Confirmation: VERY STRONG BOOS at Opening Night

Slightly shocking........heehee but not really.
I knew it was going to be an "interesting" production.
Production team HEAVILY booed by the Met audience. Tremendous applause for all of the vocalists (and it's well deserved) but the director and production staff ohhhhh myyyyy that was QUITE intense. Not as wishy-washy as even the Sonnambula booing fiasco. This was LOUD, CLEAR booing.

I'm kind of in shock hahahaha I almost can't believe it.



All I have to say is: Franco Zefferelli is somewhere chuckling to himself.



Happy Listening!! =)

OPENING NIGHT!!!!!!!

Well here we are! Look at this, the start of the new season already! It seems like just yesterday that I was watching Renee Fleming waltz in designer bling through three acts from three of her favorite operas!!!!!!!

Now I'm here listening to POWERHOUSE Karita Mattila dive into the role of Tosca. I am a great fan of this woman and I hope that she performs masterfully. Well, I'm sure she will.

I am more concerned, however, with the new production. Secretly, (well not anymore) I want it to not be a good production just so I can fight to have the Zefferelli production back. Oh, how purist of me. Apparently, as I've heard so far this production is veeeerrrryyy different from all past productions. The end of the second act especially. (were those "boo"s I've heard?? Hmmmmm...) I am so curious to see what it looks and feels like. A whole new feeling for Tosca, I'm intrigued.

This has, so far, been an interesting beginning to the season. Innovative to say the least.

More on this later, when we've had more time to discover this new Tosca.

Happy Listening!!! =)

Hildegard Behrens 1937-2009

I came out of my not-blogging cave to sadly announce the death of one of the great Wagnerians sopranos, Hildegard Behrens. I was introduced to her work, however, not through Wagner, but through the perfection that is the 1985 Zefferelli Tosca. When I delicately dipped into the world of the Wagner cult, the Otto Schenk Ring cycle with her as Brunhilde was the only one I could watch. She always stunned me with her emotional and dramatic power on the stage, not to mention the force of her beautiful voice.

The soprano died on August 16th in Japan, reportedly of an aneurysm, at the age of 72. Ms Behrens was in Japan for a festival where she would perform and give master classes. She will be remembered fondly as the best Brunhilde in the post-Nilsson era.

Rest in Peace.

Anvil by Anvil, the Met Continues its Search for a Proper Production of "Il Trovatore"

Il Trovatore April 25, 2009


In other words, the Met has not found its definitive Trovatore production.
I won't talk about the singers, even though that's totally sacrilegious, because all the singers were very good, even though it was not the original cast. Right now I just want to talk about the production because the Met has had such problems finding the right Trovatore.

Maybe I was just in a bad mood, but I did not enjoy it at all. The small cut out windows on the wall and the wire crucifix? I didn't quite get the whole thing; it looked rather industrial. The only set I liked was the scene of the Anvil Chorus, that really had life in it. With the pyre and the red aura it stuck out more than any other scene. Well, at least it was the one that stuck out for the right reasons.
I suppose the reason I didn't like it at all, besides the Anvil Scene, was because I had such high expectations for such a beloved opera. I had never seen Il Trovatore, this was my first time ever, and I wasn't as blown away as I expected myself to be. Perhaps the cast didn't suit me? Was it the production? Or a combination of the two?
I will be kind and give it another season before I start calling for a new production. Let's hope that a more invigorating cast can save this almost distressing production next time. =)


I'd also like to add, this is totally random and has nothing to do with anything, that Junior year is not a fun year for a student haha. Yes, this is my excuse for being totally neglectful of this poor blog. After this year it's smooth sailing (besides college applications) so the future looks bright. I just need to get to the end of this year and I will be completely myself again!!!!! =)



Happy Listening!!! =)

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! =)

My Dear Readers

I apologize for my two week absence, but I haven't opened a computer since the Dudamel concert because of two words: midterm week. I haven't touched a computer or anything like that in order to study for these awful awful tests. However, I am back! Midterms are over, I have an opera tonight, and I have missed so much already!
It's crazy how many things I've missed:
The return of Trebs and Villazon,
the cancellation of the OONY season,
and the birthdays of:
Sherrill Milnes
James Morris
Juan Diego Florez
Renato Bruson
Ben Heppner
Marilyn Horne
Katia Ricciarelli
Placido Domingo
Joseph Calleja
Marcello Giordani
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
and today's birthday boy: Philip Glass


In a few words about the Dudamel concert:
Mahler's 5th has changed the way I look at orchestras
Zukerman changed the way I see violins because that Knussen piece was crazy
and
Dudamel has changed the way I look at hair.... forever...
<33333



Happy Listening!!! =) =)

Was it Utterly Shamless Diva Worship? Yessss. Do I Regret a Minute of it? Noooo.

