Wagner

Hojotoho everybody! In celebration of Richard Wagner's birthday (which was actually yesterday) I have collected some YouTube clips!

http://youtube.com/watch?v=yhnf4hMX5kQ
finale of Die Walkure

http://youtube.com/watch?v=OuKy1DIktYw
a scene from Meistersinger

http://youtube.com/watch?v=rzy8-Xxhg1k&mode=related&search=
the prize song from Meistersinger

http://youtube.com/watch?v=XdMJvjpnsdc&mode=related&search=
a rehearsal of Lohengrin with Karita Mattila

http://youtube.com/watch?v=tAo_fTiZ2hY
and finally... Kirsten Flagstad singing Brunnhilde's battle cry!!

Hojohoto! =)

End of the Season Awards!

The end of the Metropolitan Opera season is not official until the fat lady sings... I mean, until we give out the awards. =) We give the awards to the good and the bad, the monstrosities and the muses, any one who did something special this season.


Worst acting:
Winner: Richard Margison

Worst singing:
Winner: Andrea Gruber in both Tosca and Turandot
Runner Up: women of the Met Chorus in some of the broadcasts
Third Place: Richard Margison

Best acting:
Winner: Renee Fleming in Eugene Onegin
Runner Up: Dmitri Hvorostovsky in Eugene Onegin
Third Place: Anna Netrebko in I Puritani

Opera with the best singing:
Winner: Il Barbiere di Siviglia
Runner Up: Eugene Onegin
Thrid Place: Die Zauberflote

Best singing by a male artist:
Winners: Rene Pape (sarastro) and Juan Diego Florez (almaviva)
Runners up: Dmitri Hvorostovsky (onegin) and David Daniels (cesare)

Most touching performance by a female artist:
Winner: Barbara Frittoli in Sour Angelica
Runner Up: Elene Evseeva in Boheme
Third Place: Liping Zhang as Liu in Turandot

Most touching performance by a male artist:
Winner: Ramon Vargas as Lenski in Onegin
Runner up: Marcello Giordani in Boheme
Third Place: Florez in Barbiere

Best Saturday Matinee Broadcast:
Winner: Eugene Onegin
Runner Up: I Puritani
Thrid Place: Il Barbiere di Siviglia
Fourth Place: Die Agyptische Helena

Worst Saturday Matinee Broadcast
Winners: Turandot (with Margison and Gruber) and La Boheme (everyone must have been sick)

Broadcast I would most like to hear again:
Winner: Jenufa with Karita Mattila
Runner up: Don Carlo
Third Place: Il Trittico

Best new production
Winner: Il Barbiere di Siviglia (singing and staging you could die for)
Runners Up: Madama Butterfly and Il Trittico

Opera I'm most sorry I missed:
Winner: La Traviata
Runners Up: Andrea Chenier, CR/Pagliacci

Operas I'm glad I went to:
Winner: Die Zauberflote
Runners up: Turandot (Sunnegardh) and Tosca (they're taking down that production soon!)

Highlights of the Year:
Rene Pape's Sarastro
James Morris's Scarpia
Juan Diego in Barbiere
Joyce DiDonato in Barbiere
Hvorostovsky and Fleming in Onegin
Anna Netrebko in Puritani
Domingo in First Emperor (even if the opera did pretty much stink)
La Gioconda (who knows when well see that again!)


Overall this season was fantastic. I'm going to miss this season so much! This was my first season at the Met Opera and I'm really happy it was. Bravi Tutti!