Dvoark's RUSALKA at the Met: 5/3/97
dkessler
It is too bad we had to wait so long to find Rene Fleming in what is
probably, IMO, her best role to date at the Met which is that of the
water maiden who wants to gain human love and fails. However, Rene
Fleming's Rusalka is no 'chilly water fairy'. Hers was a finely nuanced
performance vocally and dramatically. Rene has that 'will-o-'the wisp'
figure that makes the role credible. As much as Gabriela Benackova won
our hearts when she created the role at the Met a few season back, by
comparison, Benackova's acting was a bit 'wooden' or 'cold' whereas
Fleming takes us from the innocent of Act I to the worldy dsappointment
of act III where she finally sinks into the depths of the woodsie lake.
From the very first scene, we enter the world of enchanted lakes and
forests where we find a trio of nymphs which shows their normal, playful
life before we are introduced to Rusalka who wishes to break away from
this life to enter the world of humans. With the 'Song of the Moon', the
best known 'aria' from the opera and in subsequent scenes, Dvorak shows
great skill in nature painting with scenes of moonlight, dawn and
rippling water. Musically, there is a strong influence of Wagner
[LOHENGRIN?].
The father-like figure' water gnome' is a part Dvorak envisioned as a
cross bet'n Wotan and Alberich and you couldn't ask for a better
interpreter than the cavernous voiced Sergei Koptchak. The role of the
Prince to which Rusalka falls in love was taken by Chris Merritt and
normally the role of the Prince is dramatically colorless, but I did not
find it so in the hands of Chris Merritt. Im'n not saying that he was
superior to the Prince of Ben Hepner. However, I enjoyed Chris Merritt
more in this role than some Rossini he's done. The roles of 3 water
sprites were in the capable hands of Carol Meyer, Katheryn Krasovec and
Reveka Mavrovitis.
In the scenes with those characters other than sprites and the witch
Jezibaba, Rusalka is a 'mute' part. In Act II, Rusalka is pitted against
the Foreign Princess, a dramatic soprano, sung impressively by Frances
Ginzer in her first solor role at the Met. I suppose our natural
inclination in opera is to have a vocal exhange bet'n the two since the
Foreign Princess represents womanhood whose sexual powers are pitted
against Rusalka's passionless love and inability to speak and thereby we
are frustrated with a 'mute' character. Still, Dvorak and his librettist
knew what they were doing and wanted this contrast and it works, if you
give it a chance and if you are lucky enought to have a Rusalksa whose
glamour and presence can override the 'mute' thing.
You couldn't possibly ask for a better Jezibaba than mezzo Delora Zajick,
a portrait to relish and if she chooses to cross the stage in 3 steps,
then that is what witches do! There is nice humor injected into the
opera by the appearance by the Gamekeeper and the Skullery boy [trouser
role] as done by James Courtney and Kristine Jepson. Dvorak builds from
the Czech folk idiom and his unique distillation of that melos has an
undeniable lyrical quality.
That the performance this afternoon which preceeded Wagner's
GOETTERDAEMMERUNG was a success was in part owed to John Fiore's
conducting. RUSALKA is not an easy opera for some and has taken a long
time to gain a foothold in opera companies outsided Dvorak's homeland.
Fiary tales can tell us a lot about ourselves and Dvorak and his
librettist give us a lot of food for thought. Only 2 more performances
of RUSALKA before the season closes.
roger
We (four of us) saw the Rusalka performance of May 3 from the Grand Tier
center (rear). One of us had some trouble hearing Renee Fleming, especially
in Acts I and II. Did others have that problem? The "old ears" with the
difficulty with Ms. Fleming had no problem with the other singers.
The opera got mixed reviews from our group. None of us had heard it before.
The music is beautiful, but the story is incoherent event by operatic
standards. I found it a bit gloomy for a fairy tale; my recollection is
that the witch gets the only gag in the script when she eyes the kitchen
boy and opines that he is too skinny to eat. Chris Merritt's voice was
unpleasant. We thought Frances Ginzer as the Princess and Koptchak as the
Gnome were great.
Any other reactions? Mr. Kessler liked it a lot, obviously.
