Today's Lucia
rich...@gmail.com
Curious on opinions. I've heard two of the four live in the house in
the run, and a chunk of the one earlier in the week. I thought this
was by far the best. Thought Netrenbko had nothing to apologize for or
explain - very good singing - yes, I noticed the one or two bubbles,
but so what - and I think she does bring something to the role and the
character. Her coloratura was cleaner than it has been. I like Piotr,
he's the best we've had in this in the last couple of years (notice
how quickly they dropped the cockamamie idea that Egdardo ends his
note before Lucia in the first act duet), but I thought he got just a
wee bit tired in the last aria, understandably so. Still, no real
dryness in the voice to speak of. Marius does very well and Ildar A
was a very fine Raimondo. This is much more Armiliato's cup of tea
than the Adriana.
LT
wrote:
Thumbs UP, throughout it all - unlike, alas, last week's Rigo.
Carlito Flamenco
I now feel that Bezcala belongs in the class of "sounds like
himself."He is so glorious...like the great tenors who are NOT
generic.....The man is really becoming a favorite...Will see him in
Rigoletto Thurs..
He and Mariusz should have subng the duet in
Polish...Mariusz.....another great voice...
Well next year they will be in Boheme together...CH
wkasimer
> I now feel that Bezcala
Pronounced "bechawa".
Bill
Paul Ferraro
she has been accused on Opera-L); but most importantly, for our purposes,
she is definitely not Joan Sutherland. I thought she sang well, but where
were the trills & the high notes? Would have preferred Damrau.
As for Mr, Beczala, again, while he made mostly very nice sounds (would it
KILL him to hold some of the climactic notes - they're really not very
high?), he is not the "greatest lyric tenor in the world" - at least not as
long as Marcello Alvarez still has a voice. Nor, is he the "second" Gedda -
not by a very long shot.
Liked the Enrico - best I've heard in this role since Bastianini & Nucci.
Ildar had a nice Slavic sound & I anticipate a fine Attila, despite Muti.
All-in-all a pleasant afternoon overall!
DonPaolo
----- Original Message -----
From: "Mura Kievman" <mkie...@NYC.RR.COM>
To: <OPE...@LISTSERV.BCCLS.ORG>
Sent: Saturday, February 07, 2009 6:02 PM
Subject: Re: Netrebko haters?
> At 05:40 PM 2/7/2009, you wrote:
>>Where are they, after today's broadcast? Did they find
>>their medication? Was Netrebko's performance the
>>equivalent of a bucket of water on the Wicked Witch?
>>Don't store up that bile! Unhealthy...
>>
>>C Mullins
>
>
> Are you sure you should categorize anyone who isn't enamored of Netrebko a
> "hater"? I for one don't think she is the second coming of the messiah
> but I also don't consider myself to be a hater. I DO think she is singing
> a lot of the wrong rep, and I'm not alone in that.
>
> I think, yet again, that Lucia is not for her. Much of it was very
> beautiful, but she doesn't have the easy high notes nor the required
> coloratura technique. I'm sure she was wonderful on stage.
>
> So no, I wasn't thrilled with her performance. OTOH, t was better than I
> had been expecting.
>
> If you think that is bile, then I guess we have to continue to disagree!
>
> Mura
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Andrew T. Kay
thing, I listened to a recording of the opera (one of the Callases)
earlier this week, and I really wasn't sure I liked LUCIA enough to
make the trek -- it's never been my favorite Donizetti. I could not be
more happy that I ultimately decided in favor of going. It was a first-
rate affair (or near enough) in every respect, and not only do I
concur with REG about Netrebko's coloratura being more precise than
I've heard it before, I also believe her voice has gained something in
fullness, especially in its upper third. She was a quite different
singer from the one I heard in the woeful Met PURITANI not terribly
long ago (broadcast and released on DVD). Both of today's lower-voiced
men were exceptionally good, and I cannot wait to hear the Raimondo as
Maestro Muti's Attila next season.
Todd K
PS: I've heard Ms. Garden's "wedding picture" staging of the sextet so
hotly debated for the last year and a a half, and without having seen
it, I thought it sounded like a somewhat clever idea. Having seen it,
I must side with those who find it a miscalculation. It was drawing
derisive snickers in the (mostly full) auditorium today. A distraction
without payoff, during the opera's musical high point.
