavidA

Cenerentola! Have some real enjoyment with la belle Elina!


----------



## DavidA

DavidA said:


> Cenerentola! Have some real enjoyment with la belle Elina!











Cenerentola. I am officially in love with Elina Garanca! (Only on the stage of course!)


----------



## Barelytenor

This role is a much better fit for her than some I've seen her in. Dalila comes to mind. She was also fantastic as Octavian recently.


----------



## DavidA

Barelytenor said:


> This role is a much better fit for her than some I've seen her in. Dalila comes to mind. She was also fantastic as Octavian recently.


I enjoyed the Dalila. Missed the Octavian. Of course she had the stunning good looks as well as the voice. The Carmen was quite something too.


----------



## DavidA

Figaro. Enjoyed Eyre's production. When listening one is sure this is the greatest opera ever. Then one thinks of Cosi and the Don....


----------



## Woodduck

DavidA said:


> Figaro. Enjoyed Eyre's production. When listening one is sure this is the greatest opera ever. Then one thinks of Cosi and the Don....


One may be sure, but two or three are not.


----------



## DavidA

After watching Figaro from the Met last night one can only say with George Szell:

‘Listening to Mozart, we cannot think of any possible improvement.‘


----------



## DavidA

La Boheme

Start as and Carreras.

Wha5 a stage animal Stratas was. You can’t take your eyes off her!


----------



## Seattleoperafan

Figaro: not only was Brownlee cute and spectacular, but Christopher Maltmann was likely the sexiest Figaro ever and so fun in the role. My word, he is fine to look at!!!!!!!!


----------



## Barelytenor

Personally, I find Isabel Leonard to be one of the most attractive Rosinas I've ever seen as well.

Kind regards, :tiphat:

George


----------



## DavidA

Seattleoperafan said:


> Figaro: not only was Brownlee cute and spectacular, but Christopher Maltmann was likely the sexiest Figaro ever and so fun in the role. My word, he is fine to look at!!!!!!!!


I didn't think the cast was as strong as a previous broadcast of the same production which had Florez, diDonato and Mattei. But still most enjoyable. And I agree that Isabel Leonard is one of the most attractive Rosinas I've ever seen. She made a fab Cherubino too!


----------



## nina foresti

Teresa Stratas is the most beguiling Mimi with a stunning voice and beautiful, angelic face to boot.
Second place is the Mimi of Eleana Cotrubas with her gentle face, angelic look and a lovely voice to match.


----------



## ThaNotoriousNIC

Figured that this can go into this thread, but I just watched the Met's latest and headlining production of Porgy and Bess for this past season on PBS. I was aware of the big arias from the opera beforehand, but it was nice to see them all in the context of the opera and its story. The opera does a great job of developing its cast of characters, including the assortment of side characters (Crown, Sportin Life, Jake, etc). It makes for a Catfish Row that is like a genuine real-life community. I wouldn't put it in the same category as my favorite Verdi or Wagner operas, but it was very good. 

In terms of the Met's production, I think it was a decent job. I was not impressed by the sets or the staging, but it is Catfish Row after all (should look bare bones and slummy). I felt that the singers and the chorus were fine too. I do think the singer playing Porgy could have been better with his arias. I feel like "I am in my way" should have been a highly emotional finale from Porgy but it kind of fell flat imo. Chorus came in and he was gone lol. Aside from that, I enjoyed it, especially for the side characters.


----------



## Barelytenor

I too quite enjoyed the Porgy and Bess although I was lucky enough to catch it live in the theater before the Covid started. Seems like ages ago now.

On to Macbeth. Despite someone here trying to convince me otherwise, I find Zejlko Lucic's voice to be pale and colorless. He's a good musician, I'll give him that, and a capable if uninspired actor. But short on time, I forwarded through his bits. I love the color of John Relyea's bass voice, though, just a great instrument. But Ghena Dimitrova absolutely chewed up the entire stage as Lady Macbeth, so I made sure to catch the "Vieni, t'affretta" in the first act and the great Sleepwalking Scene near the end. If Verdi wanted a "strangled voice" (wasn't that the phrase?) for Lady Macbeth, Dimitrova did a bang-up job of producing the scariest, hair-raising effects I have ever heard from a dramatic soprano other than Callas. So Brava to her!

My Lord, where are the Verdi baritones these days?

Kind regards, :tiphat:

George


----------



## nina foresti

Alagna and Netrebko heated up the Met Romeo et Juliet. Didn't prefer the production, especially the first act, but they were vocally very secure.
My favorite is the Netrebko/Villazon from LA but you'll probably never get to see this one-of-a-kind production.
Last season's Grigolo and Damrau were to the manner born. Their chemistry was palpable.


----------



## DavidA

nina foresti said:


> Alagna and Netrebko heated up the Met Romeo et Juliet. Didn't prefer the production, especially the first act, but they were vocally very secure.
> My favorite is the Netrebko/Villazon from LA but you'll probably never get to see this one-of-a-kind production.
> Last season's Grigolo and Damrau were to the manner born. Their chemistry was palpable.


Yes I saw that one. You'd have thought the Met would have had a professional conductor. What's Placido doing there?

But Anna looks ravishing and plays the part well.


----------



## Barelytenor

Finished the fantastic Falstaff just now, Paul Plishka and Mirella Freni aging like fine wine, a very young Susan Graham as Meg, Marilyn Horne typecast as Mistress Quickly, top-notch all down the line. Loved it!


----------



## DavidA

Barelytenor said:


> Finished the fantastic Falstaff just now, Paul Plishka and Mirella Freni aging like fine wine, a very young Susan Graham as Meg, Marilyn Horne typecast as Mistress Quickly, top-notch all down the line. Loved it!


Really enjoyable


----------



## DavidA

Puccini’s Girl of West.

Great production. The opera always seems out of place


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## Barbebleu

DavidA said:


> After watching Figaro from the Met last night one can only say with George Szell:
> 
> 'Listening to Mozart, we cannot think of any possible improvement.'


 One should therefore think harder!


----------



## adrian1982

I was crying when the Vienna Opera House stopped streaming for free. But the Met have been incredibly generous. Just saw Fanciulla del West and saw so many other previously unknown works to me. Talk about developing audiences!


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## DavidA

Barbebleu said:


> One should therefore think harder!


Try saying that to Szell you'd have got a punch in the eye no doubt! Serve you right too! :lol:


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## DavidA

adrian1982 said:


> I was crying when the Vienna Opera House stopped streaming for free. But the Met have been incredibly generous. Just saw Fanciulla del West and saw so many other previously unknown works to me. Talk about developing audiences!


They have apparently made millions with donations.


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## nina foresti

Just finished La Fanciulla del West and was totally thrilled with it once again. I was privileged to see this production live at the Met several years ago with the same cast.
The Poker Scene is one of my top 5 favorite scenes in all of opera -- especially when Tebaldi and Colzani were at the helm.
Nothing is more exciting to me that Puccini's music in that scene. Awesome!


----------



## DavidA

nina foresti said:


> Just finished La Fanciulla del West and was totally thrilled with it once again. I was privileged to see this production live at the Met several years ago with the same cast.
> The Poker Scene is one of my top 5 favorite scenes in all of opera -- especially when Tebaldi and Colzani were at the helm.
> Nothing is more exciting to me that Puccini's music in that scene. Awesome!


Yes saw this live too albeit at the cinema


----------



## Barbebleu

DavidA said:


> Try saying that to Szell you'd have got a punch in the eye no doubt! Serve you right too! :lol:


Yeah, typical response from a Mozart fan; violence!


----------



## DavidA

Barbebleu said:


> Yeah, typical response from a Mozart fan; violence!


Well you know what happened to Don Giovanni!


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## nina foresti

I was privileged to see what I consider to be the very best Lucia I have ever seen in a live performance yesterday with the glorious Natalie Dessay -- who owns the role in my book -- her character's fragility and sensitivity trumps (sooorry) those of Callas/Sills and Sutherland (all of whom were truly sensational as well), and a stupendous performance by Joseph Calleja who was one of the best cast Edgardo's I have ever seen (Di Stefano wins that award). His voice has that golden days sound and it is extremely appealing.
The two of them were perfect together.


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## DavidA

Rigoletto with McNeil, Cotrubas and Domingo. Great!


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## nina foresti

Although not among my very favorite Rigolettos it was extremely entertaining.
My heart is with Warren and Gobbi. My favorite Gilda singing Cara Nome is far and away Callas.


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## nina foresti

It was painful for me to try to watch Trovatore today because I get caught up in my emotions at seeing Hvorostovsky once again. But being that "D'amor sull' ali rosee" is my favorite soprano aria, and I have heard practically every soprano's rendition, I certainly was not going to skip the one I believe to be the ultimate of them all -- Sondra Radvanovsky. That lady owns it, as far as I am concerned.


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## DavidA

Caught some of Trovatore. Done in the old fashioned way and none the worse for it. Tenor a bit strenuous but then the part is. 

What a hoot this opera is. No wonder the Marx brothers chose it for a send-up


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## Barelytenor

As far as I'm concerned, Radvanovsky owns the whole role of Leonora. I'm sure I've never heard a better live performance from the Leonora, and I've been to quite a few in my long life. Zajick's singing does not wear well on me. She seems (at least here) to have trouble opening her mouth and keeps it in a very peculiar position. And even Dima, well, he does force a whole lot on the high notes. 

And thus endeth my tale. :tiphat:

George


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## DavidA

Edna I. A step into the unknown for me. Pavorotti looms large (literally)


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## DavidA

Ernani - superbly sung. Must be one of the daftest opera plots ever at the end. But then this IS opera!


----------



## Seattleoperafan

Barelytenor said:


> As far as I'm concerned, Radvanovsky owns the whole role of Leonora. I'm sure I've never heard a better live performance from the Leonora, and I've been to quite a few in my long life. Zajick's singing does not wear well on me. She seems (at least here) to have trouble opening her mouth and keeps it in a very peculiar position. And even Dima, well, he does force a whole lot on the high notes.
> 
> And thus endeth my tale. :tiphat:
> 
> George


I agree about Dolora's mouth. She was hard to watch.


----------



## Seattleoperafan

Walkure: I think most will disagree with this qualification: Goerke is a great Brunhilde, looks great on camera, acts and sings well. But there is on quality that Jane Eaglen had in her prime that for me trumps Goerke: Jane was able to give me emotional goose flesh at the big moments. I must say that I only saw Christine live once and that was as Norma and her spectacular, huge D gave me gooseflesh, but not in the emotional way Jane Eaglen did. In the scene where she tells Siegmund he must die, Goerke is very good, but I must say that Flagstad has spoiled me for most everybody else in that scene.The Siegmund was quite good but was the homeliest singer I've ever seen. I am a bad person. Greer is as good as he was 20 years ago. I saw him in biker shorts and he is built quite amazingly. He has the longest face from the ears to the tip of his nose I have ever seen, which could account for his sound. Jamie Barton has never looked lovelier and is perfect as Fricka.


----------



## DavidA

Thought the idea of the shortened Magic Flute for children was a good one. Magical production.


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## Barelytenor

I have never understood big parts of the Magic Flute but I can't understand why they would leave in so much of that nasty Monostatos crap and yet they chopped "Dies Bildnis ist bezaubernd schön," one of Mozart's most glorious tenor arias, and here by the incomparably beautiful voice of Matthew Polenzani, beyond all recognition. A disgusting hatchet job.


----------



## nina foresti

Parsifal on Met Opera. Simply glorious! What else is there to say when you have perfection?


----------



## DavidA

Let me recommend Mc Vicar's production n of Agrippina by Handel. Superb!


----------



## Woodduck

Barelytenor said:


> I have never understood big parts of the Magic Flute but I can't understand why they would leave in so much of that nasty Monostatos crap and yet *they chopped "Dies Bildnis ist bezaubernd schön," one of Mozart's most glorious tenor arias, and here by the incomparably beautiful voice of Matthew Polenzani, beyond all recognition. A disgusting hatchet job.*


"Dies Bildnis" is a short aria. I can't imagine "chopping" it. What did they do to it?


----------



## Barelytenor

As I recall, "Dies Bildnis ist bezaubernd schön, wie noch kein Auge je geseh'n, / Ich fühl es, ich fühl es, wie dies Götterbild, mein Herz mit neuer Regung füllt, mein Herz mit neuer Regung füllt," (leaving out the whole middle section starting with "dies Etwas kann ich ..." to stay in the E-flat tonality), "und ewig wäre Sie dann mein" / repeat that last bit etc. That's my recollection. I was only half paying attention but it's that upward jump of a ninth that startled me into thinking "this is the coda!" when it came way too soon.

Even hatchet job is too kind a term. More like amputation.


