Met Opera Die Walkure 28.4.12

[Chris Newman]

I agree with RobertLeDiable on this. It sounds very painful to me. My guess is that Frank van Aken's nerves have got the worst of him. Siegmund is a strange role alternating between lyric passages and helden tenor blasts (very comparable to the role of Gerontius). The vibrato and pitching problems seem be worst when he should be producing his gentler best lyrical tone. Rather than sing he gets a growling sound. When he gets more lively he perks up which suggests that he is unnerved.

The Met is falling prey to throat bugs . Apparently Kurt Streit is indisposed as well and won't be singing in Makropoulos tomorrow. Richard Leech is covering for him.

[Chris Newman]

Why, is it just money? Are the BBC tied to the Met every Saturday. Why cannot they broadcast from European Opera Houses?

Yes they have a contract though you might have noticed they opt out of the adverts. It comes as a package which is why we get Pinky and Perky burbling away in the intervals. Mind you I am looking forward to Karita Matila's Makropoulos next week. Good cast with Belohlavec conducting.

Then we get several weeks of ENO operas in May.

[gradus]

Sorry to dissent but I thought the first act gripping and well sung particularly by Sieglinde.
I particularly enjoyed the last 15 minutes or so from Wintersturme onwards and Du bist der Lenz was beautifully sung, nor did Mr van Aken miss his great final note. Quite a pace set by the conductor during the prelude but a change of orchestral perspective later - someone fiddling with the balance towards the end?

[Chris Newman]

Act Two has begun fabulously. Bryn is singing beautifully whilst Katarina Dalayman (Brunnhilde) and Stephanie Blythe (Fricka) are absolutely glorious. (It is early days but Dalayman could be the best sounding Brunnhilde since Rita Hunter). Blythe could sing Siegmund if he loses his voice!

I like Luisi's way with the Wagner. Very exciting. Faster than I am used to but that is because I was brought up on Reggie Goodall.

[kernelbogey]

Sorry to dissent but I thought the first act gripping and well sung particularly by Sieglinde.
I particularly enjoyed the last 15 minutes or so from Wintersturme onwards and Du bist der Lenz was beautifully sung, nor did Mr van Aken miss his great final note.[....]

This was pretty much how I heard it too. I thought it likely that their real-life relationship fired them up in what must be pretty tricky circs for van Aken, though I agree his voice was sometimes very rough. The last ten minutes or so of Act I were pretty exciting, I thought. (Guess incest alway is. )

I thought the applause at the end of Act I rather lukewarm and I think there was even some booing - rather uncharitable given the circumstances.

[DracoM]

Trouble is that at the Met, singers are trapped: if you 'sing big' to fill the space, the mics pick you up as barking, hectoring, under pressure, shouting etc. If you sing for the relay, the back row can't hear you over the band. And if, as on this occasion, wife is desperate hubby can deliver, neither she nor hubby may be in the very best nick.

That said, I thought Act 1 pretty poor. Luisi seemed inexplicably nervous and kept holding the orchestra back and down to let Siegmund get into his stride. Contrary to upthread, I thought it got slower and slower. Siegmund was scarily wobbly, VERY slow, and as said, out of his depth or voice going at the end of Act 1. To me the whole thing sounded stodgy. Lucky the band were as usual pretty good.

At least, that's what I thought until the start of Act 2. Fricka good, Brunnhilde - will reserve comment - but Bryn Terfel after a fantastic start then settled into a long, featureless, uncoloured wallow, as if he was struggling with the whole narrative trajectory and the music just felt too low for him. And here, Luisi did indeed push it on - almost as if he was hating the whole experience and trying to get it over asap! Bewildered. Act 3?? Well....we'll have to wait and see.

[DracoM]

Removed. Sorry - got in a muddle sending.

[euthynicus]

Sorry to dissent but I thought the first act gripping and well sung particularly by Sieglinde.
I particularly enjoyed the last 15 minutes or so from Wintersturme onwards and Du bist der Lenz was beautifully sung, nor did Mr van Aken miss his great final note. Quite a pace set by the conductor during the prelude but a change of orchestral perspective later - someone fiddling with the balance towards the end?

