Divas Take Over New York, Bloomberg Jealous (Part II)

Welcome to part two!!!! This was probably the worst week to have opening night (for me anyway) because all of a sudden I have all this school work and no time to do it! In the midst of all this I want to write this review and be done with it!!!!
Reminder: This part is about the actual performance.


RENEE FLEMING:
I noticed that since she did not have all of act one to warm up, she sounded a bit rough for the first few minutes of Traviata. By the time she was up to "Dite alla govine" and certainly by the aaamaaazing "Ah m'ami Alfredo" she was in tip top shape. Sopranos are noted for always wanting to dddrrraaagggg those bars out, but why not? Beautiful voice, beautiful music, impassioned situation. Who's complaining?!?! In Scene Two the "Alfredo, Alfredo" was, as she always does it, long and drawn out. If she has the breath capacity then I say go for it! It sounded stunning and she sang it sitting on the ground! That can't be easy.
Now, while Renee isn't exactly a coloratura expert, I think she handled Manon very very very nicely. She approached the bravura a little differently than most sopranos, to be sure, but I think it sounded fine. Okay, okay, yes I do prefer Beverly Sills, but Sills was the queen of Manons, so I have to give everyone else a break. The St. Sulpice scene was, in my opinion, a better scene for Renee. The "N'est ce plus ma main" was gorgeous and was sung with such feeling! The "pole dancing" on the prie dieu was not my favorite moment of the evening, but it added a bit of controversy (and adamant muttering in the movie theaters).
Capriccio was the real highlight of the evening. I feel bad for those who did not stay through to the end due to the lateness of the evening. This was my favorite and probably the best of the three acts for Ms. Fleming. This is said to be one of her favorite scenes in all of opera, and there's a reason for it. The metaphorical significance is obvious, and the music is enchanting. The soprano has a choice to move around and really use the stage or to stand in one place and sing to her "reflection." (Which I think is another metaphor. The soprano looks for herself in the audience. The reflection of herself comes from the audience, the spectators. Ah ha!) Renee chose the former course of action. She really moved around the stage and used the set. It wasn't exactly a chew-and-swallow kind of using the set, but she got around. Some awkward motions at the end almost (ALMOST) ruined it a tiny bit. However, her singing more than made up for it and the little laugh she gave at the end. Woof. It makes you want to know who she picked SO BADLY.
I have one more thing to say about Renee and the whole experience: BEAST.

Ramon Vargas:
The secondary, but very front and center (oxymoron?), star of the evening was Ramon Vargas. After a very beautiful, but cut, Alfredo in Traviata Ramon banged out a beautiful performance of Des Grieux in Manon. "O mio rimorso" is one of my favorite parts of Traviata and although I had this feeling that they were going to cut it I was still sad that they did. *Sigh* What we do for Renee.... Anyway, as usual Ramon Vargas knocked his roles out of the ball park. The Des Grieux (by the way, this was his first time singing it on stage!) was absolutely perfect! I loved the "Ah, fuyez!" even though he was gasped for breath during the applause. Everything was spot on. I'm always so happy when he comes on the stage. He has such an uplifting presence.

Thomas Hampson:
I never realized how well Thomas Hampson could play an old man. Now, while he would probably say "It's not really acting" or "Well, it's not that much of a stretch" (or other such jokes on himself) we also have to give him some real credit for looking so completely arthritis ridden during the Traviata. I bet that was hard. Shoulders all the way up, stiff movements, and he even shook his hands sometimes while he was singing to make himself look older. That takes some serious talent, and my gosh Thomas Hampson has enough talent to feed an army. His arias sounded great and his voice was, from what I know of his voice, in excellent shape. I also just loved the way he stood over Violetta at the very end of Act II like "Oh my gosh, I'm really sorry about what just happened, but don't expect me to give my son back!" and the way she looked at him. Ah! What a great moment! I know I've beat this into the ground, but I want to say it again: For a very good looking man he sure does play a mean old guy!

Robert Lloyd:
Well, Robert Lloyd. Older timer Robert Lloyd. What is there to say? Magnificent as always. I love the sound of his voice and the deep sonorous tones he produces. His acting is spot on, too. When he begins to mock clap for his "son" Des Grieux (not a realistic match visually...) you just sit there like "Ouch. That one's gotta hurt." He embodies the character perfectly. For the short period he was on stage he really stood out for me. Bravo!



