Sieglinde's Diaries

Last full breath before diving into another semester

2011-01-25T10:49:00.000-05:00

Listless List

2011-01-21T10:18:00.004-05:00

The List is out. Here's how our boys fared:

But the dynamic duo of 19th-century opera, Verdi and Wagner, aimed high. As I already let slip, they both make my list. That a new production of a Verdi opera, like Willy Decker’s spare, boldly reimagined staging of “La Traviata” at the Metropolitan Opera, can provoke such heated passions among audiences is testimony to the enduring richness of Verdi’s works. A production of Wagner’s “Ring” cycle has become the entry card for any opera company that wants to be considered big time. The last 20 minutes of “Die Walküre” may be the most sadly beautiful music ever written.

But who ranks higher? They may be tied as composers but not as people. Though Verdi had an ornery side, he was a decent man, an Italian patriot and the founder of a retirement home for musicians still in operation in Milan. Wagner was an anti-Semitic, egomaniacal jerk who transcended himself in his art. So Verdi is No. 8 and Wagner No. 9.

Mozart was listed, of course, but only at No. 3? The other opera composers who made it are Beethoven and Debussy. It's actually an amusing read, full of funny apologies and excuses. The exercise of putting together such lists is not unlike choosing a favorite child, if you're too serious about it. But it can also be a "gun-to-your-head" or desert island game, if you're on your second bottle of wine.

I wish a blog like Parterre Box would host a similar challenge to readers, for our very own Top 10 List of Opera's Greatest Composers. I'm sure it's been done here and there, more times than I can imagine, but to have perhaps the greatest collection of queens bitch it out for days and days would be a true highlight of operablogging in a while. (Sorry, it can't be hosted here, since (a) I have a readership of about a dozen, and (b) I don't allow comments in the blog.) Mascagni, anyone?

La Travesty

2011-01-19T11:21:00.001-05:00

The limitations of her performance were particularly glaring in Act II, when Germont, Alfredo's father, arrived like a death knell to separate her from her last chance at happiness. Here, she was paired with Andrzej Dobber, whose dour, monochromatic baritone emphasized Germont's cruelty and self-righteousness, with no hint of his growing respect for Violetta's integrity and his sympathy for her, and the long duet pitted two equally stiff characters against each other. Ms. Poplavskaya simply flailed against Mr. Dobber's implacability, and this sequence, one of the richest in the opera, missed the intense development that Verdi wrote into both these people. It became part of the production's scheme without persuading us of its emotional truth.

Well said.

My lingering thought now is Holy Crap, I have to see this modern Decker monstrosity every time I go to the Met for Traviata. It's one of my faves! How can this happen. My next thought, somehow comforting, is, well, who will agree to sing this Violetta here anyway. Only youngish and semi-athletic sopranos can do that riding the couch shit with any credibility. Seriously, of the Violettas that graced the Zeffirelli extravaganza in the past decade, only Cristina Galladro-Domas, the young Patricia Racette (but no more), Krassimira Stoyanova, maybe Anja Harteros, maybe Hei-Kyung Hong, maybe Mary Dunleavy can do this production to some degree (but will they agree to do it is another question). The list leaves out really good interpreters such as Ruth Ann Swenson, June Anderson, Renee Fleming, and Angela Gheorghiu. That blows, don't you think?

Breaking news: Verdi and Wagner Make it to History's Most Pompous Top 10 List

2011-01-17T08:43:00.002-05:00

The New York Times' Anthony Tommasini argues for their inclusion in his own most exclusive list of "The 10 Greatest Composers of Classical Music", otherwise known as "The Most Predictable Top 10 List Out There, Really".

Real Housewife of UWS

2011-01-15T09:02:00.002-05:00

We have something spontaneous (for lunch), something small. Dinner is the big meal. I love to eat, but no way am I going to do a diet; forget it! I just am careful about how much I eat. Sure, I would like to lose a few kilos, but I don’t want to be skinny. You see these skinny, starving women always with the unhappy faces! In my profession, you need the big lungs; my upper body is one or two sizes bigger than my bottom half.

Elsewhere, Anna Netrebko professes her devotion to TJ Maxx, Century 21, Starbucks, "The Tudors", and "popcorn, a Coke, and a movie". Don't yawn, it's rude.

Traviata Epic Fail

2011-01-13T00:17:00.006-05:00

Verdi LA TRAVIATA, 12.01.11; c. Noseda; Poplavskaya, Polenzani, Dobber.

The sets, supposedly new, squeaked and creaked a number of times throughout the evening, which was distracting, to say the least. But what I really minded was the way Willy Decker managed to strip off the human intimacy in key scenes, all for the sake of "interpretation". The disjuncture between Verdi's era-specific story and Decker's dislocated reimagination is jarring. If his Violetta is this modernish hooker and her parties have many transvestites and their couches are from Ikea, then why the hell does the Germont family even care if the son is cavorting quite happily with some Lindsay Lohan? Surely in this imagined modern plane, morality and shame don't bear as much force as in, say, the socially rigid Zeffirelli universe.

Because of this dissonance, Decker's first scene of Act II, which is the opera's breaking heart, where Verdi wrote his most wrenchingly personal music, was a total failure. I do recall that in the traditional Zeffirelli, Renee Fleming, Angela Gheorghiu, Ruth Ann Swenson, and Hei-Kyung Hong (to name a few) managed to induce a melodrama that left me shamelessly misty-eyed. In the new production, Marina Poplavskaya, during this scene, wanders here and there and up and down and left and right, attempting to fill an otherwise big, empty, brightly-lit sterile void. (Paradoxically, the "big" Zeffirelli production was actually cozier and warmer in Act II, Scene I, than this "spare" Decker; the singers in this current run have been inadvertently miniaturized.)

The other problem with "concept" productions is that you end up expecting to be dazzled and surprised at every turn, so that the opera seems engaging only during special effects moments or dynamic staging (like Robert Lepage's undulating Das Rheingold platform spines) but can quickly become staid and dull when things stop moving or changing. Again, Act II's crucial scene with Violetta and Papa Germont was one casualty, the proverbial drying paint of the evening. Runner up was Act III, the other emotionally packed scene, where Violetta again wanders around, but this time in her bodacious camison, obsessed with Doctor Death. (Yawn.)

More things to say about this; perhaps I'll get to them later this week. Also, a few words need to be added regarding Marina Poplavskaya's uneven but ultimately satisfying portayal and Matthew Polenzani's singular success. But the bottom line on the Decker: an annoying disappointment.

Critically short

2011-01-12T08:11:00.007-05:00

Scary for other reasons was Sondra Radvanovsky’s first Met Tosca, sung flat and evoking all the tragic grandeur of a Real Housewife of New Jersey.

Funny! (But only one line devoted to the headliner?)

Radvanovsky did seem a bit suburban in her demeanor, but interpretation of interpretations is almost always about personal taste more than reality. What may be gauged a bit more objectively is flatness, and after reviewing one in-house recording from first note to last, I could not sense any consistent flatness in her rendition. (I should be fair to Alagna as well: his top notes weren't terribly flat either; but the way his face tensed up launching up to them was just a tad painful to watch in person.) Alternatively, I may need to take my ears in for a tune-up. (Get it??)

But what has not been mentioned in any review that I've seen thus far is the rare kind of ovation that greeted Radvanovsky, for her exquisite Vissi d'arte and during her ecstatic curtain calls. After many years and hundreds of evenings at the Met, I could sense different degrees of ovations, and believe me, there was something special going on. The evening was buttressed with the kind of sustained energetic applause and bravas from all parts of the house (not just from one or two freaks) that the likes of Deborah Voigt may never get at the Met again. (Heck, even Renee Fleming hasn't gotten it recently.) The only other active soprano that garners the same feverish adulation is Anna Netrebko, but we know that Netrebko's is as much about the back story as the evening's performance. With no-name Radvanovsky, it seemed more a visceral response to what was actually occurring on stage. If this is a "work in progress", then we got ourselves the next major New York supernova.

2011-01-12T00:20:00.002-05:00

Flat review

2011-01-11T15:26:00.005-05:00

For the soprano, mark it down as a work in progress. Give the tenor extra credit for a save-the-day substitution. But the highest grade goes to the baritone, for masterfully stealing the show. ...

Most of the advance attention focused on Sondra Radvanovsky, an American soprano who has been impressive in Verdi roles and who was singing her first Tosca at the Met. She started off shakily, sounding flat in her offstage calls to her lover ("Mario! Mario!"). And she remained tentative through much of Act 1.

The only flatness audible from where I was sitting was emanating from the Mario. My only thought of the "Mario! Mario!" entrance was "Wow, she's offstage behind this Luc Bondy atrociousness, and she's as loud as Angelotti and Cavaradossi" who were front and center.

Just to make sure, I reviewed a recording my friend made of last evening, and confirmed that indeed, there was no such offstage flatness. (She also overwhelmed the dB capacity of the mic in much of Act II, by the way.) I don't have Sirius, but I'm sure that the broadcast recording would also disprove this AP report.

As for remaining tentative through much of Act 1, I would be too, if this new guy is singing with me, and he's tongue kissing and fondling my breasts and mounting me every chance he gets.

Ringing Tosca

2011-01-11T02:28:00.004-05:00

Puccini TOSCA, 10.01.11; c. Armiliato; Radvanovsky, Alagna, Struckmann.

The throbbing, relentlessly lachrymose and sonically gifted soprano of Sondra Radvanovsky enters a new dimension. She probably vaporized many in-house recordings and shattered hidden microphones tonight, with the sheer gigabigness of her top notes and that characteristic, mechanical vibrato. But the good news is that she's finally using some chest tones! Not a lot, not as big, and not consistently, but they were there when it mattered. One quibble: too much ad-libbed sobbing and screaming and screeching. But a sonically thrilling performance nonetheless.

Meanwhile, Roberto Alagna needs to download some porn and relieve himself before going out on stage, because he needs to stop molesting his co-stars. More than once, he interrupted Sondra's lines with creepy mouth-to-mouths. And then, there was actual missionary-style mounting of Sondra. It was a bit disturbing. And yes, Alagna's voice sounds like it's been put through the shredder a few times, but we still love him. The fear, shared by everyone in the house, was palpable every time he launched a sustained top note. The other guy, Falk Struckmann, did his best imitation of George Gagnidze's Scarpia.

And lastly, enough of the Luc Bondy; bring back the Zeffirelli, please.

Met Futures, relocated

2011-01-10T23:44:00.000-05:00

(Late announcement, old news.) A few months ago, Brad Wilber's list moved from Sieglinde's pad to its own address. With abundant gratitude, I wish Brad lots of luck.

The Future has been revised

2010-09-29T06:45:00.004-04:00

Who cares about the season just opened? Sieglinde announces gigantic updates to Brad Wilber's indispensable Met Futures Page for the next four seasons. Check out the following:

For Season 2011-12:
1. Ildar Abdrazakov replaces John Relyea as Enrico in Anna Bolena.
2. Waltraud Meier will share Waltraute in Die Götterdämmerung.
3. Marina Rebeka debuts as Donna Anna in Don Giovanni.
4. For Faust, Marina Poplavskaya will share the Marguerites with Angela Gheorghiu, Piotr Beczala will sing some Fausts, George Petean will sing some Valentins, and Ian McNeill will design instead of Robert Brill.
5. The Enchanted Island has a cast: Danielle de Niese as Ariel, Lisette Oropesa as Miranda, Joyce DiDonato as Sycorax, David Daniels as Prospero, Anthony Roth Costanzo as Ferdinand in his Met debut, Placido Domingo as Neptune, and Luca Pisaroni as Caliban.
6. Maestro Michele Mariotti has been taken off Elisir d'amore.
7. Sondra Radvanovsky has been taken off Aida.
8. Tom Fox sings Doctor Kolenaty in Makropoulos Case.
9. Marianne Cornelli will share the role of Abigaille with Maria Guleghina in Nabucco.
10. Angela Meade joins the cast of Ernani as Elvira.

