Bravo Domingo!!!! Audience Overflows at Domingo's Last Maurizio

The audience at the Metropolitan Opera's performance of Adriana Lecouvreur last night was far from its usual loud self. On the contrary, it was perfectly silent the whole evening. The one detected no-no was an overabundance of flash photography during curtain calls, but for once the nazi-ushers (I say that lovingly, of course) didn't cry out for "no photographs in the house!" Instead, they let the audience wallow in the greatness that was the presence of Placido Domingo and to bestow onto him every compliment and gesture of adoration we could muster.

In what was probably his final performance as Maurizio ever, Placido Domingo sang and acted as if he didn't have 40 years under his belt, but was still in his primmest prime. He doesn't put on airs, he does not act as if he is on top of the world (which he is, by the way), but he acts as he has always done: like the character he is playing. Acting like a dashing young prince can be difficult when you're an almost-70 [still dashing] king of opera, but it isn't hard to imagine any woman falling in love with Placido Domingo even when it is hard to imagine him riding into battle.

40 years ago Domingo debuted in this role opposite the illustrious Renata Tebaldi. Last night his final Adriana was Maria Guleghina who, despite what I have heard about her pushing, gave a wonderful vocal and dramatic performance. Olga Borodina was, as usual, the cool mezzo that she is, a worthy Princess to Domingo's probably intimidating Prince of Saxony. Her husband, played by John Del Carlo, was imposing and comic, towering over his colleagues and providing well needed comic relief. Roberto Frontali really stood out as Michonnet, the real tragic character in this opera, his powerful and beautiful voice that became the icing on this already stunning operatic cake.

What could possibly have been going through Domingo's mind last night as he stepped on to the stage? Could he have seen himself, 40 years younger, nerves bouncing off the wall, beside one of the greatest sopranos of all time? Could he have been reliving those glorious moments of his debut at the Met? Or is it possible that he didn't think of his debut at all, thinking only of the performance ahead and going over in his mind his endless knowledge of opera, its characters, and finding exactly what he needed for Maurizio?

Oh, Domingo, the world may never know.

Happy Listening! =)

Did No One Else Hear This?

NY Post: Page Six
December 18th, 2008
WE HEAR...
"THAT Placido Domingo is being touted as the next general manager of the Metropolitan Opera should Peter Gelb depart. The tenor would presumably quit his posts at the Washington National Opera and the LA Opera."


Did no one else see this on one of the most notorious gossip pages presumably in the country? Or am I the only gossip hound in the opera blogosphere?
However, I digress. The main point here is for me to say: WHAT THE HELL, PETER GELB, WE'RE ALREADY TALKING ABOUT YOUR RETIREMENT?
You just got here, for crying out loud! I don't mean to be rude, but quite frankly (if Peter Gelb doesn't mean to retire right away) wouldn't Placido Domingo be too old to take his place? I love him, I really do, but he has two other opera companies and I don't think it would be fair to them and their fans if he picked up and left them for the Met.
Peter Gelb leaving the Met was not on my radar at all until I saw this little blurb. Why would he leave? Why would he do this to us?
Yes, granted, the Met has been through some trying economic times, but isn't that part of the process of change? You need the valley to get to the mountain, right? That's no reason to ditch the whole project.

I'm getting ahead of myself. This is, after all, a gossip column. This could be totally fictitious in every way, shape, and form.
It's late, I'll revisit this in the morning.... or after Christmas.



Happy Listening!!!!!!
AND HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!!! =) =) =)

Domingo Replacing Alvarez in "Adriana Lecouvreur"

Crisis resolved. TBA deleted. Domingo is a superhero.
Not only does Placido Domigo get a gala in his honor, but the Met is also "letting him" (not exactly) jump into the role of Maurizio after not singing it there for 25 years! It was the role he debuted at the Met in (with Tebaldi) and he only performed it at the Met once more in 1983.
Marcelo Alvarez, as we all know, has to replace Salvatore Licitra in Trovatore and can not perform in any of the six performances of Adriana.
Well.... Let's just say Adriana ticket holders aren't complaining. I'm sure Maria Guleghina (the leading lady) isn't either.


Domingo! To the Rescue!


Happy Listening!!! =)

Placido Angelicus- Who's that guy with Domingo?

Placido Domingo sang "Panis Angelicus" for Benedict XVI during the pope's mass in Washington D.C. today.
This has officially been awarded the Score Desk Stamp of Approval. We approve of two of our favorite people being at the same place at the same time doing what they do best.

We approve of opera singers tagging along with the pope. Trust me, if an opera singer shows up to the Youth Rally on Saturday (which I am going to, in case I didn't mention it) I will pass out. Either way I'm passing out because, hey, he's the pope.



Happy Listening!!! =)

BirthdayDesk 2

Possibly the greatest living tenor, if not then definitely the greatest tenor still performing (since September 6th, anyway), celebrates his *muffled number* birthday today!!!
I was beyond excited that he was going to conduct "Romeo et Juliette" and that I was going to go see it. He had been my favorite (and, well, still is!) since the very beginning and finally I was going to see him LIVE, IN PERSON! So I got to the Met shaking like a leaf and when the lights went down I knew I was going to lose it. Oh my gosh, he walked up to the podium and I couldn't stop, shaking, crying, laughing, and clapping all at the same time! It was crazy! Of course, I calmed down just before the applause stopped and anyone noticed. It's weird how great singers, or great people in general, can have that effect on you...

YAYYYYY PLACIDO DOMINGO!


Happy Listening!! =)


P.S. If you've been wondering what I've been doing while I've been neglecting this blog... This and this, too, are how I've been wasting- er, I mean, spending- my time.

A Tenor Earns His Brownie Points and an Audience Member Converts!

