Opera Alert

[William]

The City Opera's "Don Giovanni" is playing this week, and there are several features that recommend this production (aside from the fact that this is a wonderful opera, and Mozart's music is divine).

 

It's an inventive production, and one innovation is that buff young men play the central roles of Don G.; Leporello; and Masetto. Leporello and Don. G. appear shirtless through much of Act II, and each has a most admirable body (Leporello is more ripped and has a better voice (imho), but Don G.'s swimmer's build is a nice contrast). Also, the City Opera production makes much of the homosexual attraction between Leporello and Don G., and it was quite persuasive.

 

I am not the best judge of the voices, but I particularly enjoyed Leporello's deep bass and the lovely soprano voices of the singers playing Donna Anna and Donna Elvira (a great over the top role for any diva). The best male voice in my opinion was Don Ottavio, a tenor.

[Karl-G]

Thank You

 

William,

 

Thank you very much for the personal view on an opera and recommendation. It means a lot. I'm not in New York, so I can't take your advice this time, but I hope you will continue to give us personal cultural notes.

[+ g56whiz]

For those interested, I offer the following links:

 

The New York Opera's website: http://www.nycopera.com/

 

An NPR piece on its rebirth: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=120090453

[whipped guy]

Thanks

 

William... Thanks for the info and as Karl noted above keep it coming! I almost saw Don Giovanni this past Sunday as I was in NYC to catch Il Barbiere di Siviglia with Joyce DiDonato at the MET on Saturday evening. As much as I love Don Giovanni and consider it not only to be Mozart's best opera (not to mention one of the best ever penned), I decided that perhaps it would be too much opera in a less that 24 hour time frame. Somehow City Opera often gets adventurous with homo-erotic subplots as in the Orestes and Pilades connection in Gluck's Iphegenie in Tauride from a few seasons back.

 

At any rate, since we are making suggestions about matters operatic I must say that the MET's Barbiere is a winner... not perfect but quite good. Joyce DiDonato has to be the premier Rosina among today's crop of Rossini mezzos... and she was damn near perfection. Franco Vassallo was a lively Figaro with the only disappointment being tenor Barry banks in less than ideal voice as Almaviva. Unfortunately, the piece will not be performed again until February and then with some cast changes... Damreau will replace DiDonato as a soprano Rosina. (I saw her a couple of season ago in the part and she was good but not great.) However, Lawrence Brownlee should be a significant improvement over Banks in the tenor department. So a recommendation if you are in town sometime in February of 2010.

[KinkyNEguy]

Thank you William et al..

 

I was looking for something to do for Saturday evening and this fits the bill! Just snagged two tickets and looking forward to it!

[William]

Barber of Seville . . .

 

William... Thanks for the info and as Karl noted above keep it coming! I almost saw Don Giovanni this past Sunday as I was in NYC to catch Il Barbiere di Siviglia with Joyce DiDonato at the MET on Saturday evening. As much as I love Don Giovanni and consider it not only to be Mozart's best opera (not to mention one of the best ever penned), I decided that perhaps it would be too much opera in a less that 24 hour time frame. Somehow City Opera often gets adventurous with homo-erotic subplots as in the Orestes and Pilades connection in Gluck's Iphegenie in Tauride from a few seasons back.

 

At any rate, since we are making suggestions about matters operatic I must say that the MET's Barbiere is a winner... not perfect but quite good. Joyce DiDonato has to be the premier Rosina among today's crop of Rossini mezzos... and she was damn near perfection. Franco Vassallo was a lively Figaro with the only disappointment being tenor Barry banks in less than ideal voice as Almaviva. Unfortunately, the piece will not be performed again until February and then with some cast changes... Damreau will replace DiDonato as a soprano Rosina. (I saw her a couple of season ago in the part and she was good but not great.) However, Lawrence Brownlee should be a significant improvement over Banks in the tenor department. So a recommendation if you are in town sometime in February of 2010.

 

 

Whipped, I am with you on "Barber of Seville", albeit from a different angle. I saw the premiere of the current production a couple of years ago---and it was a thrilling event. Peter Mattei was excellent as Figaro and Juan Diego Flores was magnificent as Almaviva. (Banks subbed for Juan Diego last season in "Fille de Regiment"; he was fine, but is not Juan Diego.)