Thais
by Jules Massenet
December 27th, 2008

Conducted by Jesus Lopez-Cobos
Thais- Renee Fleming
Athanael- Thomas Hampson
Nicias- Michael Schade
Palemon- Alain Vernhes
Albine- Maria Zifchak
Crobyle/Myrtale- Alyson Cambridge/Ginger Costa-Jackson
Violin Solo- David Chan


I think the whole point of putting on a production like Thais is so that the audience can bask in the glory of a diva and worship her 'til night is done. In fact, I know that the only point of showing a rarely seen diva-mobile is to show off an opera house's most venerated soprano.

Renee Fleming herself seemed to rise to the occasion and delivered a beautiful and rich interpretation of this saintly courtesan. My one fear of the evening was that she wouldn't make the high note at the end of "Je suis seul", but how foolish of me! She of course sang the note perfectly, along with the rest of the gorgeous aria. While she might need some more lessons in "seductive dancing", as it were, Renee needs no help in playing the part of the ultimate diva, because isn't she the ultimate diva herself? She looked glorious in the two Christian Lacroix gowns, especially the first with the huge pink poofy jacket that I want to own and wear on the weekends. =) My English teacher always says that an author can not expect his/her audience to believe that a character’s personality can drastically change unless there are hints throughout the work. I had that in my mind while watching Thais, looking for hints. The biggest hint of course comes from the opera itself in Act II when Thais explains that she is looking for more in life and her fear of what will happen when she grows old. Massenet leaves the rest to the soprano. Renee here again rose to the occasion. Hint #1: Thais meaningless declarations of love to Nicias. Hint #2: The way she reacts when Athanael comes into her room and promises her eternal life. Hint #3: Her desire for eternal life. Hint #4: Her reaction when she hears Nicias’s voice (she says she hates Nicias.) Hint #5: Her willingness to burn everything she owns, even if she wants to keep a small ivory statue, she’s only human. We can forgive Renee the last note she sang, which was…not lovely… because the rest of the performance was truly magical.

While this opera is a diva-mobile it struck me how much focus there is on Anthanael. That’s not a problem of course, because I found the character intriguing thanks to the brilliance that is Thomas Hampson. The opera could be called Athanael, because I feel that the focus is (or should be) not just on Thais’s conversion, but on Atahanael’s struggle and decent into obsession. Thais is almost a cameo role, while Athanael has a back-story and a struggle and a journey that shapes the plot. Thomas Hampson was miraculous as this tortured monk. He, if you can believe, almost (almost) completely stole the spotlight from Thais/Renee. He almost overshadowed her in their scenes together, but I suppose that that is the intention of the opera, for Athanael to overpower Thais. Either way, he sounded fantastic. To my ears he sounded thousand times better than he did at Renee’s Big Opening Night. Athanael suits his voice much better than Germont. His “conversion” was more believable than Thais’s, in that he becomes obsessed with her memory and when he finds her dying he yells “It was all lies! There is no heaven! Everything I have told you is wrong! Stay with me!” While extremely disturbing, these lines do provide a small amount of comic relief.

Michael Schade has never been on my list of favorite tenors. Don’t ask me why, because he was a wonderful voice, but something about him just doesn’t click with me. However, his portrayal of Nicias was great. Despite his Mafioso style costumes (which are not his fault) I enjoyed his performance as the thoroughly creepy, but idolizing Nicias. His duet with Thais was beautifully sung, and I wouldn’t mind hearing him again.