For Season 2012-13:
1. Elza van den Heever will make her Met debut as Elisabetta in Maria Stuarda.
2. Matthew Polenzani will be Lensky in Eugene Onegin, which will be directed by Deborah Warner.
3. Maija Kovalevska will sing Micaela, Yonghoon Lee will be Don Jose, and Maestro Michele Mariotti will make his Met debut in Carmen.
4. Marcello Alvarez and Dmitri Hvorostovsky have been added to the cast of Un Ballo en Maschera.
5. Katarina Dalayman will sing Kundry in Parsifal.
6. For Il Trovatore, Franco Vassallo will sing Di Luna and Maestro Daniele Callegari will conduct.
7. Norma has been added to the repertory, starring Sondra Radvanovsky in the title role.
8. Barber of Seville has been added to the repertory, to be conducted by Yves Abel. Some performances will be in abridged family version.
9. Giulio Cesare has been added, to feature a new (borrowed) production with a cast that includes David Daniels and Rachid Ben Abdeslam, debuting as Nireno.
10. Maestro Fabio Luisi will share conducting duties for Don Carlo. Marambio and Smirnova have been taken off the cast list.
11. Jose Cura will be Otello.
12. Maija Kovalevska will sing the Countess in Le Nozze di Figaro.

For Season 2013-14:
1. Falstaff will be a new production, with a cast that includes Lisette Oropesa as Nannetta, Stephanie Blythe as Quickly, and Franco Vassallo as Ford. Jack O'Brien will direct.
2. For I Puritani, Mariusz Kwiecien will be Riccardo, and Maestro Michele Mariotti will conduct.
3. Anne Schwanewilms will make her Met debut in Die Frau ohne Schatten as Kaiserin, with Johan Reuter as Barak.
4. Fanciulla del West has been added to the roster.
5. The Nose has been added.
6. La Sonnambula returns, with Diana Damrau and Javier Camarena.
7. A new production of Prince Igor has been added to the list, with Ildar Abdrazakov.
8. Werther will be a new production, to be directed by Richard Eyre.

Season 2014-2015:
1. Renée Fleming will star in a new production of The Merry Widow, to be directed by Susan Stroman.

She said what

2010-09-29T04:27:00.000-04:00

Some of the more boldface guests weren't necessarily well-versed with the story. "But I did my research," said fashion designer Rachel Roy. "A family member who's German downloaded me before I came."

Valhalla fail

2010-09-28T16:44:00.005-04:00

So this is what the Met's new Das Rheingold ending was supposed to look like. On Monday, everyone pretty much exited to the sides soon after their music ended, leaving Loge alone onstage, which appeared weird. It's a good thing the production failed this way, rather than, say, crushing a singer to death or dropping a Rheinmaiden from four stories up. Though they ought to be very careful with the curtain calls: there is a sizeable gap between the downstage area (where the curtain calls occur) and the immense modular apparatus. James Levine was about three feet away from being the biggest tragedy of my opera life.

Met opening night, 2010

2010-09-28T01:10:00.006-04:00

Wagner DAS RHEINGOLD, Met Opening Night, 27.IX.2010; c. Levine; Terfel, Blythe, Owens, Selig, Koenig, R. Croft, Siegel, Oropesa, Johnson, Mumford, Harmer.

Here's a pic of Deborah Voigt interviewing light a.k.a. Robert Lepage. There were celebrities in attendance, muttering "what, no intermission?". It was rainy too, which ruined more than a few entrances. Seating for the outdoor simulcast was hell.

Inside the house, James Levine reasserted his place in the universe with a characteristically balanced reading of the piece-- vibrant but controlled. I never spend a thought on Bryn Terfel, but tonight he wasn't his typical self-indulgent self, which is to say, he was brilliant as Wotan. Shades of a young James Morris, minus the snarl; the voice was appropriately overbearing, forming a heavenly pair with Stephanie Blythe's lush fat Fricka. (Next to Levine, she got the loudest ovations.) The Freia, Wendy Bryn Harmer, was thrilling and visceral, as was Franz-Josef Selig's Fasolt and Eric Owens' Alberich. And the Rheinmaidens too. Everyone benefited from Lepage's modular steroid-raked stage, which reflected sound outward, and also pushed most of the singers downstage. Richard Croft's Loge was the sole failure: too earnest, too dainty-- but I think I caught him sneezing a couple of times, so he may have been under the weather. Regarding the Cirque du Soleil: I'm a big believer, and it didn't disappoint. There were moments of tension--like, will Freia fall from the net and break her neck, did Fasolt's slide down the stage break his neck, did any of the stunt doubles break their necks, will Woglinde's wire break and break Lisette Oropesa's neck, etc.--so that took attention off the music a bit. But still it was magical and enormous and multidimensional and correctly alive: a true 21st century production. Costumes and hair, on the other hand, were just awful.

One alarming note: James Levine seemed to have unusual difficulty navigating the couple of shallow steps to get onto the stage for his curtain call. He didn't look healthy.

Met Futures: Summer updates

2010-06-14T10:19:00.003-04:00

Time again to update Brad Wilber's indispensable Met Futures Page.

For Season 2011-2012: Maestro Marco Armiliato is slated to conduct Anna Bolena on opening night; Scottish mezzo Karen Cargill debuts as Waltraute in the new Götterdämmerung, while Stephen Gould is taken out of the roster out as Siegfried; the new production of Manon (co-produced with Covent Garden) is by Laurent Pelly; the new production of Faust (co-produced with English National Opera) is by Des McAnuff, with designer Ian MacNeil; Maestro Edward Gardner will conduct some performances of the new Don Giovanni alongside Maestro James Levine; Maestro Fabio Luisi will lead performances of Aida, with Sondra Radvanovsky and Lado Ataneli joining the cast; For Ernani, Maestro Armiliato is added, while Anja Harteros is taken out of the roster; Colin Lee returns as Almaviva in Barbiere di Siviglia; Zeljko Lucic has been added to the roster of Nabucco to sing the title role; Satyagraha has been added to the repertory; Nino Maichadze will sing Marie in Fille du Regiment; and finally, Stefan Margita returns as Loge in the full Ring Cycles.

For Season 2012-2013: Falstaff is removed from the repertory; Marco Berti is scheduled to sing Calaf in Turandot and Radames in Aida; Karen Cargill returns as Anna in Les Troyens; Le Nozze di Figaro has been added to the repertory, with Mojca Erdmann as Susanna and John Graham-Hall as Basilio, in his Met debut.

For Season 2013-2014: Bartered Bride and Roberto Devereux has been removed from the repertory, while Falstaff has been added; Nico Muhly's commission is no longer called "Two Boys"; Die Fledermaus has been added to the repertory, and will see a new production, with new dialogue by playwright David Hirson.

Met Futures: Happy Spring Semester Edition

2010-01-28T11:19:00.000-05:00

First of all, I'm issuing a public apology to Brad Wilber, who's been infinitely patient with Sieglinde, who'd been buried in academic bs for a few months and so couldn't churn out roster updates in a more timely manner. I also want to apologize to the half-dozen readers who have hung around.

But let's get on with the business, shall we. The following changes have been made to Brad's Met Futures page:

For the 2010-2011 season:
1. Das Rheingold will see Richard Croft as Loge, joining his brother in the cast.
2. The cast of Les Contes d’Hoffmann has been revised. In place of Aleksandra Kurzak, Cristina Gallardo-Domas, Stefano Secco, and Isabel Leonard, we now have a cast that includes Olga Borodina (Giulietta), Giuseppe Filianoti (Hoffmann), and Kate Lindsey (Nicklausse).
3. For Rigoletto, the role of the Duke will be shared by Francesco Meli (debut), Joseph Calleja, and Giuseppe Filianoti.
4. The Boris Godunov will be conducted by Maestro Valery Gergiev, and Aleksanders Antonenko and Oleg Balashov have been added to the cast as The Pretender and Shuisky respectively.
5. La Boheme will not see Cristina Gallardo Domas and Luca Salsi. Instead, two gentlemen will make their Met debuts: Fabio Capitanucci as Marcello and Dimitris Tiliakos as Schaunard.
6. Il Trovatore's Leonoras will be shared by Patricia Racette and Sondra Radvanovsky (dropping Micaela Carosi). Stefan Kocan returns as Ferrando.
7. Barry Banks will do a number of Ernestos for Don Pasquale.
8. Don Carlo's Elisabetta will be Marina Poplavskaya, replacing Patricia Racette in the roster, while Maestro Yannick Nezet-Seguin has been tapped to lead.
9. The cast of The Magic Flute will include Ying Huang as Pamina and Erika Miklosa as Queen.
10. La Traviata will see Marina Poplavskaya as Violetta, Matthew Polenzani and Francesco Meli as Alfredo, and Marco Nistico as d’Obigny (in his Met debut). Rolando Villazon is out.
11. Tosca will be shared by Sondra Radvanovsky and Violeta Urmana (dropping Angela Gheorghiu).
12. John Adams will conduct his Nixon in China in his Met debut. Richard Paul Fink will be Henry Kissinger.
13. For Iphigenie en Tauride, Paul Groves has been added as Pylade (while Elizabeth Bishop has been dropped).
14. Armida will see Renee Fleming again. Lawrence Brownlee returns, but as Goffredo this time.
15. Ludovic Tezier returns as Enrico in Lucia di Lammermoor.
16. Romeo et Juliette will have Lucas Meachem as Mercutio.
17. For The Queen of Spades, Peter Mattei will sing Tomsky.
18. Joyce DiDonato will be Isolier in Le Comte Ory.
19. Capriccio will not see Anne Sofie von Otter, Matthew Polenzani, and Gerard Finley. Instead, we will have Sarah Connolly as Clairon, Joseph Kaiser as Flamand, and Russell Braun as Olivier.
20. Wozzeck will witness Waltraud Meier's Marie (in place of Katarina Dalayman). Philippe Castagner returns as The Fool; Stuart Skelton makes his Met debut as the Drum Major.
21. For Orfeo ed Euridice, Kate Royal will be Euridice in her Met debut.
22. Aleksandra Kurzak has been dropped from Ariadne auf Naxos.

For the 2011-2012 season:
1. Turandot and La Rondine have been nixed.
2. La Traviata has been added to the list of operas, with Natalie Dessay as Violetta.
3. Madama Butterfly has also been added, with Luca Salsi as Sharpless.
4. Stefan Kocan returns as Commendatore in Don Giovanni.
5. Piotr Beczala replaces Rolando Villazon in the roster of the new production of Manon.
6. Maestro Yannick Nezet-Seguin will lead the Met's new Faust; Alexei Markov will return as Valentin (Rene Pape has been dropped from the list).
7. The William Christie endeavor has a new and improved title of Enchanted Island. Director Jeremy Sams and choreographer Christopher Wheeldon will join the creative team. Stars will include Joyce DiDonato, David Daniels, and Placido Domingo.
8. Alessandro Corbelli returns as Dulcamara in l'Elisir d'amore.
9. Nathan Gunn joins the cast of Billy Budd.
10 Khovanshchina will see Olga Borodina as Marfa and Ildar Abdrazakov as Ivan.

For the 2012-2013 season.
1. Francesca da Rimini will be led by Maestro Yannick Nezet-Seguin, and will feature Eva-Maria Westbroek and Marcello Giordani.
2. A revival of Le Comte Ory has been added to the roster.
3. A new production of Un Ballo in Maschera will have Karita Mattila and Maestro Fabio Luisi.
4. Carmen enters the repertory in the fall, with Maestro Michele Mariotti. Ekaterina Shcherbachenko will make her Met debut as Micaela. Vesselina Kasarova will sing a number of Carmens in the latter part of the run (in the spring).
5. Dialogues des Carmelites will see Kristine Jepson as Mere Marie and Felicity Palmer as Mme. de Croissy.
6. Otello will have Krassimira Stoyanova as Desdemona.
7. Simon O'Neill will share some of the Parsifals.

For the 2013-2014 season:
1. The complete Ring has been removed from the list.
2. The season will see the Metropolitan Opera premiere of Roberto Devereux, with Sondra Radvanovsky.
3. The Bartered Bride will be featured as the season's Family Program, with a new English translation by J.D. McClatchy.

For the 2014-2015 season (just added to the Futures Page!!):
A new production of Cavalleria Rusticana and Pagliacci double bill, with Marcello Alvarez and Maestro Fabio Luisi.