 

Also, I love the production, especially the decision to move the singers into a space in front of the orchestra (through a special bridge over and around the orchestra). That innovation worked very well in the premiere---did it work for you as well?

[whipped guy]

Whipped, I am with you on "Barber of Seville", albeit from a different angle. I saw the premiere of the current production a couple of years ago---and it was a thrilling event. Peter Mattei was excellent as Figaro and Juan Diego Flores was magnificent as Almaviva. (Banks subbed for Juan Diego last season in "Fille de Regiment"; he was fine, but is not Juan Diego.)

 

Also, I love the production, especially the decision to move the singers into a space in front of the orchestra (through a special bridge over and around the orchestra). That innovation worked very well in the premiere---did it work for you as well?

 

William... I saw it with Juan Diego as well... and seeing him front and center on the extension over the orchestra and delivering the aria "Cessa di piu resistere" flawlessly was one of the highlights of my opera going experiences. It did quite not work as well this past Saturday evening mainly because Barry Banks was not JDF and that most likely contributed to my disappointment with his performance... Still, he is a singer that I have enjoyed in the past. I have heard him in better voice in Ermione and La Donna del Lago at City Opera several seasons back. So perhaps it was just an off-night. Since you mention La Fille du Regiment, seeing JDF in that was another top ten experience. In fact in the right roles JDF can only be described as an orgasmic force of nature... like the tenor version of a Joan Sutherland.

[William]

Juan Diego Flores

 

William... I saw it with Juan Diego as well... and seeing him front and center on the extension over the orchestra and delivering the aria "Cessa di piu resistere" flawlessly was one of the highlights of my opera going experiences. It did quite not work as well this past Saturday evening mainly because Barry Banks was not JDF and that most likely contributed to my disappointment with his performance... Still, he is a singer that I have enjoyed in the past. I have heard him in better voice in Ermione and La Donna del Lago at City Opera several seasons back. So perhaps it was just an off-night. Since you mention La Fille du Regiment, seeing JDF in that was another top ten experience. In fact in the right roles JDF can only be described as an orgasmic force of nature... like the tenor version of a Joan Sutherland.

 

I saw JDF in "Don Pasquale", where he was teamed up with the remarkable Anna Netrebko (Ernesto and Norina, respectively). They were a thrilling combination: excellent voices, expressive acting, sexy combo. Juan Diego's/Ernesto's serenade in the garden (Come e gentil') was for me the most thrilling tenor aria I have ever experienced. Have tix to see JDF again in "Fille de Regiment" this season.

[+ honcho]

Advance notice of a New Opera.

 

I'm a regular at the Noe Valley Chamber Music series in San Francisco, and there was an event for contributors ... a pre-concert talk by Jake Heggie about his new opera, Moby Dick, slated to premier iApril 30, 2010 in Dallas. He played some of the music at the piano.

 

(He lives in the 'hood. His (male) partner is involved with Beach Blanket Babylon ... They've done fundraisers for the series involving an interesting mix of popular and classical music).

 

Tickets are going fast.

[whipped guy]

JDF Rules!

 

Juan Diego's/Ernesto's serenade in the garden (Come e gentil') was for me the most thrilling tenor aria I have ever experienced.

 

Seems as though we are both members of the JDF fan club... I only heard the broadcast, but I thought that the role of Ernesto was in fact too simple for him with the most thrilling part being his Act Two cabaletta. Still, there are different ways to thrill and I am sure that "Come gentil" made quite an effect! We are blessed that there are suddenly quite a number of tenors capable of singing the major Bel Canto roles (Brownlee, Tarver, etc.... but JDF still rules!

 

As for Netrebko, she is very sexy and actually ravishingly beautiful. In addition she possesses an attractive lyric soprano voice. Plus, she can act. However, she doe not really encompass the basic technique required to properly execute the major coloratura Bel Canto roles to which she aspires... as evidenced by her Lucia and I Puritani which were not exactly the stuff of legends. Based on the Pasquale broadcast she was a decent Norina. However, I wish she had not avoided the trills in her opening aria. Still, I am sure that her lovely voice, visual good looks, and acting ability made quite an impact in the theater.

