Flat out of Luc
REG
its second run of the season, with a different and much superior cast,
and with the most obvious elements of wretched excess from the
production expunged; while the musical result was a distinct
improvement on the prima casting, all could be accomplished with the
otherwise was to turn Luc Bondy's shabby little shocker into a
shabby, small series of disappointments.
Bryn Terfel's Scarpia no longer attempts frottage with a statue of the
Virgin Mary in Act I, the gratuituous prostitutes of Act II are now
closer to Charlie's Angels than Nights of Cabiria, Tosca and Scarpia
have forsaken Twister on the floor of Palazzo Farnese,and while Tosca
continues to lie back on a couch rather than fleeing at the end of Act
II, at least she no longer fans herself while apparently waiting for
Spoletta to bring her a mint julep. If we no longer have a Tosca-on-a-
stick at the end of the opera, popping out over the Tiber, still, the
stairs are far too shallow and few in number to allow any believable
tension as Tosca clambers to the top, and no amount of sudden
crespuscular lighting (the sun is rising, is it not, or is there
perhaps a total eclipse of the sun?) can create any rational space or
timing for Tosca to disappear from the parapet.
Each of the three acts now seems not so much offensive to the detailed
plan of the libretto (the program notes, which were apparently
sequestered from Mr. Bondy, clearly state "Puccini, for his part,
cared a good deal about accuracy, directing precise inquiries to
friends in Rome......") as simply disconnected from the other acts in
style, as if Bondy had borrowed from three different productions: the
only cruxiform church in Rome without windows or interior sources of
light, a Farnese Palace decorted by Maurice Vallency and a Castel
Sant'Angelo which looks like it had had a good going-over by Viollet-
le-Duc.
Terfel is perhaps the draw of the evening, and there's no doubt that
he is one of the great stage animals in the lyric theatre today. He
conveys the impression of absolute physical confidence and utter
sponteneity, and his Scarpia is filled with countless small personal
touches and reactions that show a singer with the most keen possible
intellectual and emotional resources to turn all eyes upon him at
every moment. Terfel is alive to the possibility of every word and
nuance of what occurs on stage - this is real-time drama for him - and
not a moment is by rote, or goes by without having escaped a
tremendously impressive sensitivity and awareness of the possiblities
of his personality.
What he is not, however, is Scarpia. I wondered, half-way through the
evening, if this is what Chaliapin had done (the Ibert movie is far
better than some contemporary reports of his presence on stage in
earlier decades, where he was accused of being far too often,
Chaliapin), and I drifted back at some point to his Giovanni from
Vervier this year, which was uncannily like his Scarpia tonight. Mr.
Terfel does many things, but he does not, at any point, think to
subordinate his own magnificent personality to the character. Terfel
gives us every possible element of the most frightening and effective
thug/Scarpia that one can imagine - his body language, indeed his use
of his lower jaw and his eyes to intimidate, are riveting. But he
doesn't go beneath this to anything more complex or subtle, or
anything more specific, that Scarpia might be, and though the pure
strength of the personality, and the ruthless conviction of what he is
doing, carry much before it, it is all ultimately somewhat generic,
and somewhat one-dimensional, however closely observed the detail.
One wonders whether a good director might have helped. Some of the
most otiose and juvenile passages in the direction for Scarpia had
been omitted, much to the good, but perhaps Terfel needed someone to
really come in and redirect, and I doubt, frankly, that the MET
provided this kind of time or rehearsal. It may have been that Terfel
had to fall back to a type because the original direction was simply
too puerile to recreate - actors, even very fine ones, don't always do
well without strong direction - but though this was, overall, a fine
achievement, the mesmerization factor drifted off as the second act
wound on.....even the most fleet of animals can't run at full speed
for too long without tiring. One can't help wondering a bit, though,
if this is not perhaps, the classroom's brightest boy getting by on
his wit, rather than his homework. I thought him saving the voice a
bit in the first act, but he has all the notes, and more than that, he
can lay on a wonderful sense of pure legato in soft passages.
I have seen Jonas Kaufmann as Cavaradossi in Zurich about a year ago,
and though I preferred him there - the house is a half to a third the
size of the MET, and the orchestra sparer in strings - this was
overall a very fine outing for him. The voice is very dark, and when
he tries to sing softly (as he did so well in Act III) the uneveness
between the registers is highlighted, sometimes disturbingly so, but
the upper voice really rings out, and he has the breath line and
clarity of diction to sustain the role effectively. He was far and
away preferable to Mr. Alvarez, who, while he presented one of the
best things he had done at the MET in recent years, was still generic
in acting and anonymous in tone. I have see Kaufmann do some very
subtle things with Cavaradossi - including, interestingly, conveying
just before he is shot that he realizes that the game is up - but the
MET staging, which places him far upstage, and with little room to
move, won't allow that, and he seemed less able to really develop the
kind of character he has been able to do elsewhere. This may never
really be his house, although I hope that is not the case, but there
is not doubt that this is a major singer who is still developing and
promises still, I think, much more.
