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At Home with the Met

84K views 602 replies 52 participants last post by  Seattleoperafan 
#1 ·
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.
 
#303 ·
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.
 
#304 · (Edited)
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.
 
#310 ·
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.
 
#312 ·
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!
 
#315 ·
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.
 
#320 ·
#322 ·
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.
 
#326 · (Edited)
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...
 
#332 ·
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.
 
#336 ·
Agree. For a much better pair check out the Boulez Walkure.
They are awesome.
 
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#339 ·
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.
 
#340 ·
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.
 
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