David Pomeroy's Met Debut
REG
I wasn't sure if I wanted to hear a relative unknown in this, a few
kind correspondents wrote to me and said that he was a fine singer,
and I shouldn't miss him. If the evening wasn't quite "A Star is
Born", they were generally right about him, and I think him a valuable
addition to the French wing of any roster.
To get it out of the way, he is about 34 or so, and though he was the
understudy and performed the last two acts at the dress, this was
actually his MET debut, and his role debut (!!!), and he was given
notice that he was going on at 3:30 this afternoon. In other words, he
had only slightly more time to get ready that he had to be on stage
once the opera started. He seemed remarkably self assured - if you
didn't know the circumstances, you wouldn't have guessed - except in
his duets with Antonia (Netrebko), where he lost a bit of focus and
was obviously more thinking about staying on the same page with her
than anything else.
The MET hasn't had in recent years a lot of truly "French" tenors
singing French repertoire - certainly not Hoffmann - , and Pomeroy,
who is Canadian by background (and surely grew up speaking the
language) really is a French tenor. I think of anyone whom I've heard
live at the MET in this role, his French is more idiomatic, in that it
is unselfconscious, than either Kraus or Gedda, and I think head and
shoulders above everyone else that I've heard live here. Since opera
is at least in part about the words for some of us, this is not
unimportant, although MET audiences often have, sadly, more
provinicial taste in this area. I thought that for the most part, his
phrasing and musicianship were also first rate; he doesn't overweight
the line with dramatic emphasis at the cost of a continuous flow (and
for me, this is one of the keystones of at least one true French
style), and yet I always found him interesting to listen to. It's
impossible under these circumstances to say how 'good' an actor he
might be or not, but he was more engaging, sponteneous and youthful
than Calleja (a singer whom I value a great deal), and I suspect he
can be quite winning.
The voice is a more-than good sized lyric for the MET, and in any of
the repertoire he's likely to sing, the size of the voice is greater
than, say, Gedda or Kraus, and actually not much different in size
than Pavarotti, speaking purely in terms of size of voice. In other
words, you don't have to lean forward to hear him, and he doesn't have
to push, and destroy all phrasing and tone quality, to be heard.
What was only ocassionally present last night was a kind of ring at
the top of the voice that MET audiences in particular are used to,
although it's hardly the only way to sing, and one can think of many
very fine French and German(ish) singers, including Jonas Kaufmann,
with whom that ringing top is not always associated. In fact, again I
understand from a pretty reliable source that he was nervous tonight
(what a surprise), and as the acts progressed, the voice seemed to
become brighter and brighter on top, although to be totally candid
even in the last act there were times when the sound was much darker,
although obviously (to me) he is singing correctly, and we are really
just talking about differences in basic instruments.
The question to me is really one of how individual the timbre of the
voice is going to be after he settles down a bit. At the moment, the
one reservation I'd actually have about him would be if the voice has,
or develops, a kind of 'signature', in which case I think it could be
a very interesting career. If that element doesn't emerge, he may end
up as more of a utility singer, although we've certainly done much
worse with much bigger names in this repertoire. Some may remember the
'star is born' event about two years ago (again, opposite Netrebko),
when Joseph Kaiser deputised in Romeo with her. That event was, I
think, more of a let down, and although comparisons are invidious and
unfair, they are also human nature, and I think that Pomeroy has much
more of operatic gifts (not least in the size of voice) than Kaiser.
I, for one, would welcome him back in all the MET's French repertoire,
and while I see on his home page that he's done a fair amount of the
lyric and almost spinto Italian repertoire (and also a fair amount of
Slavic opera, plus Britten), I would hope he didn't put any more
weight into the voice, and stayed away from the bread-and-butter
Italian roles, where I think he will always be hard-pressed to make an
individual mark.