All the supporting roles were very commendable. Alain Vernhes as Palemon, the head monk, was beautifully sung as was Maria Zifchak as Albine. Alyson Cambridge and Ginger Costa-Jackson as Nicias’s lackey’s Crobyle and Myrtale were extraordinary. One is a graduate of the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program and the other a member, if these are the singers this program is churning out then I am an avid supporter!
The “Meditation” was simply glorious and although it was at times rudely interrupted by noisy set changes backstage, it was mesmerizing as played by David Chan. I found myself not looking at the orchestra but gazing around the opera house thinking “Is there a more perfect place to play such a perfect piece?” I just worship the Met and the “Meditation.”


DEAR MET AUDIENCE,
IN THE WORDS OF A FAMOUS TENOR “SHUT UP WITH YOUR DAMN COUGHING.” For goodness sake, people. During intermission hack up your lungs for all I care, sneeze until your brains come out, but when the lights go down I want SILENCE! It wasn’t just an occasional sporadic cough or sneeze, but every time someone coughed it would send a chain reaction of “Okay, then I can cough/sneeze now too.” Sometime’s it would go on for minutes until I wanted to scream! Seriously, opera fans, it’s not that hard to cough at intermission, or to keep quiet for the short amount of time the singers were on stage!
Love always,
CaroNome of Score Desk

Quick note on the production itself: It reminded me of the Otto Schenk Ring. The desert set looked very difficult to navigate, I was always worried Thomas Hampson was going to fall!!!! Overall, I did enjoy it. Nicias’s palace was my favorite set.


Next Post: The New Met Opera Store!!!!!!!!!!


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!!!!! =) =) =)

Merry Puccinimas!!!! 150 Years of the Italian Master

(Title lovingly taken from the FaceBook event titled "Puccinimas" which I thought very clever.)

HAPPY 150th BIRTHDAY TO PUCCINI!!!!!
In honor of this GENIUS's birthday, I will present an assortment of my favorite moments in Puccini operas.
One of my favorite things about Puccini is that you can hear a simple chord progression or a rhythm and immediately say "Oh, that is so Puccini!" What would we do without his melodrama?

Che il bel sogno di Doretta from La Rondine
Donna non vidi mai from Manon Lescaut
Act 4 Duet from Manon Lescaut
Ch'ella Mi Creda from La Fanciulla del West
Un Bel Di from Madama Butterfly
The Humming Chorus from Madama Butterfly
Si Mi Chiamano Mimi from La Boheme
Che Gelida Manina from La Boheme
O Soave Fanciulla from La Boheme
Act 3 Marcello/Mimi Duet from La Boheme
Sono Andati from La Boheme (One of my favorite moments in the opera is when Mimi tells Rodolfo that she's not beautiful like the dawn, but like the sunset. *sob*)
Vissi D'arte from Tosca
Act I curtain of Tosca
Recondita Armonia from Tosca
E Lecevan Le Stelle from Tosca
O Mio Babbino Caro from Gianni Schicchi (Sorry, I couldn't resist!)
Nulla, Silenzio from Il Tabarro
Final Scene of Suor Angelica
In Questa Reggia from Turandot
Liu's Death from Turandot
Signore Ascolta from Turandot
Act I Finale of Turandot
Act II Ping, Pang, and Pong from Turandot
Nessun Dorma from Turandot (Pavarotti)
Nessun Dorma from Turandot (Lando Bartolini)
Final Scene of Turandot


I hate to wear this story out, but seeing the final scene of Turandot changed my life. Almost four years ago I sat down with my mom to watch The Turandot Project (yes I WILL tell this story every year) and almost had a heart attack when the big crashing "Nessun Dorma" theme came booming out of the stereo system. I never thought anything could sound like that! Sure, I'd heard "Nessun Dorma" but this was insane! It gave meaning to those foreign phrases.
Puccini changed my life. Puccini is life.


Happy Birthday Puccini!!!!! May another 150 years go by just as happily!