----------



## nina foresti

Just viewed the Met _Carmen_. I thought Alagna's new wife Kurzak took the prize. What a dollface and a voice to match.
She'll go far.


----------



## DavidA

nina foresti said:


> Just viewed the Met _Carmen_. I thought Alagna's new wife Kurzak took the prize. What a dollface and a voice to match.
> She'll go far.


The problem is with a girlfriend like her what Jose sees in Carmen. The woman would have sent me running for miles! A man-eater! :lol:

More seriously I think a production is undermined when it doesn't bring out why Jose is in the army in the first place and why he has wronged his mother - because he once killed a man. That makes the final denouement more logical.


----------



## DavidA

So this Carmen has a superb Carmen and cohorts, Algana’s rather elderly but well sung Jose, his wife as a very cute Michaela and a pretty rough Escamillo.


----------



## DeGustibus

Nina Stemme with a lovely Turandot. A more nuanced version than some. Anita Hartig in one of my favorite smaller roles is also very nice. Marco Berti, who I don't really know, is the decidedly weak link.


----------



## nina foresti

Funny, I never much cared one way or the other for Marco Berti but was surprised by the strength of his voice which very much reminded me of another spinto type tenor Marcello Giordani. However, he kind of shortchanged his "Nessun dorma" at the end and cut it off rather quickly. 
I thought he did a decent enough job, though certainly not a memorable one in the long line of Calafs (the dirty rat).


----------



## MAS

DavidA said:


> So this Carmen has a superb Carmen and cohorts, Algana's rather elderly but well sung Jose, his wife as a very cute Michaela and a pretty rough Escamillo.


Micaela, please!


----------



## DavidA

DeGustibus said:


> Nina Stemme with a lovely Turandot. A more nuanced version than some. Anita Hartig in one of my favorite smaller roles is also very nice. Marco Berti, who I don't really know, is the decidedly weak link.


Crumbs Stemme looks so fierce she'd have me running for my life by the end of the first verse of In Questa Reggia. Mind you the tenor was a bit of a fat boy so running wouldn't probably come naturally to him. This is of course where opera goes into the realm of the ridiculous where you've got to imagine she is the most beautiful woman in the world and he is a dashing young prince!


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## DeGustibus

DavidA said:


> Crumbs Stemme looks so fierce she'd have me running for my life by the end of the first verse of In Questa Reggia. Mind you the tenor was a bit of a fat boy so running wouldn't probably come naturally to him. This is of course where opera goes into the realm of the ridiculous where you've got to imagine she is the most beautiful woman in the world and he is a dashing young prince!


Ha, yes, I should have specified lovely vocally. My wife looked up during one of her close-ups and said "wow, she's scary."
And yes, I might have been a little harsh on Berti, he had some nice moments. (He also seemed to have good mic placement, maybe, as some of his best were with his back to the audience.) But Nessun Dorma was poor and it's interesting, I read a review of this same run a couple of nights before the broadcast and it noted that he was rushing it then, too, so I guess it was a choice.


----------



## The Conte

DavidA said:


> Crumbs Stemme looks so fierce she'd have me running for my life by the end of the first verse of In Questa Reggia. Mind you the tenor was a bit of a fat boy so running wouldn't probably come naturally to him. This is of course where opera goes into the realm of the ridiculous where you've got to imagine she is the most beautiful woman in the world and he is a dashing young prince!


Do you watch these performances with the volume turned down?

(I have to admit I haven't watched many of them and so can't comment on the singing myself.)

N.


----------



## DavidA

The Conte said:


> Do you watch these performances with the volume turned down?
> 
> (I have to admit I haven't watched many of them and so can't comment on the singing myself.)
> 
> N.


No. Stemme's singing was fine as far as I could hear. Just the way she looked!


----------



## Barelytenor

Another Tristan today. This time with Deborah Voigt, some flown-in tenor, and hey, Martti Talvela as King Marke! 

Still can't do it. I don't have that much popcorn or patience, and my butt hurts.

I am going to opt for the wonderful DVD of Rosenkavalier that I ordered with Fleming, Garança, and Morley. I'll have to tolerate Gunter Groissbock singing out of the side of his mouth for a couple of hours, but except for that ... I can watch an Act a Day! 

And I wish you long days and pleasant nights (and thank you Stephen King).


----------



## DavidA

Barelytenor said:


> Another Tristan today. This time with Deborah Voigt, some flown-in tenor, and hey, Martti Talvela as King Marke!
> 
> Still can't do it. I don't have that much popcorn or patience, and my butt hurts.
> 
> I am going to opt for the wonderful DVD of Rosenkavalier that I ordered with Fleming, Garança, and Morley. I'll have to tolerate Gunter Groissbock singing out of the side of his mouth for a couple of hours, but except for that ... I can watch an Act a Day!
> 
> And I wish you long days and pleasant nights (and thank you Stephen King).


I might make the love duet but I'll see


----------



## DavidA

DavidA said:


> I might make the love duet but I'll see


Tried a bit of it. Two middle aged people straining away. The only way to hear this opera is on a recording. There is no stage action worth speaking of anyway


----------



## kineno

Not Talvela; he was long dead by this time! It’s Matti Salminen; easy to mix them up, with the similarity of their names, and the fact that they same many of the same roles.


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## Barelytenor

Ah yes, Salminen, thank you.


----------



## nina foresti

I just finished viewing the Met's latest streaming offering and was so very pleased with Alagna's voice and his interpretation of Cavaradossi, especially when he reveals that he is aware that he is going to be assassinated with real bullets when he crumples up the edict that sends them to freedom and surreptitiously throws it away. He was one fine Cavaradossi.
Racette -- she of a consummate actor who knows how to bring a character to life, has some disturbing intonation problems which is a pity because she has an appealing voice and it is diminished by some slightly off-key notes.
Luc Bondy's staging is one of the worst productions in my book and actually had to be changed in certain places by majority outcries that his questionable choices were irreverent to the Madonna by humping her body in the first act to, instead, kissing the hem of her gown.
Picturing a different ending as Tosca takes her leap -- and not to a reprise of the poignant "E lucevan le stelle" but rather replacing it to Scarpia's powerful theme -- really made a huge difference in my goosebump reaction to the end of that shabby little shocker.


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## DavidA

The Met Tosca was hopelessly directed by a hack who has never heard that 'less is more'. There is enough sex and drama in Tosca without the nonsense of humping the Madonna and whores in Scarpia's offices. The guy is the chief of police for goodness sake. He is a villain of the deepest dye but give him some dignity! His lust for Tosca is at the centre of the drama.


----------



## Barelytenor

Today is Simon Boccanegra with the disgraced former tenor Placido Domingo pretending that singing baritone is a piece of cake for someone who used to be able to sing tenor. And putting a credible baritone out of a gig in the process. Uh, lemme think, no.


----------



## nina foresti

Putting Domingo's personal life aside and only focusing on his talents, I was surprised and gratified that his Boccanegra was much better than I ever expected it to be.
I don't regret putting him in a role where he can perform decently and still be able to fill a standing ovation auditorium with his presence.
Bottom Line: Audiences still love and respect him.


----------



## The Conte

nina foresti said:


> Putting Domingo's personal life aside and only focusing on his talents, I was surprised and gratified that his Boccanegra was much better than I ever expected it to be.
> I don't regret putting him in a role where he can perform decently and still be able to fill a standing ovation auditorium with his presence.
> Bottom Line: Audiences still love and respect him.


When was that Boccanegra filmed? It was one of the first baritone roles he took on and whilst he didn't have the darkness of tone to fill the role with the gravitas it demands, he was still able to sing the part, whereas there has been considerable vocal decline since.

N.


----------



## DeGustibus

The Conte said:


> When was that Boccanegra filmed? It was one of the first baritone roles he took on and whilst he didn't have the darkness of tone to fill the role with the gravitas it demands, he was still able to sing the part, whereas there has been considerable vocal decline since.
> 
> N.


It was from Feb. 6, 2010, which I'm 99% sure was during his first run in the part, but not the first night, obviously, since like (almost?) all the HD broadcasts, that was a Sat. matinee


----------



## DavidA

Hansel and Gretel with Blegen and von Stade surely the world's two cutest children!


----------



## DeGustibus

Tune in tonight/tomorrow for Dimitri Hvorostovsky's final full performance at the Met, in Trovatore. Also what some people call "peak Anna" Netrebko, from Oct. 3, 2015.


----------



## nina foresti

I saw them live.
I don't know if I am able to handle it. Better take along my Bounty towels.


----------



## DavidA

Louisa Miller. Saw this at cinema. Really enjoyable even though Placido is no baritone.


----------



## Barelytenor

Alagna in Don Carlo, the five-act version. Literally sings every high note a half-tone sharp from pushing it. I love the opera. Poplavskaya is enjoyable so far. The vocal dual between Furlanetto and Halfvarson should be a treat.


----------



## nina foresti

Being my favorite opera there was no way I was going to miss this one even though I had ???? around the name Alagna as Don Carlo. And I was WRONG!
So he pushed a bit on the highs. That entire cast put together one of the most touching, well sung, fabulously acted characters I have seen in a long time. The chemistry among the cast was unusually cohesive and they really had each other's back. The pairing of Alagna and Keenlyside was magical.
The famous Grand Inquisitor scene was superbly enacted and sung by two well-matched winners. Yes Furlantetto did some woofing sounds but it didn't bother me one bit because he was so into his role.
Surprisingly, Alagna was excellent as DC and Poplavskaya was a stand out as Elizabetta with a magnificently sung "Tu che le vanita" (an impossibly difficult aria that comes near the end of the opera.) She must have timed herself very carefully not to run out of steam when most needed.
It was a 5 hour opera that seemed more like 2 hours. The time flew by. Joe Green would have been proud.


----------



## DeGustibus

nina foresti said:


> Being my favorite opera there was no way I was going to miss this one even though I had ???? around the name Alagna as Don Carlo. And I was WRONG!
> So he pushed a bit on the highs. That entire cast put together one of the most touching, well sung, fabulously acted characters I have seen in a long time. The chemistry among the cast was unusually cohesive and they really had each other's back. The pairing of Alagna and Keenlyside was magical.
> The famous Grand Inquisitor scene was superbly enacted and sung by two well-matched winners. Yes Furlantetto did some woofing sounds but it didn't bother me one bit because he was so into his role.
> Surprisingly, Alagna was excellent as DC and Poplavskaya was a stand out as Elizabetta with a magnificently sung "Tu che le vanita" (an impossibly difficult aria that comes near the end of the opera.) She must have timed herself very carefully not to run out of steam when most needed.
> It was a 5 hour opera that seemed more like 2 hours. The time flew by. Joe Green would have been proud.


Agree with all of this. I couldn't wait to see this again after it was on earlier in the pandemic. Really brings home how sad Poplavskaya's crash is. So beautiful, such stage presence. The staging of the auto da fe scene!


----------



## Sieglinde

Furlanetto is really so perfect as King Philip. I've seen him in several productions and he always blows me away.

Keenlyside also really _gets_ Rodrigo. His chemistry with Carlo is amazing.


----------



## Barelytenor

I have to say it got better once Alagna settled down! I loved Poplavskaya and Furlanetto and Keenlyside ... the mezzo had a woolly voice on all her lower notes that was largely inaudible. Overall a great production though, and I watched the whole thing!


----------



## DavidA

The Falstaff comes highly recommended. Joyful experience


----------



## Ice Dragon

I enjoyed Nixon in China more than I expected because of the ballet sequence. I sometimes call ballet my first love and appreciate any inclusion of the art in opera, which I've only started to enjoy in the last few years. I detected a Stravinsky influence in the music during the dancing, as the woman in red was a sacrifice of sorts, like in The Rite of Spring.


----------



## DavidA

Thought Nixon in China absolutely awful. Just glad I never paid to see it at the cinema.

Porgy and Bess was absolutely first rate. Brilliantly sung, danced and directed.


----------



## ThaNotoriousNIC

Watched the Met's 2017 production of Norma on the All Arts channel on cable. After listening to the Callas recording of Norma today, have to say that I am not too impressed with this video recording. I think that the singing of the tenor who played Pollione was lacking in comparison to Sondra Radvanosky's Norma, which was the highlight of the show. The staging was fine in my opinion and did not distract from the performance of the singers. Not bad but not the best either.


----------



## DavidA

Just seen the Massenet Cinderella from 2018. Absolutely enchanting.


----------



## DavidA

Don Pasquale.

Nebretko stage animal! A brilliant production.


----------



## Barelytenor

I have not been a fan of Netrebko in a long time, and I have managed to put my finger one reason why. Her natural instrument has a somewhat foggy, smoky sound throughout much of the midrange. Nonetheless, I thoroughly enjoyed her performance, and John Del Carlo (another great artist who died too young) was brilliant, as were Kwiecien. And Matthew Polenzani has one of the most gorgeous tenor voices I've ever heard, second perhaps to only Fritz Wunderlich._ Bravi tutti!_

It's bel canto week at the Met, should be fun!