As to the rest of the cast, there was the rest of the cast. The
brightest thing, in my view, was the conducting of John Keenan (also
making his debut - lol), and though he's obviously working from
"someone else's" template, I thought that the orchestra had a much
better sense of line and elegence in the phrasing....don't push the
river, sometimes it flows by itself. Even if Anna Netrebko sounds a
little pressed on top sometimes (in the house, it really often sounds
like she has to push up to notes between an F at the top of the staff
and a B natural or so, and the middle is getting very dark to my
ears), and if her French has a great deal of Russian-ness in it, still
she converys a certain sense of genuine and sincere feeling, and
despite a couple of odd moments at the very beginning, it was a very
intense and heartfelt performance. Beyond this, there's almost nothing
good I can say other than that Alan Held, at least dramatically, has
somewhat grown into the part since the prima, and that if someone
would sit with Kate Lindsey (Nicklausse) and really pay attention to a
sense of an uninterrupted singing line, I would probably like her as
much as I know I am supposed to. Beyond this (and even with this),
it's not much more than a work-a-day cast, and seemingly already a
rather tired one at that.
Still, the evening was sold out, and P T Barnum's level of accuracy
may exceed even that of Petyon Manning.
wkasimer
(snip)
Thanks for the excellent review, REG. I hope to hear more from
Pomeroy, and will be curious to hear how he sounds when he isn't a
last-minute substitute.
Bill
edo...@gmail.com
I liked him quite a bit, to judge only by the Sirius broadcast. To my
ears, he did have the sound of a "French" tenor, and he seemed very
much at home in the language. Size cannot be judged on Sirius, but I
was told by a few friends who were there that the voice carried well,
and had a kind of "ring" on top. Since I have already seen two with
Calleja, I wouldn't mind seeing Pomeroy, should he sing on Saturday,
when I will be in the theater. Of course, I hope Calleja's health
improves. This seems to be the second cold he has had in this run. He
had a cold just before the opening performance, and now seems to have
another cold near the end of the run. I can't imagine it's the same
cold, since he sang well for quite a few performances with no trace of
a cold.
Good to know that sometimes a relatively unheard of singer can step up
to the plate and do such a fine job. Attention Peter Gelb!
Ed
rich...@gmail.com
kind of interesting when I consider how the voice sounds.
On Dec 31, 8:15 am, wkasimer <wkasi...@comcast.net> wrote:
stefano
I obviously disagree on Pomeroy. At least from what I heard on
Sirius, the voice has really nothing to go for it: size, timbre, or
beauty. I also didn't think his French was particularly good (but I
live with a native speaker); not bad, but anyone with a decent ear
could tell that he was not himself French. Of course, a definitive
judgment should not be made on the basis of a cover filling in at
almost the last minute (and the MET, to boot). That said, unlike
Calleja, I would not go out of my way to hear Pomeroy. On the rest, I
generally agree with your review. I do not feel that Antonia is a
particularly good role for Netrebko, who I normally like very much.
After three Sirius broadcasts and the live HD telecast, she has yet to
turn in a really good performance, one on par with her other successes
at the Met. Also, we agree on Keenan's fine conducting.
Frank A.
rich...@gmail.com
I am glad we agree on the conductor (really!).
Just to be clear, I wasn't saying that I thought he was a Francophone,
and it didn't occur to me that his primary language was French, but
that he was so comfortable with it, and really to me unselfconscious,
that the growing up in Canada, I assumed, had something to do with it.
I would ask you, putting aside Gedda and Kraus, whose French in this
role you think has been clearer and more natural in flow in this role
at the MET. I can't think of one, which doesn't mean there isn't one.
Gedda was always wonderful (and I guess still is, lol) in languages,
but I sometimes thought that, for the sake of clarity, pungency was
often sacrificed, and not just in French. I sometimes felt like it was
a language lesson with him. Kraus was great in so much, but somehow I
never would have mistaken his enunciation as French, although of
course he was sovereign in so many French roles. This was to me just
unlabored and natural sounding French, without having to make too much
or too little of the enunciation. And I thought the rhythm of the
langauge, which is critical for me, he got.