Andrew T. Kay
production.
Todd K
clem
Why, thank you Bill. I didn't know that. Reminds me of how I
pronounce most of a certain someone's internet output.
"Bushwa"
Paul
ortru...@gmail.com
Eeeeeh. Well, Netrebko might have done better than in previous
performances, but is this still the appropriate rep for her? No
trills, less than perfect coloratura (particularly with chromatic
scales), breathing in odd places breaking the line of the cantilena,
etc. Is "passable" appropriate at this level? Having said that, I can
appreciate her coming back from some pretty overwhelming criticism to
sing what many have considered the best performance of Lucia in the
current run. I can also appreciate the inherent drama in the "will
Nebbie hit the Eb or not?" at the end of the Mad Scene. The feeling
that I had was that even she was uncertain as to whether she was going
to attempt it or not. As an aside, I really enjoyed the lower Eb in
the middle of the Mad Scene at the end of the cadenza...it is really
quite beautiful music that was scored for that moment and taking the
lower (come scritto) option adds to the pathos of the moment. Tossing
in an Eb in alt at that moment contributes more to a three ring circus
feel as opposed to a continuity in the drama. When I saw Dessay sing
Lucia last season she also took the lower option in the middle of the
Mad Scene but I didn't notice the music because I was focused on her
"choreography" at the moment...arms wrapped around herself and
spinning rather quickly in place like a figure skater.
Also, I thought it was a bit odd that at the stretta of the 2nd act
that Netrebko did not sing for quite a while, presumably to prepare
for her ascent to the D in alt. Lucia at this point is supposed to be
carrying the rather frantic melody of the close of the act and it was
very peculiar to not have the soprano line sung.
I never thought I'd say this, but a big "boo" and thumbs down to
Mariusz Kwiecien for holding on to the high G at the end of his duet
with Netrebko until *after* the last chords of the orchestra. Quite a
provincial move in my opinion.
Netrebko needs to be focusing on a different style of music. This is
just not where her talents are, and she is a talented singer and
actress. Just not for the bel canto roles, I'd like to see her sing
some of the roles that Georghiu specializes in such as Violetta, Mimi,
Magda, Nedda, Micaela, Marguerite, Liu and maybe even Tosca, Cio-Cio
San, Suor Angelica and the Trovatore Leonora (after she learns how to
trill).
-Ortrud Jones
LT
Carlito Flamenco
Actually..BIECHAWA.......I will check the pronounciation Thurs.when I
see him...ch
Carlito Flamenco
I have to ask Piotr why he and Mariusz did not sing the duet in
Polish...They will both be in Boheme next yr....Maybe they can do the
act four duet in their native language.
Mariusz oversings a bit...but it is a fabulous talent..All that sound
from a little guy....
I do not think Anna has the kind of depth of a Callas and not the
Sills/SDutherland fireworks..BUT what a great voice....and a shame
some idiots trash her.,.one of the great voices...perhaps in iothers
fachs...but not able to deny her magnificent tone.
Carlito Flamenco
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> - Show quoted text -
I am now feeling that Piotr "does not sound like anyone"(Gedda/
Wunderlich) because his gorgeous voice..like so many others we can
recognize easily..is just UNIQUE.....He sounds like "himself."
Onegin last Mon.and Thurs..and Lucia today and Duke Thurs. and Onegin
Sat.Matinee..a lot of singing..the voice is so secure and I am now
finding him my top favorite tenor....although I love Marcello so much
in another way..ch
Carlito Flamenco
Hi..Remember the movies..like the brodcasts are not the LIVE
THING....and in the case for example of Abrazakov.....he sounds so
mediocre live.....the others sound bigger..BUT live you derive the
ultimate pleasure....so I will never go to themovies as long as I can
see it live..but great for others not lucky enough to live in NY....
LT
That'd hark back to the days when Pinza sang Boris in Italian, while
his co-stars sang in Russian.
>
> Mariusz oversings a bit...but it is a fabulous talent..All that sound
> from a little guy....
Conversely, there was John McCormack, a huge man one would've guessed
to be a baritone or bass. He had one of the most elegant tenore
leggiero voices ever recorded.