Happy Listening!!! =)

85 Years of the Operatically Divine

Bartlett Sher is Off The Hook and Peter Gelb: "Ghost"buster

Michael Kaiser, the head of the Kennedy Center, is the savior of New York City Opera.
He has promised to assist NYCO in finding a new leader while helping schedule the 2009-2010 season. It is made very clear in the AP report that Michael Kaiser will not be the next general manager/artistic director. He is only helping NYCO and guiding them into a new, and hopefully extremely exciting, era.
So, WWBD?? She'd find someone to help her beloved company. Good work, Bubbles. =)


IN OTHER NEWS:

It seems that New York City Opera isn't the only opera company at Lincoln Center to be feeling the effects of our economic crisis. The long awaited Met revival of John Corigliano's The Ghosts of Versailles has been cancelled for, of course, financial reasons. The opera, that was supposed to show next season, was going to star Thomas Hampson, Angela Gheorghiu, and Kristin Chenoweth. Hampson and Gheorghiu will instead star in La Traviata, which will replace Ghosts. We have no report of Chenoweth, we figure she's "pop-u-lar" enough to find a new project.
Peter Gelb has said, however, that none of next season's new productions will be cut.
Personally, I don't think he should make any promises about that. New productions are expensive and God knows how this economic situation will play out in the next few months.



Happy Listening!! =)

Ask Figaro: What Opera Am I?

Are you perplexed by the endless choice of interesting opera being exhibited at the Metropolitan Opera this season? Ponder no further!!!!
The Met has created a personality test that will match you up with a production that seems it could be made just for you! The questions may seem non sequitur, but if you look closely you can find hidden operatic meaning in them all.
Here is my "Perfect Metropolitan Opera":



Le Damnation de Faust

You are a visionary who appreciates big gestures in art, food, and love. You would rather attend 10 infuriating performances than one boring one, and your mind is like a great white shark on a feeding frenzy, gnashing its way to the next new thing. Broadway musicals are, generally speaking, your idea of time earned off from Purgatory. But are you ready to have your mind really, truly, and inarguably blown sky-high? Then you have to come and see the hallucinatory masterpiece from two artists whose imaginations are even more extravagant than yours, Hector Berlioz’s La Damnation de Faust, in a new production by Robert Lepage.



Nice build up. I like it.
It's funny, I've had this strange, but very powerful urge to go see Damnation.



Happy Listening!! =)

Who Can Save City Opera? and WWBD?

While sitting here going through tissue after tissue with probably the worst cold since tuberculosis I received the bad news the Gerard Mortier is officially "parting ways" with the New York City Opera. While some people foresaw this, I, being the idealist that I am, thought this talk of backing out would blow over and Mortier would make NYCO into a major house for modern works.
I should have seen it coming. The lay-offs. The co-directorship at Bayreuth. I just thought this was temporary. Silly, silly CaroNome.

What New York City Opera needs right now is a Peter Gelb. An influential businessperson who knows how to fundraise and get the crowds excited. They need Peter Gelb's marketing genius. This brings me to my next point:

Bartlett Sher's Obligation to Lincoln Center
Since we know that Peter Gelb could never double dip and help out NYCO (being the Met's "little sibling across the plaza"), I think that as the new director of the Lincoln Center Theater Bartlett Sher could take a temporary position as director of NYCO. He can learn from Peter Gelb's genius, take his own directing genius and put it together to put NYCO back on its feet. When they find another Mortier to take over, he can go back to just running the Lincoln Center Theater.


I have another point:
Poor Bubbles, she's rolling in her grave...
What could be worse. Only a year after her devastating death, her beloved opera company is going up in smoke. If only she was here, she would know what to do. She'd either beat Mortier into the ground, Sills-style, and make him stick to his promise using her charm and convincing Brooklyn attitude or just take over again. We need to ask ourselves "What would Bubbles do?" WWBD?


There's my two cents. Now NYCO needs to run with its own ideas and get itself together!
I hope things work out. It would be heartbreaking to see anything happen to such a wonderful company.



Happy Listening!!! =)

I Endorse Bellini

Instead of pressuring you all to vote and telling who to vote for this Election Day 2008 (and you should vote, of course) I will instead give you some peace to meditate on the magnitude of the decision you are making for our country. For us younguns who can't vote yet your decisions are extremely important and will affect the rest of our lives.
So hear is some Bellini (in celebration of his birthday, which was yesterday) to ease your mind.
A compilation of one of his most peaceful and beautiful pieces: "A te o cara" from I Puritani.