Romeo and Juliette
by Charles Gounod
The Metropolitan Opera

Romeo- Joseph Kaiser ********
Juliette- Anna Netrebko
Mercutio- Stephane Degout
Gertrude (nurse)- Jane Bunnell
Tybalt- Marc Heller
Stephano (page)- Isabel Leonard


Let's start with the convert. I have officially converted to the other side of the Anna Netrebko train tracks. Sure, she had that train wreck "Casta Diva", but you all have to see this woman live! Yes she trashed herself around in her skimpy costumes on stage, but her voice was absolutely beautiful! Those recordings you hear and the videos you watch of her really don't mean anything! The real voice is heard in the house! Some singers sound better on recordings, but Anna sounds better in person. MUCH better in person. Go buy tickets! You won't be disappointed! Sure, she will never have my favorite voice and she will never be my favorite singer, but suddenly she has really proved herself. Brava, Anna!


********So, last night the lights go down and we see the ominous spotlight go to the left side of the stage. A man in a suit comes out and the tension builds. We know that man...
"Hello, I'm Peter Gelb, general manager of the Metropolitan Opera." *applause* (I'm thinking "O God, who cancelled?? ANNA?????")
"Anna Netrebko is FINE."
*laughs from the audience*
"In fact, every member of our cast is fine," ("Oh my God, Domingo?!?!?") "except for our tenor, Joseph Kaiser." *groans and chattering*
"He woke up with a cold this morning, so we got the fantastic tenor, MARCELLO GIORDANI!!" *cheers and applause*

Wow, does Peter Gelb loooooove Giordani now! My question is, where was Alagna? He sang this role a few nights ago and he's still in New York for Butterfly!! Oh well, I'm glad we got Giordani, I don't like Alagna. Marcello Giordani sounded absolutely gorgeous last night. He sounded much better than he did in the opening night broadcast. His high notes were mind blowing and even though he only had a few hours to learn the staging, he didn't seem that uncomfortable. The prompter was heard at least twice before the first intermission, but he hasn't performed this role in years, so it's understandable. Bravo, Marcello! I'm so glad he stepped in. (PS. His high C's were louder than Anna's. No other Romeo so far has accomplished that!)
Anna Netrebko sounded so fantastic. I realized why I didn't like her voice. Some of her vowels sound funny sometimes, but I didn't notice half the time. Especially during the balcony scene (in my opinion) she sang so wonderfully that my fellow audience members sank into the background and all it was was her and Romeo on stage. It was so cool! Her acting is also incredible. I don't even have to go on about that, everyone already knows she's a stage animal. =)

Here cooooooomes the new kid in town! Isabel Leonard as the page knocked my socks off! She's a graduate of the Juilliard School and this role is her Met debut. She received a huge ovation at the curtain calls and she totally deserved it! This hotsy-totsy new mezzo might just be the new big star, so watch out for her. That's I-S-A-B-E-L-L-E-O-N-A-R-D who grew up right here in New York. Brava, girlfriend!
Now for Maestro Domingo's conducting. I think I passed out for a moment when he first came out into the orchestra pit. I started shaking I was so overwhelmed. Think about it, I was just 100 feet from one of the greatest tenors on the face of the earth. =0 Boggles my mind. His conducting was good. I just felt that he separated the orchestra from the singers. He kind of made a pillow for the singers so they could sing on top of the orchestra. There was no blending of strings and voice, you either noticed only the singing or only the orchestra. Which was okay at some points, because some of those musical interludes are so amazing (Go Gounod!) and some of those vocal lines are outstanding!

Finally, the technical glitch. GASP! A technical glitch at the Met? Is that possible? Well, let's just say that by the end of the performance some poor schmo was cleaning out his desk. During the balcony scene the backdrop is the night sky with a galaxy (or something that looks like a galaxy...) in the center. Apparently the galaxy was supposed to change into another pretty space picture... but instead we got a blank white light, distracting us from the singers for a moment, and then the new space picture. My mom and I looked at each other saying "Are we seeing a slide show? Oops, Peter Gelb just fired someone!"

Happy Listening! =)

The Homer of Seville (and the groupies of opera)

I have to say that I was a little offended that most of the groupies were old women... what about the young people? Well, gotta keep up the stereotypes, right? =P
I thought that it was such a funny episode! At one point there is this exchange between Mr. Burns and Homer Simpson:
Burns- "Homer you're a star!"
Homer- "Yeah!"
Burns- "An opera star!"
Homer- "...oh..."
hahaha I had a good laugh about that one. After Homer's "freak accident" he realizes that he has a miraculous tenor voice... but only if he sings on his back. So, at the end of La Boheme he pushes the dead Mimi off the bed and lies on it so he can sing his final "Mimi!"s. Quite hilarious.
Yes, Mr. Placido Domingo does make an appearance. Not a very flattering appearance, but funny all the same. Homer even says "Out of all the Three Tenors, you are my second favorite! No, wait, I forgot about the other guy... You're my third favorite, sorry!" I thought that was pretty funny too.
The main premise of the episode is to demonstrate how far some groupies will go to be with the stars. It's quite weird, I'm not going to lie. The president of Homer's fan club tries to kill him after he denies her. Sounds like many operas, doesn't it?

At the end Homer says one final hysterical line that I think does us opera fans some good:
"I'm quitting the opera, it's just too popular!"

=)

Homer of Seville

I just want to let you all know that tomorrow evening the new Simpsons episode will be titled "The Homer of Seville." Homer Simpson thinks he's a tenor and takes lessons from none other than Placido Domingo himself! Yes, Domingo is playing himself in this episode. Needless to say, I'll be hooked to the TV tomorrow night. I'll be back to tell you how it was, if you don't catch it.

Happy Listening!