End of the Season Awards!!!!!!

Since yesterday marked the end of the Met's 2007-2008 season, I've decided to give out the awards today! I've had to mentally prepare myself for the end of the season. My summers are so bland without any live performances or Sirius Live Broadcasts!
The Bad, The Good, The Sad, The Funny and anything special that happened. Mostly based on what I heard/saw, but I'll put a few others in, too.
We'll start with The Bad:


Worst Acting:
Johan Botha in Otello (*puts head on wall to symbolize extreme sorrow*)

Worst Singing:
(Since this season was so spectacular I will do something I don't usually do and that is take what I heard from other people. I'm sorry for it.)
John MacMaster in Tristan und Isolde (first man to be booed in how many years?)

Worst HD Broadcast:
(for its bad split screen thing, otherwise it was lovely!)
Tristan und Isolde

Most Cursed Production:
Tristan und Isolde


On to The Good:

Best New Production (production only):
La Fille du Regiment
Satyagraha

Best Revival:
Madame Butterfly
Manon Lescaut
Le Nozze di Figaro

Best singing by a male artist:
Juan Diego Florez in La Fille du Regiment
Salvatore Licitra and Dmitri Hvorostovsky in Un Ballo in Maschera
Ramon Vargas in La Boheme
(look I can't just say "everyone.")

Best singing by a female artist (biased):
Renee Fleming in Otello
Anna Netrebko in Romeo et Juliette and Angela Gheorhiu in La Boheme (shocked, aren't you?)
Olga Borodina in Carmen
Natalie Dessay in everything she sang

The Sad:

Most touching performance by a male artist:
Ramon Vargas in La Boheme
Marcello Giordani in Lucia di Lammermoor

Most touching performance by a female artist:
Angela Gheorghiu in La Boheme
Renee Fleming in Otello
Patricia Racette in Madame Butterfly

The Funny:

Funniest moment in an opera:
When the jewelry box fell off the stage during Nozze and hit the celloist on the head
The music lesson, the tank, and pretty much the entire Fille production

The most acrobatic performance:
Marcello Giordani almost falling off the bed during Romeo et Juliette
Anna Netrebko in Romeo and Natalie Dessay in Fille and Lucia
Karita Mattila doing a split in Manon Lescaut

The unexpected:
Marcello Giordani covering for Joseph Kaiser (last minute!) in Romeo (the night I was there!!)
Seeing Peter Gelb in the lobby before Carmen


Other Special Things:

Productions I'm sorry I missed:
Satyagraha
Abduction from the Seraglio
La Traviata
Manon Lescaut

Productions I'm so happy I didn't miss:
La Fille du Regiment
Romeo et Juliette
Madama Butterfly
Lucia di Lammermoor

Highlights of the season:
La Fille du Regiment
Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Salvatore Licitra, and Stephanie Blythe in Ballo
Renee Fleming in Otello
Anna Netrebko in Romeo et Juliette
La Boheme in HD
Diana Damrau. Period.





Oh, the list goes on and on. It's hard enough restricting myself to this many awards. I should have just said "Best Everything: The Met." Really sums it up quite nicely.
I'm sorry I wasted your time with my nonsense, but it feels good to get it off my chest. I good summary of the season, I think. It's too bad I didn't see everything. (I plan to next season. Saving up for Standing Room!!)

This is a hard season to say goodbye to (aren't they all?) because so many wonderful things happened. "There's always next season," I know, but I get so attached! SEE YOU NEXT SEASON!!!


Happy Listening!!! =)
PS. That doesn't mean I won't be posting during the summer!

WELCOME TO THE MET!

Happy 2007-2008 season!!!!!!! I'm listening to the opening night Lucia courtesy of the Met website. I'm now listening to Margaret Juntwait (my faaaaavorite announcer!!!!) interview Blythe Danner about opera and acting in opera. What a star studded event, eh? We also heard from tenor Marcello Giordani.

I'm not going to say anything about the singing because I want to wait until at least the mad scene/sextet is done.

****Quickie update: Remember that tenor Stephen Costello I told you all about who is taking over one of the Edgardos? Well, he just had a cameo in Lucia as Arturo and oh my gaaaawwwwd this kid is amazing!

***Another update: Sextett just started!!!! I'm absolutely in love with this part of the opera... Too bad it's only a meager attempt =O. oops. The highlight of the sextet HAS to be Levine's conducting. Marcello Giordani, I really hate saying it, has sounded like he's been struggling the whole opera. Dessay isn't delivering as I expected either. WOAH Dessay interpolated a little high note just now at the end. Have to say, the sextet was a let down. Too bad, it's one of the greatest sections in all of opera.