Alfredo Kraus and Mirella Freni
Luciano Pavarotti and Joan Sutherland
Juan Diego Florez
Lawrence Brownlee and Norah Amsellem
Franco Corelli and Himself
Giacomo Lauri-Volpi
Giuseppe di Stefano and Maria Callas



Now go vote! =)


Happy Listening!!! =)

Chi Mi Frena In Tal Momento?

Who dares to restrain me in this moment [of epic proportions]?

October 25th, 2008
Lucia di Lammermoor
Lucia- Diana Damrau
Edgardo- Piotr Beczala
Enrico- Vladimir Stoyanov
Raimondo- Ildar Abdrazakov
Alisa- Michaela Martens
Arturo- Sean Panikkar
Conductor- Marco Armiliato


As promised, here is a review of the birthday celebration Lucia. I took three friends to sit in the Orchestra of the Metropolitan Opera House to see Diana Damrau, one of the great sopranos singing today, in Lucia di Lammermoor, one of the greatest bel canto operas ever written. I want to reiterate this because, not only did I witness an EPIC (to quote my friends) performance, but three of my friends did as well. I hesitate to say "converts", but they certainly enjoyed themselves immensely and have an added respect for this extraordinary art.

Really quick, here is the origin of "EPIC."
I usually use the thunderous applause after arias and during curtain calls to give my commentary. So after every aria/duet in the opera I had said "Beastly. That was amazing. Oh my gosh, beastly!" I figured I had used the adjective "beastly" (as a compliment, remember!) enough, so it was time for something new. After the mad scene I was dumbstruck. I couldn't even say anything! Suddenly my friend yells "EPIC! That was epic!" It was too perfect. The rest of the evening all we could saw was. "Wait, can you believe how EPIC that was?" "It was so EPIC, I can't even stand it." We even had to make up a new category of epic: Lucia-style Epic. =)

In case you want to hear about the singers at all...

Part of the epic-ness was the perfection of the cast. Looking at the list some of us may have been caught saying "Who?" Well, that question (and some of our prayers) were quickly answered.
Sean Panikkar as Arturo (while not exactly Stephen Costello *wink*) and Ronald Naldi as Normanno were strong supporters with beautiful voices and definite presence. An opera is only as good as it's supporting singers and these guys were great.
Michaela Martens as Alisa was, as last year, a force to be reckoned with. Hopefully, after the sextet you don't want to be heard, because this mezzo's voice is so big that during her high notes she drowns out everything else. It's a good thing. I love it. It's like proclaiming "Hello! I'm here! And I have a wonderful mezzo voice!!"
Ildbar Abdrazakov was a great Raimondo. He staggered onto the stage just before the mad scene in such a way that it made everyone in the audience nervous. Let's face it, we all know the mad scene is coming, but the horrified look he had made it so....real! His singing in the second act was great as well. His guidance to Lucia was heartfelt and very affecting.
No one likes Enrico. No one ever is supposed to like Enrico. He's a mean brother who has no consideration for his sister's feelings. Right? I guess not. Vladimir Stoyanov showed (me, at least) another dimension of Enrico. Sure, he is dishonest and mean to Lucia, but his intentions are clearer. With his deep voice and impressive acting Mr. Stoyanov shows a man who, in desperation, would sacrifice his sister's happiness for the "good" of his family's name. He is struggling, as head of the family, to maintain the favor the Ashton family had previously enjoyed. This all becomes clear through Stoyanov's personal interpretation of Enrico Ashton.