Fall flurries

2009-10-16T10:34:00.005-04:00

Ladies, I announce lots of juicy additions and changes to Brad's Met Futures page:

For the 2010-11 season: Orfeo ed Euridice has been added to the repertory, and will feature David Daniels and Lisette Oropesa (as Amor); the Danish contralto Susanne Resmark will make her Met debut as Ragonde in Le Comte Ory; Marina Poplavskaya takes over Violetta from Anna Netrebko; Kathleen Kim sings Madame Mao in Nixon in China; Anne Sofie von Otter will be Clairon in Capriccio (instead of Susan Graham); Susan Graham will sing Iphigenie; Canadian mezzo Julie Boulianne debuts as Stephano in Romeo et Juliette and then moves on to sing Diana in Iphigenie; Sondra Radvanovsky will sing Leonora in Trovatore instead of Tosca; and finally, Deborah Voigt is the Minnie in Fanciulla del West.

For the 2011-12 season: Gustavo Dudamel is no longer slated to conduct L'elisir d'amore; Maestro Michele Mariotti will debut in his place; Daedalus and Les Troyens have been dropped, while Fille du Regiment and Turandot have been added to the roster; Angela Meade will share the role of Anna Bolena with Anna Netrebko; German soprano Mojca Erdmann makes her Met debut as Zerlina, at the premiere of the new Grandage Don Giovanni; Mikhail Petrenko will be Basilio in Barbiere di Siviglia.

For the 2012-13 season: Die Frau Ohne Schatten has been dropped from the planned list, while Carmen and Falstaff have been added; the season will see the return of Les Troyens, with Susan Graham and Marcello Giordani; Rigoletto will be a new production, with Diana Damrau and Lisette Oropesa sharing the role of Gilda, Piotr Beczala as the Duke, and Zeljko Lucic and George Gagnidze sharing the title role.

For the 2013-14 season, Die Frau Ohne Schatten will return, with Maestro Vladimir Jurowski conducting.

She's back

2009-10-14T09:19:00.000-04:00

STRAUSS Der Rosenkavalier, Met 13 October 2009; c. de Waart, Fleming, Graham, Persson, Sigmundsson, White, Ketelsen, Vargas.

Curtain up: things have settled enough for Sieglinde to reboot. I'm seeing an equilibrium based on (really) short posts, but it's still being calibrated, so patience please. Last night, the return of Renee Fleming's Feldmarschallin and Susan Graham's Octavian, and a debut of a promising soprano, Miah Persson as Sophie, ethereal in a Judith Blegen hue. I'm dreading the day when I can detect the inevitable pulling back in Renee's voice. My current (conservative) diagnosis: it'll be sometime after April of 2017. Plus, you know how whatever Renee is singing currently becomes just THAT role divinely written for her: I'd say it, but that would be boring. One minor quibble: she is taking more time to warm up. Susan Graham's voice has grown tremendously in size in recent years, and the colors are thrilling. The chemistry between these ladies' voices is akin to baseball's Rodriguez-Teixeira tandem (BTW, Go Yankees.). Kristinn Sigmundsson is one of the evening's weak links. I'm not particularly aroused by Ochs' frequent interruptions, so to have a bland bass for the evening is torture times two. Meanwhile, Ramon Vargas probably had his worst outing on the Met stage as the Italian Singer. The unadorned oasis that the aria was to be didn't be. Really, it was physically painful to hear. Finally, all together now: Jimmy get well soon. Maestro Edo de Waart was either conducting or mowing the lawn, I couldn't tell.

Latest updates

2009-08-26T08:47:00.005-04:00

I'm transitioning to another appointment (the kind that promises tenure at the end of the tunnel!), which is why I've been absent the past few months. In the next few weeks, I'll have to figure out how to achieve productive homeostasis between work and play, because I don't want Sieglinde to "die" just like that. But the new job is grueling, and the demands for tenure daunting, so no promises. Meanwhile, I have an inch thick of tickets to the Met, for an ambitious list of 20+ operas this season (many for multiple viewings, especially the Armida and the Attila). What was I thinking when I bought these tickets? Well, we'll see how things equilibrate. We may just have to settle for twitter-type blog entries, who knows.

In the meantime, I invite you to enjoy the latest edits on Brad's Met Futures page:

For the 2010-11 season: Madama Butterfly has been dropped; Anna Netrebko has been taken off La Traviata; Joyce Di Donato has been taken off Le Comte Ory. For Wozzeck, Peter Rose has been taken off the roster, while Walter Fink has been added; and for Don Carlo, Patricia Racette replaces Angela Marambio. Maestro Roberto Rizzi Brignoli will debut to conduct La Boheme, and Cristina Gallardo-Domas will share the role of Mimi. Vittorio Grigolo will share the role of the Duke in Rigoletto (after his debut in La Boheme in the same season). Dwayne Croft has been added to the roster of La Fanciulla del West to sing Sonora, while Salvatore Licitra will sing Cavaradossi in Tosca.

For the 2012-13 season: Francesca da Rimini remains in the repertory, but it may not be a new production. Don Carlo will have Angela Marambio, Anna Smirnova as Eboli in her debut, Eric Halfvarson as the Grand Inquisitor, and Maestro Lorin Maazel as conductor.

Met Futures: March Madness edition

2009-03-26T15:58:00.000-04:00

Sieglinde, in the midst of work-related turmoil, brings you the latest juicy updates to Brad's Met Futures page:

For the 2010-11 season: Sondra Radvanovsky has been added to the cast of Tosca; Simon O'Neill will join the cast of Die Walküre as a second Siegmund; for Don Carlo, Simon Keenlyside has been tapped to sing Posa, and Maestro Lorin Maazel has been removed as conductor; In Les Contes d'Hoffmann, Cristina Gallardo-Domas will be Antonia; and in Nixon in China, Janis Kelly will debut as Pat Nixon.

For the 2011-12 season: Aida has been added to the roster, with a cast that includes Violeta Urmana, Stephanie Blythe, and Stefan Kocan as Ramfis; Maria Guleghina returns as Abigaille in Nabucco; and the Rodelinda cast will feature the return of celebrated portrayals by Renée Fleming, Stephanie Blythe, Andreas Scholl, and Kobie van Rensburg, alongside Iestyn Davies, who will debut as Unulfo.

For the 2012-13 season: Parsifal will be a new production, co-produced with Opera de Lyon and directed by Francois Girard, which will star Jonas Kaufmann; Simon Keenlyside will be Prospero in The Tempest; and Mariusz Kwiecien will be Onegin.

[Sieglinde at the moment is too busy to blog, but she's been to a bunch of things since she last wrote. Who knows if she'll get around to sharing her thoughts, trashing a few conductors, and not trashing Natalie Dessay for a change.]

There's always next (next) year

2009-02-12T11:16:00.005-05:00

Now that the Met 2009-10 season roster has been officially announced, it's time to shift our collective obsession to seasons 2010-11 and beyond. Brad Wilber's Met Futures page, which will remain in Sieglinde's Diaries for the foreseeable future, has just been updated with the following info:

In La Boheme, Vittorio Grigolo and Kristine Opolais will make their Met debuts in the fall of 2010 as Rodolfo and Musetta respectively, joining a cast which already includes several debuting international artists.

In the new production of Das Rheingold, Eric Owens is Alberich, and Hans-Peter Koening is Fafner.

In Les Contes d'Hoffmann, Isabel Leonard will sing Nicklausse.

In Don Carlo, Sonia Ganassi will take the role of Eboli.

Recession special: three giants on stage for $15

2009-02-11T10:22:00.003-05:00

Cilea ADRIANA LECOUVREUR, Met 10.II.2009; c. Armiliato; Guleghina, Borodina, Domingo, Frontali.

Rush review: in his slow decline, Placido Domingo can still convene a worldclass performance. A bounty of audience goodwill goes a long way, of course. His tours above the staff are understandably calculated, with some top notes on the verge of faltering, but with Domingo there is never fear of total meltdown (cf. Villazon). Thus, no matter how arduous it seems for him to scale the heights these days, the audience never feels uncomfortable or burdened. A true wonder that it's his 40th year at the Met. In the style department, he remains unmatched, bailing out this artless opera with rare elegance. Nothing he can do with his Adriana, however. Maria Guleghina is always the show within the show. Her elements were present: extraterrestrial sound, massive resonance, diminuendos galore, crystal pianos, and stage deportment matched only by her big feet. Too dominant, she's always Maria and never the role, and we've all learned to love her that way. During her duets with Domingo, I imagined instead another scene involving incestuous twins, and just how grand it could be. Why the f*ck doesn't she move onto Wagner already. I'd forsake pork shoulder for one her "Rache! Tod! Tod uns beiden!" I mean, really. The highlight of the evening, of course, was the bitch slap with Olga Borodina (who was stellar, by the way). They turned it way on, I swear they looked like they were going to burst out laughing. Forget Cilea, forget Adriana: it was Ukraine vs. Russia. All the queens went home happy.

Keep it clean, boys

2009-02-09T15:09:00.000-05:00

Anthony Tommasini, the chief classical music critic of The New York Times, is answering questions from readers Feb. 9-13, 2009. Questions may be e-mailed to askthetimes@nytimes.com.

Wintry mix

2009-01-28T18:14:00.000-05:00

[Rain is now washing all the snow away; I'm staying in.]

1. Here's an interesting pictorial summary of the Bush presidency.
2. Today is the deadline for video submissions to the YouTube Symphony Orchestra. Winning musicians will get to add the first 21st century reply to the age-old question "How do you get to Carnegie Hall?"
3. How convenient for Anna Netrebko and Rolando Villazon that tomorrow's scheduled Sirius satellite radio broadcast of Lucia di Lammermoor has been "postponed" to Tuesday next week. (Read the note about the schedule change at the top of Sirius's website.) We all know why.
4. OONY needs a bailout too.
5. There's nothing going on in Chicago in 2009-10. San Francisco, on the other hand, has some curiosities: among others, Nadja Michael's Salome and Deborah Voigt's Minnie. We in New York won't see Michael till the 2011-12 season, as Lady Macbeth; hopefully she'll still have some voice left. And regarding Voigt, it seems she's sticking to the German rep. in town, wisely keeping the disasters elsewhere.
6. I'm having my biggest Valentine yet.
7. Ouch! YouTube has Netrebko's sad Mad Scene and Villazon's so-called "dramatic coup" (according to Tommasini) from that Lucia.

Nine full seconds of high drama

2009-01-27T23:03:00.001-05:00

There are a number of crotch scratchers in Anthony Tommasini's Met Lucia puff piece, but this one is by far the itchiest:

At one point he turned an aborted high note into a dramatic coup. It came during the wedding scene, when Edgardo denounces Lucia for her faithlessness in an unaccompanied phrase. Mr. Villazón, a compelling actor, broke off the note he was struggling with, looked at Ms. Netrebko menacingly in silence, cleared his throat, then sang it again, this time with vehemence.

With a spin so audacious it would make Dick Cheney warm inside, Tommasini graciously throws Rolando Villazon's career a crucial lifeline. But since Tommasini has little credibility, we'll just file this one under "what crap", burp, and move on to more pressing matters of the day.

A Lucia to forget

2009-01-27T14:30:00.009-05:00

Donizetti LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR, Met 26.I.2009; c. Armiliato; Netrebko, Villazon, Kwiecien, Abdrazakov.

That was weird. The house was packed, but the usual four gays making really delicious "dumplings" weren't up at their perches. Sirius wasn't there either. Was there an advance agreement to not document this disastrous evening? It was, after all, the return of beloved Rolando Villazon, after nearly two years of absence at the Met, as well as the return of also-beloved Anna Netrebko, after a one-year break to spawn. The dumpling makers sure missed one hell of an evening.*

Rolando Villazon will be studied for years to come as an example of how not to build a career. A beautiful light-lyric tenor of immense expressive quality, but owned by one who thought it could do more: so we arrive at this teetering place, an early precipice for such a young man. To be fair, much of his allure stems the kind of old-school intensity he brings to any role, always leaving the audience rabidly thrilled to witness a singer double down and win. The problem, of course, is when the singer loses. During last night's performance, in Act II, after the lovely sextet and just before the rousing chorus that ends the act (the one Verdi nicely stole for his Nabucco), Villazon lost, in a falter most raw and naked.

