ROH Nabucco is being live-streamed on YouTube Thursday 9 June at 7.30pm with pre-performance screening from 7pm.
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I saw Domingo in I due Foscari. At the end he was getting a standing ovation from older members of the audience. It was very sad. He can act. He was the greatest operatic tenor of his generation. He has the energy to put an operatic role over at his age. But as was painfully obvious from comparison with the other singers, he has no beauty of tone. An embarrassment. -
Singers used to know when to retire gracefully, or at least move to the lesser roles. Was Pavarotti the first to carry on longer than he should have done? Probably not, but perhaps there's a touch of competition in Domingo carrying on?Comment
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Rupert Christiansen thinks some singers are addicted, inter alia!Originally posted by Flosshilde View Post
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In Domingo's case, I believe he continues to work because working keeps him alive. 'If I rest, I rust' runs the motto on his website. He was treated for cancer about six years ago and may feel that his days are numbered.Originally posted by Flosshilde View Post
I have seen him on about five separate occasions since 2002: each time, while not totally disappointed, I was aware I was seeing someone past their best. The applause he gets is for his achievement in attempting an unprecedented number of roles, a large number of them successfully. And I'm not sure he's tarnishing his legacy, as a legacy like his can't really be tarnished (the same applies to Monserrat Caballe, who was still singing up until recently, although only in Spain).
Pavarotti's voice held up pretty well until the end, though it was no longer as reliable an instrument as it had been. His final Toscas at the ROH were well-reviewed, but that may have been because critics sensed it was his operatic goodbye.Comment
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Possibly for his singing, but not for his acting - b ut then was he evr an actor?Originally posted by Conchis View PostComment
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He was too physically unwieldy to act his roles convincingly. I read of a Pagliacci where Nedda and Silvio had to go to him in order to be stabbed; and later stories of him having to be hauled onto the stage via a crane mechanism.Originally posted by Flosshilde View Post
And this man was once a P.E. teacher! I think anxieties over preserving his voice drove him into bad dietary habits.Comment
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I hear what you're all saying and I can see the truth of much of it. But if people want to carry on paying money to enjoy his performances, why shouldn't they? (Not saying that you're all saying they shouldn't, but you know what I mean.)
I was lucky enough to be there last night -- never seen him before -- and enjoyed every minute. There is still emotional beauty in his voice, and he had great presence. Helps to have a sensational Abigaille, though -- which he did.
Jamie Barton got a big roar when she came on for the curtain call -- must have been a lot of Americans in. She didn't get that much of a reception when actually singing, though I suppose most of what she did was with other cast members. She wasn't a show-stopper, anyway.Comment
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I saw her on stage in Vienna as the Duchesse de Crakenthorpe in la Fille du Régiment.Originally posted by Conchis View Post
Of course she doesn't sing much...Comment
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Anyway, as I said at the start, you can see & hear Domingo (& decide for yourself how good he is) tomorrow on the ROH's YouTube feed.Comment
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Suzy Klein commented on the importance (in Italy's 19th century 'revolution) of Nabucco in episode 2 of Revolution and Romance. She also got invited to a weird, exclusive, all male, 'Verdi Club'...whose anthem, needless to say, was The Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves.
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Luke-warm review in the Guardian (but not for Domingo)
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I've heard squeaks of 'Viva Verdi!' from the audience at that point in the Arena at Verona.Originally posted by ardcarp View PostComment
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To be fair, he doesn't sound awful. He is not making the horrible death rattle sounds that Carreras is making on his current crop of coach-party pension enhancement gigs; but if you only know him from recordings/film of him in his prime, you might be in for an unpleasant surprise.Originally posted by Flosshilde View Post
It might have been a good idea of his to switch back to the baritone repertoire.
Also: it has to be faced, that these days he is rather noticeably reliant on the prompter.Comment
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Originally posted by jean View Post
Legend has it that Birgit Nilsson was once spotted in the wings of a European opera house, listening to a performance by M.C.
A passer-by was surprised to see her and asked what she was doing.
La Nilsson replied: 'I'm listening to Madame Aballe.'
'Don't you mean Madame Caballe?' inquired the passer-by.
'No', replied Nilsson, 'She has lost her top C!'
This probably didn't happen, but I rather wish it had.Comment
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