Relyea is sounding better than he usually does on these UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL live webcasts. I'm glad because no one else is deliveringggg! Where's the fabulous Dessay I keep hearing about? Where's my lovely Giordani? Maybe I'll like Dessay better in the house? We'll see.

The finale of this act is so fastttt! bravo Levine! It's so exciting this way! Faster faster faster faster!!!! Crash those symbols! Woah, Dessay is going for every high note she can! I give the girl props. Giordani could barely keep up with the tempo, but whatever.

****Placido Domingo is being interviewed!!! I'm smiling just listening to him. His accent is AMAZING. He's conducting tomorrow, by the way, Gounod's Romeo et Juiliette. It's one of his favorite operas apparently (???? really?). He likes french operas and he likes the challenge of conducting an opera. I love this guy. He's amazing. <3's>

I mean, I love Marilyn Horne, but how long is this intermission??? Unbearableeeeee

*quickie note: This bartione, Kwiecien, is getting on my nerves a little bit. The two lead men (Enrico and Edgardo) are just not happening tonight! What's happening? The ending of that duet was bleck. No gusto, no high notes (not that I wanted either of them to even attempt one!), no nothing! Oh well... I hope this gets better.

***pre-mad scene notes: Relyea sounds fantastic. That little ensemble bit also sounded excellent. I'm putting too many notes here, but a full review is a good review!

*****MAD SCENE NOTES:

Dessay appears at the stop of the stairs in a blood-stained wedding gown. She comes down the stairs. OH MY GAWWWWD THAT GLASS HARMONICA IS SCARY! So cool, but scary. That instrument could make anyone go crazy. She's lying on the steps ON HER BACK. She's going Anna on us!!! Ah! (i can see the stimulcast on the Times Square screen here) Now she's swaying like a loonie bin. Oh wait, she IS a loonie.

So far I give Dessay an A+. Brava! Her singing is clean and is ringing. Her laugh is totally scary, though.

This glass harmonica will not let me sleep tonight, I swear. It's totally scary.

LA DESSAY IS NOT LYING ON THE PROMPTERS BOX! Is anyone else getting the impression that Mary Zimmerman is a weirdo? A Lucia set in the 1920's? The prompter's box?

Now Lucia is hallucinating and Dessay is going over to Raimondo like "Oh hey, you're my lover right? No? Well that's okay, I'll just pretend you are." FLAWLESS COLORATURA. If I may say so myself.

Holy gosh. Dessay just screamed at the top of her lungs. I seriously got chills. That was totally mad-scene-alicious!

SPARGI D'AMARO PIANTO: sitting on the staircase, great ornamentation on the second verse! Chest voice dominationnnn on one of the notes. She's such a great singer, that Dessay! =O lying on the ground AGAIN. These sopranos like this for mad scenes.

HERE COMES THE BIG FINISH TO THE MAD SCENE. high note omggggggggg! What a screamer!!!

Audience....going....MAD for Dessay. (i personally prefer Dame Joan, but who doesn't?) WHAT A GREAT MAD SCENE! It makes up for everything that came before.

Well, since the rest of the opera really doesn't matter (lol), I'm going to bed.

This is probably a terrible post to read, but I had fun! I always do!

Happy listening!

Replacements, lacking the surprise factor

A press release from the Met says that there have been quite a few cast changes for the 2007-2008 season! Some of them don't come to a surprise to any of us.

Pay attention, this may be confusing:

Angela B. Brown will replace Maria Guleghina in Aida on September 29, October 4 an 16. Ms. Brown will sing, as scheduled, on November 2, 5, and 8. Micaela Carosi will replace Ms. Brown on October 30.
Maija Kovalevska will replace Krassimira Stoyonova as Micaela in Carmen on February 9, 8, 13. Ms. Stoyonova will sing all other performances. Lucio Gallo will sing (role debut) Escamillo in all performances next season.
Matthew Polenzani will sing Romeo in Romeo et Jiuliette opposite Anna Netrebko on the December 27 and 31 performances. Rolando Villazon will sing all other performances.
Neil Shicoff will not be singing in Peter Grimes at all this season. Since I'm guessing he backed out, Anthony Dean Griffey, will sing the entire run.
Isabel Bayrakdarian will be replaced by Ekaterina Siurina in the role of Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro on November 10, 14, 17, 21, 24, 28, and December 1. Ms. Bayrakdarian still holds her performances on October 2, 6, 10, and 13.
Maria Guleghina is replacing Andrea Gruber as Lady Macbeth on October 22, 26, 31, and November 3. Andrea Gruber is still scheduled for May 9, 13, and 17.
Maria Guleghina is not singing in the November 12, 16, 19, and 23 performances of Norma. Instead, Hasmik Papian will sing the Bellini opera. Ms. Guleghina is still scheduled for November 26, 30, December 4, and 7.
As Lady Macbeth we anxiously await the wonderful return of the lovely TBA, on January 5, 9, 12, and 15.