Likewise - Peter Palmer, best-known as 'L'il Abner'.
> I do not think Anna has the kind of depth of a Callas and not the
> Sills/SDutherland fireworks..BUT what a great voice....and a shame
> some idiots trash her.,.one of the great voices...perhaps in others
> fachs...but not able to deny her magnificent tone.- Hide quoted text -
Oh, they deny that, too -for whatever 'joys' if affords them.
clem
Do you realize you made the same silly remark twice in this string?
Quoting your post from earlier today...
He and Mariusz should have subng the duet in
Polish...Mariusz.....another great voice...
and just now...
I have to ask Piotr why he and Mariusz did not sing the duet in
> Polish...
Also, you twice repeated a pun about "Polishing" someone's E flat.
I have resolved not to attack you any more, and this is not meant that
way. But is asking you to post less frequently, and less repetitively
mean or unfair?
Paul
LT
> and just now...
>
> I have to ask Piotr why he and Mariusz did not sing the duet in
>
> > Polish...
> Also, you twice repeated a pun >about "Polishing" someone's E flat.
Frankly, I've tried it with 'Russianing the E flat', 'Yugoslaving the
E flat' - and it just doesn't work too well.
Besides, 'Polished E flats' are at least as desirable as gravelly
ones - IMO.
Andrew T. Kay
> Hi..Remember the movies..like the brodcasts are not the LIVE
> THING....and in the case for example of Abrazakov.....he sounds so
> mediocre live.....the others sound bigger..
Well, you have heard him live and I have not, but he got fabulous
reviews in the Chicago papers for his part in the (generally
ecstatically received) Muti/CSO Verdi Requiem last month, and those
critics heard him "unfiltered" as you have. And in a thread on same
Requiem in RMCR, one very knowledgeable contributor, who has written
for the Met Guides, recalled with pleasure his up-close experiences
with IA's Escamillo and something else. So, there's an element of
subjectivity here, and there are also matters of specific venues to
consider.
> BUT live you derive the
> ultimate pleasure....so I will never go to themovies as long as I can
> see it live..but great for others not lucky enough to live in NY....-
There are all sorts of advantages and disadvantages to living in any
major city. Sometimes you might be closer to a good operatic
performance, while I'm being thankful for the better weather I'm
getting, or something. ;)
Todd K
Ragnar
"rich...@hotnail.com" <rich...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:a5bbf192-6f81-45b9...@v39g2000yqm.googlegroups.com...
I liked the glass harmonica. The ethereal effect suited the scene very well.
Perhaps other productions will use the idea.
R.
Andrew T. Kay
> I liked the glass harmonica. The ethereal effect suited the scene very well.
> Perhaps other productions will use the idea.
The glass harmonica seems to follow Netrebko around in this music. One
also is used on the recording of the Mad Scene alone that appears on
her second DG solo album, with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra conducted
by Abbado (Claudio, that is).
I agree that it is of enormous benefit to the scene, and once I had
heard it played that way, I had a harder time putting up with the more
common alternative. (Ditto for "The Aquarium" from Saint-Saens's
Carnival of the Animals.)
Todd K
LT
Does anyone happen to recall which commercial Lucia recording was the
first to feature the glass harmonica?
Ancona21
>
> Conversely, there was John McCormack, a huge man one would've guessed
> to be a baritone or bass. >
No. Only you, Fatso. At last the fat has reached your head. Everybody
else knows there is no correlation between body size and voice size.
Ancona21 (pronounced 'Wojohowitz')
LT
> On Feb 7, 11:55 pm, LT <LeonardT2...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
>
> > Conversely, there was John McCormack, a huge man one would've guessed
> > to be a baritone or bass. >
La Stinkperv blubberina bollmann 'quips':
>Fatso
Yes, was your hyaenid ma as fat, or fatter than you (not counting your
schizo 'alters').
>At last the fat
That, and the rest of your ordure, haven't reached your head(s),
Stinkie - they've already been part of it.
>there is no correlation between >body size >and voice size.
Not always true, Stinkie. For example -you are a runty pipsqueak.
And your sound is a mini-cackle/guffaw compensating in sheer stench
for what it lacks in power.