Disaster struck at "Ah! ma di Dio la mano irata vi disperda". As written, the "ta" in "irata" is an A-natural, but tenors usually linger in a discretionary fermata, and lunge up stylishly to a B-flat (?) for effect, before collapsing down to earth. When done correctly, the effect is extremely virile and exciting, especially because the orchestra, on this note, is completely at rest. The tenor is alone, cursing in his dramatic masculinity. Thus, you can imagine the pin-drop hush that occurred when Villazon, already showing much strain in the voice up to that point, held the A for a couple of seconds, attempted to lunge up but failed, instead cutting for a cough, and permitting a silence that lasted a full nine seconds. My binoculars were trained on Villazon at this moment: I saw nothing but a petrified face staring at Anna Netrebko's shocked face. After the eternity of nine seconds, Villazon then restarted with the A-natural "ta", but opted to just descend the staff to complete his line, defeated.

Peter Gelb came out before Act III to announce that "I'm sure you've heard this evening that Rolando Villazon is not feeling well, but he doesn't want to disappoint you, so he bravely agreed to sing the final act, blah blah blah ..." Sure enough, as it always happens after such indulgences, the singer comes out renewed. The first scene happened without grave incident, save for a couple of rough top notes and a skipped line here and there. Villazon's tomb scene, however, sizzled with the kind of heat few tenors can manufacture. He ended the evening OK, the underdog-loving American audience rewarding him with a rousing ovation. I sure hope, however, that this doesn't become de rigueur for a Villazon evening.

Anna Netrebko, on the other hand, ended disastrously, receiving no love from the audience, beyond the routine bravas from standing room. Which was strange, because (a) I thought she's finally maturing as a singer, and (b) she improved on Natalie Dessay's grossly hyperkinetic and schizophrenic Bollywood Lucia from this production's premiere season. Her top, however, is in distress: the high D's and such were all high D-flats and such, and none of her cadenzas flirted with the upper register to any satisfying degree. Also, the aggregate volume of her voice appears to now be substantially smaller. She used to inhabit the space between forte and fortissimo, rattling the chandelier crystals even in such delicate roles as Mimi and Gilda. Last night, there was a discernible scaling back, which took away the visceral thrill I experience in witnessing superhuman powers, but replaced by a new appreciation for her wider emotional and dramatic range. Her pianos were heartrending, and her floated F's, G's and A's ravishing. Nonetheless, Lucia is so much about confident acuti and fioriture, which Netrebko just didn't (doesn't) possess. And unfortunately, the Mad Scene ended embarrassingly, with a loud whirr masquerading as a top note, eliciting perhaps the shortest and quietest ovation given to a soprano after a Mad Scene. It was sad. The three men who were supposed to carry her limp body slowly back up the grand staircase during the (expected) ovation didn't even get a chance to make their first ascending step. After a few seconds of applause (oh, I can't bear the shame!), it was unanimously agreed that the evening move on to the final scene.

*ADDED NOTE: apparently, there's a fifth gay that I don't know about.

Met Futures: 2009-10 season falling into place

2009-01-27T10:43:00.001-05:00

We bring some more updates to the 2009-10 Met season from our intrepid research team of Brad and Wilber. (Formal announcement of the upcoming season is reported to be earlier than expected--sometime in February, rather than March.)

For Tosca, George Gagnidze joins Juha Uusitalo and Bryn Terfel as Scarpia. Uusitalo will be Scarpia on opening night. Also, Marcello Giordani will join the cast in later performances as Cavaradossi.

For Il Trittico, Stephanie Blythe reprises Frugola/Principessa/Zita, while Heidi Grant Murphy reprises Suor Genovieffa.

For Stiffelio, Angela Marambio has been added to the cast as Lina.

For Armida, the six tenor roles have been assigned as follows: Lawrence Brownlee is Rinaldo, Bruce Ford is Goffredo, Jose Manuel Zapata is Gernando, Barry Banks is Carlo, Kobie van Rensburg is Ubaldo, and Javier Camarena is Eustazio.

In addition, the 2010-11 Met season gets the following updates: For Le Comte Ory, Stephane Degout sings Raimbaud, while Michele Pertusi has been assigned the role of The Tutor.

Day 1

2009-01-21T13:46:00.007-05:00

Is he really, really sitting in that chair? Seriously, no one wake me up from this dream.

Today

2009-01-20T10:00:00.001-05:00

No words, just song.

Met website now a better tool for the obsessed

2009-01-19T16:12:00.003-05:00

If you're like Sieglinde, you're absolutely obsessed about where to sit at the Met. Good news! The Met has upgraded their online ticketing service. Online buyers now have the opportunity to purchase tickets for the exact seats of their choice. Instead of giving you "best available" seating (sez who, I say), you'll now be presented with a chart of the section your salary can afford, along with an up-to-date map of available seats. (For instance, pictured above is the map of the balcony and balcony boxes for next week's Orfeo.)

Click on a performance and give it a spin. The system hasn't been stable lately, as they're probably ironing out minor technical glitches. But isn't this exciting?? Yet another website to stalk every single day! (Meanwhile, Sieglinde suggests the next upgrade should be a more detailed map indicating the location of candy-unwrappers and retirees who only occasionally bathe.)

You got a few minutes for Sieglinde?

2009-01-19T14:39:00.004-05:00

So first, go check out Renée Fleming's stellar performance at the Obama concert at the Lincoln Memorial yesterday. Isn't she just the national treasure that Angela Gheorghiu is not?

OK, so if you had four minutes for Renée, I'm sure you can spare a few more, this time to help cure diseases that have plagued our favorite soprano roles in the repertory. Seriously now ...

With hundreds of billions of dollars being dispersed among failed banks without much discussion, and with the cost of unnecessary wars escalating to unfathomable proportions, I'd be surprised if you don't fall off your chair (or bed, or pedestal, wherever) when I tell you that the National Institutes of Health, the primary source of funding for medical and biological research in our nation's universities and institutes, only has an annual budget of $29 billion. While medical challenges have multiplied, the NIH budget has not grown significantly in the last five years. Moreover, this sum diminishes dramatically as soon as it's partitioned among the many research goals currently under way, including efforts to cure cancer, AIDS, and other diseases, as well as promising avenues such as stem-cell techonologies, genomic and biomolecular studies, and other basic science investigations.

Obama's Economic Stimulus Package calls for an increase of $3.9 billion in the NIH budget, which, while larger than in previous years, still falls short of Obama's promise to reinvigorate science and technology in America. Various advocacy groups, with the support of Senator Arlen Specter (of Pennsylvania), have called this the right time to "think big", calling for the NIH to be a key element in stimulating the economy by supporting our financially imperiled universities, while making the right long-term investment in our intellectual infrastructure by ensuring that current and future scientists are supported and nurtured. The increase for the NIH budget that Senator Specter will be requesting in the Senate bill is $10 billion.

I strongly urge all of you to contact your senators and representatives by phone and/or e-mail to voice your support for Senator Specter's call for an increase of $10 billion for the NIH. It's really, really easy. You can use the automated system that the Society for Neuroscience (SfN) has set up to identify your representatives based on your zipcode and send already formulated e-mails to them directly. Believe me, these legislators pay some attention to the volume of e-mails, letters, and phone calls their offices receive when they deliberate on these things. Be counted as a supporter of science and research, and make sure your congressional representatives know.

U-huh yeah, we need one more recording of that one

2009-01-18T23:06:00.002-05:00

Angela Gheorghiu records Madama Butterfly in the studio, a role she's not sung on stage. (Can you just hear her say "Eat that, Renée".) There's a promotional YouTube from EMI (via Mostly Opera), where you'll see Gheorghiu's extravagant hand gestures and hear Callas in stereo. (Truly.) You'll also see tenor/porn star Jonas Kaufmann looking totally spicy in jeans. (I mean, who doesn't want to have a baby with his virile Pinkerton, I'd like to know.) My only question: in the dying age of studio recordings, who did Maestro Antonio Pappano threaten to sleep with to buck the trend?

The emancipation of Gilda

2009-01-18T10:12:00.001-05:00

Fun Sunday fact:

Not yet 3 years old, Mariah Carey overheard her opera singer mom rehearsing Verdi's Rigoletto and replicated it herself. "I missed my cue, but Mariah didn't," says Patricia Carey. "She sang it – in Italian – at exactly the right point."

Recession reaches operatic proportions

2009-01-16T08:40:00.003-05:00

(The Met's) once-mighty endowment of more than $300 million has dropped by a third, to a point where it cannot be drawn from; donations are down by $10 million this season; and ticket sales are expected to be off by several million dollars from what was expected, Mr. Gelb said in an interview.

Mr. Gelb said that he and senior staff members have taken a 10 percent pay cut and that the rest of the staff would do so at the end of the fiscal year, which concludes after the season. He said at least four expensive productions have been canceled or replaced next season as well.

The good news? The Met has scrapped plans for a cumulative 8 percent increase in ticket prices. “We think people can’t afford them,” Mr. Gelb said. Ticket prices now range from $15 to $375. But the decision also means less revenue.

Another potential good news: the recession may also force the Met to reinstate some subscriber perks lost this season, including free and instant ticket exchanges upon signing up for full subscriptions. And perhaps another: we may not see a line this crazy for a number of years. (I was there.)

Met Futures: the dead of winter edition

2009-01-15T12:16:00.004-05:00

First of all, brrrrrrrrrr!

Meanwhile, it's looking like the schedule for the next Met season is nearing completion. I have updated the Met Futures Page to incorporate Brad Wilber's new information. Here's a summary of the many changes:

For Die Zauberflöte, the conductors will be Bernard Labadie, in his Met debut, and Adam Fischer.

For Aida, Marianne Cornetti and Ambrogio Maestri have been deleted from the cast (as Amneris and Amonasro respecitvely); Carlo Colomara will sing some Ramfis; Kings of Egypt will be Stefan Kocan, in his Met debut, and Keith Miller. Paolo Carignani will share conducting duties with Daniele Gatti.

For Turandot, Salvatore Licitra will now share the role of Calaf with Giordani and Poretta; Marina Poplavskaya will do some Lius.

For From the House of the Dead, Willard White has been tapped for the lead role of Goranshikov; Richard Paul Fink has been deleted from the cast; Eric Stoklossa is singing Aljeja in his Met debut.

For Elektra, Susan Bullock will debut at the Met as Elektra, with Deborah Voigt reprising the role of Chrysothemis. In addition, Felicity Palmer will sing Klytamnestra, and Alan Held will sing Orest. Maestro Fabio Luisi conducts the entire run.

For Carmen, both Brandon Jovanovich, in his Met debut, and Jonas Kaufmann have been added as Don Jose; Kate Royal has been deleted from the cast list (as Micaela); Teddy Tahu Rhodes has been added as Escamillo.

For Ariadne auf Naxos, Nina Stemme takes the title role, while Zerbinetta will be Aleksandra Kurzak, the Komponist will be Sarah Connolly, and Bacchus will be Lance Ryan in his Met debut; Maestro Kirill Petrenko will lead.

For La Boheme, Gerald Finley replaces Marcus Kwiecien as Marcello.

For Hamlet, Toby Spence will debut at the Met as Laerte.

For Armida, Eric Cutler has been removed from the list of tenors. Currently, the six tenors are Lawrence Brownlee, Bruce Ford, Juan Manuel Zapata, Barry Banks, Kobie van Rensburg, and Javier Camarena (in his Met debut), but we do not yet have firm information on specific role assignments; Keith Miller has been added for the role of Astarotte.

For Der Fliegende Hollander, Stephen Gould will be the lone Erik, deleting Johan Botha from the cast; Wendy White will be Mary and Russell Thomas will be Steersman.

For Lulu, Michael Schade has been added to the cast as Black Man/Painter.

Plebeian opera

2009-01-14T21:47:00.004-05:00

Opera lovers hope Mr. (George R.) Steel’s arrival (as general manager and artistic director) will quell the turbulent plotlines at what many consider the nation’s second most important house. Founded in 1943, with help from Mayor Fiorello H. La Guardia, as the “people’s opera,” City Opera has the mission of offering accessible, affordable, innovative productions hospitable to young American singers.