I think Netrebko has grown as an artist, and that's what I was trying
to get to. Particularly in the aria, she was really intense and
committed. This was not her before her pregnancy. I am beginnning to
wonder if she is pushing the voice too much....I did not like what I
heard in terms of effort to move into the notes above the staff.
All best for the New Year!
> Frank A.- Hide quoted text -
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Stoned
is not his fault - and that is an individual beautiful timbre which he
simply doesn't have at least to my ears.
On Dec 31, 5:02 pm, "richer...@hotnail.com" <richer...@gmail.com>
wrote:
> > - Show quoted text -- Hide quoted text -
rich...@gmail.com
but the middle of the voice, at softer volumes, had a really nice
quality that made me sit up straight. Did you hear that also? I don't
know if it's coming or going, but I agree with you on the natural
beauty issue generally with the voice. That wouldn't sto me from
liking him, and I think we need to give him a little more of a chance,
and some more singing under his belt, to see where it goes.
All best
stefano
wrote:
Reg, on French enunciation, I have never heard a non-French tenor
whose enunciation really was perfect, and that includes Gedda who some
actually regard as a French tenor. To my ears, thought there are
small differences between the best of the non-French tenors who sung
French roles, none really seem to have the pure vowel sounds, or the
correct "r" that one hears in native French singers (Henri Legay is my
personal favorite, when it comes to purity of French). Accordingly, I
never really expect that much, on this score, when I hear non-French
tenors. That said, very rarely were accents so bad that it is almost
offensive (e.g., Jan Peerce in the Carmen recording with Stevens and
Merrill -- while his Italian was quite good, I don't think he ever
really worked on his French, as Tucker did in later years). So,
Pomeroy's French was fine, so far as I am concerned. The fact that he
is from Manatoba, not Quebec, means he has no real advantage as a
Canadian (in my experience Anglo Canadians are no better in French
than those of us in the USA). Regarding voice, I did listen to the
whole opera and thought that Pomeroy indeed got better, although his
duet with Netrebko was not good at all. It was not at all my
intention to trash him, as some intemperate fool suggests on another
post, but rather to suggest that this is probably not a role a
relatively young, inexperienced tenor ought to perform, even as a
cover. Hoffmann is such a challenging role that even highly regarded
tenors such as Tucker and Domingo sang it relatively rarely and for
only relatively brief periods in their careers. That said, I don't
regard Pomeroy, based on what I heard over Sirius, as one of the
really bright up and coming or newly established tenor prospects
(e.g., Villazon,Calleja, Costello, Kaufmann, Pirgu, Kim). I hope I am
wrong, as nothing would please me more than being proved misinformed
on the basis of an ill-founded, preliminary judgment. The more great
voices the merrier. All the best to you for the coming year, too. I
really enjoy reading your posts.
Frank A.
edo...@gmail.com
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Agree about Peerce, but would also add Corelli in Romeo and Carmen and
Werther and Faust, and Pavarotti in anything he attempted to sing in
French. His Werther aria was beyond recognition as far as words were
concerned. He never sang the role, but did sing the big aria in
concert relatively often.
Ed
stefano
wrote:
Yes, Ed, Corelli and Pavarotti (and Freni, too, if we add sopranos)
were poor in French enunciation. Having spent a lot of time in both
France and Italy, I can always detect the heavy accent one has in
speaking the other's language. So, for me, this is almost normal, as
opposed to Peerce's French on the Carmen which is both bad and
unfamiliar. Of course, there are Italians whose French is really
excellent, such as Pippo, but they are relatively rare. As you know,
until fairly recently, when French opera was performed in Italy it
tended to be done in Italian, and I can recall my first Rigoletto in
Paris in 1965 sung in French.
Frank A.
edo...@gmail.com
Who was in the cast of this French Rigoletto? Was it Mesple? Maybe
Bacquier, who I would have loved to hear and see in Rigoletto in any
language!
Ed