The real find at this performance was Piotr Beczala as Edgardo. He comes on stage and all of my friends lunged for the only pair of opera glasses we brought. Enough said? Well on the visual part of the discussion anyway... I'm always excited but nervous to see tenors I haven't heard [of] before. While I want them to succeed I'm always afraid they will disappoint. My worries were for nothing! Piotr Beczala possesses a gorgeous tenor voice with vibrant high notes and luxurious tone. He also has amazing acting abilities. Last year I commented on Marcello Giordani knocking over chairs for no apparent reason after he denounces Lucia. Beczala did that too, but here it looked normal. (Don't get me wrong, I adore Marcello Giordani, but his clear Italian style and knocking over chairs don't mesh well together.) Everything he did was perfectly relevant to the music and to the story. You really believed him and felt for him. This is a tenor to watch for! He is performing in two other roles at the Met this season (Duke in Rigoletto and Lenski in Eugene Onegin) so his name will be on every opera fans lips. Remember his name, because you won't forget his voice. <3
Diana Damrau. Lucia-style Epic. Lucia Ashton is not a half-insane girl who is clingy and weak and unstable. She's about as insane as any teenage aristocrat with a forbidden lover. She has a strong personality (demonstrated when she throws Edgardo's coat on the ground in Act I and rushes right back into his arms to elongate their duet) and a strong will (demonstrated in her duet with her brother, until she reads the forged letter). It's only, like I said, when Enrico shows her the forged letter that she breaks down. It's all downhill from the there. The wedding, the decrying, the mad sc-...we aren't there yet.
Diana Damrau. What a voice on this woman! You wouldn't know this was her role debut. You would think she'd been singing this for years! I've never seen a Lucia like this. All Lucia's are unique, but this was uniquely unique. It was Lucia, Diana Damrau style. That means it has sass, flair, it's piquant, vibrant. It's everything it should be, but with an edge. That edge is the mad scene. Every soprano is dying to do it, but only few get it just right. Need I say more? It's implied that she got it "just right." I've never seen a Lucia hobble in circles so many times, or stretch across the prompter's box and sing those extremely difficult passages. She had blood on her face, her arms, her dress. It was everywhere! Don't even get me started on this woman's high notes. THE HIGH NOTES! The High Notes. We know she has them from her Queen of the Night, but these are out of this world! All in all, it was ridiculous. It's ludicrous that those sounds can come out of a human being.
Never seen a Lucia quite like it. Beczala and Damrau have a warm and believable chemistry that had me thinking "Oh, I could see that." There was just something very different about how they reacted to each other. With some/most couples it's all about the love they share right now. Lucia and Edgardo are in love right now and yes our families fight, but now we are in love. With these two you can sense their past. You know that they know that they aren't supposed to be together, but it doesn't matter to them. You see the complexities of their relationship without them having to spoon feed it to you.

Dear Marco Armiliato, I salute you. Love, CaroNome of Score Desk.
EPIC. (The chorus, too. Finally catching up to the orchestra!)

To Summarize:
My birthday performance was LUCIA-STYLE EPIC.




Happy Listening!!! =) =)
PS. I apologize for the lateness.
PPS. I always try to make my reviews shorter, but it never works. You can handle that, right?

Three of My Favorite Things!!!!!

Tosca, James Bond, and Daniel Craig!!!

I Have Been Tagged

I never thought I would get tagged, but there you go. Learn something new every day.


1. Link to your tagger and list these rules on your blog. Leah was my tagger.

2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog - some random, some weird.

3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blog.

4. Let them know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

5. If you don't have 7 blog friends, or if someone else already took dibs, then tag some unsuspecting strangers.



THE FACTS:

1. When I was in the fifth grade I got mad at my brothers and slammed the door to my room. My finger got caught in it, so I instinctively put it in my mouth to make it hurt less. It tasted really funny and when I looked at it my finger was covered in blood. Turns out some of the finger came off with the slammed door. We went to the hospital and all was okay. 10 stitches for my 10th birthday, which was a few weeks from then. Traumatizing? No. Weird? Yes.

2. While working at an internship near Union Square in the city, I had a bag of carrots that I didn't want for lunch. I passed a homeless man every day and I thought I would see if he wanted them. I gathered my courage, because I don't usually approach anyone, and I asked, "Excuse me, would you like these? I'm not going to have them." I was so proud of myself and I wanted to do something nice for him, but he said, "No. I don't want them." The weirdest part about the whole thing was that as I was walking away I heard the lady behind me say to the person she was with "Well, she just caught a druggie." Weird.

3. I used to play the viola. Then I switched to clarinet, and then to oboe. I quit the oboe when band wasn't a requirement in school anymore and it was after school instead. I had dance class, homework, and voice lessons. Something had to go. I slightly regret it. College applications are soon and oboes look pretty amazing.