----------



## nina foresti

Funny -- that "foggy, smoky sound" you refer to is what attracts me to her wonderful voice.
I love her.


----------



## DavidA

La Fille du Regiment

Dessay / FloreZ

Some great singing. 

Great fun - do see it!


----------



## DavidA

La Cenerentola

Who couldn’t fall in love with Elena Garanca? I love this production. Just a pity that Brownlee is so much shorter than his love interest but he did sing well.


----------



## DavidA

Bellini I Puritani..

I did see a bit of the first act and thought it was well done but the music and plot is so feeble I did lose interest


----------



## DeGustibus

Not unrelated to a couple of the posts above, I enjoy Netrebko in Puritani more than most of her performances. I am not a sophisticated critic of voices, but this role seemed to hit her just right, at least at that point in her career.

Meanwhile, Puccini week starts tomorrow. I suspect most have seen most of these broadcasts (I think I have seen them all) but if not, I commend Rondine. Angela Gheorghiu and Roberto Alagna are a lovely couple and she's a cutie in the role.


----------



## Barelytenor

Pretty Yende, Matthew Polenzani, Ildebrando d'Arcangelo as Dottore Dulcamara, and the great Met chorus in L'elisir d'amore, highly recommended. 

"Ecco il magico liquore!"


----------



## DavidA

Barelytenor said:


> Pretty Yende, Matthew Polenzani, Ildebrando d'Arcangelo as Dottore Dulcamara, and the great Met chorus in L'elisir d'amore, highly recommended.
> 
> "Ecco il magico liquore!"


Great stuff! I believe Amazon stock it too! :lol:


----------



## Aerobat

DeGustibus said:


> Not unrelated to a couple of the posts above, I enjoy Netrebko in Puritani more than most of her performances. I am not a sophisticated critic of voices, but this role seemed to hit her just right, at least at that point in her career.
> 
> Meanwhile, Puccini week starts tomorrow. I suspect most have seen most of these broadcasts (I think I have seen them all) but if not, I commend Rondine. Angela Gheorghiu and Roberto Alagna are a lovely couple and she's a cutie in the role.


I've got this on right now, and couldn't agree more. This is a lovely performance of La Rondine, and is definitely making my morning's work more enjoyable.


----------



## Dick Johnson

Agree with the comments on Rondine. Very romantic production. Good sets. Great singing/acting. The music is high level Puccini - and yet it feels like this opera is practically invisible by mature Puccini standards. Hard to believe that Rondine is not produced more. Perhaps one reason for this is the relatively trivial plot - focusing on a couple of human relationships without as much mythic overlay as we get from Fanciulla, Butterfly, Tosca etc. Another reason might be the running time - too long to combine easily with another short opera - but perhaps too short on its own for "a night at the opera". The Met production makes a good case for it.


----------



## nina foresti

Just saw Sondra Radvanovsky, Joyce di Donato and Joseph Calleja in a remarkably superb rendition of "Norma'.
This has GOT to be the singularly most difficult soprano role in all of opera. How Sondra can appear in practically every scene and still keep her voice fresh by the end of the opera is mind-boggling.
I know that Callas was the Queen of Normas, and a well earned moniker, but along came Sondra and she shocked a lot of people with her totally committed performance. No shrinking violet she.
This is a next to impossible role to cast as only two (Callas and Sutherland) were able to handle it well. 
But now we can joyfully add Sondra Radvanovsky to that list.
Just a quick word on Joyce di Donato. This is a charmer of a singer and her acting is not far behind. How lucky to have two such mega-talents in our lifetime.
As for Calleja, as much as I really enjoy his fine and unique sound (reminiscent of the golden age sound), I found the role of Pollione not exactly a good match for him -- yet he handled it well.
Kudos to Bellini -- who outdid himself with this one.


----------



## DavidA

Dick Johnson said:


> Agree with the comments on Rondine. Very romantic production. Good sets. Great singing/acting. The music is high level Puccini - and yet it feels like this opera is practically invisible by mature Puccini standards. Hard to believe that Rondine is not produced more. Perhaps one reason for this is the relatively trivial plot - focusing on a couple of human relationships without as much mythic overlay as we get from Fanciulla, Butterfly, Tosca etc. Another reason might be the running time - too long to combine easily with another short opera - but perhaps too short on its own for "a night at the opera". The Met production makes a good case for it.


A terrific production of La Rodine. I just can't understand why it isn't performed more. Appears far more tuneful than some other Puccini operas. Really enjoyable.


----------



## DavidA

nina foresti said:


> Just saw Sondra Radvanovsky, Joyce di Donato and Joseph Calleja in a remarkably superb rendition of "Norma'.
> This has GOT to be the singularly most difficult soprano role in all of opera. How Sondra can appear in practically every scene and still keep her voice fresh by the end of the opera is mind-boggling.
> I know that Callas was the Queen of Normas, and a well earned moniker, but along came Sondra and she shocked a lot of people with her totally committed performance. No shrinking violet she.
> This is a next to impossible role to cast as only two (Callas and Sutherland) were able to handle it well.
> But now we can joyfully add Sondra Radvanovsky to that list.
> Just a quick word on Joyce di Donato. This is a charmer of a singer and her acting is not far behind. How lucky to have two such mega-talents in our lifetime.
> As for Calleja, as much as I really enjoy his fine and unique sound (reminiscent of the golden age sound), I found the role of Pollione not exactly a good match for him -- yet he handled it well.
> Kudos to Bellini -- who outdid himself with this one.


I saw it at the cinema live. I'm not a fan of Bellini or this idiotic plot but the production was good and so was the singing.


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## nina foresti

Strange how we all hear things differently and yet no one is right or wrong it's just our personal opinions.
I think La Rondine is one of the worst operas I have ever seen. (Why Giacomo, why?)
With the exception of Alagna who really showed some sincerity in his acting and singing, the story, the (over)acting, the lack of any beautiful arias except Doretta's aria, all mixed together to form a shallow production with the stand-out of Gheorghiu's phony caricature being the worst of them all. She primped, and grimaced and was completely involved with herself.
Yes she has a beautiful voice, perhaps one of the very best sopranos today, but the way she takes over the stage, even in curtain calls, is a total embarrassment.
So maybe that's one reason why it isn't produced more often.
(running for cover)


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## DavidA

nina foresti said:


> Strange how we all hear things differently and yet no one is right or wrong it's just our personal opinions.
> I think La Rondine is one of the worst operas I have ever seen. (Why Giacomo, why?)
> With the exception of Alagna who really showed some sincerity in his acting and singing, the story, the (over)acting, the lack of any beautiful arias except Doretta's aria, all mixed together to form a shallow production with the stand-out of Gheorghiu's phony caricature being the worst of them all. She primped, and grimaced and was completely involved with herself.
> Yes she has a beautiful voice, perhaps one of the very best sopranos today, but the way she takes over the stage, even in curtain calls, is a total embarrassment.
> So maybe that's one reason why it isn't produced more often.
> (running for cover)


You needn't run for cover as it's just an opinion on an opera. And this isn't the sort of composer where people get upset about . Yes the production was shallow but then they opera is shallow, dwelling n the shallow lives of a shallow society. I certainly didn't get your bit that Gheorghiu's was a phony caricature. After all the whole part is a phony after all. I didn't actually think she took over the stage any more than any other Soprano does. Much to my surprise I enjoyed it


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## nina foresti

DavidA said:


> You needn't run for cover as it's just an opinion on an opera. And this isn't the sort of composer where people get upset about . Yes the production was shallow but then they opera is shallow, dwelling n the shallow lives of a shallow society. *I certainly didn't get your bit that Gheorghiu's was a phony caricature. After all the whole part is a phony after all.* I didn't actually think she took over the stage any more than any other Soprano does. Much to my surprise I enjoyed it


Really? I had no idea that Puccini wrote her part as a phony character, in which case she did an absolutely superb job.
I simply thought she was a pained individual attempting to hide a past she'd sooner forget now that she has found true love and a secure life.
In fact, except for Alagna's character, the entire cast exhibited selfish, over-the-top gaiety and phony elitism. She just seemed to want to be sure that she would be the one who would stand out over all the rest.


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## DavidA

nina foresti said:


> Really? I had no idea that Puccini wrote her part as a phony character, in which case she did an absolutely superb job.
> I simply thought she was a pained individual attempting to hide a past she'd sooner forget now that she has found true love and a secure life.
> In fact, except for Alagna's character, the entire cast exhibited selfish, over-the-top gaiety and phony elitism. She just seemed to want to be sure that she would be the one who would stand out over all the rest.


Exactly. People who live like Magda are phony characters - just like those around her. I mean, what is more phony than a courtesan? The problem was having found her true love the only way she could further it was by continuing to be phony, only in a different way.


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## nina foresti

I never thought of Violetta as a phony -- carefree perhaps but never phony facial expressions. In fact, I don't really consider courtesans phonies just because they happen to want to live a life that's free. And I am not convinced that Magda was a true phony -- only as portrayed by Gheorghiu. 
Actually the one really sincere act she committed was to walk away from a life where she finally found true happiness with a fine person because of the shame of her past. She could not bear to hurt him or his family so she walked away from happiness. A phony would not be so giving to another because they are only all about themselves.
However, although Angela is prone to be the same kind of character in everything she plays, which comes off as being mostly into herself, I will admit that perhaps in this case the director is to blame for her interpretation of Magda.
Having never seen any other singer portray the role I readily admit I actually have nothing else to go by.


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## DavidA

nina foresti said:


> I never thought of Violetta as a phony -- carefree perhaps but never phony facial expressions. In fact, I don't really consider courtesans phonies just because they happen to want to live a life that's free. And I am not convinced that Magda was a true phony -- only as portrayed by Gheorghiu.
> Actually the one really sincere act she committed was to walk away from a life where she finally found true happiness with a fine person because of the shame of her past. She could not bear to hurt him or his family so she walked away from happiness. A phony would not be so giving to another because they are only all about themselves.
> However, although Angela is prone to be the same kind of character in everything she plays, which comes off as being into herself, I will admit that perhaps in this case the director is to blame for her interpretation of Magda.
> Having never seen any other singer portray the role I actually have nothing else to go by.


Violetta is a phony at the beginning of the opera as she is living a false life. Of course when she meets Alfredo things become real and then obviously things disintegrate after that. Yes I agree about Magda. Sadly she had to go back to the phony life she was leaving


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## Ice Dragon

News from the Met:

https://www.metopera.org/user-information/2020-21-season-update/

In summary: The Met has canceled its 20-21 season due to the pandemic and plans to return on 27 September 2021 with Terence Blanchard's "Fire Shut Up in My Bones." They will also show the new productions "Hamlet" and "Eurydice." Free nightly streams will continue until they reopen. I'm happy about this last bit, as the Royal Opera House and the Dutch Opera have long since ceased their free streams.


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## nina foresti

A superb production of the shabby little shocker. This time the 3 principals were truly great.
Yoncheva is an excellent Tosca with a gorgeous voice. She will be around for a long time to come. She's certainly in the top five sopranos of today in my book.
I have a secret crush on Lucic. I just love everything he does from Jack Rance in "Fanciulla del West" to Iago in "Otello" to his "Rigoletto" offering, to his powerful Scarpia in this production. 
It saddens me that such a promising tenor as Grigolo really made a major faux pas and is no longer able to sing at the Met anymore. His Cavaradossi was excellent and he is visually expressive as well. It was obvious watching his face that he knew he was going to be shot with real bullets but he faked his pain for the sake of Tosca beautifully.
Three good actors, 3 fine singers. A winner of a Tosca.


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## DavidA

Enjoying the Figaro tonight. Seen some of it before so filling in the gaps


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## DavidA

DavidA said:


> Enjoying the Figaro tonight. Seen some of it before so filling in the gaps


Fresh vital production of Figaro. But the star of the show is always Mozart!


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## DavidA

Lovely traditional performance of Cosi from the Met. Really enjoyable singing and conducting.


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## DeGustibus

DavidA said:


> Lovely traditional performance of Cosi from the Met. Really enjoyable singing and conducting.


Agreed (as did the NYT at the time in a rave. This run was Levine's first time back in the pit after a 2 year absence.) Isabel Leonard is so fun to watch act and (although I gather we are not supposed to talk about singers' appearances) absolutely gorgeous, IMO. 
I think I enjoy the "Coney Island" staging more, though. But maybe, given the plot, it's best to leave it firmly in the past.


