Khovanshchina

[operalover21]

I actually like Brownlee's voice and his appearance and acting has improved so I can overlook that. As for Banks... well of late his voice has sounded harsh... and he is indeed a munchkin... He really needs to get a pair of lifts when onstage... As for looking like the Mayor of Munchkinland... he looked exactly that in the final scene form Rossini's La Donna del Lago as staged by City Opera a few years ago! I think one reviewer said that he looked like Mayor Quimby from the Simpsons... and that was being kind!!!

 

As for Don Giovanni... It always overwhelms me...and especially, "Don Giovanni a cenar teco m'invitasti e son venuto!" Gotta love that D minor!!!

 

And I hate to say it because Barry Banks is one of the nicest guys in the business. I remember that Donna del Lago. Worse was a Cenerentola at the MET with Borodina. He had lifts on but she towered over him (in every way). The final tableaux has them on top of a giant wedding cake. Well, it looked so ridiculous that they only held the pose for a second before jumping off ... I guess they were afraid the audience would begin to howl.

 

Brownlee is okay but I think where Florez is head and shoulders above him is in addition to his once in a century technique, Juan Diego has a stage presence that is just palpable whereas Brownlee is a bit of a dull lump. I agree he's gotten better but still has a long way to go.

 

It was one of the things that I wondered about with Elisir. Florez has such aristocratic bearing that I wondered if he could play the country bumpkin and he surprised me. He was really terrific.

 

Saw the opening MANON last night. First, it's not my favorite opera (19th century grand opera all sounds the same to me) and I prefer Werther. The singing was uniformly good. Netrebko has lost some of her pregnancy fat and that's a good thing. She still plays Manon like too much of a party girl/slut/hooker for my taste but, heck, she has her shtick and it's been successful for her and she ain't gonna change.

 

I still have problems with the production but since I mostly don't care for the opera it doesn't really matter to me.

[whipped guy]

How I hate that wedding cake La cenerentola... and I am sure that Banks made it look even more preposterous! Still, I remember hearing from someone that he is indeed a nice guy. However, he looked just as silly in Barbiere as Almavia in his scenes with the over-sized John DelCarlo as Bartolo... and why the heck would Joyce diDonato be interested in him in the first place? As for Florez, his acting has always seemed fine to me from the first time I saw him jump around in L'Italiana to the hilarity of Le Comte Ory... so playing the country bumpkin in Elisir reasonably well would not surprise me.

 

Unfortunately... or is it fortunately... there is a greater emphasis on acting and appearance compared to the past... I always wonder if someone like Caballe' would have the career that she had if she were beginning her career today. I can hear Carlo saying to Filippo... "Thanks! You did me a favor by taking the fat babe for a wife... she's all yours!"

 

Good getting your take on Manon... Thanks! Though if anyone can play the "working girl" it's Netrebko!

[kjun]

I have absolutely no interest in opera, but blessings to those who do.

[operalover21]

I have absolutely no interest in opera, but blessings to those who do.

 

These are the kinds of posts that baffle me. If you have absolutely no interest in a subject, why post at all? Do some people just crave attention so much that they will do anything to get it?

[whipped guy]

Well he does send us "blessings"... so no harm really done!!!

 

But in retrospect if one has no clue who Carlo, Filippo, or Almaviva are it is all kind of like trying to decipher hierogliphics... and the topic does scare a lot of people... I always laugh when Alex Trebek referrers to the "dreaded opera category" on Jeopardy! Still, it is one of the ultimate forms of theater.

 

As an aside, many years ago I had a discussion with an escort about opera... and based on that he thought that I was an Ivy League professor of music... well hardly... but since he knew nothing of the subject I guess I sounded a good game. At any rate, I simply said that I had it in my blood... After saying that he could never understand opera, he then pointed to his leather outfit and dungeon equipment and said, "Well I have this in my blood!" So to each his own!!!!

 

I feel blessed to have a bit of both in my blood!!!

[+ WilliamM]

Caballe

 

 

Unfortunately... or is it fortunately... there is a greater emphasis on acting and appearance compared to the past... I always wonder if someone like Caballe' would have the career that she had if she were beginning her career today. I can hear Carlo saying to Filippo... "Thanks! You did me a favor by taking the fat babe for a wife... she's all yours!"

 

 

I love Caballe's recordings. I very much regret never seeing her perform in person. She either cancelled, or the tickets were sold out. I like her live Norma DVD, but she would be a tough sell in a love story on DVD. It's a shame, because her voice was truly one of a kind. She would have trouble surviving today...sadly.

[whipped guy]

I saw Caballe' in Don Carlo... and that is why I alluded to the Carlo plot in my posting. I had seen Freni as Elisbetta previous to seeing Caballe' and she not only sang well and but certainly looked the part to perfection. However, Caballe' sang the role like an angel and actually infinitely better than Freni... including one of the best renditions of "Tu che le vanita'" that I have ever heard... but looked absolutely hideous on stage. Yet, it was something that was easily overlooked in view of her sublime vocalism. Saw her in Ballo as well... and same deal.

 

Now as Norma, I find her plausible... and aside from the fact that she was one of the supreme Norma's of the last century along with Callas and Sutherland. After all, the plot insists that she gave birth to two kids and nobody ever catches on to the fact... not even her own father... Now if anyone could pull off being pregnant and not "show"... it would be Caballe'!!!!! Of course Callas (if only in her very early years) and Sutherland might have been able to manage such a feat as well!