[William]

Netrebko

 

Seems as though we are both members of the JDF fan club... I only heard the broadcast, but I thought that the role of Ernesto was in fact too simple for him with the most thrilling part being his Act Two cabaletta. Still, there are different ways to thrill and I am sure that "Come gentil" made quite an effect! We are blessed that there are suddenly quite a number of tenors capable of singing the major Bel Canto roles (Brownlee, Tarver, etc.... but JDF still rules!

 

As for Netrebko, she is very sexy and actually ravishingly beautiful. In addition she possesses an attractive lyric soprano voice. Plus, she can act. However, she doe not really encompass the basic technique required to properly execute the major coloratura Bel Canto roles to which she aspires... as evidenced by her Lucia and I Puritani which were not exactly the stuff of legends. Based on the Pasquale broadcast she was a decent Norina. However, I wish she had not avoided the trills in her opening aria. Still, I am sure that her lovely voice, visual good looks, and acting ability made quite an impact in the theater.

 

 

Whipped, thank you for your excellent and detailed analysis. I defer to you (and others) in evaluating voices and in your analysis of Bel Canto stars.

 

I'd add that Netrebko was stellar (IMHO) in "Romeo and Juliet" at the Met a few years ago (with hunky Kaiser as Romeo) and as Violeta in "La Traviata" this year in San Francisco. Powerful voice and fabulous theatrics, she made a great Violeta.

[+ Charlie]

It looks like I don't even have to read my "Opera News" which came in the mail yesterday.

[whipped guy]

Whipped... I defer to you (and others) in evaluating voices and in your analysis of Bel Canto stars.

 

Well thanks, but I am certainly not the last word on evaluating voices. Still, I have my own beliefs, viewpoints, and prejudices as to what constitutes great singing and especially so regarding Bel Canto singing.

 

However, we all hear and perceive sound differently. Consequently, to different people different aspects of singing are more important. Add to that the myriad of possibilities that the performing arts offer in terms of acting, drama, and presentation, and the resulting perceptions and viewpoints can multiply exponentially. Nonetheless, the more knowledge and listening experience one obtains over time the better one can make judgments and form opinions.

[+ Italiano]

Joyce DiDonato

 

Joyce DiDonato has to be the premier Rosina among today's crop of Rossini mezzos... and she was damn near perfection. .

 

I have seen Joyce DiDonato the first time as Cenerentola at La Scala 5 years ago in the old (but still effective) Ponnelle production and I was VERY impressed. JDF was her Ramiro, he was supposed to be the star (and he was very good, no doubt) but she was almost unknown to me and it was an absolute revelation, and she stole the show!

 

This year I was lucky enough to share the stage with her as Rosina.

Watching her rehearse and perform was a fantastic experience, an effortlessly produced gorgeous voice combined with a charisma, musicality, understanding of the text and words, personality and acting abilities which are very uncommon.

She is married to an Italian (hunky!) man, a conductor, and I guess that helps to have an almost flawless Italian diction.

And she is a VERY nice, easy going, friendly person.

 

Since then I have been watching and heard a lot of her staff at youtube and ITunes and I am in LOVE with this woman!

 

Her last "Colbran" Rossini CD is a gem.

[whipped guy]

DiDonato!!!!

 

I have seen Joyce DiDonato the first time as Cenerentola at La Scala 5 years ago in the old (but still effective) Ponnelle production and I was VERY impressed. JDF was her Ramiro, he was supposed to be the star (and he was very good, no doubt) but she was almost unknown to me and it was an absolute revelation, and she stole the show!

I first heard her in the Naxos recording of Cenerentola and my god she was a revelation! At the time the recording first appeared she was at the MET as the understudy for the part when Borodina was appearing in it... probably the first time an understudy had not only recorded the part but also could sing it better than the scheduled artist!!!

 

This past Saturday was the first time that I have heard her live and she was perfection. I also have a copy of the Covent Garden Barbiere broadcast (from this past summer) where he performed the role of Rosina in a wheel chair after literally breaking a leg during a previous performance. She is again absolute perfection in the part! Now she literally broke her leg on stage at a previous performance toward the end of the first act. She finished that performance using a cane thinking that she had only sprained her leg. When it was determined that it was broken she refused to cancel and continued the run singing from a wheel chair! Now that is a real trooper… Incidentally there is the line early in the second act where Rosina says she has a cramp in her foot… The audience roars with laughter!!