I'd like to know who the "many" are who consider the City Opera as the nation's second most important opera house. But more than that, the notion that the City Opera is the "people's opera" (vs. the Met) is now myth. For instance, I considered attending the City Opera's concert performance of Antony and Cleopatra, but was discouraged by the price of the minimally acceptable seats at Carnegie Hall. I absolutely hate the acoustic quality of the rear balcony ($25), and can barely suffer the front balcony ($55, cf. the Met's comfy side box seats at $16.50). Are they kidding? I would need some of them TARP funds to do this one.

Hard to swallow

2009-01-14T11:35:00.002-05:00

Puccini LA RONDINE, Met 07.I.2009 and 13.I.2009; c. Armiliato; Gheorghiu/O'Flynn, Alagna, Oropesa, Brenciu, Ramey/Courtney.

The absence of the diva in last night's La Rondine revealed just how little there is in this Puccini work, as well as in this particular production. La Rondine's plush melodies remained beautiful, but without a multi-dimensional Magda they fell mostly to the saccharine ranks of operetta. More accurately, the need may be for a multi-dimensional diva to imbue Magda with at least some flavor and mystery. Angela Gheorghiu, whom I saw last week (pictured above), is right for the role, and I can appreciate why she thinks it her mission to take it on a tour of the world's opera houses. Gheorghiu, in silence, can still command your attention, effectively steering you away from the gaps and uninteresting trivialities, composed mainly by the supporting cast. (I will not enumerate; you know who they are.) I exclude Roberto Alagna, whose voice isn't quite holding up, but whose sex appeal and swagger still win my heart every time.

But last night, cover Maureen O'Flynn stepped in for an ill Gheorghiu (and she better be really, really ill, and not just resting from the high-stakes HD simulcast over the weekend). I've heard O'Flynn a number of times throughout the years. The first time was Gilda, back when she still had resplendent top notes, masterfully accurate and resonant. I was there when she subbed for an ailing Natalie Dessay in Romeo et Juliette; I actually preferred her soft Juliette to Dessay's usual elaborate overbearing excess. There was a Violetta or two, at par with the extensive roster of singers that have sung it at the Met in the past decade. Currently, however, it seems to me that her top notes have begun to lose their sheen. It's thinned out considerably, at times labored and pushed. Her middle range, unmemorable to begin with, is devoid of any complexity or weight, struggling to rise above Puccini's rich orchestra.

When people say that role X fits diva Y perfectly, as if the composer wrote specifically for her, I roll my eyes. But in this case, it's a true characterization: Angela Gheorghiu is the perfect Swallow (feel free to now roll your eyes). Her top notes remain brilliant, but it's the rest of her voice that performs the magical task of sustaining interest throughout the opera. Stage presence, histrionics, mannerisms all worked to perfection. The natural melancholic tint of her lyrical voice provided the welcome pathos. And her interaction with her husband is a further layer of thrill, stoking the voyeur in everyone.

Maestro Marco Armiliato led with overflowing life and joy, boisterous as a young lover, naive and sentimental. He conducted without a score (as his usual practice), but this time, on the podium desk rested two little heart-shaped paper cutouts, which during breaks in the music he studiously put side by side if they ever got out of position. After the last note of the opera was played, he picked both up and threw them lightly in the air.

Still here

2009-01-13T13:45:00.000-05:00

With a promise to end my exile, soon.

Met Futures: major changes to the 2009-10 season

2008-12-07T18:52:00.004-05:00

We have been reliably clued in as to which four operas are being cut from the 2009-10 season schedule. In addition to eliminating The Ghosts of Versailles and Die Frau ohne Schatten, which we announced a few days ago, the Met appears very likely to scrap plans for the revivals of Benvenuto Cellini and Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk.

Currently, plans remain intact for the house premieres of From the House of the Dead and The Nose, as well as for the revival of Lulu.

Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk will be replaced by Ariadne auf Naxos.

(The latest update of the Met Futures Page also includes a number of cast changes. I'll point them out at an appropriate time.)

Met Futures: Holiday edition

2008-12-03T10:57:00.003-05:00

Sieglinde's still alive. Relax. She's even seen a few things since we last chatted. Perhaps she'll even drop a word or two about them here shortly, work permitting of course. (Long story-short: Dalayman was fabulous!)

In the meantime, here's a little update from Brad Wilber. The Met Futures page has been updated again to reflect the following:

For Season 2009-10: The Ghosts of Versailles has been replaced on the roster by La Traviata, retaining only Angela Gheorghiu and Thomas Hampson from the former cast; and plans for Die Frau ohne Schatten have been scrapped (*sob*), its slot being replaced by Elektra.

For Season 2010-11: Joyce DiDonato is confirmed to sing the role of Komponist in Ariadne auf Naxos, replacing Elina Garanca on the list; and Edward Gardner is also confirmed to debut as the conductor for Carmen.

2008-11-07T10:31:00.001-05:00

On Wednesday, there was a run on newspapers, as voters rushed to grab a tangible piece of the history they’d made. My husband Max and I, unable to find extra copies, brought our own worn papers home to 8- and 11-year-old Emilie and Julia.

Sept. 11, the seismic event that we’d feared would forever form their political consciousness, shaping their world and constricting the boundaries of the possible, had actually been eclipsed, light blotting out darkness, the best of America at long last driving away the demons of fear. We wanted them to see that it was the end of an era.

2008-11-05T13:32:00.002-05:00

"This is what is at stake, and we must protect it."

2008-11-02T13:01:00.001-05:00

It is a real dilemma today. People are casting more for the look than the quality and correctness of the instrument. They want a Stradivarius in the body of a ukulele. One doesn’t have to be obese, but it does take a bit of weight to support the larger repertoire. Opera must go forward but remain authentic, and ultimately, my loyalty is to the composer, not the camera or the recording mic. One prays that the people doing the casting remember the core audience, otherwise you will find voices ruined because they deceived themselves into the wrong repertoire. Looking the part doesn’t provide protection, and there’s no getting past roles being sung by voices too small to fill them.

I understand the move to encourage people to attend opera by filming and broadcasting the great art to places unable to enjoy it first-hand. I tend to think of it as a sample of what it would be like to experience it live in the theater. That is where opera is at its full seduction, the victory of a human being standing on stage with 100 or more people singing over an 80-piece orchestra in front of 4,000 people, all without a mic. It remains the last bastion of unplugged human communication.

Met Futures: Halloween edition

2008-10-29T22:14:00.001-04:00

Guys, science has once again taken Sieglinde's attention this month. So while that runs its drowsy course, she invites you to ruminate on the latest juicy tidbits from Brad Wilber. The Met Futures page has been updated thus:

For Season 2009-10, Frank Porretta III will debut in Turandot, sharing the role of Calaf with Ben Heppner; Alice Coote will come back as Hansel.

For Season 2010-11, Peter Rose joins the cast of Capriccio to sing La Roche, in place of Franz Hawlata.

For Season 2011-12, Nadja Michael is still debuting, but this time as Lady Macbeth instead of Abigaille; and English tenor John Daszak debuts as Captain Vere in Billy Budd.

2008-10-24T20:38:00.000-04:00

Hahahahahahahahaha!

2008-10-20T00:29:00.001-04:00

2008-10-19T19:46:00.001-04:00

The soprano will be saying no to some repertoire in the future. Donizetti and other bel canto composers will be put aside soon. Manon and La traviata also "will probably disappear," she says. But there are tantalizing plans for Wagner's Lohengrin.

Tongue, part 2

2008-10-16T02:01:00.003-04:00

Really been busy the past week, too busy for opera (it is possible) but I just wanted to drop by quickly to post this pic. And as far as Joe the Plumber is concerned-- clearly you and I chose the wrong college major. (And congrats, Phillies. See y'all in St. Pete!)

Florida's lawns are voting our way

2008-10-12T16:09:00.006-04:00

On the infamous I-4 corridor, our little boating "island" of 400 residences (white, upper middle class, voted for Bush in '04) has, get this, 19 Obama-Biden signs to only 6 of the McCain-Palin signs. At a local convenience store, we overheard a conversation between two neighbors who've decided they're not voting this year because "we got two bad choices". They're most definitely Republicans. Yay!

O terra, addio

2008-10-10T18:45:00.000-04:00

The Yankees and the Mets are moving to new stadiums. According to this New York Times article, it's a problem for some baseball fans, who have surreptitiously scattered ashes of dead beloveds in the old stadiums to honor their last wishes. Their "final resting place" will be turned into a parking garage, which is sad. The same article then proceeds to infer the following:

Perhaps it is a measure of sports fans’ attachment to the places their teams fight it out, season after season over a lifetime, that they think about scattering ashes in stadiums — Lincoln Center, for example, says that no music lovers have asked to have their relatives’ remains left there.

Yeah, as if I'm gonna let the Met know that I've instructed my partner to sneak in and disperse a vial of my dead ashes about the dusty corners of my balcony box. Silly New York Times writer. Music fans are just as rabid and irrational as sports fans. I bet dead ashes have been strewn around the hallowed grounds of Lincoln Center bathrooms since the 80s. This is obvious. As I'm certain those who haunt the Met stage door will continue to haunt the Met stage door forever, in the form of their dead ashes. I'm so sure of it. (In fact, I think many of them are already beginning to shed some remains around there. I mean, have you seen that freakshow lately?)

The article gets more tragic:

“Where I put the ashes is in that little triangle in foul territory where they put those recliners where people sat,” said Ms. Brass, an administrative assistant at a Long Island company that maintains medical equipment. “They put recliners on top of my sister. I was annoyed about that. Those people were sitting on my sister. Now she’s going to be in the parking lot. Don’t laugh. I’m going to figure out where she is in that new parking lot, and park on top of her.”

The joy of HD TV: tongue

2008-10-10T08:27:00.006-04:00

Supermodel pitcher Cole Hamels led the Phillies to a victory over the Dodgers last night. I'm still firmly for the Rays on the other side, but I may have to edit my forecast to the Phillies for the National League. I'm torn; once again, tongue is clouding my judgment.

So I didn't miss it after all. Super!

2008-10-09T16:39:00.001-04:00

Thanks, dear JSU of AUV, for correcting my inaccurate mental datebook. This past Saturday, I was so depressed to have so much work that I had to miss the HD theater simulcast of the Salome. Turns out I was just being stupid about dates. The Big Show is this weekend. Yay!! So: (1) Sieglinde's not missing it, uhm, this time; (2) like JSU, I thought that the show has improved vastly from previous evenings; (3) all of you cannot, cannot miss it; (4) who cares if pussy won't be shown, we're gay and we don't get into that stuff.

Met Futures: yet more fall updates

2008-10-09T15:34:00.002-04:00

When it rains, it pours! Brad Wilber has uncovered quite a bit of new information for his fabulous Met Futures page since the last update just two days ago. Here's a summary:

For Season 2009-10: Simon Boccanegra loses Barbara Frittoli and Ferrucio Furlanetto, but adds James Levine as conductor and Nicola Alaimo in his Met debut as Paolo; Elizabeth Caballero makes her house debut as Frasquita in the new production of Carmen.

For Season 2010-11: Simon Boccanegra added to the roster, with Barbara Frittoli, Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Nicola Alaimo returning as Paolo, and conducted by James Levine; Patrick Fournillier makes his Met debut conducting the revival of Hoffmann; Vladimir Ognovenko sings Varlaam in Boris Godunov; Micaela Carosi sings Leonora in Il Trovatore (only for the spring performances, alongside Dolora Zajick); Felicity Palmer returns as Genevieve in Pelleas; Dimitris Tiliakos makes his Met debut as Marcello in La Boheme.

For Season 2011-12: Carlo Colombara sings Zaccaria in Nabucco; David Kueblre sings Vitek in Makropoulos Case.

Best

2008-10-09T13:46:00.002-04:00

Strauss SALOME, Met 07.X.2008; c. Summers; Mattila, Uusitalo, Begley, Komlosi, Kaiser, Glassman, Schaufer.

