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