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## DavidA

DeGustibus said:


> Agreed (as did the NYT at the time in a rave. This run was Levine's first time back in the pit after a 2 year absence.) Isabel Leonard is so fun to watch act and (although I gather we are not supposed to talk about singers' appearances) absolutely gorgeous, IMO.
> I think I enjoy the "Coney Island" staging more, though. But maybe, given the plot, it's best to leave it firmly in the past.


Nothing wrong with admiring beauty my friend. I found the Coney Island staging fun and innovative but not for repetition. This though bore repeating however many times.


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## Aerobat

DavidA said:


> Lovely traditional performance of Cosi from the Met. Really enjoyable singing and conducting.


And being followed up with a rather good Clemenza Di Tito today. I'm only 40 minutes in so far and listening rather than watching, as I have to work. But a very nicely balanced cast who're working well together. A cast who work well together as an ensemble is probably more important to me than having one or more stand-out singers. Although in this case I'm biased as I'm a big fan of both Frittoli and Garanca.


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## DavidA

Aerobat said:


> And being followed up with a rather good Clemenza Di Tito today. I'm only 40 minutes in so far and listening rather than watching, as I have to work. But a very nicely balanced cast who're working well together. A cast who work well together as an ensemble is probably more important to me than having one or more stand-out singers. Although in this case I'm biased as I'm a big fan of both Frittoli and Garanca.


Absolutely agree. This performance works very well and looks good too.


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## DavidA

Zauberflote is a delight. Well worth seeing.


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## DeGustibus

Tonight/tomorrow's broadcast of Don Giovanni is of sad historic note. The star, who the new production was built around, Mariusz Kwiecień, blew out his back in rehearsals (this was 2011) and although he eventually returned, he continued to have back problems and just recently has announced that his mobility is so hampered, he will have to retire from stage performances.
Full disclosure: I have not seen this version and it got a tepid review in the NYT, but I have really enjoyed Kwiecien in other things like Pearl Fishers. A good cast, too, with Fritolli, Vargas, and Luisi conducting.

E_TA: This just came out on Opera News. I note that it does not trace his current problems all the way back to 2011, but as a back patient myself, I suspect there's a connection. (Note that I am a doctor but not, as my father used to say, the kind that does you any good.)

"POLISH BARITONE MARIUSZ KWIECIEŃ, who made his professional debut in 1993 in a Kraków Opera performance of Purcell's Dido and Aeneas and went on to join the Metropolitan Opera's Lindemann Young Artist Development Program before making his debut with the company as Kuligin in a 1999 performance of Kát'a Kabanová, has announced his retirement from singing, effective immediately, due to health issues.

Kwiecień announced to the Polish media that he had sustained a slipped spinal disc in 2017 during a Metropolitan Opera performance of Don Giovanni and subsequently underwent reparative surgery in New York, though the issue was exacerbated following a performance of Don Carlo at the Royal Opera House. The baritone's last performance at the Metropolitan Opera came in November 2018, when he sang Zurga in the first act of a performance of Les Pêcheurs de Perles before being replaced in Act II by Alexander Birch Elliott.

Kwiecień has reportedly accepted the post as artistic director of Wrocław Opera, and will begin his tenure there with the company's 2020-21 season. "_


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## DavidA

Kwiecień Made a very fine Giovanni. The production is well worth watching just for him and a good all-round cast


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## Barelytenor

Oh, what a shame, so young. Not yet 48 years old! A really fine singing actor.


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## Barelytenor

Wagner Week coming up! (Or is it Vagner Veek?)


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## Seattleoperafan

I've been interested to see Nina Stimme as Isolde. She's attractive, a great actress, I would enjoy seeing her live on stage in the role, but I would have no desire to buy a recording of her in anything. It is an ok voice,able to handle the difficult role easily, no real problems and secure, but not exceptionally beautiful to me.


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## DavidA

Tristan und Isolde

Two middle-aged heavyweights snuggling it out. Where I do feel that audio is better. There is little or no stage action anyway.


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## Barelytenor

Audio isn't better, just longer. Actually I much prefer a six-pack and reruns of Downton Abbey.


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## DavidA

Tannhauser. This is where opera really does enter the realm of the ridiculous. You have the ultra sexy Venusberg dances with young, lithe figures cavorting then the main characters who are are middle aged, and (to say the least) study in build. Oh dear! Talk about having to suspend disbelief. What on earth was Wagner doing writing stuff like this and calling it drama?


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## Barelytenor

Yeah, Venus sung by Michelle de Young tells Tannie that he has won the "ultimate gift of love" in the form of her. Looked to me like six or seven gifts. And with Botha, make it at least 25. 

I confess that I think the Internet has broken my concentration span. And especially for Wagner. Am I alone in this?

It's a very rare Wagner opera that I get through more than an hour or so of it, and if so then it has to be offering something extraordinary, either vocally, scenically, or dramatically. This Tannhaüser certainly wasn't it.


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## DavidA

Rheingold - dog the cardboard props and rubber suits! :lol:


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## Barelytenor

Siegfried today. I think I enjoy it more than a lot of the Wagner fans here. But then, as a frustrated heldentenor I doubly enjoy the "Nothung! Neidliches Schwert" forging song. And the Forest Bird. And Heinz Zednik as Mime. I don't think Siegfried Jerusalem is memorable as the hero, but at least he looks (and weighs) the part.


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## DavidA

Barelytenor said:


> Siegfried today. I think I enjoy it more than a lot of the Wagner fans here. But then, as a frustrated heldentenor I doubly enjoy the "Nothung! Neidliches Schwert" forging song. And the Forest Bird. And Heinz Zednik as Mime. I don't think Siegfried Jerusalem is memorable as the hero, but at least he looks (and weighs) the part.


I remember getting excerpts from the Solti set as a lad and hearing the forging song. Like most Wagner it is over-long with that interminable Wotan-Mime bit. The soprano is a relief after over two acts of male argy-bargy


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## DavidA

Gotterdamerung - so at the end of that lot we are back where we started!


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## Barelytenor

It's not a beautiful voice but I must say that Hildegard Behrens did a creditable job of singing what Anna Russell so memorably (and laughably) called "Die Götterdämmerung Brünnhilde." Jerusalem tried his best, but he was dying vocally before he died dramatically. Oh, and the Gods died. Sort of a lot of deadness going around, except for the Rheintöchtern who were, yeah, there at the beginning.


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## DavidA

Both leads had voices a size or two too small for the roles they were singing. They acted well but Behrens was cruelly stretched in the Immolation scene. It was well done scenically but always seems pretty pointless to me.


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## Ice Dragon

I'm watching the 2013 Parsifal now. I saw it a couple years ago on DVD and thought the singing was very strong, and somehow, the staging of the second act worked for me. Is it only my computer, or are the subtitles seriously out of sync with the singing? I'm not personally bothered, as I only want to hear the music this time, but it would be a major hurdle to anyone watching it for the first time. Parsifal's hard enough to figure out without out-of-whack translating.


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## DavidA

Ice Dragon said:


> I'm watching the 2013 Parsifal now. I saw it a couple years ago on DVD and thought the singing was very strong, and somehow, the staging of the second act worked for me. Is it only my computer, or are the subtitles seriously out of sync with the singing? I'm not personally bothered, as I only want to hear the music this time, but it would be a major hurdle to anyone watching it for the first time. Parsifal's hard enough to figure out without out-of-whack translating.


I'm not seeing the Parsifal althoughI might have a glance later. I have found that the Met subtitles do have a problem sometimes with coordination. But I would've thought the action moves so slowly that if you have a libretto handy you can follow it on that. But the time Gunemantz has finished one of his discourses you can usually make a three course meal!


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## DavidA

DavidA said:


> I'm not seeing the Parsifal althoughI might have a glance later. I have found that the Met subtitles do have a problem sometimes with coordination. But I would've thought the action moves so slowly that if you have a libretto handy you can follow it on that. But the time Gunemantz has finished one of his discourses you can usually make a three course meal!


Just looking at Parsifal. The subtitles are about two minutes in advance of what is being sung. You would think an international opera house could have done better than that!


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## DavidA

DavidA said:


> Just looking at Parsifal. The subtitles are about two minutes in advance of what is being sung. You would think an international opera house could have done better than that!


Couldn't make out what the production was trying to do, drowning everything in red ink. But the flower maidens were well done. just dipped in and out because as the sub-titles were not working seemed interminable.


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## Ice Dragon

DavidA said:


> Couldn't make out what the production was trying to do, drowning everything in red ink. But the flower maidens were well done. just dipped in and out because as the sub-titles were not working seemed interminable.


From the Met's website, an explanation for the pool of blood in Act II:

"The conception of our staging for this piece has been one of the most complex journeys I've been through in any project. But the first time I began to feel that I had a grip on the piece was when we started playing with blood. We didn't impose the blood on the opera-it's clearly present. It flows from Amfortas's wound, which is first perceived in our production as a drying land-a metaphor for climate change or for whatever we perceive the threat to our world to be. That wound, also a parallel to Christ's wound, then opens, which is how we enter the world of Klingsor, where the sexual resonance of the blood becomes obvious. It is through these connections that the piece becomes visceral and not only spiritual. It connects the work with the flesh, with temptation and sexuality and suffering. That's ultimately where the highest voltage is."


----------



## nina foresti

Just finished the Mary Zimmermann production of Lucia -- the one where the ghosts of death come walking by and disrupting the flow of the singers. Despite that travesty of Donizetti's wonderful opera, the singers did a fine job, from Kwiecien as Lucia's brother (and the last time we'll get to see him onstage again), to Abdrazakov as the Priest, both were wonderful. And then there was a fabulous rendering at the last minute of Edgardo when Villazon took ill and Beczala took his part. But the star was Netrebko as Lucia. She was simply perfect in an impossible role of Lucia.
A great evening thanks to Donizetti.


----------



## DavidA

Ice Dragon said:


> From the Met's website, an explanation for the pool of blood in Act II:
> 
> "The conception of our staging for this piece has been one of the most complex journeys I've been through in any project. But the first time I began to feel that I had a grip on the piece was when we started playing with blood. We didn't impose the blood on the opera-it's clearly present. It flows from Amfortas's wound, which is first perceived in our production as a drying land-a metaphor for climate change or for whatever we perceive the threat to our world to be. That wound, also a parallel to Christ's wound, then opens, which is how we enter the world of Klingsor, where the sexual resonance of the blood becomes obvious. It is through these connections that the piece becomes visceral and not only spiritual. It connects the work with the flesh, with temptation and sexuality and suffering. That's ultimately where the highest voltage is."


Thanks I hadn't read that. Amazing how people can write this piffle and expect people to swallow it. I just wonder how deranged these people who produce these operas.


----------



## DavidA

nina foresti said:


> Just finished the Mary Zimmermann production of Lucia -- the one where the ghosts of death come walking by and disrupting the flow of the singers. Despite that travesty of Donizetti's wonderful opera, the singers did a fine job, from Kwiecien as Lucia's brother (and the last time we'll get to see him onstage again), to Abdrazakov as the Priest, both were wonderful. And then there was a fabulous rendering at the last minute of Edgardo when Villazon took ill and Beczala took his part. But the star was Netrebko as Lucia. She was simply perfect in an impossible role of Lucia.
> A great evening thanks to Donizetti.


Yes agreed! Well sung AND acted


----------



## Dick Johnson

Agree - A very good cast in the Met's Lucia - headlined by Netrebko in a role that plays well to her strengths. 

The Mary Zimmerman production of Lucia was not exactly a strength of the production but also wasn't as distracting as her regie treatment of Sonnambula (a really interesting modern set...but it just wasn't Sonnambula anymore). Armida is probably my favorite of Zimmerman's Met productions.


----------



## nina foresti

Dick Johnson said:


> Agree - A very good cast in the Met's Lucia - headlined by Netrebko in a role that plays well to her strengths.
> 
> The Mary Zimmerman production of Lucia was not exactly a strength of the production but also wasn't as distracting as her regie treatment of Sonnambula (a really interesting modern set...but it just wasn't Sonnambula anymore). Armida is probably my favorite of Zimmerman's Met productions.


I just don't like Zimmerman productions -- period!


----------



## DavidA

Dick Johnson said:


> Agree - A very good cast in the Met's Lucia - headlined by Netrebko in a role that plays well to her strengths.
> 
> The Mary Zimmerman production of Lucia was not exactly a strength of the production but also wasn't as distracting as her regie treatment of Sonnambula (a really interesting modern set...but it just wasn't Sonnambula anymore). Armida is probably my favorite of Zimmerman's Met productions.


I can never understand some of these producers - for example, when Edgardo stabs himself, everyone else just stands off singing as he dies. Surely they would at least have gathered round? But good over all.


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## DavidA

La Fille du Regiment. 

What fun! Who needs Wagner?


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## DavidA

Post deleted...................


