Met Opera movie theater broadcasts, 2008-2009

[Tsaraslondon]

Hopefully, not to Netrebko's Lucia, the most recent reviews (after today's first night) state a disaster:
http://listserv.bccls.org/cgi-bin/wa?A2=in...=D&P=217309
http://listserv.bccls.org/cgi-bin/wa?A2=in...=D&P=217953

Neither link is working unfortunately

[Sarastro]

Neither link is working unfortunately

Sorry I copied wrong. There have been other reviews posted since yesterday. I'm seriously worried about Villazon.

http://listserv.bccls.org/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0901D&L=OPERA-L&D=1&T=0&O=D&P=217309
http://listserv.bccls.org/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0901D&L=OPERA-L&D=1&T=0&O=D&P=217953
http://listserv.bccls.org/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0901D&L=OPERA-L&D=1&T=0&O=D&P=219950 (yeah, Netrebko's a mediocrity!)
And here's is the list of the responses, you can read more:
http://listserv.bccls.org/cgi-bin/wa?A1=ind0901D&L=OPERA-L&O=D&H=0&D=1&T=0

[knight66]

Sarastro, Thanks......think I may stay home and extract my teeth without anesthetic in preference. I doubt I can rearrange things to get there anyway and it reads as though I am better off without.

Mike

[Brünnhilde forever]

Would you like to read what our friend Mr. Tommasini thought of the disputed performance?

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/28/arts/music/28luci.html?_r=1&emc=eta1

[Sarastro]

Sarastro, Thanks......

Some pirate snippets on youtube, Mike. It is really bad.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9MoAMJGZBuU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZJUz0FbpnE

[Brünnhilde forever]

Thanks for the links, Sarastro! 

I watched both of them and because I am not a musician, my reaction is that I have heard worse, have seen fatter sopranos, and forgive Villazon those few seconds of rest before continuing. But what do I know? I don't compose and don't review and don't perform operas, I only love them! 

[knight66]

Perhaps one needs to be there to judge, but that NYT report reads like a whole lot of special pleading. Listening to her, I don't think it a disaster, but to my ears she is frequently marginally flat. The singing lower down is better than what happens towards the top of the tessitura. Smudged notes in the colouratura passages and a truly awful payoff of a flat note. But she parts company from the pit quite often. Is that insufficient rehearsal? Whatever, I don't expect that problem at what is the top of the opera profession.

Mike

[Tsaraslondon]

I listened to the mad scene. It wasn't terrible, but it wasn't good. Quite apart from being under the note a good deal of the time, she sounded under rehearsed and under prepared. Could it be that she is now so famous, that she no longer sees the necessity for proper study and preparation. Renee Fleming, another Met favourite,  comes in for a lot of carping both on this board and on many others, but, though she admittedly has her mannerisms, no one could accuse of her of behaving unprofessionally, or not being fully prepared before tackling a new role.

[Sarastro]

It wasn't terrible, I agree. Just ordinary Netrebko but a bit worse. Since she has gained weight and doesn't sound well, some her fans have turned against her. That is not surprising since her PR campaign accounts for people who want to see a cute face and some stream of notes accompanying it. Suddenly they've realized she's not as good as they thought.

[Anne]

It wasn't terrible, I agree. Just ordinary Netrebko but a bit worse. Since she has gained weight and doesn't sound well, some her fans have turned against her. That is not surprising since her PR campaign accounts for people who want to see a cute face and some stream of notes accompanying it. Suddenly they've realized she's not as good as they thought.

I wonder if her weight gain has anything to do with her pregnancy.  Didn't she have a baby last September?

[Sarastro]

I wonder if her weight gain has anything to do with her pregnancy.  Didn't she have a baby last September?

Of course she did. That is why her fans should be understanding. Partially, it played its roles in the reviews...
Besides, it seems to me the voice itself has become softer, very nice.

[Morigan]

I just listened to those covert recordings from the Met... oh. my. god.

I have never been one of those who strongly disliked Netrebko, but this was awful. Why is she even singing Lucia in the first place anyway? I may be young but I have never heard such a bad performance! I'm so tired of this treatment that young opera sensations get: sing everything from every repertoire and make money. Not your Fach? Who cares! You're hot!

Glad I didn't go to -this- broadcast in particular

Nice E-flat btw. Oh wait, I mean D! *Cough*

[Tsaraslondon]

Listening now to Sutherland's first recording of Regnava nel silenzio, and the Mad Scene (recorded shortly after her first success in the role at Covent Garden), effectively puts Netrebko's effort into context. At this stage in Sutherland's career, the voice was much more forwardly placed and, consequently, her diction is a good deal better than it was to become. Though she doesn't achieve the psychological complexity of Callas, she is much more dramatically attuned than was often the case later on, and the vocalism is, of course, stunning.

[Sarastro]

Some more about today's Lucia:

I tuned in late (on Sirius) and it appears the Met is presenting the
premiere of a new opera - "Donizetti Defiled, or The Murder of Lucia".