All the conductors (James Levine, Marco Armiliato, Patrick Summers) were fabulous. One thing about Patrick Summers. I think he did the best job out of all of them, though I do adore James Levine. He conducted Capriccio so beautifully and so perfectly. It was wonderful.
The chorus is sounded so fantastic these days! I can hardly believe it! It seems like just a season ago I was complaining about the chorus women! Now look, I can't stop raving about them!
Orchestra. Nothing to say. Perfection. (Look perfection up in the dictionary. It says "per-fec-tion. noun. see Metropolitan Opera Orchestra")



I have one closing question for the world....
WILL EMI RELEASE THIS ON DVD?
I sincerely hope so. This is a historic opening night. Get on that one, Gelb. =)




Happy Listening!!!! =)
Happy 2008-2009 Season!!!!! =)

Divas Take Over New York, Bloomberg Jealous (Part I?)

I think I may do this in two parts, one for the performance and one for the extra fluff. (Not that we don't love fluff) This first part is for, as Jane Austen puts it, the "all important nothings."

Quick little blip: We didn't have subtitles until "Pura siccome" which was slightly annoying, although I'm sure everyone in the movie theater knew at least the gist of what was happening. Also, for the first few seconds of Susan Graham's opening statement my theater didn't have sound. I was so worried that I accidentally let a little swear word pass my lips, followed by an ardent "Sorry!" We got sound after a few seconds and had no audio problems (or subtitle problems!) after that.

(I've heard that other theaters had the same problems, so it must have been the Met or the satellite, not the theater.)

Susan Graham was so adorable as the hostess! I think she did a wonderful job considering she problem didn't have much rehearsal or prep. I thought she looked stunning, but personally I think she's better as a brunette.

All the interviews went wonderfully. Christine Baranski and her daughter were funny and Nico Muhly was very articulate and cute! I'm looking forward to his new opera which is coming out "in the next million years" even though online stalking is not exactly my favorite topic. =) I always feel so artistic and intelligent when I see someone like Francesco Clementi speak. He's so informative and I feel like he knows so much. His portraits are so beautiful and I can't wait to get to the Met to see them. Diana Damrau looked beautiful, as usual. She's such a cutie and I can't wait to see her in Lucia, which she was very reluctant to talk about. Obviously she's very nervous???

I liked the montages of Renee Fleming's life story and the opening night designer costumes. The interview with the costume and wig designers had some fun little trivia in there, like all of the REAL jewels in Renee's jewelry for the evening. You heard some whispers as you saw in the background shoe boxes that said things like "Great Gastby, Upshaw" "Frittoli, Fiordiligi."

Deborah Voigt, looking very slim and healthy, really enjoyed her time in Times Square! I had to laugh at the faces she made at Paulo Szot (although he did deserve those fluttering eye-lashes). She's such a ham! Those few lines from "Some Enchanted Evening" were amazing, by the way. He got me! =) Debbie got some other cute interviews with the opera-goers, some of them unsuspecting spectators.

Intermissions:

I'm a tad miffed that in no way shape or form can Martha Stewart's "Grande Dame" cocktail be made "virgin." What like some underage kiddies don't want to drink an operatic cocktail? How about a Diva Daiquiri? That's easy to take the alcohol out of!

I find it amusing that Susan Graham suggested Mister Mayor Michael Bloomberg appear in an opera at the Met! He even said "I can't sing a note!" However, Susan's right he wouldn't have to say a word. That would be a funny cameo!

The guy who took Joe Clark's job (gosh I can't recall the job title or the new guy's name!) seems extremely competent. Everything ran smoothly and I wish him luck in this extremely difficult job!

THE GOWNS:

Hated the first Traviata gown. Renee can wear a dress, let me tell you, but this wouldn't look good on Grace Kelly. It's like they ripped apart an ugly sofa and made a dress out of it. The dress for scene II was SO MUCH BETTER. I thought it was beautiful. That red was gorgeous and I love the acres and acres of fabric!

I was not happy to notice that someone tampered with the Manon dress, aka attacked it with a Bedazzler. What was with the rhinestones? It looked almost like a copy of the dress in Vogue (seen above). Having said that, I did adore the cape for the St. Sulpice scene. I want it, I want to own it, I want to wear it. I love capes like that, I love them!!!!! The glorious Capriccio gown was my favorite. It was many people's favorite as well, from what I hear. That coat really made the dress, even though one lone feather stuck to La Fleming's back and irked me considerably. I almost (ALMOST) wanted Renee to wear the feather in her hair like in the above photo, but the at first horrifying bob wig grew on me and by the end of the act I didn't mind it very much. The only gowns that actually lived up to the Vogue hype were the Act II Scene II Traviata and the Capriccio. I would give A LOT to be able to wear those gowns just for a few minutes.