 

This year I was lucky enough to share the stage with her as Rosina.

Details please!

 

I am in LOVE with this woman! Her last "Colbran" Rossini CD is a gem.

As am I! I purchased her Colbran CD this past weekend and it is the single best Rossini Aria Album I have ever heard... and believe you me I have heard them all!!!! Her Rondo Finale from La Donna del Lago makes Marilyn Horne’s pale in comparison… and as for Bartoli she is not even worthy of being spoken of in the same breath!! I usually prefer a soprano with a strong lower register in the Colbran parts as opposed to a mezzo. However, I am now convinced that a mezzo with a clear upper extension is the way to go. (Sonia Ganassi performed a wonderful Ermione at Pesaro a couple of years ago which got me thinking in those directions.) Shoot! The Armida sections from the CD (and especially the finale) almost made me forget Callas… well almost… Let’s say they are about on the same level… Now that is the ultimate compliment!!!!! It will be interesting to see if Renee Fleming will even come close when the MET mounts it for her later this season…

[+ Italiano]

she literally broke her leg on stage at a previous performance toward the end of the first act. She finished that performance using a cane thinking that she had only sprained her leg. When it was determined that it was broken she refused to cancel and continued the run singing from a wheel chair! Now that is a real trooper…

 

She is INDEED a trooper!!

 

 

details please!

 

This year in Barbiere (not at the MET), we were in the same cast...

 

 

The Armida sections from the CD (and especially the finale) almost made me forget Callas… well almost… Let’s say they are about on the same level… Now that is the ultimate compliment!!!!!

 

Well, forgetting Callas in this (and many others!) role is totally impossible.

Let's say that the task of attempting this role after 1952 is quite hard, Joyce did it with her voice, her personality, in a much more "modern" and more polished way than Callas and the results of these 3 arias are fantastic.

But still to me the way Callas threw herself in this role (and again, in so many others!), without any safety net remains unique...

[uwsman2]

Gay Opera?

 

I'm getting to Don G at City Opera next Sunday - the last performance of the run. I hope the shirtless men are not all tired out by then!!

 

Gay opera on the horizon. Jorge Martin has written an opera based on "When Night Falls," the memoir of gay Cuban writer Reinaldo Arenas. It's being produced by the Fort Worth Opera Company in May. A sample from the opera was performed in the form of a concert work for voices and orchestra by a choral society in New Jersey a while back, whetting the appetite for the entire thing. So check out the website of Fort Worth Opera if you're looking for an opera on the life of an extraordinary gay man to attend....

[operalover21]

The City Opera's "Don Giovanni" is playing this week, and there are several features that recommend this production (aside from the fact that this is a wonderful opera, and Mozart's music is divine).

 

It's an inventive production, and one innovation is that buff young men play the central roles of Don G.; Leporello; and Masetto. Leporello and Don. G. appear shirtless through much of Act II, and each has a most admirable body (Leporello is more ripped and has a better voice (imho), but Don G.'s swimmer's build is a nice contrast).

 

I would concur with this.

 

Also, the City Opera production makes much of the homosexual attraction between Leporello and Don G., and it was quite persuasive.

 

I didn't see this at all especially considering that Giovanni spends a good deal of the time kicking, pushing, and generally beating up Leporello in this production. Or are you saying that that is a normal part of a homosexual relationship? I hope not!

 

 

I am not the best judge of the voices, but I particularly enjoyed Leporello's deep bass and the lovely soprano voices of the singers playing Donna Anna and Donna Elvira (a great over the top role for any diva). The best male voice in my opinion was Don Ottavio, a tenor.

 

I thought the women were all mediocre but the 2 guys (Okulitch and Hardy) were very, very yummy .... one pantless throughout and one shirtless throughout. Terrificly inventive.

[operalover21]

At any rate, since we are making suggestions about matters operatic I must say that the MET's Barbiere is a winner... not perfect but quite good. Joyce DiDonato has to be the premier Rosina among today's crop of Rossini mezzos... and she was damn near perfection. Franco Vassallo was a lively Figaro with the only disappointment being tenor Barry banks in less than ideal voice as Almaviva. Unfortunately, the piece will not be performed again until February and then with some cast changes... Damreau will replace DiDonato as a soprano Rosina. (I saw her a couple of season ago in the part and she was good but not great.) However, Lawrence Brownlee should be a significant improvement over Banks in the tenor department. So a recommendation if you are in town sometime in February of 2010.

