Met Opera Virtual Gala

[Karl-G]

The Met Opera has announced a Virtual Gala for Saturday, April 25, beginning at 1:00 EDT. Since audience and singers are all house bound, 40 of the Met's greatest stars, including Jonas Kaufmann, Renee Fleming, Juan Diego Florez, Anna Netrebko, etc., will greet the web audience from their homes and sing an aria from a room in their house. The program is estimated to last 3+ hours. But it sounds like great fun.

[+ g56whiz]

The Met Opera has announced a Virtual Gala for Saturday, April 25, beginning at 1:00 EDT. Since audience and singers are all house bound, 40 of the Met's greatest stars, including Jonas Kaufmann, Renee Fleming, Juan Diego Florez, Anna Netrebko, etc., will greet the web audience from their homes and sing an aria from a room in their house. The program is estimated to last 3+ hours. But it sounds like great fun.

I'm guessing it will be some form of fund raiser. Or they will collect data for future fund drives.

[+ g56whiz]

I'm guessing it will be some form of fund raiser. Or they will collect data for future fund drives.

I was right about the fund raising aspect but it was done in what I think was a very tasteful manner. It was an amazing technical feat that was not always successful. What was a special delight was the sense the performers conveyed The Met as family. When I stalked its halls years ago that was a sense I always had.

 

Then there were the magical moments like Roberto Alagna’s madcap antics, the wonderful musicality of performers accompanying themselves on the piano and the moving tribute to the late violist Vincent Lionti by Joyce DiDonoto and the viola section.

 

I lost 30 minutes or more due Wi-Fi issues in my home but The Met is streaming the entire 4 hours through today. I commend it to you.

Edited April 26, 2020 by g56whiz

[cany10011]

I loved watching it! It was nice to see the singers in their homes. Not sure if it was snobbery, but when the conductor mentioned how other orchestras collaborated online with a “click tract” he dismissed it as not as authentic.

[+ g56whiz]

I loved watching it! It was nice to see the singers in their homes. Not sure if it was snobbery, but when the conductor mentioned how other orchestras collaborated online with a “click tract” he dismissed it as not as authentic.

I don't think he dismissed it as unauthentic. What I think he said was that he felt it too rigid for what he wanted to try to achieve with his orchestra. From the sound of it, I think he was right.

[bostonman]

I don't think he dismissed it as unauthentic. What I think he said was that he felt it too rigid for what he wanted to try to achieve with his orchestra. From the sound of it, I think he was right.

 

He was absolutely right. In a piece such as the Cavalleria "Intermezzo," you want a certain elasticity in tempo that a click track cannot give you, ever. Nezet-Seguin's idea of sending a video of him conducting, plus a piano guide track, seemed a good (and effective) solution.

 

I make piano tracks for my musical theatre students a lot - and I've certainly been doing that a helluva lot lately as it's the only way we can work with the students over Zoom. I have to judge from song to song the best method - if it's a song that stays in a driving rhythm or can benefit from a very steady tempo, I make a click track for myself to record off of. (Especially if I plan to record in segments or layers, which I often do.) If it's a ballad or other song that needs a little more freedom, I tend to work without a click.

[cany10011]

Thank you bot Bostonman and g56whiz! I learned so much from this conversation.