More on the actually singing later...

Happy Listening!!! =)

HAPPY 2008-2009 SEASON!!!!!!!!!!

"La Boheme Makes Me Wish I Had Consumption"

I would like to start this review by profusely thanking Peter Gelb for all that he has done. I've done this before and I'll do it again. Peter Gelb is a genius. His HD broadcasts bring the Met all over the world to all sorts of people that would never think to enter an opera house. I bow down to you, Mr. Gelb.

Now that I'm done groveling let me tell you about the opera.

It was perfection. After such an ending I can hardly give anyone a bad review. I was in tears a full twenty minutes before Mimi died and during "Donda lieta usci." Angela Gheorghiu, who you know is not by any means my favorite soprano, was so wonderful. Whenever I see a singer I don't particularly care for they always win me over! I'm a sucker for wonderful performers. Ms. Gheorghiu's voice is so lovely and what an actress! She might take a long time to get to the stage door because she has to pick the scenery from her teeth first. One thing that irked me was that when she sings she moves around so much. She mouth goes all over and, at least from what I saw, her body is constantly moving. Ramon Vargas was a very effecting Rodolfo. I saw him first last season in Onegin and he was better in this I think. He has more to do here and more to sing. At first he was a either a little tentative or not fully warmed up. By the end of "Che Gelida Manina" he was beautiful. His high notes were fabulous. During the third and fourth act he was so heartbreaking, you really felt for Rodolfo.

Out of what opera adoring universe did Ludovic Tezier spring from? I had never heard of him before today, but my gosh what a voice! The first time he opened his mouth I had to gasp and thought "Who is that??" Some people were not so thrilled by him, but I was! He was rather handsome, but even with my eyes closed (which they never were, by the way) I could hear that his voice was rich and beautiful. Oren Gradus and Quinn Kelsey were agile (to say the least) and hysterically funny as Colline and Schaunard. The "Vecchia Zimarra" by Mr. Gradus was beautiful and sentimental. Schaunard is usually a character who is forgotten or just floats into the background. Not this Schaunard, he was front and center with his humor and charm. Ainhoa Arteta, who I saw in this role last season, was funny, flirty, and had a marvelous voice. Her "Quando M'en Vo" definitely stood out, and her acting quite overshadowed Ms. Gheorghiu in the second act. It was great because at the end she really cried when Mimi died. After the curtain came down we (that is, the people in the movie theaters) saw her continually wipe her eyes and her cheeks. Fantastic! Paul Plishka, of course, was a comic force for this opera. His Benoit/Alcindoro combination were so funny. It's so great to still have him around and just hanging around the house. Nicola Luisotti conducted fabulously. I've heard people complaining that he took it too slow. It's interesting, because in the theaters no one complained about it, but everyone who heard it on the radio said it was slow! Interesting...

As usual, there's nothing to be said about the chorus and orchestra that hasn't been said already. Remarkable. Truly spectacular.

Renee Fleming hosted today and what a cute job she did! We saw the obvious question cards for the interviews, which caused a few chuckles, but that's not a huge problem. She interviewed the head of the Children's Chorus and the children themselves, Angela and Ramon, Joe Clark (now a regular for interviews), and Nicola Luisotti. There was a tribute to Franco Zefferelli (who I didn't mention before because I don't need to say anything about the production) that had clips from all of his productions from the Met including Tosca, Otello, Cavalleria/Pagliacci, Turandot, and others. Another montage, if you will, featured a clip or two from every HD broadcast both last season and this season. There was a trailer for the upcoming Fille broadcast with footage from the Covent Garden production.

The backstage camera angles were so incredible. During the pause between Act I and Act II you saw the Parisian rooftops slide off the stage and the Latin Quarter (with the whole chorus already on board) moved slowly and quietly from stage right. The whole set moved onto the stage. It was insane. I couldn't get enough of it.

Renee also mentioned that next season there will be ten HD broadcasts to theaters everywhere. Guess who's excited!!!! =)

Happy Listening!! =)