A quick one: went back in to see Karita Mattila's Salome two evenings ago; ~~wouldn't have been surprised if there was some sloping off of effort and energy after Saturday's big global simulcast, but no:~~* Mattila was crisper and in command compared to her prima performance, searing from first to last bar. The mercurial Mattila sound, grey and turbid in the middle but glistening as a penetrating liquid when pushed above the staff, is truly thrilling in this music. Indeed, this role, in my opinion, is the best match for her soprano: ecstatic, neurotic, lush, athletic, destructive. The forte top notes are becoming more challenging to her, but isn't it always an enjoyable thing to observe a singer battle the elements, who cares about the resulting carnage? She probably tears vital tissue during each Salome performance; it hurts me to receive all that sound; but lots and lots of pleasure all around; a classic S&M experience. Seriously, this is among the greatest miracles to happen at the Met in this generation. There is a reason why Deborah Voigt, as powerful as she is, will never, ever sing this role in her own home stage. I doubt there's anyone foolish enough to follow this immortal performance anytime soon; opera queens will be there to pillory the sorry pretenders.

*Duh. It's this weekend. Hasn't happened yet, folks.

Met Futures: fall updates

2008-10-07T00:15:00.000-04:00

Sieglinde announces a number of updates to Brad Wilber's Met Futures page (which, it appears, will continue to reside in Sieglinde's Diaries for the foreseeable future):

For Season 2009-10: Juha Uusitalo replaces Bryn Terfel as Scarpia; Lise Lindstrom makes her Met debut as Turandot; Tony winner Paulo Szot makes his Met debut as Kovalyov in The Nose; Rodell Rosel makes his Met debut as Begearss in The Ghosts of Versailles; Peter Hoare makes his Met debut as Shapkin in From the House of the Dead; Daniel Sutin returns to the cast of FRoSCH as the One-Eyed Brother.

For Season 2010-11: James Maddalena makes his Met debut as Richard Nixon; Aleksandra Kurzak sings Olympia in the revival of Hoffmann.

For Season 2011-12: Ernani added to the roster; David McVicar set to direct the Met premiere of Anna Bolena; Paulo Szot returns as Lescaut in Manon.

For Season 2012-13: David McVicar set to direct the Met premiere of Maria Stuarda.

Three videos to tide you over to weekend booze

2008-10-03T13:02:00.001-04:00

1. The crucial Great Schlep campaign. Sarah Silverman is funny; Florida ain't.
2. More on Renee Fleming's fashion show last week, who cares if you've had enough. This time with special guest star Annie Leibovitz in the role of "artist" photographer.
3. Forget Biden vs. Palin, or even "bailout" vs. "rescue". Here's what matters more: a Debbie/Olga catfight. I hear a certain Ewa won that one in the end. (via Score Desk)

Sarah Palin is illiterate

2008-10-03T02:50:00.002-04:00

Sorry, just needed to get that off my system and out into the electronic universe. I couldn't sleep!

2008-10-02T16:29:00.000-04:00

Sieglinde's fall predictions

2008-10-02T16:13:00.004-04:00

Division Series: Phillies in 4; Dodgers in 5; Rays in 3; Red Sox in 4.
League Championships: Dodgers in 6; Rays in 5.
World Series: Rays in 6.
Presidential Election: Obama by 84 electoral votes.

Aprile Millo is a Podles fan

2008-10-02T13:54:00.002-04:00

Podles electrified the audience and for me gave me one of the most satisfying nights in the opera. She is real, yet unafraid to be grand. Borodina also reminds us what it is to hear a voice that plush and immense, yet velvet. I am a huge fan of this voice. Everyone I enjoyed, Debbie’s first Gioconda here and my friend Achilles Machado and Carlo Guelfi, with the magnificent contributions of the ballet, which is really quite a great piece of both music and theater, I just loved this grand opera.

In the same post, she also talks about a "benign pornography" seeping into opera. And also about a certain porn star named "Netremko" who she's not (yet) resentful about.

Balcony box forever

2008-10-01T19:50:00.001-04:00

Covent Garden cheap seats SUCK. They are just armless chairs squeezed as close as possible together and the air conditioning in the upper reaches is pathetic. Plus it is London so everyone has a jacket on because British July is like New York October. Clearly it wasn't enough for the Victorian lower classes to get cholera and spend their childhoods making artificial flowers, they also deserved to be super uncomfortable at the opera. If one can stomach the nausea inducing exchange rate, it is seriously worth it to spring for a lower balcony.

The transformation is complete

2008-09-30T17:25:00.000-04:00

A great number of you have e-mailed Sieglinde to ask where the heck is Sylvia Sass these days. OK, I'm kidding. But if you're wondering where she is, the internet found her! She's taking on a new yet painfully familiar role:

"It was not easy to convince Sylvia Sass to assume the role of a woman whose memory disturbed her own career and life as a woman ..."

Which role is it? Duh. If you're still as clueless as Sarah Palin is about, uh, anything, you'll find the answer here.

Peter Gelb is number 5

2008-09-30T09:51:00.002-04:00

For many years, hospital leaders dominated the top ranks of The Chronicle's salary survey (of executive pay in nonprofit organizations)... This year, [... a] hospital executive claimed the number-one spot in the survey. James J. Mongan, chief executive of Partners HealthCare System, in Boston, which includes Massachusetts General Hospital, earned $1,371,399 in total compensation.

University presidents and arts executives took the next four spots of highest-paid chief executives in The Chronicle's survey. Henry S. Bienen, president of Northwestern University, took the second spot, receiving $1,342,595 — nearly twice his 2006 compensation of $690,333. [...]

Mr. Bienen was followed on the list by John E. Sexton, president of New York University, who earned $1,291,525. Michael Kaiser, president of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, in Washington, took the fourth spot, with $1,017,690 in compensation. Fifth was Peter Gelb, general manager of the Metropolitan Opera, who received $1,000,002.

2008-09-29T19:42:00.001-04:00

Paul Krugman, sage:

So what we now have is non-functional government in the face of a major crisis, because Congress includes a quorum of crazies and nobody trusts the White House an inch.

As a friend said last night, we’ve become a banana republic with nukes.

Opening night at parterre

2008-09-29T04:54:00.004-04:00

The Lady asked for Champagne, but the television crew had roped off the path to the nearest bar so that Martha Stewart could do an on-air interlude. When I finally made it to the bar by a flanking maneuver, I was told that Ms. Stewart had got the last of the Louis Roederer. Her half-empty bottle was right beside me, but with two television cameras rolling, it seemed an inopportune time to make my debut as a Champagne thief. Even great institutions have their weaknesses, and at the Met, it’s the house sparkling wine ...

Upper box denizens like Sieglinde are amused that a foreign world exists a mere few levels down.

The blind leading the cast

2008-09-26T15:10:00.003-04:00

Ponchielli LA GIOCONDA, Met 24.IX.2008; c. Callegari (d); Voigt, Borodina, Podles, Machado, Guelfi.

What an unusual evening. As Steve Smith correctly noted, two minor roles garnered the bulk of the ovation. First: Ewa Podles, of course, in the role of La Cieca (pictured above), who hasn't been seen on this stage since, oh, I was closeted and in elementary school. Podles's primary talent is to sound like she's singing a full octave lower than written, and with a volume to match any cavernous space: queens like that sort of thing. The other crowd favorite: ballet superstar Angel Corella (and his girl partner what's-her-name), whose primary talent is to have the roundest buttocks ever, and the rare ability to uplift Ponchielli's music into a rousing twirlfest: queens like that sort of thing too.

But the highlight of my evening was Olga Borodina. I've never truly raved about this mezzo. Borodina has been churning out lovely, polished and professional performances, but till recently, her sound, to my ears, had been a tad turbid and muffled, at times charcoal grey if it were a color, never catching my devoted fancy in any role, save perhaps the Dalila. Indeed I may be developing tumors in my ears (how you wish), because how is it that she sounds like a different singer today? I first noticed the change in the Verdi Requiem for Pavarotti last week (yes, I found a way to sneak in; I may get to writing about it, if I don't get too drunk this weekend). Then in this Gioconda, my observation has been bolstered: her current sound seems to have developed a spine, a more direct, cutting line that could enunciate the tune more effectively. Add to that her innate musicality and dramatic intelligence, and we now have a formidable mezzo to carry on from Dolora Zajick.

As tradition dictates, let's now state the obvious: Deborah Voigt, we love her, but she does not have the right sound or temperament for this role, or any Italian role for that matter. So the most she could try for is a clean performance, which she delivered with some tension but with solid gusto. Why she's not pouring her efforts exclusively into roles like Elektra or Brunnhilde (which will happen eventually, but why not this season??) may be more about economic positioning-- like dear Karita Mattila choosing to waste her time on silly but lucrative things like Manon Lescaut and Tosca. But anyway, a strong Gioconda is absolutely needed to distract us from the opera's majestic emptiness-- for instance, an Aprile Millo (who was spotted sitting in the director's box by a friend! what could it mean?) or somesuch. Even Violeta Urmana from two years ago made a far better impression.

Nonfactors: Aquiles Machado and Carlo Guelfi. The conductor, Daniele Callegari, debuted with a soporific reading of the score. Not good for a performance ending after midnight.

Operatic duets

2008-09-26T13:20:00.002-04:00

Sieglinde plays the role of "Fleming flapper" eagerly, and with absolute joy; La Cieca zealously plays hers. (I'll leave you to conjure creative names for it.) So no news, no surprises, let's move along ... to the the inaugural issue of Sieglinde's version of the *yawn* Regie quiz! Which opera would the following scene be, if it were an opera production in Paris or Dresden?

This season's Salome: low-calorie, less fat, and with no artificial sweeteners

2008-09-24T12:13:00.003-04:00

Strauss SALOME, Met 23.IX.2008; c. Summers; Mattila, Uusitalo, Begley, Komlosi, Kaiser, Glassman, Schaufer.

Anyone know what happened to Mikko Franck, that Finnish conductor born after you and your friends and everyone else on earth (1979!!)? Because we need him badly. Because Maestro Patrick Summers, chosen to replace him on the Salome roster, is god-awful b-o-o-o-o-o-r-i-n-g. Why did Mikko cancel? Or was he forced out? Anyway, Summers' work was superficially bombastic but lacked any real ecstasy or urgency. Maestro Valery Gergiev, who led when this production premiered with Karita Mattila a few years ago, brought a sense of spine-tingling thrill of a very sacrilegious sort, such that when the woodwinds trembled, you did too. No matter how many times I'd seen it, I still shivered every time Gergiev hushed the orchestra to an eerie hum. But last night it was karaoke night at the Met, with an utterly faceless, routine soundtrack emanating from this huge, inexplicable hole at the foot of the stage.

Karita Mattila was more sensational in the first half of the opera. During her one-way courtship with Jochanaan, I was floored by the sheer magnitude and force of her voice, and excited for what's to come later in the evening. Her final scene, however, was not as overwhelming as before. I recall her heaving and panting during her frightening exclamations over Jochanaan's head in this production's prima season in 2004, while still keeping the level of steel and edge in the voice throughout the entire scene. I remember, because I was also heaving and panting in my seat. This time, however, I had the impression that she was holding back. This may be quibbling, so feel free to ignore me. Perhaps she set the bar too high, that's the danger of virtuosity. But then even comparing with the intensity and power in the voice earlier in the evening, I thought there was a noticeable diminution. The energy deficit in the pit didn't help. (Meanwhile, all seven "veils" were shed exactly like before, in case you're interested.)

Kim Begley's Herod lacked sufficient madness. Allan Glassman, who was on stage as the First Jew, should have been picked for this role. Glassman, who has the right kind of neurotic tenor, made a great impression when he filled in for Siegfried Jerusalem in the previous cast. Begley sounded too rational and kind, not the qualities we like in this role. Ildiko Komlosi was a sufficiently unbalanced Herodias. Morris Robinson comes back as the best First Nazarene in the universe, wonderful news! Joseph Kaiser and Lucy Shaufer, as Narraboth and the page respectively, provided welcome excitement, with truly superb voices and full commitment. Debutante Juha Uusitalo, as the guy who sparked all the insanity, was just ok.