Matt Sagal
dkessler <dkes...@yorick.ny.cybernex.net> wrote in article
<E9MuA...@nonexistent.com>...
dkessler
difficulty in hearing Ms. Fleming. Can't explain that!
Sara Freeman
In <E9MuA...@nonexistent.com> dkessler
<dkes...@yorick.ny.cybernex.net> writes:
>
>It is too bad we had to wait so long to find Rene Fleming in what is
>probably, IMO, her best role to date at the Met which is that of the
>water maiden who wants to gain human love and fails. However, Rene
>Fleming's Rusalka is no 'chilly water fairy'. Hers was a finely
nuanced
>performance vocally and dramatically. Rene has that 'will-o-'the wisp'
>figure
?????????????????????????
that makes the role credible.
--
Don't boycott the Vienna Philharmonic . . . boycott K-Mart
. . oh, and be sure to eat at Wendy's at least once a week.
dkessler
Sounds to me that like you are not familiar with this opera which is
possible since this was the 10th performance of the work at the Met on
Saturday matinee unless you caught that dreafully inadequate rendition
of it at Julliard some years ago.
If you saw it at the Met, it is definitely worth seeing it with Rene
before you make up your mind. Rene beautifully overcomes the 'mute'
thing which is a block for some people. Totally credible! I understand
it is her favorite role and I can see why. This cast can hardly be
topped!
King
dkessler <dkes...@yorick.ny.cybernex.net> wrote:
>>>It is too bad we had to wait so long to find Rene Fleming in what is
>>>probably, IMO, her best role to date at the Met which is that of the
>>>water maiden who wants to gain human love and fails. However, Rene
>>>Fleming's Rusalka is no 'chilly water fairy'. Hers was a finely
>>nuanced
>>>performance vocally and dramatically. Rene has that 'will-o-'the wisp'
>>
>>>figure
For those that missed the Met performances, there was a broadcast of
Rusalka with Fleming on NPR from Washington Concert Opera Performances
in 1994. Great sound allows you to wallow in the lushness of Renee's
voice.
Sara Freeman
In <E9pKr...@nonexistent.com> dkessler
<dkes...@yorick.ny.cybernex.net> writes:
>
>fre...@ix.netcom.com(Sara Freeman) wrote:
>>
>>In <E9MuA...@nonexistent.com> dkessler
>><dkes...@yorick.ny.cybernex.net> writes:
>>>
>>>probably, IMO, her best role to date at the Met which is that of the
>>>water maiden who wants to gain human love and fails. However, Rene
>>>Fleming's Rusalka is no 'chilly water fairy'. Hers was a finely
>>nuanced
>>>performance vocally and dramatically. Rene has that 'will-o-'the
wisp'
>>
>>>figure
>>
>>?????????????????????????
>>
>>that makes the role credible.
>>
>>
>>--
>>Don't boycott the Vienna Philharmonic . . . boycott K-Mart
>> . . oh, and be sure to eat at Wendy's at least once a week.
>
>Sounds to me that like you are not familiar with this opera which is
>possible since this was the 10th performance of the work at the Met on
>Saturday matinee unless you caught that dreafully inadequate rendition
>of it at Julliard some years ago.
>If you saw it at the Met, it is definitely worth seeing it with Rene
>before you make up your mind. Rene beautifully overcomes the 'mute'
>thing which is a block for some people. Totally credible! I
understand
>it is her favorite role and I can see why. This cast can hardly be
>topped!
>
I just don't think you could exactly call Fleming's figure a
"will-o-the-wisp." That's the only point I was trying to make.
James Jorden
dkessler wrote:
> Rene Fleming in what is
> it is worth seeing with Rene
> Rene beautifully overcomes
She's a girl. Her name is thus Rene'e (pardon the clumsy accent).
There is only one Rene', and *he* is going to be one of the worlds
biggest opera stars of the early 21st century. Voice, style, looks --
Rene' Pape has got it all!
PS: Give poor Dvorak a break too, ok?
--
james jorden
jjo...@ix.netcom.com
http://www.anaserve.com/~parterre
"Without Jews, Gypsies and homosexuals, there is no theater."
-- Mel Brooks in "To Be or Not to Be"