>> Ancona/ljo21 Bollmann (pronounced 'sh%>^-he#d'')
Everybody knows that, Stinkie, but it bears repeating.
dabl...@aol.com
finding him my top favorite tenor....although I love Marcello so much
Your favorite tenor?
What a fucking clown you are.
After reading post after post, year after year, this mediocre tenor
would have been lucky to sing Normano or Arturo to Pavarotti, Gedda,
Tucker, Carerras, Kraus,
Today I would prefer Vargas, Alvarez, or Alagna. Villazon 3 years ago
would have sung circles around what I heard yesterday.
Is the new standard for a standing ovation merely getting through the
role without major incident? I suggest everyone who thinks Bezcala
the second coming to please relisten to the "Tu che dio" again.
This would not pass an audition. He made it, whoopie!
He sang it with three completely unconnected voices. and the middle
voice was truly FUGLY!
As to your loving Giordani in another way keep your sick perverted
thoughts to yourself. Maybe you should revisit the Pirata broadcast
and let us all know exactly what you love about this inconsistant
tenor. He sang that and many more performances like a beast in
pain.
You of all people should be able to recognize we have ZERO superstars
singing today. Zaijick is the only one left after Millo went down.
Try and name one soprano or tenor in the same league as Caballe,
Corelli, Sutherland, or Tucker. NADA zip zilch and you know it.
cub...@gmail.com
> Hi..Remember the movies..like the brodcasts are not the LIVE
> THING....and in the case for example of Abrazakov.....he sounds so
Amen. Because it was Netrebko, I boarded the C&J bus at 6 a.m, and the
Delta Shuttle at 9:30 a.m., and cabbed into "Manhattan" at 11 a.m.,
and handed in my $221.50 ticket to the nice caped gentleman at 12:15
p.m. Isn't it pleasant that Mr Gelb has allowed the ticket-takers to
do their work half an hour earlier? Gosh, think of the champagne and
coffee and salmon sandwiches that the Met can sell in that extra
thirty minutes! Why didn't Joe Vope think of that?
I was in Row I off to the left, almost under one of those howitzer-
sized video cameras. Cameras everywhere, indeed. There was a little
robot camera on a track running along the forward edge of the stage,
and a big robot arm coming down from the left (north) boxes, plus the
howitzers, I assume four of them at least.
But the opera. I do like Lucia, which I suppose is the equivalent of
movie soundtrack music, but ever so hummable. I thought this
production (I have seen three productions at the Met) was particularly
good. I liked the ghost, for example. There was also a thing about
November hardwood branches, which seemed to increase in quantity with
each curtain (rather like the black bits in the governess's dress in
the movie version of Turn of the Screw). And there was the Ghost, who
was a great addition, I thought. This even I showed the Anna Moffo
movie for my granddaughters, and I really missed the Ghost, and so did
they. (I had explained it to them.) They kept asking: "Is this where
the Ghost comes in?"
Netrebko. I have earlier remarked with respect to Romeo and Juliet
that her voice at the beginning had a metallic sound, much different
than when I first saw her in I Puritani. This time it was only
noticable when she cranked up the decibels. It seemed to me that
Netrebko Loud was rather harsh, but Netrebko Soft was just lovely.
There was a German-accented gentleman to my right who said to his
consort: "This is the best Lucia I have (haff) ever seen. Better than
Sutherland!" I don't know about that, but overall she was wonderful.
I thought she was plumper than before, and perhaps a bit thicker in
the waist. It was hard to tell with the Victorian costumes.
Anyhow. I have been to most of the Met HD broadcasts this year, at the
Showcase Cinema in Revere MA, an hour and fifteen minutes from my
house. I've enjoyed them all. But broadcasts are not live! I look
forward to seeing the Lucia on PBS and later (I assume) on DVD. But it
is not the same as live.
Blue skies! -- Dan Ford
CHSIII
LT
Thanks. Glad I've got it.
Best
LT
LT
Please, let's leave boll and kazzi out of this.
wagnerfan
news:MIadnbVGP-eUGRLU...@earthlink.com...
> Sills.
>
> Does anyone happen to recall which commercial Lucia recording was the
> first to feature the glass harmonica?
I thought it was the first Sutherland but the libbretto with the set makes
no mention of it so I think its the Sills. Wagner fan