It's true he's tiring quite badly now, but I agree with you: much of the criticism here seems harsh or misplaced. The ROH has had far worse stand-ins for roles of this size. And Westbroek is exactly the right size of voice for the part, and they, understandably, seem completely to understand each other and where the other will go next.

And Luisi's Wagner has taken some getting used to - not as incendiary as Levine's, but very detailed and with impressive command of line. It flows far more easily than, for instance, Haitink's Ring, and is, again understandably, of a piece with Pappano's priveliging of the lyric line - very on trend, right now (viz Simone Young and Justin Brown's conducting in Germany) - but with a rather fuller willingness to face up to the grand moments and treat them as such.

[Nick Armstrong]

er no I was thinking of our resident defender of the professional BBC chorus

ignore me I'm stirring

I don't follow these things assiduously enough!

I find the Met performances generally pretty mediocre. They do occasionally have a few gems but that is the exception. It's not high on my list of opera houses to go to.

I've only been once and fortunately picked a gem (well, it was no accident, apart from the good fortune of being in NYC at the relevant time) - the "Salome" in 2004 with Karita Mattila, conducted by Gergiev. It was very very good indeed. (I see Alex Ross has written about it http://www.therestisnoise.com/2004/04/salome_1.html )

Sorry, off topic.... I'll shut up!

[Chris Newman]

I think there was a lot to enjoy in Acts 2 and 3. Apparently the Siegmund had not sang it for two years which explains his nervousness. I thought Bryn Terfel sang well. I did not think him featureless in Act 1. felt sorry for him in the Farewell where a couple of lapses with the words rather threw him. He must have felt knackered and trying desperately to preserve his emotions and tone. It happens to everyone. I liked the Brunnhilde thinking perhaps she could have allowed herself some quieter moments.

[kernelbogey]

I thought Bryn had a greater range of emotional expression than I've heard in most Wotans. I think he was good and on his way to being very fine indeed. Van Acken was seriously flagging towards the end of his role. I liked a lot of detail in the orchestral playing that Luisi brought out. I'm looking forward to seeing Rheingold and Siegfried in the cinema in the summer, having missed them in the earlier HD relays.

[Belgrove]

The stand-in aside, that was impressive.

Dalayman has a flexibility that the rather metallic-toned Voigt lacks. Terfel continues to impress me through his singing of the role, only let down by the very last which was crude and merely loud. Still not convinced he's inside the character though.

Luisi's stock is rising as far as I'm concerned. Levine is too four-square for my taste, whereas the pace and rubato that Luisi provides works. He clearly had to accommodate for his Siegmund, which compromised the arc of act 1, but that aside there was a trajectory to the development, a quality that is rare nowadays. Wagner can stand a greater variation in tempo than any other composer, provided it is in the right hands, and that an outstanding orchestra of the quality of the Met is able to deliver the goods. This was exciting and musical - and that's what opera should be.

It did not have the overwhelming impact of last year, when Kaufmann was in the cast, but that was a very special night at the opera. It is being reprised in cinema's during the summer, catch it if you can.

[ARBurton]

I recorded this for later listening, but the bits I heard showed the usual Met sound balance which really isn`t to my taste. I was also recording, courtesy of Austrian Radio`s website, Thielemann conducting the same opera in Vienna which struck me as a much more natural sound. (For those interested, Austrian radio has a listen again facility too whereas the BBC`s doesn`t include their Met broadcasts.)

[Stunsworth]

I recorded this for later listening, but the bits I heard showed the usual Met sound balance which really isn`t to my taste

I only caught the last 15 minutes or so of Act I and vocal problems aside, my first thought was that the singers had been fitted with mics attached to their costumes. The voices were extremely close and the sound not what I would expect from a Wagner opera in a large hall.

[Pegleg]

I recorded this for later listening, but the bits I heard showed the usual Met sound balance which really isn`t to my taste. I was also recording, courtesy of Austrian Radio`s website, Thielemann conducting the same opera in Vienna which struck me as a much more natural sound. (For those interested, Austrian radio has a listen again facility too whereas the BBC`s doesn`t include their Met broadcasts.)

Url please