Not to be snarky - OK, to be snarky - if Angela Meade were to sing a trill, how would we know?

 

3. If I opted not to go to the HD broadcast, do they usually put these on demand?
4. HD question: do you find it much better in the theater than at home on demand?
Sorry I am so demanding.

3. They usually end up in Met On Demand in 6-9 months. I think some do not make it to steaming, but I don't follow closely enough to know for sure.

4. It depends a lot on your home set up and your tolerance for being around people eating popcorn, etc. (and, I suppose, the ambient noise at your home). Being in a good cinema with great sound and few distractions is really great. It's at a set time so you can't put it off. And even though some of the people around you may not be entirely quiet during the screening, it can be good to see a bunch of people also there to see something you love.

 

HD question: do you find it much better in the theatre than at home on demand?

I like the atmosphere in theatre, but sitting at home with a nice cuppa and seeing it again does wonders for me.
Tell you about it after March 10th

 

I hear she completely devoured Ildar in their duet.

 

She's clearly devoured a lot of other things too.

 

I have heard Mead in the flesh... and yes there is a lot if it... both at the MET (as Anna Bolena) and at Carnegie Hall (as Matilda in Guglielmo Tell). I have never been overly impressed with her voice which sounds dry and uninteresting. I mentioned both venues because it did not resonate with any meaningful presence in either hall.

Yet she always hit all the notes cleanly, and that included hearing her in an in house recordings of Rossini's Ermione which like Semiramide was written for Isabella Colbran and indeed a recording of her as Semiramide from a few years ago at Caramoor. That was until the recent MET broadcast of Norma where she fudged so much of the coloratura that it was almost as if she never learned the part properly. Plus she sounded ragged. If that is her current vocal state then I don't have high hopes for her Semiramide, I do plan to get to the HD Theatre simulcast. Keeping my fingers crossed.

 

Perhaps she has a big voice that just doesn't project well. I am apparently one of the few who likes her lush vibrato. There are lots of voices that record differently than they sound in a theater. My sister taught voice for years and she said she always had to go hear a student in a large space to see how their voice really carried.

 

I think the moderators need to be alerted about you LOL

Thanks, but the mods already know what a problem I am. :devil:

I generally dislike the "so-and-so is overrated" sort of discussion, but - Angela Meade is overrated, or at least overemployed (I don't know what most people really think of her). I'm not trying to pick on her, but I think her present status as a leading soprano at the Met may be symptomatic of the acknowledged difficulty, in the last few decades, of finding singers fully equipped for the dramatic side of Italian opera, starting with bel canto and moving through the heavier Verdi roles and verismo. There may never have been many singers equally effective in the whole range of that repertoire, but Meade seems to be the Met's present candidate for prima donna assoluta, and to my ears she is pretty far from being that. She should, in particular, leave bel canto alone. I happened to overhear this

from another room where I couldn't hear the piano accompaniment, and despite being familiar with the aria I couldn't tell what it was because I couldn't tell what pitches were being sung. In Bellini's day a singer who made noises like this would have been sent back to school, or advised to find another profession.

 

^^^ is Leonard in giant heels there or is Meade as short as she is wide?

 

Well!! I just checked out the NYTines online review. Ms. Mead certainly fills out that costume more than I had even imagined that she would. I saw the prima in the house in 1990 with a quite svelte Lella Cuberli who acted the part as a half crazed and somewhat unstable ruler who would be just looney inough to kill her husband, dump her lover, and then fall in love with someone who was her son's age. Only in opera... with, as the Times notes, nods to Greek mythology and Shakespeare of course! Additionally there was then the video with June Anderson who played the part as a much more regal monarch. I guess Meade will take the stand and sing approach.

I must admit that in the excerpt from "Bel raggio" that she hit all the notes and sang a few of Sutherland's embellishments to boot. Plus she did hit the E so there is hope.

 

Bright or edgy voices are apt to sound more so in the studio. Birgit Nilsson's timbre sounded warmer and more rounded from the Met stage than on recordings. I'll cut Meade a little slack - but not enough to think she ought to sing bel canto!