Apparently it's a new, microtonal work where the singers sing tuned a
quarter-tone below the orchestra pitch.

Ok I have held my powder until now and I based on Nebs performance tonight I fear for the future of the Met as a real artistic institution to be taken seriously beyond all the hype, smoke and mirrors. Apparently because someone like Ms. Netrebko can put "fannies in the seats" as one lister put it she is able to sing whatever she desires regardless as to whether she can sing it well or not.

In times past certain artists knew their limits and contained their repertoire within those limits.? Now it appears that if you have that certain "star quality" you can sing in any opera, especially if it can be "marketed" as Netrebko's First Met Lucia" or some other gimmick.

Do not misunderstand me, I have seen and liked Netrebko in the past, but clearly the bel canto works are not for her and she should have gotten that hint after the Puritani.

Tonight I heard a darkened tone, smudged coloratura, amateurish runs and scales in the mad scene and NO top notes. Well, she had one good e flat at the end of the act one cabaletta.??

Filianote was just somewhat less strangled than in the Rigoletto, but from the tape I heard of Villazon he is still about a year away from blowing his voice out like Villazon has apparently.? But Gelb was able to "market" the love couple.? Hope the marketing efforts will pay down the $25 million shortfall projected for next year.

[Sarastro]

The real award of the night goes to Ms. (definitely not Mrs.) Anna Netrebko. I would personally like to thank her for helping me hear some of the intricacies of Donizetti's score, particularly during the mad scene. You see, usually during that famous ten or so minutes, sopranos have this annoying tendency to sing the high notes. The problem with this is that the audience focuses on those elevated pitches and thus loses out on the orchestration under them. Ms. Netrebko was so deferential to Donizetti's score that she decided to forego practically any note above a B or so just so we could hear the orchestra. In addition to this, she decided not to finish the phrasing in many of her lines, and she ran out of breath several times... just so we could hear the orchestra. The end of "Ardon gli'incesi" was actually dropped! What creativity and respect for Donizetti. Really, thank you Anna!

[knight66]

Time to bump this thread again. Several weeks ago, we went to the Butterfly broadcast; but there was vision and no sound. I resisted the temptation to stand up and ask whether there was a Butterfly in the house. We waited it out until the entrance of the soprano happened in silence; then literally started a stampede to get our money back. As a gesture of goodwill, as well as the refund, we were given tickets to tonight's Sonnambula broadcast.

Let's gloss over the fact that out tickets showed a 6pm start, when in fact it started at 5pm. We missed about the first 20 minutes. In future I will double check.

A pity we missed out, but we did nevertheless enjoy a terrific and musical performance. Here is the premise of the production.

Set in a contemporary rehearsal room where a traditional Swiss village style production is being prepared. The main duo happen to be played by a couple whose names are the same as those of the opera proper. The spurned fiance of Elvino is the stage manager of the production.....the events within the opera come to life in the lives of the characters playing them.....Oh Jees, give us a break.....what complete baloney. This conceit starts to fall apart when you consider the likes of the chorus opening Act 2. They speculate whether going to see the Count would help clear suspicion from Amina. Then off they go to find out, did she or did she not come across to the Count? Well, now are they genuinely concerned to avert the likely tragedy, or are they rehearsing the production?

How come the stage manager becomes a character in the opera? When she brings Amina back in from the window ledge, is she in character, or is she the stage manager anxious for her fellow artist?

Why set all this guff and layering up?

Anyway, let's sweep all that away, what the production did allow was for all the characters to interact very genuinely. The stage movement was fluid and focused on the story, emotions, the humour of the situation.

I don't think this cast could be bettered. Dessay still looks youthful, she is charming, humorous and heartbreaking. Her vocal technique is completely exceptional, as is her acting. The sleep walking scene was mostly played out from a plank of floorboarding that projected her far over the pit, she simply stood and delivered; but effectively and movingly.

Florez is her equal; glamour, a good actor, a really superb voice and good taste. Their duetting was a particular highlight. The pit was in the safe hands of Evelino Pido who ensured the verdant orchestration was brought out, often magically. But to me the real find here was the baritone, Michele Pertusi as the Count, a sympathetic and commanding stage presence was allied to a beautiful dark voice with useful bottom notes.

In the first act the sound was basically overpowering; this was sorted out for Act 2, there, the sound mix was comfortable. I enjoyed this at least as much as any of the earlier broadcasts. With its happy ending, wonderfully injected with humour and joy, we left the cinema on a high.

Peter Gelb previewed the broadcasts planned for next year, based on the revised, less adventurous,season. Aida, Carmen, Hamlet with Dessay, Rosenkavalier with Fleming, Boccanegra with Domingo in the name part! I know he laid down some baritone arias over 20 years ago; but they have not seen the light of day. Perhaps this signals yet another new direction in his remarkable career. I look forward to that production.

One more opera this season, Rossini Cenerentola. We will try to be there at the right time, and we will hope that both sound and vision coincide.

Mike