----------



## Aerobat

Today's L'Elisir D'Amore is also proving to be most enjoyable. Well cast, and thoroughly good fun.


----------



## The Conte

Aerobat said:


> Today's L'Elisir D'Amore is also proving to be most enjoyable. Well cast, and thoroughly good fun.


Great fun! Who needs Mozart? Or Leonardo da Vinci?

:devil:

N.


----------



## DavidA

The Conte said:


> Great fun! Who needs Mozart? Or Leonardo da Vinci?
> 
> :devil:
> 
> N.


I do, because I need beauty in my life! :tiphat:


----------



## DavidA

Aerobat said:


> Today's L'Elisir D'Amore is also proving to be most enjoyable. Well cast, and thoroughly good fun.


Yes recommended!


----------



## Aerobat

I think I preferred Florez as Nemorino when I saw him in Vienna (2014), although I'm not sure why. But this cast at the Met does work very well together.


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## Aerobat

Oh dear. I've just started watching today's stream of Cosi. Initial impressions are not good. I think I'll turn the video part off and just have the audio.

Update: it's not getting any better. I'm generously going to call this 'mediocre'.


----------



## nina foresti

Surprisingly, I really enjoyed the Tebaldi/Tucker/Warren Tosca -- not normally one of my top favorite ones even with that spectacular cast in 1956. But though I've heard more nuanced and imaginative Vissi d'artes, I must say that Tebaldi pulled out all the stops when it came to characterization and sent chills up my spine more than once.
I always love Richard Tucker, he's one of my favorites but somehow I found his "E lucevan le stelle" a bit lacking. Maybe too straight -- I'm not sure.
But Renata took the crown!


----------



## Seattleoperafan

Am watching le Compt. Great singing. Joyce di Donato is remarkably handsome in male drag! I have the hots for her character;-) Diana Damrau is simply remarkable!!!!!


----------



## Barelytenor

Don Carlo, 1980. Scotto, Troyanos, Moldoveanu, Milnes, Plishka, Hines. 

Scotto is properly majestic, and the young Milnes is appealing (not something I say often). Not overly fond of Troyanos in this Italian role or her nasty eye patch. Moldoveanu is OK. But the hands-down highlight is Plishka's "Ella giammai m'amo" and the following duet (a vocal duel, in effect, between King Philip II of Spain and The Grand Inquisitor) with Jerome Hines, gigantic of voice and stature, is absolutely epic. Don't miss it.


----------



## nina foresti

I agree that Plishka was the stand out with "Ella giammai m'amo" and stole the show and the audience rewarded him handsomely with resounding applause. His Philip was simply superb and that stupendous scene with Jerome Hines as The Grand Inquisitor is simply bombastic and one of the top scenes in all of operadom.
I'd give Scotto more credit than just looking "properly majestic" as she did a powerful job with one of the most difficult roles for a soprano. Her "Tu che le vanita" was beautifully paced and very well executed.
Milnes has never been a favorite of mine but this time he tricked me -- he really did an able and fine job as Posa.
I also thought that Troyanos' Eboli had a real win with her "O don fatale." 
The weak link in the chain was Moldoveanu as Don Carlo. I actually felt embarrassed for him at curtain calls as he was the last to receive his and the applause simmered down to a polite offering.
This being my favorite opera I tend to get a bit fussy but I was pleasantly surprised by the cast today. Most did a bang-up job.
Bravi tutti!


----------



## Faramundo

hi

why do we have to pay for culture while media **** is ubiquitous and overwhelming for free ?


----------



## The Conte

Faramundo said:


> hi
> 
> why do we have to pay for culture while media **** is ubiquitous and overwhelming for free ?


Because people vote for **** politicians who reduce arts funding.

N.


----------



## nina foresti

Am I the only one who watched Boris?
Rene Pape is simply outstanding -- not only as a singer but as an accomplished actor who really gets to the depths of a role.
And the music is overwhelmingly beautiful.


----------



## Ice Dragon

I wanted to watch Boris but didn't have the time; I was only able to watch the first 30 minutes. Seeing that the free streams will continue until the Met opens next year, it will likely be run again. Hopefully, I'll have the time then. I definitely have time for operas this week: my workplace is closed for construction. I want to watch "Orfeo" and "Meistersinger."


----------



## Aerobat

I've just started Idomeneo. I'm only 15 minutes in at the moment, but I don't think I'm going to be as productive as I should be with work this morning. I've wanted to get to a production of Idomeneo for a long time and not managed it. So this is most welcome.


----------



## nina foresti

If you have not yet seen Deborah Voigt and Marcello Giordani in "La Fanciulla del West" -- a Puccini masterpiece -- please give yourself a treat while it is still on Met streaming today only.
The chemistry between them is palpable and her facial expressions are so convincing you'd believe she really WAS Minnie.
The famous Poker Scene alone with her and Jack Rance is totally awesome.


----------



## damianjb1

I'm working my way through the old Ring Cycle. The one with James Morris, Hildegard Behrens etc. I'm loving every second of it.


----------



## Richard di Calatrava

Woodduck said:


> The Met's _Siegfried_ was an example of a well-produced show that made the best of limited vocal talent. I'm inclined to be kind to Jay Hunter Morris, who certainly doesn't have anything close to a heldentenor voice but whose Li'l Abner was so youthfully charming and handsome that I actually believed in the character. He didn't run out of gas before the end, and was a pretty good match for the just-awakened Deborah Voigt, who gave her best with a reduced voice and also acted well in a charming final scene. Bryn Terfel was stretched to the vocal limit and beyond by the Wanderer's part, and I enjoyed neither his anti-heroic characterization nor his homeless hippy wig (and why didn't he have an eye-patch?); this was not the chief of the gods struggling with the loss of his power, but just some old guy down on his luck. Eric Owens repeated his effective Alberich from_ Rheingold,_ and Patricia Bardon's Erda was decent. The standout performance was probably Gerhard Siegel as Mime, a thoroughly engaging characterization and well-sung (though I do wonder where he got his eyegasses; do Nibelungs make them?). Fabio Luisi led a well-paced performance that seemed considerate of the singers; I especially appreciated his quick tempos during the forging of Nothung, and I'd guess that Siegfried did too.
> 
> I thought "the machine" was used quite effectively, and the forest atmosphere was created much better than I'd have thought possible, with good use of light and projections. The forest bird was just wonderful, flying about the stage and looking amazingly real. The one scene that I really disliked was Wotan's encounter with Erda. She was far from the hoarfrost-covered, primeval goddess of wisdom envisioned by Wagner, but instead looked rather young and glamorous, walked about, was touched by Wotan, and wore a sleek wig and something like a metallic evening dress right out of StarTrek. While talking to her, Wotan inexplicably tore the point off his spear, and then got down on his hands and knees and rolled out some kind of scroll on the floor. I have no explanation, but his spear should surely remain a potent weapon until Siegfried sunders it with Nothung.
> 
> I have to admit to skipping out to make lunch during the Mime-Wanderer scene. It's the one scene in the _Ring_ I wish Wagner had omitted, or maybe condensed to a brief appearance by Wotan just sufficient to put a scare into the Nibelung. The opera would still be four hours long without it.


Hi - I'm a new poster from the UK but have nearly 65 years of opera-going under my belt [Rigoletto at 5 years old so work out my age!]

I saw the live HD broadcast of the MET Siegfried at my local cinema and was thrilled by Jay Hunter Morris. I thought his voice an interesting mix between Richard Cassilly (but without quite the power) and Reiner Goldberg (much-maligned but I saw him live at Covent Garden years ago in Gotterdammerung and found him to be an extraordinarily-intelligent and characterful performer...many of those characteristics shared by Morris). In Gotterdammerung some months later I was also impressed by Morris, although thought him less-effective in that opera. Watching the DVDs a couple of years later confirmed my opinion. What's happened to him since then?

Terfel was somewhat below the mark in all three of "his" operas but I think much of that was down to Lepage's direction. Terfel had been much more dramatic and effective in the first two segments of the Covent Garden Ring (Pappano/Warner 2005, which I saw on TV); he did not sing Wanderer until a later season.

I agree wholeheartedly about Siegel's Mime and Luisi's conducting!


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## Richard di Calatrava

nina foresti said:


> If you have not yet seen Deborah Voigt and Marcello Giordani in "La Fanciulla del West" -- a Puccini masterpiece -- please give yourself a treat while it is still on Met streaming today only.
> The chemistry between them is palpable and her facial expressions are so convincing you'd believe she really WAS Minnie.
> The famous Poker Scene alone with her and Jack Rance is totally awesome.


Yes, I agree with you!

I saw this Fanciulla live from the MET in my local UK cinema and thoroughly enjoyed it! So sad that Giordani died last year. he had been equally marvellous in the MET's Butterfly with Patricia Racette.


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## nina foresti

Totally agree.
Little true story:
I was sitting in the orchestra of the Met on a snowy night several years ago when "La Fanciulla del West" was playing with Voigt but this particular night Mister Johnson was played by another tenor named Carl Tanner, who was decent but no Giordani. 
At intermission I noticed across the aisle from me, sitting in the first seat, was Giordani himself. I shyly went over to tell him I was hoping to see him up there and was disappointed. Gentleman that he is he replied to me that he thought the tenor was doing a fine job. We chatted for a bit and I found him to be one of the sweetest and most down-to-earth persons I have ever met. I was truly devastated when I heard the news that he had died. What a loss.


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## nina foresti

I just finished seeing a simply wonderful rendition of Peter Grimes on Met Opera Streaming with Anthony Dean Griffey pulling out all the stops as Grimes and a wonderful performance by Patricia Racette as Ellen Orford.
But the star of the show was without a doubt the magnificent score as written by Benjamin Britten and the stupendously talented Met orchestra conducted by Donald Runnicles to pull the whole thing off.
I urge you to consider seeing this free offering before it leaves tomorrow.


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## Handelian

I've been gratefully tuning in to many of these broadcasts during the lockdown. I had seen some of them at the cinema before but it was good to be reacquainted with them. I particularly enjoyed the two Handel broadcasts of Agrippina (with Di Donato) and Rodelinda (with Fleming and Scholl). 
One problem I do have is sitting in front of the computer screen for that length of time but last night there was a repeat of the Don Carlo so I caught the second half. Most enjoyable.


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## Dick Johnson

Totally agree Handelian - the Rodelinda production with Scholl and Fleming was wonderful. The Met is planning to bring it back for the 2021-22 season with Harry Bicket conducting and Iestyn Davies as Bertarido. Can't wait to see it. Also rumors that Handel's Rinaldo and Alcina are planned for future Met seasons.


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## nina foresti

Handelian said:


> *One problem I do have is sitting in front of the computer screen for that length of time but last night there was a repeat of the Don Carlo so I caught the second half. Most enjoyable*.


This being my favorite opera I am always intrigued when I find something new that I never noticed before. This time it was the Posa/King meeting where Posa opens his heart to the King and at the end of the scene after the King pronounces the ominous words, "Beware the Grand Inquisitor, DI GUARDA!" he extends his hand while Posa is kneeling and Posa goes to kiss it but at the last second the King pulls his hand away and instead, father-like, pats Posa on the head. It says a lot. 
I know there is a lot of grumbling about the gruffiness of Furlanetto's voice but, dammit, that guy knows the key to my emotions. The way he envelops himself into the role of the King is fulfilling to me.
Keenlyside was a wonderful Posa and really very receptive to his and Carlo''s close and loyal relationship. 
There have been a lot of comments on how Alagna probably has bitten off more than he could chew in attempting the Carlo role but he has some kind of special charm about him that seems to almost always pull him through with his performances. I thought his Carlo was very able and his chemistry with Poplavskaya was spectacular. The two of them were great together. 
Speaking of Poplavskaya --a soprano who is very close to my heart and whose sound is unique. She is one fine actress along with a fascinating physiognomy which is extremely appealing. I miss her performances ever since she has had voice problems, and wish she could return. (Today is her Faust which is Met streaming till 6:30 pm EST today only. Don't miss it.)
And then there was a superb rendering of "O Don fatale" sung by a fine mezzo whose name (sorry) escapes me. And the Grand Inquisitor scene which always leaves me completely breathless. I could go on and on...


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## The Conte

Dick Johnson said:


> Totally agree Handelian - the Rodelinda production with Scholl and Fleming was wonderful. The Met is planning to bring it back for the 2021-22 season with Harry Bicket conducting and Iestyn Davies as Bertarido. Can't wait to see it. Also rumors that Handel's Rinaldo and Alcina are planned for future Met seasons.


I saw Davies as Bertarido at ENO in London. the voice is small in the house, but he was superb!

N.


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## Handelian

Saw a bit of the Faust. It certainly was well sung but I felt the production somewhat grated against the theme of the opera at times.