Quick roundup before moving on to Salome

2008-09-23T17:42:00.000-04:00

A quick survey of our local bloggers reveals Sieglinde may be the only one actually inside the Met on opening night. Even Sarah, an unqualified Renée devotée, sat in front of some giant screen. (Where were you, dear?) La Cieca was all over the place, except inside. Alex Ross, who's usually outdoors with the masses on opening night, is understandably busy figuring out what to do with half a million dollars. Meanwhile, AUV went to the movies. He didn't like the Capriccio scene at all, the very scene I thought was the highlight of the evening. This is the problem with simulcasts: things like repeated close-ups of an awkwardly vogueing diva can steal the focus away from the music and the voice. Add the souped up acoustics, which boosts any sound and denies any reward for true fortes, and you get a distorted view. The live performance is, indeed, a unique thrill. Was Opera Chic there? If so, she (or an accomplice) had access to a press pass, to explain her exclusive paparazzi shots, which appear to have been taken from a press-only vantage point (cf. Sieglinde's photos taken from among the middle class gawkers.) We especially love the Austin shots.

UPDATE: Turns out Opera Chic's "exclusive" paparazzi shots are nothing but Getty Images photos. More can be found here.

Renée Fleming's Really Huge Opening

2008-09-23T12:33:00.007-04:00

Metropolitan Opera Opening Night Gala, starring Renée Fleming. Verdi LA TRAVIATA, Act II; Massenet MANON, Act III; Strauss CAPRICCIO, final scene; Fleming, Vargas, Hampson, c. Levine, c. Armiliato, c. Summers.

Five scenes of spectacular singing, despite bad hair. To begin: at Violetta and Alfredo's country house, Renée Fleming felt obliged to show off all her skill and sheer vocal beauty immediately, so she mostly wallowed in self-indulgent sighing and sliding and honey-on-caramel vocalization. No character development here: it's a show for the show. But we still gladly ate it up. The first surprise: last night's "Amami Alfredo" is her best yet. Levine stretched it out and modulated the dynamics to Wagnerian proportions. Renée responded accordingly, the voice cutting through the tremulous strings with a ravishing bloom. By Flora's party, she's back to form, distilling beauty and emotion into a more quiet vocalization. The magnificent Christian Lacroix for this scene was the sole couture winner of the evening.

At the Cours la Reine, Renée tried to channel Anna Netrebko, with little success. It's a brainless scene anyway, so she's entitled to appear brainless. The aria, however, was delivered with customary precision. At St. Sulpice, however, she pulled it back together, reminding me why she's a once-in-a-generation Manon. With a capable sparring partner in Ramon Vargas, Renée caressed Massenet's sensual tunes with uncommon style, so that it was easy to ignore the monstrous Karl Lagerfeld drapery and that hair. (Whoever formulated those wigs must really hate Renée's guts.) Anyway, if Vargas were a bit hunkier and a bit taller and a lot more handsome, he's be such the perfect leading man for Renée: with that sweet voice, and that voice alone, he deserved to open the Met season too. Bottom line: St. Sulpice remains among Renée's greatest creations.

The final scene of Capriccio was the highlight of the evening. Two things distracted a bit: again, the John Galliano frock, especially that awful coat, and again the hair; and Renée touching herself way too much. Granted, it's a monologue with significant orchestral interludes, so that the Gräfin, lost in thought, is left raw and exposed to inhabit the big mansion of a set. When Dame Kiri did Capriccio the last time she and it were on the Met stage (for a full opera, that is), she chose simply to stand in various places and look out to the invisible horizon in contemplative poses, and what little self-touching she did conveyed much more sensuality than Renée's completely tasteless stage direction. It may have been that Renée was compelled to physicalize what should have been obvious had the audience seen the entire opera. But even so, it was just too much. Honestly, I thought she was going to masturbate on stage.

But the soaring Strauss, and a voice that is just perfect for it, made up for all that silliness. Maestro Patrick Summers has complete rapport with Renée, pushing the orchestra to the hilt, and taking her up to the stratospheric fortes with such ease. At certain points of the monologue, I thought, wow, this girl could sing Salome's final scene. No, not the whole opera, just the final scene. In concert, a la Leontyne Price. Renée, when properly warmed up, has just the juice for these kinds of things: the combination of sweetness and soaring power, with an uncomplicated instinct for Strauss. This voice is just made for Strauss.

Roll out the red carpet, they will come

2008-09-23T09:43:00.009-04:00

I stood by the carpet for only ten minutes. About seven minutes prior to the published curtain, I rushed to the get in. Ebullient Regis Philbin, arm in arm with wife Joy, was in front of me, doing a schtick about needing a cocktail now! Hey, that's my schtick too, I thought.

Congratulations

2008-09-23T00:43:00.002-04:00

To Alex Ross, genius.

Issue 1

2008-09-11T15:09:00.001-04:00

What actually happens when one puts lipstick on a pig? NPR is on the case.

End of the world

2008-09-10T17:23:00.003-04:00

Has the Large Hadron Collider destroyed the earth yet? Answer can be found here. (If "lipstick on a pig" is the biggest political issue of the world today, then maybe we need to generate a much bigger black hole to swallow us all.)

Peter Gelb, be cursed

2008-09-08T14:49:00.005-04:00

I didn't win the Requiem lotto. It's easily the stupidest thing Gelb's team has done so far: to shake it up and allow randomness to determine the audience of a rare operatic event. There are fanatics who would sacrifice a day to be first in line for Barbara Frittoli's Libera Me (namely me), but Gelb decided to ignore the truly devoted for some version of random democracy. Mr. Gelb, fetishism and fanaticism ain't democratic, stop f*cking with it.

Have you seen one lately?

2008-08-27T08:12:00.003-04:00

Amidst the freaky darkness of the tall pines of Maine (and sharing a beautiful lake with one Stephen King!), one lake cabin reverberated with the sound of her fierce voice. SWEETHEARTS, THIS IS WHAT A DEMOCRAT LOOKS LIKE. None of that post-partisan transcendent kumbaya let's hold hands and compromise they are people too BS crap. What I admire in this diva is the fight in her. It's still there.

I'm returning to my vacation. I'll be back next week.

Off to Maine, back in a week

2008-08-22T21:19:00.002-04:00

Summer

2008-08-15T11:50:00.003-04:00

This is my world famous ragu alla bolognese simmering in the slow drone of summer. It takes 10 hours to make. It's one of the best things in my life.

[This is mostly Marcella Hazan's recipe, with some variation.]

1. In 3 tbsp. of olive oil, fry 1/4 lb. of chopped pancetta.
2. Melt in 8 tbsp. of butter, and stir in 1 cup of chopped onion. Cook till transluscent.
3. Add 1 and 2/3 cup each of finely chopped carrots and celery, and cook for a few minutes.
4. Add 1 lb. each of ground chuck and ground pork.
5. When the meat is no longer red, add 2 1/2 cups whole milk. On low-medium heat, allow the liquid to simmer down till much of the milk is evaporated. Stir frequently. (This may take an hour.) Add 1/3 tsp. of ground nutmeg.
6. Add 2 1/2 cups of dry white wine or a full-bodied red wine, or a combination of whatever you have handy. As with the milk, simmer slowly till mostly evaporated. (Another hour.)
7. Add 1 large can (28 oz.) of peeled whole plum tomatoes. Once the simmer commences, bring the heat down to low (really, really low).
8. During about 4-5 hours of the l-a-z-i-e-s-t simmer, stir the sauce frequently, while gradually adding salt (to taste). Best done while drinking a robust to-your-face chianti.
9. You just made enough sauce to feed your apartment building. Therefore, make an obscene amount of your favorite pasta, and invite every low-carbing friend. Leftover sauce freezes well.

Been watching Michael Phelps and other hot Olympians on TV every night, haven't eaten out in a week, what to do with the unspent money?

2008-08-13T16:55:00.005-04:00

Give to Democrat Jared Polis's campaign for US Congress.

Jared Polis CO-02 won a hard-fought 3-way primary last night against two worthy Democratic opponents. Blue America has been enthusiastic about his potential as a progressive leader for a long time and we are excited to endorse him on the night of his victory. Jared will be the first openly gay man to ever win a seat in Congress as a freshman.

Support ActBlue.

[via Digby]

2008-08-12T18:18:00.000-04:00

To keep from going totally insane, I just kept muttering to myself "at least I won't be on that August 17 riff raff line"

2008-08-12T11:22:00.001-04:00

Yeah yeah, I was on the Götterdämmerung line too. I was the one behind the lady who said "Oh, ever since 9/11 or 9/21 or whenever that was ..." and in front of another who said "I go to anything Faust. Is the Damnation of Faust about Faust? I hope so."

Anyway, after five hours in line, I discovered, upon examining my hoard, that I unknowingly gave the Met more than $50 total for some "facility fee." At an average of two to three visits per performance (depending on length of opera, prior libation, and any necessary *ahem* "equipment" change), that amounts to about 50 cents a pee. (At that rate, moist towelettes ought to be provided.)

Meanwhile, the only way to pass the time for someone who left his iPod at home was to chat with line mates who liked to say "SONnamBYOOlah" and think that Dessay is like the best comedic actress they've seen on stage. I laugh at Dessay too, I told one.

After Jessye Norman's historic Met telecast "Du bist der Lenz" was shown on the flat screen TV by the box office, one queen remarked that Jessye was out of breath the entire time and that her delivery was choppy and lacked refinement. I wanted to smack the fag.

I'm hating opera fans this week. (Meanwhile, I'm loving the Olympic men's synchronized diving boys. It's a bit wrong and very illegal, I know.)

Let the Games Begin: Sieglinde's Met 2008-09 Season Preview

2008-08-08T10:41:00.005-04:00

With about a week to go before Met single tickets go on sale to the general riff raff, Sieglinde has to get serious about her opera schedule. Poverty is really annoying, but thankfully, the cheap seats remain cheap this year, at $15 (or 2 euros, give or take), so it won't be that cataclysmic. Let's see now: 50 tickets is ... what? 750? Shit.

To help her plan on a budget, she lays out a list of 10+ things she's hoping to get tickets for this season. (You're welcome to use the list for your own season plans, clueless bitches.)

1. Karita Mattila's Salome. In this role, Mattila attains the summit of stimmkunst. (Take copious notes, Natalie.) The Salome is her greatest creation at the Met. We are joyous in its return. Will her pubes be shown in glorious HD? We shall *see*.

2. Katarina Dalayman's Isolde. Dalayman is Sieglinde's favorite up-and-coming Wagnerian soprano. Her mighty top notes radiate a la Rysanek, unpretty and defiant, but always true to the moment. She will burn both your eardrums. You will pee in your seat. (Maestro Daniel Barenboim's debut is a curiosity, but Sieglinde's not sure how much more he'll add to the evening's wattage.)

3. Christine Brewer's Brunnhilde. Brewer travels all over Earth as the world's stopgap dramatic soprano, yet she hardly stops by the Met to show off. Finally we get her, but only for one Ring cycle (the early bird special on Saturday matinee) and one extra Walküre. Why such limited exposure? Deborah Voigt's people must play real hardball, Sieglinde's telling you.

4. Renee Fleming's Really Huge Opening, which should (re)establish her supremacy in New York's opera constellation. After flirting with superficial sensations (Dessay and Netrebko, who else), the Gelb administration declares their allegience to the Beautiful Voice once and for all. Witness how the Met reverts back to the time-honored (a.k.a. Volpe) tradition of presenting a hodgepodge of tired opera scenes to open the season, after two seasons of Gelb incessantly preaching the virtues of opening with a new production of a complete work. Now it's a prima in the sole service of a diva, for a bejeweled audience into extravagant buffets of only the good stuff. Sieglinde, who has seen countless Fleming Manons and Violettas, is looking forward to the shimmering final scene of Capriccio.

5. Renee Fleming's Thaïs, yet another jewel in the crown. (Sieglinde's fan club membership would have been in serious jeopardy if she didn't list this one in the Top 5.)

6. Robangela (Robergela?), opera's own Brangelina, in La Rondine. Lurking behind Roberto Alagna is Giuseppe Filianoti, who makes us wet too. Angela Gheorghiu champions this Puccini like it's a real opera. Whatevs, she's entitled.