 

I've seen this several time since it premiered a few years back and I can't get past not having Juan Diego Florez in the main role. He is simply a stunner. Barry Banks looks like a munchkin! It's awful, not a bad voice, but the stage picture is just unfortunate.

[whipped guy]

...Barry Banks looks like a munchkin! It's awful, not a bad voice, but the stage picture is just unfortunate.

 

Yes! I never realized how short Banks really is and I have seen him in several other roles. Perhaps it is because the others in the cast (especially DelCarlo as Bartolo) were simply much taller... but he did look like a lost and misplaced munchkin who somehow wandered onto the MET's stage... unfortunate indeed! Aside from his performance not being up to Juan Diego standards, the visual aspect certainly is what ultimately killed it for me as well.

[whipped guy]

This year in Barbiere (not at the MET), we were in the same cast...

I will then assume that you were her Almaviva as opposed to either Fiorello, Ambrogio, the officer, or even Berta...

Well, forgetting Callas in this (and many others!) role is totally impossible…

Yes, for me Callas will always be the benchmark for so many roles. In Armida the fury and wrath in her voice during the opening section of that final scene is simply riveting and it makes the "Ah! Non tremare" passage from Callas' signature role of Norma seem like child's play! I have always said that in 1952 there was Callas… but no tenors to do justice to the multiple tenor roles in this opera. In 2009 we potentially have the tenors, but no Callas. It will be interesting to see what happens at the MET later this season with either Fleming or possibly Angela Meade her understudy. At any rate, it is heartening to know that DiDonato (with her still valid yet more “modern and polished way”) is potentially waiting in the wings for some future production!

[William]

Nice points Opera Lover. You are right about the abusive relationship between Don G. and Leoprello (part of the generally sociopathy that is Don G.), but my point was not that they are a "model gay couple," but that there were erotic sparks between Don G. and Leporello. This production brings that out, especially in the super-erotic and drawn-out exchange of clothes but also in the constant touching and body contact between Don G. and Leporello. (That Leporello has the more "macho" presentation---ripped body, hairy chest, lower voice, in contrast to the Canadian pretty boy looks of Don G. in this production---made it more erotic for me.)

[whipped guy]

The universal opera

 

...erotic sparks between Don G. and Leporello...

I have always considered Don Giovanni to be the "universal” opera as it contains just about the entire gamut of human emotions and theatrical possibilities be it tragedy, comedy, murder, vengeance, violence, tenderness, hatred, true love, disguises, the supernatural… well you name it and it is most likely there. However, I never considered the homoerotic possibilities… now aside from what ever relationship has been transpiring between the Don and his servant, it seems that Leporello might just have a second catalog hidden away that recounts his master’s male conquests. I can just read the potential libretto for that aria where the Don's conquests will be measured in inches…

 

Signorino, il catalogo è questo… ma in Ispagna son già mille e tre… se ha un pene voi sapete quel che fa!

 

(Young man, the catalog is this… but in Spain there are already a thousand and three.. if he has a penis you know what he’ll do!)

[+ Italiano]

I will then assume that you were her Almaviva as opposed to either Fiorello, Ambrogio, the officer, or even Berta...

 

Berta is just a bit too high for me.

 

I was her Bartolo.

[operalover21]

Yes! I never realized how short Banks really is and I have seen him in several other roles. Perhaps it is because the others in the cast (especially DelCarlo as Bartolo) were simply much taller... but he did look like a lost and misplaced munchkin who somehow wandered onto the MET's stage... unfortunate indeed! Aside from his performance not being up to Juan Diego standards, the visual aspect certainly is what ultimately killed it for me as well.

 

He's 5'5" at best. A really nice guy but I want a complete theatrical experience and he always looks so silly.

 

As for Anna Netrebko, don't get me started. What is that woman doing singing bel canto since she can't belto? It's all wrong for her. She should be doing Mimi (which I see in February), Butterfly, Russian roles, etc. She makes a complete mess of Lucia or Puritani and there is supposedly more bel canto in her future. She is ruining her voice.