You might like to know that the rest of the production timetable for this week is as follows:

Wednesday, November 18
Dvořák’s Rusalka
Starring Renée Fleming, Emily Magee, Dolora Zajick, Piotr Beczała, and John Relyea, conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin. From February 8, 2014.

Thursday, November 19
Verdi’s La Traviata
Starring Diana Damrau, Juan Diego Flórez, and Quinn Kelsey, conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin. From December 15, 2018.

Friday, November 20
Poulenc’s Dialogues des Carmélites
Starring Isabel Leonard, Adrianne Pieczonka, and Karita Mattila, conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin. From May 11, 2019.

Saturday, November 21
Puccini’s Turandot
Starring Christine Goerke, Eleonora Buratto, Yusif Eyvazov, and James Morris, conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin. From October 12, 2019.

Sunday, November 22
Berg’s Wozzeck
Starring Elza van den Heever, Tamara Mumford, Christopher Ventris, Gerhard Siegel, Andrew Staples, Peter Mattei, and Christian Van Horn, conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin. From January 11, 2020.

The time is a roughly a day behind the GMT UK


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## Handelian

Traviata. Lush, chocolate box production! Don’t think Florez is really a Verdi tenor much as I like him in other repertoire.


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## DeGustibus

I really enjoyed tonight's/tomorrow/s Carmelites. Leonard is great, Mattilia is scary, and Erin Morley charming in what passes for comic relief. And of course, the production is justly famous.


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## nina foresti

DeGustibus said:


> I really enjoyed tonight's/tomorrow/s Carmelites. Leonard is great, Mattilia is scary, and Erin Morley charming in what passes for comic relief. And of course, the production is justly famous.


I couldn't agree more.
I have seen just about every production at the Met and other venues in the area (and even drove to Pittsburgh one year simply because I was so enamored by this opera). 
I was struck by the cohesiveness and intimateness of the sisters to one another. 
Karita Mattila was simply superb as the dying Mother Superior. I have seen Felicity Palmer in the role numerous times and never thought anyone could approach her interpretation successfully but Mattila certainly did the role proud.
Of course the star goes to Poulenc who created some of the most magnificent music ever heard on any stage.
The ending is so powerful that in many productions I have seen there was complete silence from the audience before they remembered to finally applaud.


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## Handelian

This week:

Monday, November 23
Verdi’s Il Trovatore 
Starring Sondra Radvanovsky, Dolora Zajick, Marcelo Álvarez, and Dmitri Hvorostovsky, conducted by Marco Armiliato. From April 30, 2011.

Tuesday, November 24
Nico Muhly’s Marnie
Starring Isabel Leonard, Iestyn Davies, and Christopher Maltman, conducted by Roberto Spano. From November 10, 2018.

Wednesday, November 25
Thomas’s Hamlet
Starring Marlis Petersen, Jennifer Larmore, Simon Keenlyside, and James Morris, conducted by Louis Langrée. From March 27, 2010.

Thursday, November 26
Strauss’s Elektra
Starring Nina Stemme, Adrianne Pieczonka, Waltraud Meier, and Eric Owens, conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen. From April 30, 2016.

Friday, November 27
Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor
Starring Natalie Dessay, Joseph Calleja, Ludovic Tézier, and Kwangchul Youn, conducted by Patrick Summers. From March 19, 2011.

Saturday, November 28
Wagner’s Die Walküre
Starring Christine Goerke, Eva-Maria Westbroek, Jamie Barton, Stuart Skelton, Greer Grimsley, and Günther Groissböck, conducted by Philippe Jordan. From March 30, 2019.

Sunday, November 29
Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra
Starring Kiri Te Kanawa, Plácido Domingo, Vladimir Chernov, and Robert Lloyd, conducted by James Levine. From January 26, 1995.


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## Handelian

Trovatore - suspension of disbelief. Can we believe Leonora would fall for the portly Manrico when di Luna is played by Dmitri Hvorostovsky?


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## DeGustibus

Handelian said:


> Trovatore - suspension of disbelief. Can we believe Leonora would fall for the portly Manrico when di Luna is played by Dmitri Hvorostovsky?


Maybe she's put off by the side-mouth singing (Acutally, I've mostly been listenting, not watching this one this time, so don't remember if he does it much in this one.)


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## Handelian

Radvanovsky really very fine indeed!


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## Handelian

Marnie

What a bore. Tuneless music (so-called). Gave up after a while.


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## DeGustibus

Handelian said:


> Marnie
> 
> What a bore. Tuneless music (so-called). Gave up after a while.


I gave up on it in an earlier broadcast, but made it all the way through last night and have to say I enjoyed it and it has stuck in my brain, although not the music so much. And I certainly don't have any problem with people who share your opinion (de gustibus, you might say.) But I thought the parts were well sung (and I have admitted elsewhere my weakness for Leonard), the staging and costumes were striking, and making a key character a countertenor was very effective, as was Davies in the part (and I am not usually a fan of countertenors.) The last couple of scenes were surpirsingly powerful.
I went back and read several of the reviews at the time and boy, were they all over the map. NYT pretty positive, WaPo very negative, one rave (don't remember where.) In general agreement (and with you, although not as intensely ) that the score is the weak link.


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## Handelian

DeGustibus said:


> I gave up on it in an earlier broadcast, but made it all the way through last night and have to say I enjoyed it and it has stuck in my brain, although not the music so much. And I certainly don't have any problem with people who share your opinion (de gustibus, you might say.) But I thought the parts were well sung (and I have admitted elsewhere my weakness for Leonard), the staging and costumes were striking, and making a key character a countertenor was very effective, as was Davies in the part (and I am not usually a fan of countertenors.) The last couple of scenes were surpirsingly powerful.
> I went back and read several of the reviews at the time and boy, were they all over the map. NYT pretty positive, WaPo very negative, one rave (don't remember where.) In general agreement (and with you, although not as intensely ) that the score is the weak link.


I had no problem with the production or the singers, especially Leonard, who looked the part, but the score was hopeless imo. All that wasted on something very mediocre.


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## The Conte

Handelian said:


> Trovatore - suspension of disbelief. Can we believe Leonora would fall for the portly Manrico when di Luna is played by Dmitri Hvorostovsky?


Maybe she's a chubby chaser!

N.


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## Ice Dragon

Marnie: nothing musically stuck out, but the production was striking. The lead looked exactly like a Hitchcock heroine (her hairstyle reminded me of Novak in Vertigo), and the use of color and shadow would have been at home in one of his 60s films . What will stick in my head is the image that ended the first act: the shadow of Marnie's arms flung in the air while backlit in red. I have to admit, I'm not a fan of English-language opera, so a good production was what kept me watching.


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## Handelian

Donezetti Lucia

Gothic horror production with the wondrous Ms Dessay.

Great fun fora wet afternoon shut in!


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## steveb3

*Dialogues des Carmelites at the Met*

I think that Erin Morley was really great as Constance. This character is intentionally irritating but then key to the development of the plot and the very spiritual ending. It is very hard to pull off this role in a credible way!


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## Handelian

Handelian said:


> Donezetti Lucia
> 
> Gothic horror production with the wondrous Ms Dessay.
> 
> Great fun fora wet afternoon shut in!


The mad scene was incredibly well done. Dessay electrifying. But the death scene at the end - can we really believe they would've all stood there under their umbrellas watching while the poor guy was in his death throes? Surely someone would've just come and tried to help him! Oh dear! I'm afraid I laughed!


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## nina foresti

Handelian said:


> The mad scene was incredibly well done. Dessay electrifying. But the death scene at the end - can we really believe they would've all stood there under their umbrellas watching while the poor guy was in his death throes? Surely someone would've just come and tried to help him! Oh dear! I'm afraid I laughed!


I believe this is the first time I ever saw a Mad Scene sans flute or glass armonica to accompany Lucia. Having said that, I believe that Natalie Dessay is the epitome of what Lucia should look and sound like. Her acting is superb and very much needed in this particular role.
She also brought out the best in Joseph Calleja, who lacks acting skills in most productions I've seen him in, but in this one he was just fine. His voice is blessed with that superb sound of the golden age.
It's no secret to those who know me that I really dislike Mary Zimmerman's productions. Too often she decides to clutter up the staging with ghostly appearances and photographers who intrude on the singers and the singing.
But Donizetti's score is simply perfection in an opera that is very close to my heart.


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## Handelian

nina foresti said:


> I believe this is the first time I ever saw a Mad Scene sans flute or glass armonica to accompany Lucia. Having said that, I believe that Natalie Dessay is the epitome of what Lucia should look and sound like. Her acting is superb and very much needed in this particular role.
> She also brought out the best in Joseph Calleja, who lacks acting skills in most productions I've seen him in, but in this one he was just fine. His voice is blessed with that superb sound of the golden age.
> It's no secret to those who know me that I really dislike Mary Zimmerman's productions. Too often she decides to clutter up the staging with ghostly appearances and photographers who intrude on the singers and the singing.
> But Donizetti's score is simply perfection in an opera that is very close to my heart.


I must confess the production had some very good atmosphere but there were absolutely ridiculous parts of it, like the photographer taking a picture during the sextet. Surely to goodness when the jilted lover has come in and is making threats they would not be sitting down for a photograph! The first ghostly figure didn't bother me but I thought the second where Lucia helped he4 love do himself in was ridiculous. The other thing was that everyone just stood and watched including the parson. I mean he is clueless enough as it is due to the libretto but you would've thought he would at least have rushed to the man's side to try and help him in his dying moments in this production rather than standing far off


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## Rogerx

Handelian said:


> Donezetti Lucia
> 
> Gothic horror production with the wondrous Ms Dessay.
> 
> Great fun fora wet afternoon shut in!


Bloody shame it's never released on DVD .:scold:


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## Handelian

Walkure today. Middle aged ladies in helmets and large gentlemen playing vikings! And balancing on a machine? My goodness!


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## Handelian

Walkure - great laugh. The size of the Sigmund was in incredible. When he was killed he felt like a beached whale. I thought he was going to go right through the set! 
The ride of the Valkyries was great fun - at least it made you smile. The girls seem to be enjoying it hugely which is the point I think. I always get bored stiff when Wotan comes in so switched to cricket for sanity and Handel for ear candy at that point. Thought some of the singing from the Met was earsplitting so my ears needed attention.


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## nina foresti

I urge you to see Met's offering of Simon Boccanegra with Kiri Te Kanawa and Vladimir Chernov. The discovery scene where they realize they are father and daughter takes my breath away. And when he sings "Figlia" I melt.


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## Handelian

Streams for this week:

Monday, November 30
Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin
Starring Renée Fleming, Ramón Vargas, and Dmitri Hvorostovsky, conducted by Valery Gergiev. From February 24, 2007
.
Tuesday, December 1
Verdi’s Aida
Starring Leontyne Price, Fiorenza Cossotto, James McCracken, and Simon Estes, conducted by James Levine. From January 3, 1985.

Wednesday, December 2
Wagner’s Parsifal
Starring Katarina Dalayman, Jonas Kaufmann, Peter Mattei, Evgeny Nikitin, and René Pape, conducted by Daniele Gatti. From March 2, 2013.

Thursday, December 3
Verdi’s Macbeth
Starring Anna Netrebko, Joseph Calleja, Željko Lučić, and René Pape, conducted by Fabio Luisi. From October 11, 2014.

Friday, December 4
Bizet’s Carmen
Starring Barbara Frittoli, Elīna Garanča, Roberto Alagna, and Teddy Tahu Rhodes, conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin. From January 16, 2010.

Saturday, December 5
Strauss’s Ariadne auf Naxos
Starring Jessye Norman, Kathleen Battle, Tatiana Troyanos, and James King, conducted by James Levine. From March 12, 1988.

Sunday, December 6
Puccini’s Tosca
Starring Shirley Verrett, Luciano Pavarotti, and Cornell MacNeil, conducted by James Conlon. From December 19, 1978.


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## The Conte

All of this week's streams are available on DVD except this one:

Tuesday, December 1
Verdi’s Aida
Starring Leontyne Price, Fiorenza Cossotto, James McCracken, and Simon Estes, conducted by James Levine. From January 3, 1985.

Now that's a bloody shame! (You also get access to all these productions if you pay and sign up to the Met player though.)

N.


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## Handelian

The Conte said:


> All of this week's streams are available on DVD except this one:
> 
> Tuesday, December 1
> Verdi's Aida
> Starring Leontyne Price, Fiorenza Cossotto, James McCracken, and Simon Estes, conducted by James Levine. From January 3, 1985.
> 
> Now that's a bloody shame! (You also get access to all these productions if you pay and sign up to the Met player though.)
> 
> N.


They are free if you watch them at the time!


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## The Conte

Handelian said:


> They are free if you watch them at the time!


But then they disappear. (Quite right too, opera houses need all the help they can get at the mo.)