Miss Racette was an all-American Tosca. She did far better with the
role than I expected, and though the voice can be cool and a bit
uninvolved, she was an intense and careful actress and phrased
lavishly (including taking the ascent to the Bb of her aria without a
break) While Karita Mattila praised Bondy's directorial skills, I
thought it ironic that Racette really was far more a Tosca, vocally
and dramatically, than Mattila, who, even more in retrospect, lacks
elements of the voice, and any real native feeling for the character.
Racette seemed to tire a bit at the end, and it is hard to know, for a
mid-season revival, just how much time all the singers have in
preparation, but if Miss Racette did not, as they say, efface memories
of the past, neither did she make one feel deprived by the present,
and that, in these days, is itself an accomplishment.
Fabio Luisi seems a favorite of the orchestra, which applauded him at
the curtain quite prominently and, I suspectd, deliberately. I thought
that there was far too much stop-and-go (he and MIss Racette had some
differences of opinion in the second act, but that can happen), and if
the evening wasn't much slower than usual, it felt as if it often
lacked propulsion.
Afficianados of the house will be delighted, however, to learn that
intermissions remain as long as ever; there has been no skimping on
that end, certainly. More than worth a visit this time around for the
two men in particular, but still one wishes that this cast had had the
benefit of reheasal of the first cast.
edo...@gmail.com
I have never in my life been to a peformance of Tosca with an 8PM
curtain that ended just past 11:30. This is outreagous, IMO. Tosca
used to end at the Met at about 10:50. So tonight we had 90 minutes of
intermissions for an opera that is about 100-105 minutes of music!!
Absurd. And the 45 minutes needed to "set up" Act 3, which has
absolutely no sets at all, but appeared as a bare stage, was more than
ridiculous, I thought. I thought Kaufmann was wonderful, with a really
brilliant, bright top that almost betrays his very dark middle and
upper middle. For me, he covers too low: sometimes on Eb's and E
naturals, but he sings so well that it really didn't bother me.
Racette was an all American Tosca, I thought, much in the way that
Dorothy Kirsten was. A lot more warmth of voice would have been very
welcome, and I thought she tired very noticably in the middle of Act
2, before the Vissi d'arte. The long breath, or not breathing before
the high Bb in the aria was interesting, but I didn't think the aria
was very successful, as she flattened badly on the two notes following
the Bb- the Ab and the G. She seemed spent, and, IMO, remained that
way, more or less, for the remainder of the opera.
I agree about Terfel, but did think he sang extremely well, especially
in Act 2.
Luisi was lanquid at times, with the first act coming in at about 50
minutes, which is about 5 or 6 minutes longer than usual, but I did
like his conducting.
Best,
Ed
JKH
>still, the
> stairs are far too shallow and few in number to allow any believable
> tension as Tosca clambers to the top, and no amount of sudden
> crespuscular lighting (the sun is rising, is it not, or is there
> perhaps a total eclipse of the sun?) can create any rational space or
> timing for Tosca to disappear from the parapet.
There speaks someone who never saw Jane Eaglen at the ENO.
JKH
REG
Agent Production!!! Doesn't that count??
REG
have problems with the intonation after the top Bb....I don't know
why, but they do....Magda always had problems coming off the note, and
the final 'cosi' is so often out of tune that it is almost written
into the score...it is in the wrong part of the voice, I think, and
usually the tone just spreads and spreads, I think.
I like Jonas a real lot, I didn't mean to say otherwise if I did.
All best
> Ed- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -
Ragnar
"JKH" <jkha...@jkharnedy.wanadoo.co.uk> wrote in message
news:2a3c8874-d234-4814...@j21g2000yqh.googlegroups.com...
I heard she made a big splash.
stefano
> "JKH" <jkharn...@jkharnedy.wanadoo.co.uk> wrote in message
Thanks to Richard and Ed for really fine reviews of the Tosca. As
someone who was very disappointed with both the original cast and the
Bondi production itself, I really wish I could have been in NYC for
this. Outside of Mozart or Wagner, I never have been a big Terfel
fan, never imagining he had to right type of baritone voice for
Puccini or Verdi. Few pleasures at the opera compare to unexpected
surprises, regarding singers or the works themselves, when one is
forced to reevaluate earlier judgments. Likewise, I had been turned
off initially by Kaufmann's baritonal timbre, one that struck me as
uncommonly un-Italian, though several youtube clips compelled a new
openness, particularly because of his exceptional technique and piano
voce. The only time I saw Racette live was in a Butterfly at
Florence's Comunale, where perhaps she just had a bad night; her Met
HD Butterfly, while not ideal, was very impressive, more for the
acting than any Tebaldi-like vocal moments. Given this background (or
perhaps baggage), I believe this Tosca would have been a particularly
interesting evening, not only superficially "enjoyable," but cause for
serious reflection on all points noted above. I imagine Sirius will
broadcast at least one additional Tosca before the season ends, so I
will at least have a "second best" opportunity to hear this cast.
Without Richard and Ed's comments, I would have been oblivious to what
had transpired, no longer having much faith in NYT reviews.
Frank A.
edo...@gmail.com
>
> - Show quoted text -
Stick with Richard for reviews. He is far superior to Tony
Tomassini!!!
Ed
stefano
I thought I intimated that. If there is any doubt, compare their
contrasting reviews of Fleming in her latest outing.
Frank A.