MET Opera: Tenor Encore in Donizetti's Don Pasquale!

[whipped guy]

Tenor Javier Camerena does it again! He gets another encore at the Metropolitan Opera two years after his encore of the tenor cabaletta from Rossini's La Cenerentola. This time it occurred in Donizetti's Don Pasquale. Interestingly he sang only one verse of the cabaletta to his aria which was a bit of letdown as up until that point in the performance all the cabaletta repeats had been performed. However, he did end it with a long held interpolated D-flat. There was vociferous applause that begged for an encore and low and behold he then sang an embellished version of the cabaletta. He seemed a bit confused at first as he began singing over the orchestral intro to the piece. His embellishments seemed a bit awkwardly articulated initially but he quickly got things back on track and he more than redeemed himself by ending with another long held high D-flat. Incidentally at the end of the second act Camerena nailed an even higher note (a D!) that seemed to completely drown out that of the soprano. This is something that I had never previously heard done in this opera!

 

But stop press! The final portion of the second act buffo patter duet was also encored!!!! So two encores for the price of one admission or in my case as heard via the MET 3/12/16 broadcast.

 

Incidentally the end of the opera the soprano was rightfully allowed to shine without any interpolations from the tenor!

 

For those who love Bel Canto there is a mini Donizetti festival at the MET this season with five of his operas being performed. This was the third opera to be broadcast and was the best so far after somewhat uneven performances of Anna Bolena and Maria Stuarda. Still to come are L'Elisir d'Amore and Roberto Devereux.

[bostonman]

But stop press! The final portion of the second act buffo patter duet was also encored!!!! So two encores for the price of one admission or in my case as heard via the MET 3/12/16 broadcast.

 

The encore of the patter duet has been a standard addition in every Met performance of the opera lately, going back to the run of the same production in 2010-11. That wasn't new for today. (I heard the opening performance on Sirius last week - Camarena didn't do his encore then, but the encore of the patter duet was there.)

 

And yes, bravo Camarena! Incidentally, he's coming back to the Met to sing in I Puritani next year. (And if sung as written, he'll not only have C's, Db's and D's to wow us with, but a high F as well.)

 

Now, if only they could get a better conductor...right from the contorted tempos in the overture, Benini had me scratching my head.

[whipped guy]

The encore of the patter duet has been a standard addition in every Met performance of the opera lately, going back to the run of the same production in 2010-11. That wasn't new for today. (I heard the opening performance on Sirius last week - Camarena didn't do his encore then, but the encore of the patter duet was there.)

 

And yes, bravo Camarena! Incidentally, he's coming back to the Met to sing in I Puritani next year. (And if sung as written, he'll not only have C's, Db's and D's to wow us with, but a high F as well.)

 

Now, if only they could get a better conductor...right from the contorted tempos in the overture, Benini had me scratching my head.

I totally agree about the conducting as the overture was a total disaster the way Benini played around with excessive rubato in the first theme of the allegro. Of course when the theme appears as the cabaletta to Norina's aria he did the exact same thing. I wonder if the idea was his or the soprano's. At least they were consistent! Regarding the encore of the duet, I was surprised that it was done given the fact that Camerena was allowed his encore. Hence two for the price of one.

 

One other small factor... soprano Eleanora Buratto needs to learn how to trill properly. Otherwise she was decent.

 

Regarding next season's I Puritani it will be interesting to hear what Camerena does with the high F in his last act aria. Brownlee nailed it at a performance from a couple of years ago that I attended. When the lower option is taken it robs the vocal line of a certain amount of needed tension and flow at that point.

 

Incidentally I first heard of Camerena when fellow poster [uSER=3916]@xafnndapp[/uSER] mentioned him in this forum when Camerena sang Almaviva in Rossini's Barbiere at the Bellas Artes in Mexico City in 2012. Prior to that I had never heart of him. So a grazie tanto to xaf who certainly knows an interesting voice when he hears it!

[bostonman]

When the lower option is taken it robs the vocal line of a certain amount of needed tension and flow at that point.

 

True. Though it used to be pretty standard to have the high notes changed to Ab/Db as opposed to Db/F. In fairly modern times, it seems to me, Gedda and Pavarotti were the first major tenors to sing the high F (on their full recordings of the opera), albeit in a very pronounced head voice. (But of course that's closer to the way Bellini would have expected to hear it.)

[whipped guy]

True. Though it used to be pretty standard to have the high notes changed to Ab/Db as opposed to Db/F. In fairly modern times, it seems to me, Gedda and Pavarotti were the first major tenors to sing the high F (on their full recordings of the opera), albeit in a very pronounced head voice. (But of course that's closer to the way Bellini would have expected to hear it.)

Yes Pav and Gedda were the first ones to do it in recent times (the 1970's) as far as I know as well. William Matteuzzi does it in a live sans Sutherland recording conducted by Bonynge from Catania 1989. The Elvira is Mariella Devia. It initially was released commercially on Nuova Era. I was never a big Matteuzzi fan, but he is the only other one that I know of who has done it on a commercially released recording.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDh2qn0MUkg

 

Floréz did it in Las Palmas a number of years ago and then said that he was retiring the note from what I recall.

[bostonman]

Thanks, Whipped Guy - I hadn't heard that recording before. Impressive!

[+ Italiano]

I am going tomorrow to see don Pasquale at the MET!

 

This is a "modern" version of Barbiere which Camarena sang in Mexico City in 2012, here is the duet with Bartolo, an Italian bass-baritone.

Hope you like it @whipped guy

 

[whipped guy]

I am going tomorrow to see don Pasquale at the MET!

 

This is a "modern" version of Barbiere which Camarena sang in Mexico City in 2012, here is the duet with Bartolo, an Italian bass-baritone.

Hope you like it @whipped guy

 

Thanks [uSER=3916]@xafnndapp[/uSER]! It certainly gives a preview of what Camarena will be singing at the MET next season as he will be appearing in Barbiere.

 

Perhaps you can post your impressions after seeing Camarena live on stage at the MET in Don Pasquale. It will be interesting to see if he gets another encore!

 

Incidentally, with all due respect to Sr. Camarena if I were the Rosina in that Barbiere production I would have chosen to marry the Bartolo as opposed the Almaviva!

[+ Italiano]

He was SPECTACULAR! He encored the cabaletta (with variations) again and the audience was wild.

But he was also absolutely fantastic from beginning to end, singing beautifully and shaping phrases like very few times I heard. He also played a very enjoyable Ernesto on stage. It was thrilling!

Italian soprano was also quite good.

The rest was very disappointing.

[whipped guy]

Thanks [uSER=3916]@xafnndapp[/uSER] I certainly trust your good taste in such matters.

 

Here is the the cabaletta in question as posted by the MET and taken from the dress rehearsal. I like the way Camarena caresses the vocal line and lightens his voice in the closing section beginning with the words, "Se tu sei ben mio felice". Of course this sets up a nice contrast for the final measures including the interpolated stratospheric high D-flat! Just one example of the beautifully shaped phrases of which xaf speaks in his above posting.