4. I saw an Aida at the Arena di Verona last summer. It was the craziest thing I've ever witnessed. It started to rain, but then I channeled my inner Tosca, prayed to the Virgin Mary, and it stopped raining 15 minutes before the performance was supposed to start. Now we say in my family that God wanted me to see that performance.

5. I have only loved opera since February 2006. It's when my mom brought home the DVD of The Turandot Project from the local library. I didn't know what it was about, but Zubin Mehta came on the screen talking about how everything is about "color. You never see a gray dragon." Suddenly, the finale music starts playing and the most incredible production of Turandot ever (Florence) appears on the screen. I literally jumped onto the couch screaming "I KNOW THIS SONG. I KNOW THIS SONG. OH MY GOD I KNOW THIS." So this is love, mm-mm-mm-mm, so this is love...

6. Besides Opera, the loves of my life are: Ballet, Art, John Adams (c. 1776), British and Russian Literature, British History, and Broadway. Also, I'm an anglo-phile. It's pretty bad. I have a jar in my room that JOKINGLY says "Long Live the Queen." My friend and I both have one. We're saving up so that when the queen dies (far far from now) we can fly to London and mourn with the British people. We could possibly stay for the coronation, or however long it takes the princes to fall madly in love with us.

7. Here are some other random facts: My brothers and I have a game called "Random Sentence from Anna Karenina." I hated Der Rosenkavalier the first time I heard it. This blog has a binder that I bring to the opera house to write reviews in; it's sad I know, it's made so I don't forget any detail of the performance, so if you see a teenage girl walking around with a white binder or if you sit next to her, it's ME. I am a member of the Metropolitan Opera Guild. I am on the opera-l list service, but I'm a bona-fide lurker. I have 7 editions of Pride and Prejudice in my room alone, I don't even know why. I am in love with Venice, Italy. It was my mom's idea to make this blog. It is my mom's fault I love opera, so whenever she gets annoyed with the loud opera music I remind her it's her fault.


Now, 7 Bloggers Tagged:

1. Crazy Daisy, the only not classical music blog I read, which is sad. =) You should be proud.

2. ACB from The Concert. =)

3. The one who introduced me to Patricia Petibon and unleashed my love of Baroque opera, Sarah Noble.

4. Olivia from Orchestra Ring.

5. Gert from Gertsamtkunstwerk

6. ANY OTHER BLOGGERS WHO READ THIS

7. Please see above. I'm a young'un. I don't move in the higher circles of the opera-blogging world. If I ever found out that La Cieca or Opera Chic read this blog once I'd fall on the floor.
=)




Happy Listening!!! =)

Have a Question About the Atomic Bomb?

Just ask Gerald Finley...
or Robert J. Oppenheimer.

If it's too much work to ask, just watch the Met's new Doctor Atomic trailer.





PLUS: Get ready for the Met Player, coming to a computer near you October 22nd.




Happy Listening!!! =)

And You Thought I Forgot...

You know, Columbus Day weekend and all that...


The Two Geniuses of Italian Opera:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9LEjLGf-dbo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8A3zetSuYRg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0_UG2UnM7o
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1zmUbthbr8


Happy Birthday Pavarotti!!!! (10.12)
Happy Birthday Verdi!!!!!! (10.10)



Happy Listening!!!!

Lucia Photo Gallery

Congratulations to Diana Damrau on her debut as Lucia!!!!!! What a feat, and at the Metropolitan Opera House! Any worry was for nothing because the reviews were awesome! Raving reviews from the New York Times, Seattle Times, The New Yorker, and the Associated Press are proof that Diana Damrau is the soprano to watch out for. Not that she wasn't before, she was always a force to be reckoned with, but now it's over the top!

The Metropolitan Opera has documented this historic debut in the form of a photo gallery in which Ms. Damrau looks gorgeous (and frightening!!!) as Lucy Ashton.

I can't wait to see her (for my sweet sixteen!!!!!) at the end of the month as Lucia. I'm so excited! I'm taking a few friends to see her and show them the majesty that is Donizetti, Lucia, and Diana Damrau. Is it too much to hope that I can meet her after? Maybe she'll stop by Fiorello's for dinner after the show, like me! =) =) Nah, it's definitely too much to ask for.



Happy Listening!!!! =)
and Congrats to Ms. Damrau again!!!!! =)