Run, everyone, and check your subscriptions! If you don't have a subscription, make sure that if you buy tickets you know which cast you're getting. It could be a very confusing process.

I, personally, was not at all surprised that they gave away at least some of Andrea Gruber's Lady Macbeth. Excuse me, but her vocal decline is painfully obvious. Come, come, we all heard that Turandot broadcast! I will be perfectly happy to see Maria Guleghina as Lady Macbeth. Most people don't seem surprised at Neil Shicoff either backing out or getting pushed out. Something to do with assuming in advance that he would not show up for rehearsals? What ever the case, the Met decides who stays and who goes.

Change of Schedule!

There's been a change in plans for the Metropolitan Opera's 2007-2008 season.
Instead of doing Les Contes d'Hoffmann the Met will show Bizet's Carmen.

Well, why the change?

Funny story about that...
The tenor Marcelo Alvarez decided to retire Hoffmann from his repertoire.

"We want to ensure that the world’s greatest singers are performing at the Met in roles that suit them best,” said General Manager Peter Gelb. “While this change affects previously announced plans, we are delighted that Met audiences will get to hear Marcelo Álvarez sing Don José for the first time and that Olga Borodina will perform one of her signature roles.” *

Couldn't have Mr. Alvarez waited another year? Okay, guess not. However, we will have the pleasure to see the great Zeffirelli production of Carmen with the absolutely stunning mezzo-soprano Olga Borodina.

The the cast includes:
Carmen: Olga Borodina/ Nancy Fabiola Herrera (one performance)
Don Jose: Marcelo Alvarez
Micaëla: Krassimira Stoyanova
Escamillo: TBA
Conductor: Emmanuel Villaume


Too bad Hoffmann wasn't on my subscription! I'd be seeing Carmen! =)

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!

NYC Opera's new season!

Just as exciting as the Met's new season is its next-door neighboor New York City Opera's 2007-2008 season!!

New Productions:

Margaret Garner- with a cast full of debuts!!
Cavalleria/Pagliacci double bill- with Carl Tanner in Pagliacci and Brandon Jovanovich in Cavalleria
Cendrillon- with Joyce Castle as Mme. de la Haltiere and Cassandre Berthon as Cinderella
Vanessa- with Lauren Flanigan and Rosalind Elias as The Old Baroness
King Arthur- with director/choreographer Mark Morris
Ragtime- as the musical theater production of the season

Repertoire:

Agrippina- starring Ruth Ann Swenson and Heidi Stober
La Boheme- with Inna Dukach and Dinyar Vania
Don Giovanni- with Aaron St. Clair Nicholson as the devious Don Giovanni and Julianna Di Giacomo as Donna Anna in Harold Prince's production
Carmen- starring Beth Clayton as Carmen and Scott Piper as Don Jose
Madama Butterfly- with Shu-Ying Li as Cio-Cio-San and James Valenti as Pinkerton
Falstaff- with Jan Opalach as Sir John Falstaff and Pamela Armstrong as Alice Ford
Tosca- starring Anna Shafajinskaia as Floria Tosca and Todd Thomas and Baron Scarpia

I'm hoping to make my own audience-member debut at the City Opera this season!!! There are four (count 'em, four!) operas that I wish the Met was doing that City Opera is doing! Falstaff, Carmen, Tosca, and Don Giovanni. I've been waiting to see all except Tosca live for a long time, because I've already seen Tosca. Next season, however, the Met is not doing Tosca so I thought maybe I'll stroll across the plaza to see how the City Opera singers are doing. "Yo!! NYCO! Sup, my peeps????" I was praying every night that Don Giovanni would be one of the operas they do at Lincoln Center. I was thinking the Metropolitan Opera, but I guess my prayers were answered! Thank you, NYC Opera! =)=) I just want to hear "Madamina, il catalogo e questo", "vedrai carino", and "La ci darem la mano" live, on stage, with real opera singers. And voila!! City Opera does it again!!!!!!!!

Met's new Season!!!!!!!!

