Adriana Lecouvreur at the ROH

[Barbirollians]

On R3 this Sat . Saw the production last Saturday - Kaufmann, Schuster, Corbelli etc all excellent, marvellously staged and superbly played and conducted .

The soprano Gulin sadly was sorely stretched by the role and very raw top notes . I hope Gheorghiu is no longer indisposed by Saturday !

[Il Grande Inquisitor]

On R3 this Sat . Saw the production last Saturday - Kaufmann, Schuster, Corbelli etc all excellent, marvellously staged and superbly played and conducted .

The soprano Gulin sadly was sorely stretched by the role and very raw top notes . I hope Gheorghiu is no longer indisposed by Saturday !

I wasn't aware that Gheorghiu had missed any of the performances. Ángeles Blancas Gulín was due to sing some of the run anyway. I'm not going until next week - I wanted to hear both Gheorghiu and Borodina; although aware of the ease with which they succumb to cancelitis, I consider it an outside chance that both cry off...

There have been a few critics who have been less than enamoured with the singing:

http://www.opera-britannia.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=402:adriana-lecouvreur-the-royal-opera-18th-november-2010&catid=8&Itemid=16

[Die Fledermaus]

I went to see it on Thursday 25th. Gheorghiu cancelled as expected but only 2 hours before the performance (as my friend said - so as to cause the maximum amount of annoyance). Frankly I was not wild about it as an opera, it will not be a great loss if it is another 100 years before it is performed at the ROH again IMHO. The big aria is good of course - check out the wonderful Margaret Price singing it on Youtube. However I was very lucky to be invited backstage and to get to meet Kaufmann who I can tell you is a very charming man and even more handsome close up than he looks on stage!

[Bert Coules]

I can't get to see this at the Garden, but I have fond memories of a BBC studio performance in English from a good few years ago which it would be fun to hear again: I remember it as working quite well dramatically, in a cheesy but enjoyable sort of way.

The only casting I recall was Alberto Remedios as the tenor lead, and casting around for more information, what do you know, I found this: an extract in very poor sound, bizarrely accompanied by a still from Götterdämmerung.

Edited to add:

I found a few more details. The year was 1969 and the recording was made at the Camden Theatre. The rest of the cast included Joan Carlyle, Delme Bryn-Jones, Heather Begg and Norman Welsby, and Alberto Erede conducted the Concert Orchestra. The producer was Julian Budden and the introductory narrations were written by Philip Hope-Wallace.

[Barbirollians]

Yes Gulin was planned to sing two performances but originally this Saturday - and Gheorghiu last Sat so i was not amused to find the cast switch - perhaps this is because this Sat is to be broadcast .

There was an article in the Telegraph about the performance DF saw - apparently lots of catcalls from an audience suspicious of how indisposed Miss Gheorghiu was .

I thought it was a cracking piece staged even if based on one great tune ! - Callas's recordings of the two big soprano arias show how dynamite she might have been as Adriana .

[Flosshilde]

Yes Gulin was planned to sing two performances but originally this Saturday - and Gheorghiu last Sat so i was not amused to find the cast switch - perhaps this is because this Sat is to be broadcast .

Ironically the broadcast is of a performance recorded during the week, because Kaufman is not well tonight!

It's been broadcast before - not so long ago - from the Met, maybe?

[Cavaradossi]

Yes Gulin was planned to sing two performances but originally this Saturday - and Gheorghiu last Sat so i was not amused to find the cast switch - perhaps this is because this Sat is to be broadcast .

Gheorghiu was never scheduled to sing last Saturday (27th), it was always Gulin and again on the final peformance on the 10th next week. Gulin stepped in for Draculetta when she pooped out on the 25th.

[Barbirollians]

Are you sure Cavaradossi ? I check the cast lists very carefully before I book online and I should be very surprised if somehow I made a mistake and booked for a Gulin performance .

[Barbirollians]

Miss Gheorghiu's singing judging by last night's broadcast of Tuesday's performance was VASTLY superior to Gulin .

[Cavaradossi]

Are you sure Cavaradossi ? I check the cast lists very carefully before I book online and I should be very surprised if somehow I made a mistake and booked for a Gulin performance .

Barbirollians, it was on all the printed literature and also on the online press release.

See bottom of page 2.

http://www.roh.org.uk/uploadedFiles/Press_and_Media/Press_Releases/ROBP22010.pdf

[Barbirollians]

I don't understand how I did that

Then again had I booked for this weekend I might not have made it due to the snow here up north ! and I got to hear Kaufmann in superb form .

[Chris Newman]

It rather threw me to read that Angeles Gulin was still singing. I was not surprised she was raw at the top as I heard her with Giulini in the Rossini Stabat Mater in the mid 60s at the RFH. Then I googled her and discovered you guys are actually talking about her daughter, Angeles Branca Gulin. It falls into place. The one I recall died 8 years ago.

[DracoM]

Apologies for opening another thread on this. I had not spotted it.

[gurnemanz]

We went to the same production as Barbirollians. It was a very good evening, though if left to my own devices I would probably not have prioritised this opera. My wife booked the tickets. She shares Mr Kaufmann's nationality and has a crush on him, though old enough to be his mother. Last year we turned up to see him in Don Carlos and he was off sick. I don't fancy him but do love his voice.

[Barbirollians]

He was terrific in Don Carlos too - Keenlyside was probably the star of that show and the excellent soprano whose name I cannot spell . The Eboli was ropey.