I'd love that historic Aida in my DVD collection.

N.


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## Handelian

The Conte said:


> But then they disappear. (Quite right too, opera houses need all the help they can get at the mo.)
> 
> I'd love that historic Aida in my DVD collection.
> 
> N.


When I see the Met paid out $3.5 million in settlement to Levine (and who knows how much in lawyers' fees) it makes our contributions seem tiny. I did get the Don Pasquale on DVD as it was such fun.


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## Handelian

Macbeth

Anna chewing the scenery. Marvellous!


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## Dick Johnson

Handelian said:


> Macbeth
> 
> Anna chewing the scenery. Marvellous!


Couldn't agree more. Such a wonderful actress. I know a couple of anything-but-opera people who became devoted opera fans after watching Netrebko's powerful Vieni t'affretta:


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## Handelian

Dick Johnson said:


> Couldn't agree more. Such a wonderful actress. I know a couple of anything-but-opera people who became devoted opera fans after watching Netrebko's powerful Vieni t'affretta:


She's a real stage animal!


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## Handelian

Carmen

Garancia smoulders


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## nina foresti

Handelian said:


> Carmen
> 
> Garancia smoulders


This pairing (Garanca and Alagna) produce such passion and fireworks that the chemistry is palpable.


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## Handelian

nina foresti said:


> This pairing (Garanca and Alagna) produce such passion and fireworks that the chemistry is palpable.


She is the most complete Carmen I have seen - looks voice, acting, etc


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## The Conte

I agree with the comments about Garanca (and Alagna) in Carmen. This would be my top recommendation for the opera house version of the opera on DVD. There is a fairly good performance of the opera comique version from the Opera Comique, but the Met one is the best overall IMO.

N.


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## Woodduck

Handelian said:


> She is the most complete Carmen I have seen - looks voice, acting, etc


I have to think that much of Garanca's appeal is visual. I heard her Carmen on a Met broadcast and found her singing virtually uninflected, verbally bland and anonymous. There was little sense of the character, and I was bored.


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## nina foresti

Woodduck said:


> I have to think that much of Garanca's appeal is visual. I heard her Carmen on a Met broadcast and found her singing virtually uninflected, verbally bland and anonymous. There was little sense of the character, and I was bored.


Oh my dear, "seeing is believing."


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## Handelian

Woodduck said:


> I have to think that much of Garanca's appeal is visual. I heard her Carmen on a Met broadcast and found her singing virtually uninflected, verbally bland and anonymous. There was little sense of the character, and I was bored.


Sorry you were bored but please let the rest of us enjoy. She was absolutely splendid. Funny that all the reviews agreed too. She was absolutely electrifying. The character came out fully. Interesting that Algana said that she was the most complete Carmen that he ever sang with. One of the the problems I always find with Carmen is that I always wonder how Don Jose can choose Carmen rather than Michaela, but not this time. Charming as Fritolli was. In fact it is one of the best cast Carmens I've ever seen. A portrait of a sexually charged woman who was determined to dominate men by her sexuality. Quite disturbing really. It is on DVD if you get a chance to see it.


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## nina foresti

Handelian said:


> Sorry you were bored but please let the rest of us enjoy. She was absolutely splendid. Funny that all the reviews agreed too. She was absolutely electrifying. The character came out fully. Interesting that Algana said that she was the most complete Carmen that he ever sang with. One of the the problems I always find with Carmen is that I always wonder how Don Jose can choose Carmen rather than Michaela, but not this time. Charming as Fritolli was. In fact it is one of the best cast Carmens I've ever seen. A portrait of a sexually charged woman who was determined to dominate men by her sexuality. Quite disturbing really. It is on DVD if you get a chance to see it.


Bravo! You said it all so perfectly, I shall not say another word.


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## Chilham

Handelian said:


> ... It is on DVD if you get a chance to see it.


I plan to watch tonight!


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## The Conte

Handelian said:


> Sorry you were bored but please let the rest of us enjoy. She was absolutely splendid. Funny that all the reviews agreed too. She was absolutely electrifying. The character came out fully. Interesting that Algana said that she was the most complete Carmen that he ever sang with. One of the the problems I always find with Carmen is that I always wonder how Don Jose can choose Carmen rather than Michaela, but not this time. Charming as Fritolli was. In fact it is one of the best cast Carmens I've ever seen. A portrait of a sexually charged woman who was determined to dominate men by her sexuality. Quite disturbing really. It is on DVD if you get a chance to see it.


I pretty much agree with this, she is my favourite Carmen in audio-visual media. However, she is only a 'complete' Carmen due to there being other singers who we only have audio recordings of in the role. My favourite Carmens are Callas and Michel and you couldn't get two more different approaches to the role. That's one of the fascinating things with this opera, its heroine is so versatile she can be played in a number of ways.

N.


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## Handelian

The Conte said:


> I pretty much agree with this, she is my favourite Carmen in audio-visual media. However, she is only a 'complete' Carmen due to there being other singers who we only have audio recordings of in the role. My favourite Carmens are Callas and Michel and you couldn't get two more different approaches to the role. That's one of the fascinating things with this opera, its heroine is so versatile she can be played in a number of ways.
> 
> N.


Together with others like Price of whom we only appear to have an audio recording, although I believe Price did play it on stage later. Of course if you believe in opera as a drama you can only say a performance is 'complete' if you actually see it acted.


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## The Conte

Handelian said:


> Together with others like Price of whom we only appear to have an audio recording, although I believe Price did play it on stage later. Of course if you believe in opera as a drama you can only say a performance is 'complete' if you actually see it acted.


Acting can be vocal as well as visual and so the audio only recordings with great Carmens (there aren't many in my book) _are_ complete portrayals of the role both musically and dramatically. I agree that of those we are able to see in the role Garanca's is the most 'complete', but limiting the selection to audio visual accounts of the work means that she has less competition than those who made recordings in sound only.

N.


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## nina foresti

Being that opera is a visual art, one would think that without the visual the opera just wouldn't be complete, even though certain talents are able to deliver more characterization on a CD than others.


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## Handelian

nina foresti said:


> Being that opera is a visual art, one would think that without the visual the opera just wouldn't be complete, even though certain talents are able to deliver more characterization on a CD than others.


With a thoughtful artist the interpretation would probably be different on stage done in an audio only production. You don't have to act with your voice as much on stage as people can actually see what you're doing


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## Guest

nina foresti said:


> I couldn't agree more.
> I have seen just about every production at the Met and other venues in the area (and even drove to Pittsburgh one year simply because I was so enamored by this opera).
> I was struck by the cohesiveness and intimateness of the sisters to one another.
> Karita Mattila was simply superb as the dying Mother Superior. I have seen Felicity Palmer in the role numerous times and never thought anyone could approach her interpretation successfully but Mattila certainly did the role proud.
> Of course the star goes to Poulenc who created some of the most magnificent music ever heard on any stage.
> The ending is so powerful that in many productions I have seen there was complete silence from the audience before they remembered to finally applaud.


Completely agree with this comment about Poulenc and his music here!! I'm not familiar with Karita Mattila, but I've heard quite a bit of praise for her from other music messageboard contributors in the past.


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## Guest

Handelian said:


> I've been gratefully tuning in to many of these broadcasts during the lockdown. I had seen some of them at the cinema before but it was good to be reacquainted with them. I particularly enjoyed the two Handel broadcasts of Agrippina (with Di Donato) and Rodelinda (with Fleming and Scholl).
> One problem I do have is sitting in front of the computer screen for that length of time but last night there was a repeat of the Don Carlo so I caught the second half. Most enjoyable.


How wonderful that we have this magnificent technology at our fingertips. The Wiener Staatsoper is presenting operas and ballet via the internet during the Covid lockdown and these are available right here:

https://play.wiener-staatsoper.at/


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## The Conte

Handelian said:


> With a thoughtful artist the interpretation would probably be different on stage done in an audio only production. You don't have to act with your voice as much on stage as people can actually see what you're doing


That's true. It depends on the singer of course, but I find that singers put more into their performances live on stage than in the studio. Therefore there is often more acting (both vocal and visual) live than in the studio.

N.


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## Handelian

The Conte said:


> That's true. It depends on the singer of course, but I find that singers put more into their performances live on stage than in the studio. Therefore there is often more acting (both vocal and visual) live than in the studio.
> 
> N.


Depends of course. If you have ever acted you will know it's a different technique on the stage than in front of the camera. What can look good from the back of the stalls can look OTT in HD. Similarly, an audio experience is different from an audio-visual one. 
Why John Culshaw did not always get it right when he recorded the Decca Ring when he tried to reproduce what people would hear in the theatre. You actually need to hear more of the voices on disc.


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## nina foresti

Handelian said:


> Depends of course. If you have ever acted you will know it's a different technique on the stage than in front of the camera. What can look good from the back of the stalls can look OTT in HD. Similarly, an audio experience is different from an audio-visual one.
> Why John Culshaw did not always get it right when he recorded the Decca Ring when he tried to reproduce what people would hear in the theatre. You actually need to hear more of the voices on disc.


If one just has a natural acting technique, you will hear it come through aurally without having to view the singer. Prime examples of this are Maria Callas, Magda Olivero, Jon Vickers and Neil Shicoff.


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## Handelian

nina foresti said:


> If one just has a natural acting technique, you will hear it come through aurally without having to view the singer. Prime examples of this are Maria Callas, Magda Olivero, Jon Vickers and Neil Shicoff.


The problem was with the setting of the microphones in that the singers were too far back sometimes. The sound of course was marvellous for its day but a rather more forward sound was needed to compensate for the fact that singers could not be seen. Nilsson complained about the sound.


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## Woodduck

Handelian said:


> Sorry you were bored but please let the rest of us enjoy. She was absolutely splendid. Funny that all the reviews agreed too. She was absolutely electrifying. The character came out fully. Interesting that Algana said that she was the most complete Carmen that he ever sang with. One of the the problems I always find with Carmen is that I always wonder how Don Jose can choose Carmen rather than Michaela, but not this time. Charming as Fritolli was. In fact it is one of the best cast Carmens I've ever seen. A portrait of a sexually charged woman who was determined to dominate men by her sexuality. Quite disturbing really. It is on DVD if you get a chance to see it.


I'm sure I'd be able to appreciate Garanca's acting. It's not strange that reviewers agree. But her singing at the Met that Saturday was uninteresting. Since this thread is called "At Home with the Met," it seems appropriate to relate what I experienced when Garanca entertained me at home with the Met. From the standpoint of vocal interpretation, any number of recorded Carmens leave hers the dust. Whatever she may have been up to on stage, it wasn't coming through my loudspeakers.


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## vivalagentenuova

Woodduck said:


> Since this thread is called "At Home with the Met," it seems appropriate to relate what I experienced when Garanca entertained me at home with the Met.


I mean, sure, that's what _you_ think this thread is for but what would the OP think? 

Looking at the upcoming schedule, one that I'm interested in is _Francesca da Rimini_ on the 17th. I'm not at all a fan of Scotto, but Francesca does seem like a role that would suit her personality at least as far as physical acting goes. Puccini apparently wanted Zandonai to finish _Turandot_. I've heard bits and pieces from his operas and the sense I get is that they are lushly orchestrated and harmonized but without the same level of spark as the best verismo. Will be interesting to be able to see it all the way through. I have the feeling it's the sort of thing that would benefit from a good staging.

Also, does anyone know if they've shown the 2008 _Il trittico_ yet? They never released it on DVD, and though I'm sure I would object to some of the singing it would be nice to be able to see all three works in a consistent traditional production (without Scotto). Hopefully they would make it available all at once and not split up....


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## Handelian

Woodduck said:


> I'm sure I'd be able to appreciate Garanca's acting. It's not strange that reviewers agree. But her singing at the Met that Saturday was uninteresting. Since this thread is called "At Home with the Met," it seems appropriate to relate what I experienced when Garanca entertained me at home with the Met. From the standpoint of vocal interpretation, any number of recorded Carmens leave hers the dust. Whatever she may have been up to on stage, it wasn't coming through my loudspeakers.


Sorry about that. Might have been your loudspeakers of course as the interpretation was coming through mine most vividly. But then one person's meat etc etc. As I have said when someone is visually acting so vividly they might not feel the necessity to act with their voice quite so much. if they do then the interpretation can seem affected. Garancia is a really fine actress on stage. The really great actors allow for that. Interesting that when Olivier filmed Richard III the first thing he did was get rid of the ham he'd put on it on the stage. The stage is a very different experience from a film which in turn is a very different from a purely aural experience as no doubt you know.