Productions:

Lucia di Lammermoor (Natalie Dessay and Marcello Giordani)
Hansel and Gretel (Christine Schäfer and Alice Coote)
Iphigenie en Tauride (which I can't pronounce) (Susan Graham and Placido Domingo)
Satyagraha (Richard Croft)
Macbeth (Rene Pape and Andrew Gruber)
Peter Grimes (Patricia Racette)
La Fille du Regiment (Juan Diego Florez. Do I have to say any more?)

Repertory:

Manon Lescaut -with Karita Mattila and Marcello Giordani
Le Nozze di Figaro- with Bryn Terfel
Otello- with Renee Fleming and Johan Botha
La Traviata- with Renee Fleming and Matthew Polenzani

Il Barbiere di Siviglia- with Ruggero Raimondi and Jose Manuel Zapata
Un Ballo in Maschera- with Dmitri Hvorostovsky and Salvatore Licitra
Ernani- with Marcello Giordani and Thomas Hampson
Madama Butterfly- with Patricia Racette and Mr. Bedazzle, Roberto Alagna
The First Emperor- with Placido Domingo and Susanne Mentzer
War and Peace- conducted by Valery Gergiev with Samuel Ramey
Tristan und Isolde- with Deborah Voigt and Ben Heppner
The Gambler- also conducted by Valery Gergiev
Romeo et Juliette- with power duo Anna Netrebko and Rolando Villazon
Die Walkure- with Stephanie Blythe and James Morris
La Clemenza di Tito- with Ramon Vargas and Susan Graham
Les Contes d'Hoffmann- with Marcelo Alvarez
Die Entfuhrung ause des Serail- with Matthew Polenzani and Diana Damrau
Norma- with Maria Guleghina
Die Zauberflote- with Diana Damrau playing first Pamina and then switching roles to sing the Queen of the Night
La Boheme- with Mrs. Bedazzle, Angela Gheorghiu as Mimi

Operas that will be shown in movie theatres...

Romeo et Juliette- good news for Netrebko/Villazon fans!!!!
Hansel and Gretel
Macbeth
Manon Lescaut
Peter Grimes
Tristan und Isolde- ticket sale pending....
La Boheme- so that Ms. Gheorghiu (aka Mrs Alagna) may DAZZLE us with her brilliance AGAIN.... whoopdeedoo
La Fille du Regiment- with someone who is ALLOWED to dazzle us, Juan Diego Florez!!! Consider the tickets BOUGHT

What I'm most excited about and why.....

La Fille du Regiment - Juan Diego Florez, JuanD iegoF lorez, JuanDiegoF lorez, JuanDiegoFlorez, juandiegoflorezjuandiegoflorez!!!!! is that enough reason for you????
Lucia di Lammermoor- the mad scene! especially a non-Dame Joan mad scene!!!!! im very excited!
Otello- not only my favorite Shakespeare play, but Renee Fleming is Desdemona!!!
La Traviata- I missed it this season *grumbles at parents* but I'm happy that Renee Fleming is returning to Violetta so I have it to look forward to!!!!
Un Ballo in Maschera- I looooooove this opera sooooo much!!! To add to the excitement, Dmitri Hvorostovsky (who still isn't as handsome as Uncle Tommy lol =]) and Salvatore Licitra are singing the two lead male roles!!!!!
Le Nozze di Figaro- I can make a list of my favorite arias/scenes from this opera, but I will spare you the trouble and just say "Contessa perdono!!!!!!" =)
Tristan und Isolde- Look, Deborah Voigt and Ben Heppner on one stage, must I say more?
Romeo et Juliette- Come on, people! Anna Netrebko and Rolando Villazon!!!!! It's probably sold out already!!!!!

Things I am NOT looking forward to (and "why" of course!!!)...

• Roberto Alagna in Madama Butterfly (Love Couple strikes again because his wifelet is here too!)
• Angela Gheorghiu in La Boheme (are we to be invaded by EVERY Alagna in the country?)
• The continuation of Margret Juntwait's co-host. No one really likes him, no offence, so can't we just make it the Juntwait Show again????
• Andrea Gruber in Macbeth- the Met insists on hiring people who are (pardon my frank-ness) too old! Andrea Gruber herself is not too old, it's her voice! I saw her in Tosca and I was taken aback. No offence, once again.
• Going to see operas that I can't pronounce. Haha. I'll go see them, but by the time I get out, I still won't be able to pronounce it!
• NO TOSCA!!!!! Even though it's showed SOOO often, can't I see it again???? PLEASE??? I wanna just SEE the Zefferelli set one more time!!!!!!! Who KNOWS how much longer it's gonna be up there???????? I wanna see James Morris's Scarpia again! PLEASEEEEEE!!!!
• Not being able to go to all the operas I want this season =(

for more information visit the Met's website: metopera.org