With Andrew Davis in the pit and Bryn Terfel as Leporello, my hopes rise, but I don't know the two sopranos at all and am unsure about Finley as the Don. Views, expectations?
-
-
No view of expectation to express, but unusually the performance is available via the iPlayer until next Saturday. Very few NY Met performances make it to that facility. -
Well, subtle it wasn't, but full of energy and in yer face exuberance. I thought Finley a bit better than just OK as the Don, and the Donna Anna [Rebecka] had bags of power and used it on the whole wisely. Interesting backstage interview with Terfel who revealed that while he had done in the past, he just couldn't sing the Don, and was very happy indeed to be doing Leporello. Unusually muscular Ottavio, and that worked well too. James Morris..........hmm. Not sure about his Commendatore.Comment
-
Thanks for comments. In the end I only heard bits of it, and on the whole support Draco's views, based on limited samples. I thought the backstage interviewer rather inept and Bryn had fun with that. What was it he said about Leporello? The interviewer said something about his being ashamed of the Don, or some such, and Terfel said something like Oh no, he's absolutely devoted to him.
Glad we have the iPlayer option for once.Comment
-
I'm curious that threads about the Met Opera don't get more attention. 'Twas Caliban, I think, who said (on another thread) he's not keen on opera, and I'm wondering whether that's a widespread opinion of Boarders?Comment
-
I thought this was one of the Met's better sounding offerings. The usual problem is that when the broadcasts really are live we get a matinee performance and then we often get the reserve principals. The Don (Gerald Finley) made a good partner with Leporello (Bryn Terfel, who was standing in for an indisposed singer apparently). As so often, Andrew Davis wanted to go very fast but several of the principals were bold enough to pull him back particularly Finley, Marina Rebecka (Donna Anna) and the unusually strong willed Don Ottavio (Matthew Polenzani); I know Sir Charles Mackerras liked nippy Mozart but he was also a master of thoughtful phrasing. Am I imagining things but I thought James Morris (who sang Il Commendatore) had retired?Comment
-
I'm quite happy with sound only performances if I have seen the opera and can visualise the setting and the costumes as I listenOriginally posted by kernelbogey View Post
The downside, of course, is that one tends to hear all the thumps and scrapes of feet on the boards, which mostly go unnoticed when distracted by the vision.
HSComment
-
Even if I've seen the opera, on BBC4 in the early days, or at the theatre, I lose concentration in sound only broadcasts, I'm afraid.It's good to compare it with the past if it is a new production.Comment
-
< I thought James Morris (who sang Il Commendatore) had retired >
Ahem...........I think a lot of people would have thought the same. It's true to the Met tradition seemingly that singers rarely retire.
Get my drift?Comment
-
-
I guess it is the luck of the draw (or the works you mostly choose to sing in your career) but we have older singers than James Morris who are excellent in cameos; Francis Egerton and Robert Lloyd spring to mind.Comment
-
Indeed. One doesn't doubt that. It's just that the Met seem to........erm......persevere with a crowd favourite for quite a long time.Comment
-
Hmm. 'Slight' problem. If you want to hear the end via the iPlayer you will have to access the start of the iPlayer version of Jazz Records Requests.Originally posted by Bryn View Post
[There is a very brief, and rather untidy, overlap which can be edited successfully at the wave level.]Last edited by Bryn; 12-03-12, 20:04.Comment
Comment