 

she sounds out of place here: a lyric voice with a spinto-y technique singing bel canto. I'll bring up weight only because I think it impacts the voice and makes it sound unhealthy. with that said, it's a nice voice overall with some great high notes, and despite the previous point, I really hope she doesn't go the Callas/Voigt route of drastic weight loss procedures.

 

What the Sam Hill is a lyric voice with a spinto-y technique? Now you're even turning fachs into adjectives!

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/20/arts/music/met-opera-semiramide-review.html
I saw this and was impressed. How long since we have had a voice of any size in this role???

4. HD question: do you find it much better in the theater than at home on demand?
Sorry I am so demanding.

Unless you have a room in your home the size of the theater screen there simply is no comparison. HD is very exciting and as a bonus you get to see them strike the sets for the next act which is fascinating. You also get to see interviews with the singers which is fulfilling and entertaining. And to think you get all that for less than $25. (and what about the popcorn?)

 

Woodduck said: "but Meade seems to be the Met's present candidate for prima donna assoluta, and to my ears she is pretty far from being that. She should, in particular, leave bel canto alone. "
Do you dismiss Sondra Radvanovsky from that list? And what about the coming of Sonya Yoncheva? She's not there yet but boy is she ever on her way. Many are already seeing some Callas signs in her voice.

 

There's only one Prima Donna Assoluta: Dame Joan Sutherland.
As for Sonya Yoncheva the least said the better .

 

There are more snippets of Semiramide on YouTube... not worth posting directly as the more I listen the worse things sound. While Meade sounded ok in the the "Dolce pensiero" excerpt noted above, if you listen to the next number in the score posted on YouTube which is the conclusion to the duet "Serbami ognor" Mead is wavering all over the place. Add in the jarring cut by bandmaster Benini and there's not much to like. I'm guessing that tenor Camerena in the peripheral role of Idreno is going to be the highlight of the production.

I spoke via email with a person who works at the MET and has been employed by various opera companies as a consultant and he is not happy with much of the production. He really did not want to waste any bandwidth discussing it and especially Meade any further! Incidentally he feels the same way about Radvanovsky... However, the powers that be at the MET feel otherwise. They have hoodwinked the public into thinking that these also rans are stars. I think Yoncheva might be the next also ran. I hope she finds her proper Fach.

 

The best Semiramide I have heard on the disc is Alex Penda (Alexandrina Pendatchanska) in a complete performance with NAXOS. Never been a fan of carnary-like singing with mushy dictions and/or cute but mindless coloratura, it is quite nice to discover a soprano who could bring drama and clear articulation to this music. And unlike Meade, you don't need to worry too much about the trill/vibrato/tremolo problem

Not sure if she is still keeping this role in her repertoire. Didonato showed some potential in her Colbran the Muse disc, using the mezzo version. She is trying this role, but from what I gather she is not in her best shape at the moment.

 

This Naxos recording is currently my go to Semiramide of choice. It is not perfect, and won't erase memories of Sutherland and Horne, but it works. In fact, if one were to only have the Naxos Rossini series of recordings in their collection that would not be a bad thing.

Regarding DiDonato, I really prefer a more sopranoish type singer as Semiramide even though at this stage of her career Isabella Colbran was probably more of a mezzo. Rossini is very careful to avoid anything above the staff, and more so than is usually the case. In addition, there are not many slow exposed legato lines compared to earlier roles. This might indicate vocal problems in that regard. That's why the role is probably overly loaded with coloratura which was probably her only remaining strong point. Indeed, Rossini nixed a version of "Bel raggio" that was in one slow long movement. He shortened it and added the coloratura laden cabaletta "Dolce pensiero".

Incidentally, Colbran must not have been in good voice for that original 1823 Venice production. The Venice police records at the time indicate all sorts of grafitti posted on walls throughout the city that ""advertised" the fact!

 

after listening to some different clips, I think I found the problem: she is a spinto soprano in disguise, not a coloratura. she's a high spinto, she has a solid high E, but the voice doesn't move the way a coloratura does. bel canto is just....not for her :/