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## Barbebleu

Handelian said:


> Sorry about that. Might have been your loudspeakers of course as the interpretation was coming through mine most vividly. But then one person's meat etc etc. As I have said when someone is visually acting so vividly they might not feel the necessity to act with their voice quite so much. if they do then the interpretation can seem affected. Garancia is a really fine actress on stage. The really great actors allow for that. Interesting that when Olivier filmed Richard III the first thing he did was get rid of the ham he'd put on it on the stage. The stage is a very different experience from a film which in turn is a very different from a purely aural experience as no doubt you know.


It's debatable whether or not Olivier "got rid of the ham" in his film interpretation of Richard III!:devil:


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## Handelian

Barbebleu said:


> It's debatable whether or not Olivier "got rid of the ham" in his film interpretation of Richard III!:devil:


That is what he said himself. The film is a record of one of the great interpretations of a Shakespeare role. Of course I've seen many others but Olivier stands up to any competition although of course I never saw him in the flesh. But let's face it it's a 'ham' part. He actually made his hump and his nose smaller for the film part


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## Seattleoperafan

This Lohengrin is one for the ages. The cast is gold all the way. Peter Hoffman IS Lohengrin. So so so handsome and noble. I just wish that Nilsson and Varnay could have been filmed together. Marton and Rysenek were just awesome so this consoles me.


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## Handelian

Seattleoperafan said:


> This Lohengrin is one for the ages. The cast is gold all the way. Peter Hoffman IS Lohengrin. So so so handsome and noble. I just wish that Nilsson and Varnay could have been filmed together. Marton and Rysenek were just awesome so this consoles me.


The performance was panned by the critics but I enjoyed it. That is my only concern!


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## Handelian

Christmas at the Met for those who can bear to watch opera these days:

Monday, December 21
Mozart’s The Magic Flute
Starring Ying Huang, Erika Miklósa, Matthew Polenzani, Nathan Gunn, and René Pape, conducted by James Levine. From December 30, 2006.

Tuesday, December 22
Massenet’s Cendrillon
Starring Kathleen Kim, Joyce DiDonato, Alice Coote, Stephanie Blythe, and Laurent Naouri, conducted by Bertrand de Billy. From April 28, 2018.

Wednesday, December 23
Rossini’s Il Barbiere di Siviglia
Starring Isabel Leonard, Lawrence Brownlee, Christopher Maltman, Maurizo Muraro, and Paata Burchuladze, conducted by Michele Mariotti. From November 22, 2014.

Thursday, December 24
Puccini’s La Bohème
Starring Teresa Stratas, Renata Scotto, José Carreras, Richard Stilwell, and James Morris, conducted by James Levine. From January 16, 1982.

Friday, December 25
Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel
Starring Christine Schäfer, Alice Coote, Rosalind Plowright, Philip Langridge, and Alan Held, conducted by Vladimir Jurowski. From January 1, 2008.

Saturday, December 26
Lehár’s The Merry Widow
Starring Renée Fleming, Kelli O'Hara, Nathan Gunn, Alek Shrader, and Sir Thomas Allen, conducted by Sir Andrew Davis. From January 17, 2015.

Sunday, December 27
Verdi’s Falstaff
Starring Lisette Oropesa, Angela Meade, Stephanie Blythe, Jennifer Johnson Cano, Paolo Fanale, Ambrogio Maestri, and Franco Vassallo, conducted by James Levine. From December 14, 2013.


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## nina foresti

What does THAT mean? Why wouldn't we want to watch opera these days? For me it is life giving. Why would I deprive myself?

BTW: Unless there is another Handelian hanging around, I believe someone is asking for you on the CMG.


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## Handelian

Massenet’s Cendrillon

Very glamorous Fairy godmother in Kath Kim!


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## Aerobat

Handelian said:


> Massenet's Cendrillon
> 
> Very glamorous Fairy godmother in Kath Kim!


I found this one very enjoyable to listen to, but ended up switching the video off and just enjoying the music. Something about the overall production / staging / costumes just put me off - don't know what or why, it just did!


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## Handelian

Aerobat said:


> I found this one very enjoyable to listen to, but ended up switching the video off and just enjoying the music. Something about the overall production / staging / costumes just put me off - don't know what or why, it just did!


Funny I found the production absolutely enchanting. 'One man's meat.......'


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## Handelian

The Barber - is Isobel Leonard the most beautiful Rosina of all time?


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## Handelian

Hansel und Gretel

Good Christmas fare - roasted witch! Not sure whether I liked all of it but it was a very imaginative production


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## Handelian

Tosca

Verrett magnificent as the heroine. Handsome too. Pavarotti doing what he does best.


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## nina foresti

Handelian said:


> Tosca
> 
> Verrett magnificent as the heroine. Handsome too. Pavarotti doing what he does best.


Gobbi --the king of Scarpias. What a cast and some especially fine acting as well. Surprisingly from Pavarotti who is not exactly considered one of the more consummate actors.
I am always interested in how Cavaradossi reacts to the news of the mock execution. Does he believe it is true or does he know down deep that he is actually going to die and just goes along with the game for Tosca's sake?
In this one, Pavarotti let's out all the stops and with his expressions clearly shows us that he knows he is going to die. Fascinating!


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## Handelian

Next weeK:

Monday, January 4
Cilea’s Adriana Lecouvreur
Starring Anna Netrebko, Anita Rachvelishvili, Piotr Beczała, Carlo Bosi, Ambrogio Maestri, and Maurizio Muraro, conducted by Gianandrea Noseda. From January 12, 2019.

Tuesday, January 5
Rossini’s La Donna del Lago
Starring Joyce DiDonato, Daniela Barcellona, Juan Diego Flórez, John Osborn, and Oren Gradus, conducted by Michele Mariotti. From March 14, 2015.

Wednesday, January 6
Bizet’s Les Pêcheurs de Perles
Starring Diana Damrau, Matthew Polenzani, Mariusz Kwiecien, and Nicolas Testé, conducted by Gianandrea Noseda. From January 16, 2016.

Thursday, January 7
Bellini’s I Puritani
Starring Anna Netrebko, Eric Cutler, Franco Vassallo, and John Relyea, conducted by Patrick Summers. From January 6, 2007.

Friday, January 8
Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana and Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci
Starring Eva-Maria Westbroek, Jane Bunnell, Marcelo Álvarez, George Gagnidze; Patricia Racette, Marcelo Álvarez, George Gagnidze, and Lucas Meachem, conducted by Fabio Luisi. From April 25, 2015.

Saturday, January 9
Donizetti’s Maria Stuarda
Starring Elza van den Heever, Joyce DiDonato, Matthew Polenzani, Joshua Hopkins, and Matthew Rose, conducted by Maurizio Benini. From January 19, 2013.

Sunday, January 10
Verdi’s Il Trovatore
Starring Sondra Radvanovsky, Dolora Zajick, Marcelo Álvarez, Dmitri Hvorostovsky, and Stefan Kocán, conducted by Marco Armiliato. From April 30, 2011.


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## Aerobat

I'm getting close to the end of La Donna Del Lago now. This is a lovely performance, well cast by the met with a group of performers who work together very nicely. I'm rather gutted that it's only available on DVD and not on CD!

Also enjoyed yesterday's Adriana Lecouvreur, although I wasn't particularly convinced by Nebs performance. But hey, it was a free performance of something that I didn't know that well.


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## Aerobat

Today's I Puritani has certainly been an eye-opener. With Netrebko again, but what a contrast to her performance in Lecouvreur. In Puritani she seems natural, totally unforced, and a pleasure to listen to. Young Netrebko = great performance, but she's certainly lost a lot of her abilities in the last few years as shown in the production of Lecouvreur.


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## Handelian

Love McVcar’s take on Pagliacci


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## Handelian

Maria Stuarda

Historical tosh but Joyce is so convincing.


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## nina foresti

Handelian said:


> Love McVcar's take on Pagliacci


Patricia Racette is a true stage animal. She knows how to get to the depth a of a character and run with it.


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## The Conte

nina foresti said:


> Patricia Racette is a true stage animal. She knows how to get to the depth a of a character and run with it.


She does! I saw her YEARS ago in a Welsh National Opera Turandot as Liu.

N.


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## Handelian

Handel Rodelinda.

Fleming and Scholl rule


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## Handelian

For those interested:

Monday, January 18
Bizet’s Carmen
Starring Anita Hartig, Anita Rachvelishvili, Aleksandrs Antonenko, and Ildar Abdrazakov, conducted by Pablo Heras-Casado. From November 1, 2014.

Tuesday, January 19
Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor
Starring Anna Netrebko, Piotr Beczała, Mariusz Kwiecień, and Ildar Abdrazakov, conducted by Marco Armiliato. From February 7, 2009.

Wednesday, January 20
Bellini’s Norma
Starring Sondra Radvanovsky, Joyce DiDonato, Joseph Calleja, and Matthew Rose, conducted by Carlo Rizzi. From October 7, 2017.

Thursday, January 21
Verdi’s La Traviata
Starring Natalie Dessay, Matthew Polenzani, and Dmitri Hvorostovsky, conducted by Fabio Luisi. From April 14, 2012.

Friday, January 22
Puccini’s Tosca
Starring Hildegard Behrens, Plácido Domingo, and Cornell MacNeil, conducted by Giuseppe Sinopoli. From March 27, 1985.

Saturday, January 23
Massenet’s Manon
Starring Lisette Oropesa, Michael Fabiano, Carlo Bosi, Artur Ruciński, Brett Polegato, and Kwangchul Youn, conducted by Maurizio Benini. From October 26, 2019.


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## Handelian

Lucia. If you discovered a woman had just knifed her husband to death on her wedding night would you then leave them and go on to describe the scene for about 15 minutes to the gathered guests? Or would you call the cops?

But a suitably mad mad-scene by Nebs, hugely enjoyed by all!


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## The Conte

Handelian said:


> Lucia. If you discovered a woman had just knifed her husband to death on her wedding night would you then leave them and go on to describe the scene for about 15 minutes to the gathered guests? Or would you call the cops?
> 
> But a suitably mad mad-scene by Nebs, hugely enjoyed by all!


What cops? It's the 17th century! (Although I can't remember which period _that_ production happens to be in.)

N.


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## Aerobat

Oh, I'm conflicted by today's performance of Traviata.

I love the performances of Dessay and Hvorostovsky. She's a superb actress, and both of their voices are fabulous. But the staging / set / costume leaves a lot to be desired, I think I prefer a more traditional staging.


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## Seattleoperafan

As always I am late to the game, but I finally saw the Vegas Rigoletto and it was one of the finest streamed operas I've seen from the Met. This time the update really worked, the sets and costumes were incredible, and all the singers were both wonderful at singing and acting. It was a little hard to swallow a 60's girl being so incredibly stupid as Gilda, but maybe I am naïve. All the singers who were supposed to be attractive were. I'm so glad I saw it. Verdi sure wrote gorgeous gorgeous music. I had never seen it before so now some of the arias have come to life for me after seeing them acted out. The Russian siren of the last act was a knockout!!!! She looked related to Netrebko.


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## nina foresti

Seattleoperafan said:


> As always I am late to the game, but I finally saw the Vegas Rigoletto and it was one of the finest streamed operas I've seen from the Met. This time the update really worked, the sets and costumes were incredible, and all the singers were both wonderful at singing and acting. It was a little hard to swallow a 60's girl being so incredibly stupid as Gilda, but maybe I am naïve. All the singers who were supposed to be attractive were. I'm so glad I saw it. Verdi sure wrote gorgeous gorgeous music. I had never seen it before so now some of the arias have come to life for me after seeing them acted out. The Russian siren of the last act was a knockout!!!! She looked related to Netrebko.


I walked into the HD theater with my dukes up and my fists clenched, convinced I was going to hate this "abomination of a Frank Sinatra rat pack regie", and I walked out thoroughly entertained by it, and I suddenly realized why I enjoyed this regie production. It was because, different from others I have seen where hubristic directors thrill in updating "their masterpieces" so as not to bore a new and younger audience, this one did not distract from the singers or the singing. It was cleverly paced, still made sense and retained a lot of the basic integrity while still becoming modernized, and very entertaining at the same time.
Surprise, surprise!


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## Seattleoperafan

nina foresti said:


> I walked into the HD theater with my dukes up and my fists clenched, convinced I was going to hate this "abomination of a Frank Sinatra rat pack regie", and I walked out thoroughly entertained by it, and I suddenly realized why I enjoyed this regie production. It was because, different from others I have seen where hubristic directors thrill in updating "their masterpieces" so as not to bore a new and younger audience, this one did not distract from the singers or the singing. It was cleverly paced, still made sense and retained a lot of the basic integrity while still becoming modernized, and very entertaining at the same time.
> Surprise, surprise!


The only awkward moments with the updating was with the Saudi cursing character. There was a lot of old time Italian culture still alive in Mafioso Vegas at that time. The stage settings were really gorgeous.


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