When booking my tickets for the 2012 ROH Ring yesterday, a somewhat unworthy thought crossed my mind:
'Wouldn't it be agreeable if Terfel walked out of this one, too, and was replaced by someone like Rene Pape?'
This beguiling possibility led me to reflect on my own feelings about this wayward Welshman and the amount of pampering and indulgence of which he seems to be the not very grateful recipient. His welshing (an unfortunate but apposite pun!) on his contract in 2007 (on the pretext of being so scared of Mrs. Terfel's temper that he didn't dare absent himself from the marital home when his son was nursing a poorly finger) was surely disgraceful.....many people, self included, expected him to never be seen at Covent Garden again during Pappano's reign. Yet, the following season, he was back (as Scarpia).
Presumably, this is because money talks....Terfel is, so we are told, 'big box office': furthermore, his name adds prestige to an event - anything with him in it is automatically a 'major' production. Never mind that Terfel's fee is now apparently beyond the reach of Covent Garden's own pockets (the inserted phrase 'Bryn Terfel's performance by kind permission of (private donor)' has become a common sight in opera programmes around the world) and that his - now fairly rare - opera appearances seem to be grudgingly undertaken, diverting him as they do from his lucrative '2nd career' as a crossover artist (though has anyone else noted how frequently his easy listening CDs turn up in charity shops?).
What did for me with Terfel was his decision to take a Walkure curtain call while wearing a Welsh flag over his cloak (Wales had just won some rugby match, apparently). I'm sure the stage managers were horrified but 'big Bryn' has so much clout that they would have been powerless to stop him. With this one stupid, arrogant and (typically) selfish gesture, he undermined the powerful effect that he and Lisa Gasteen had achieved in the closing scene of the piece.
Terfel has been abritrarily blessed with an excellent natural instrument: such a pity that said instrument has to be attached to the brain of a nogood boyo. Personally, I'd be highly delighted if he decided to forsake opera for good (let's face it, he just doesn't have the discipline to realise his potential) and leave the field - particularly of Wagnerian music drama - to more serious singers, who appreciate the opportunities offered to them.
'Wouldn't it be agreeable if Terfel walked out of this one, too, and was replaced by someone like Rene Pape?'
This beguiling possibility led me to reflect on my own feelings about this wayward Welshman and the amount of pampering and indulgence of which he seems to be the not very grateful recipient. His welshing (an unfortunate but apposite pun!) on his contract in 2007 (on the pretext of being so scared of Mrs. Terfel's temper that he didn't dare absent himself from the marital home when his son was nursing a poorly finger) was surely disgraceful.....many people, self included, expected him to never be seen at Covent Garden again during Pappano's reign. Yet, the following season, he was back (as Scarpia).
Presumably, this is because money talks....Terfel is, so we are told, 'big box office': furthermore, his name adds prestige to an event - anything with him in it is automatically a 'major' production. Never mind that Terfel's fee is now apparently beyond the reach of Covent Garden's own pockets (the inserted phrase 'Bryn Terfel's performance by kind permission of (private donor)' has become a common sight in opera programmes around the world) and that his - now fairly rare - opera appearances seem to be grudgingly undertaken, diverting him as they do from his lucrative '2nd career' as a crossover artist (though has anyone else noted how frequently his easy listening CDs turn up in charity shops?).
What did for me with Terfel was his decision to take a Walkure curtain call while wearing a Welsh flag over his cloak (Wales had just won some rugby match, apparently). I'm sure the stage managers were horrified but 'big Bryn' has so much clout that they would have been powerless to stop him. With this one stupid, arrogant and (typically) selfish gesture, he undermined the powerful effect that he and Lisa Gasteen had achieved in the closing scene of the piece.
Terfel has been abritrarily blessed with an excellent natural instrument: such a pity that said instrument has to be attached to the brain of a nogood boyo. Personally, I'd be highly delighted if he decided to forsake opera for good (let's face it, he just doesn't have the discipline to realise his potential) and leave the field - particularly of Wagnerian music drama - to more serious singers, who appreciate the opportunities offered to them.
.
Comment