7. A promising new production of Il Trovatore, which will feature Sieglinde favorites Sondra Radvanovsky and the booming couple of Dolora Zajick and Luciana D'Intino sharing the Azucenas. If Salvatore Licitra and Dmitri Hvorostovsky try very hard not to suck, this may be the best ensemble this season.

8. Barbara Frittoli's Donna Anna, and barihunks Erwin Schrott (Netrebko's babee daddee) and Ildebrando D'Arcangelo as the horny duo of Don Giovanni and Leporello. Frittoli isn't singing on the evenings with the eye candy pair, so it's a two ticket minimum on this year's Don Giovanni. Barbara, you must know that you rock Sieglinde's nuts, so don't even think of cancelling on us.

9. Doctor Atomic, so we're not called heathens.

10. Runners up for 10th place, a list of semi-curiosities: Roberto Alagna doing Turiddu and Canio in the same evening; the Gheorghiu-Villazon tandem for Elisir; Mattila as Tatyana (ouch!); the scary Ewa Podles as La Cieca; Netrebko as Lucia (a major improvement to Dessay of last season); the return of Cristina Gallardo-Domas and Patricia Racette as Butterfly, both formidable interpretations; Mark Morris's brilliant Orfeo ed Euridice (and Stephanie Blythe's Amore, wow!); Felicity Palmer as the Countess in The Queen of Spades; Filianoti as the Duke of Mantua; Rusalka with Fleming and Blythe; Anja Harteros as Violetta; finally, Walküre attractions Waltraud Meier as Sieglinde with Johan Botha's first Siegmund at the Met and Placido Domingo's last Siegmund ever ever (but who knows, right?).

2008-08-06T18:53:00.001-04:00

Breaking (two days ago): Opera award given to "singer" who'd rather be something else

2008-08-06T12:31:00.006-04:00

This year's recipients are: John Adams, Natalie Dessay, Renee Fleming, Marilyn Horne, and Sherrill Milnes. One of them would rather get a Tony, of course. I would rather Opera News give the award to [your diva's name here].

The list provides stark contrast: the other soprano awardee, Renee Fleming, custodian of the Beautiful Voice, does the "text" part of opera with true grace, measure, and restraint. That's how you do it, Natalie.

"I'll see you at the debates, bitches."

2008-08-06T10:48:00.001-04:00

Midweek funny for the lunchbreak.

Natalie Dessay, in her continued progress towards greater artistry, still doesn't know what opera is about

2008-08-05T08:55:00.001-04:00

A month old, but we can't let this one pass. The overly dramatic Artist declares:

I got rid of my high notes. They were getting in the way. It is very easy for someone with high notes to impress, even if the rest is not very interesting. High notes are something that people seem to like - I never understood why. It's like being able to fly. OK, you can fly, so what? Yes, it's rather good but it's not enough. I want to give something else. When I had these high notes, I couldn’t pay attention to the text. I'm interested in the humanity of the characters and the interpretation. (When I'm standing opposite Juan Diego and he is doing nine high C's), I'm not impressed. Either you have the top or not. If you have it, it's not that difficult.

In recent years, Dessay's top notes have been shrieky and metallic, cold, effortful, and generally unpleasant to the ear. The disdain she has for top notes is therefore understandable. She tends to compensate with buffoonish histrionics, overacting the pieces of meaning she gleans from the (mostly bankrupt) text. She can't tolerate opera queens, don't you see! She has seething contempt for the singing part of opera, and she just can't be bothered by canto for bel's sake. So I shall match her disgust: I find her schtick bland and unimaginative.

She continues to provoke:

I want to make people forget we are singing. I don't want to them to come to hear beautiful voices, but to see a whole performance, of theatre with music.

The implication being that beautiful voices are somehow incompatible with "a whole performance, of theatre with music." But she's right about one thing: they ought not to come to her performances expecting to hear beautiful voices, because there won't be any of that beauty shit getting in the way of her art.

Sieglinde Moulitsas? Boooo-ring

2008-08-04T16:28:00.003-04:00

So to keep the content of this supposedly opera-centered blog sufficiently operatic, here are two links for your afternoon delight:

1. A boy and his Gilda Cruz-Romo. (A touching affair.)
2. Angela Gheorghiu's new website, mysteriously called 209.20.72.76. Is that her phone number in Bucharest? The combination to her safe? Her vital stats in the metric system? The number of times she'll cancel in the next five years? Her favorite lotto numbers? (via Opera Chanteuse)

(So anyway, why the f* is Hillary not yet the VP candidate?)

Is it too early to be alarmed?

2008-08-04T10:49:00.007-04:00

< rant> It's astounding that his "friends on the left" are reduced to writing open letters asking him to keep from veering too far to the right (as some perverted take on post-partisanship, which is bullshit to the core, to begin with). Anyway, Krugman this morning noticed what I've been puzzled by in the past few weeks:

Incidentally, it’s surprising that the lousy economy hasn’t yet had more impact on the campaign. Mr. McCain essentially proposes continuing the policies of a president whose approval rating on economics is only 20 percent. So why isn’t Mr. Obama further ahead in the polls?

Realclearpolitics.com has him only up 2.5 points, and on the losing side of the trend. WTF? Is this a rerun of 2000 and 2004? I'm getting sick of this shit.</rant>

It's looking less and less like the America in our fantasies

2008-08-01T10:47:00.005-04:00

Federal agents may take a traveler's laptop computer or other electronic device to an off-site location for an unspecified period of time without any suspicion of wrongdoing, as part of border search policies the Department of Homeland Security recently disclosed.

Also, officials may share copies of the laptop's contents with other agencies and private entities for language translation, data decryption or other reasons, according to the policies ... The policies state that officers may "detain" laptops "for a reasonable period of time" to "review and analyze information." This may take place "absent individualized suspicion."

So if they find, like, an excessive amount of live performances of Leyla Gencer (shit, was she Muslim?) or some *ahem* recent in-house recordings from the Met, is it consitutional for the government to delete all my files and then do a full cavity search? Will it be within my rights to ask for a cute border agent to do it, or at least for someone who's height-weight proportional and around my age or below? Or should I just expect to be pitied or laughed at for being queer about such stupid things, because we are at War, people, and we must protect America at any and all cost? These are my questions today.

You lookin at me? Cuz if you don't stop lookin at me, I'm gonna have to go ovah the'e and help ya

2008-07-31T09:51:00.003-04:00

New York City is the best place to get run over by an SUV. I love this city.

Dear Renee, can you sing with an oxygen mask on?

2008-07-30T20:16:00.002-04:00

Because people in Beijing have not seen a single star in the sky in years due to the thick toxic smog (their number one export product this year!), they're borrowing opera stars for some night wattage during the looming two-week Olympic Games. They've invited divas Renee Fleming and Angela Gheorghiu and regional semi-sensation Sumi Jo, along with the virile bunch of Marcello Giordani, Salvatore Licitra, Ramon Vargas, Jonas Kaufmann and Dmitri Hvorostovsky--in short, a good slice of the star-filled sky of the Met roster.

But Sieglinde's a bit worried that five weeks between Beijing and the Met prima won't be enough to purge all the filthy particles and dumplings out of Renee Fleming's lungs, throat, and gums. If Renee's Really Huge Opening is ever imperiled, I swear I shall boycott all the Grand Sichuans in Manhattan, except for their Aui Zhou Spicy Chicken, which is my favorite of all time and I won't be able to live a week without.

What's bukkake in Welsh

2008-07-30T10:12:00.004-04:00

Bryn Terfel is having a concert at Carnegie Hall on September 16, dubbed a "Celtic celebration" and featuring, get this, a "400 Male-Voice Choir from 8 Countries." 400 men (and perhaps some confused dykes) on stage?? A little poking around yields the following list of choir participants:

Comrades Male Choir [Wales]
Burlington Welsh Male Choir [Canada]
Donaghadee Male Choir [Ireland]
Toronto Welsh Male Choir [Canada]
Maesteg Gleemen Choir [Wales]
Bristol Male Choir [UK]
Montreal Welsh Male Choir [Canada]
Metropolitan Male Choir of Southern Australia
Saengerfest Choir [USA]
Canberra Male Choir [Australia]

Sieglinde counts only 5 to 6 countries (depending on how seriously you take "Wales"), but whatever, you get the idea. Anyway, according to one deeply placed source, a big orgy is scheduled right after the concert at Barracuda in Chelsea, though things may get started during the encores on stage. Hurry, buy your tickets today.

2008-07-29T17:16:00.002-04:00

Staggering mediocrity all over Salzburg

2008-07-29T16:48:00.003-04:00

Say what? The grotesque Eurotrash production of the Salzburg Don Giovanni is being upstaged by one mediocre maestro! This is unacceptable, how dare he.

Far more bemusing than the choice of (production designer Claus) Guth for a premature new "Don Giovanni'' is the decision to hand the baton to Bertrand de Billy. Nikolaus Harnoncourt was fascinating and eccentric at the last production. Now a conductor whose ideas nobody understood has been replaced by one who has no ideas at all.

De Billy's mediocrity is staggering. The Vienna Philharmonic dispenses with most vibrato in an empty gesture to period performance. It otherwise plays as if this were just another job on a boring weekend.

(LOL.)

Chef Eric Ripert, with three stars from Michelin and four stars from the NYT, says Big Macs "taste okay"

2008-07-28T21:02:00.000-04:00

In developing that (great American) burger, my research took me to a couple of places that might seem unexpected: McDonald’s and Burger King. I didn’t grow up in the U.S. and had never really visited these chains before, so I wanted to see what they do with their burgers to make them so popular.

Just looking at the basic burgers at each of these chains—particularly the Big Mac—showed me a couple of very key things: First of all, the burgers are a perfect size. You can grab them in both hands, and they’re never too tall or too wide to hold on to. And the toppings are the perfect size, too—all to scale, including the thickness of the tomatoes, the amount of lettuce, etc. In terms of the actual flavors, they taste okay, but you can count on them to be consistent; you always know what you’re going to get.

Ripert's burgers are (drumroll) $18 a pop. Depending on your location, that could get you 2.5 to 12 Big Macs, which, it bears repeating, "taste okay." Now I'm hungry for burgers.

Political push of the day: better enjoy eating chicks for breakfast, or else

2008-07-28T15:15:00.003-04:00

MoveOn.org does funny sometimes.

I learned two things this morning

2008-07-28T12:45:00.002-04:00

(1) How to spell Cincinnati (two n's, one t), and (2) that Cincinnati Opera is the second oldest opera company in the US. Established in 1920, they're gearing up for their 90th season in 2010, by having Cincinnati native James Levine appear not once but twice! The first is an opening gala with Angela Brown and Christine Brewer; the second, a couple of evenings of Die Meistersinger, with singers imported from the Met. According to the news article, the opera "will be presented in a new production set in Cincinnati's Over-the-Rhine." I'm not sure what that means. Over-the-Rhine is where Cincinnati Music Hall is, so will the production consist of the singers and orchestra walking out and around the neighborhood? If so, I suggest double decker buses for the audience.

Music critic, in a stunning departure from asslicking protocol, says "Glad it's over"

2008-07-26T14:37:00.003-04:00

An Elliott Carter Shock and Awe just wrapped up at Tanglewood, conceived by the notoriously cerebral brain of James Levine, music director to everyone in the Northeast. The New York Times covered the majestic 5-day event in typical fashion, by sending Allan Kozinn up to the Berkshires to expound on their reverence for any toilet paper that dare touch Levine's ass. He churned out a dutiful puff piece titled "A Century Has Passed; His Time is Still Now".

The local Berkshire paper is having none of it. Here are juicy excerpts from Andrew Pincus's blunt review of what he called "a revival meeting, calling on unbelievers to repent." (Pop in a favorite Missy Elliot CD and enjoy the rare appearance deeply felt vomit in music criticism.)

Regrettable as Levine's absence was and is, it seems a kind of metaphor for the whole celebration. When you looked for musical content behind the vast intellectual and technical apparatus that Carter deploys, there seemed nothing, or very little, there. Where was the emotional response, the connection between art and lived experience?

Grant a music director his convictions. If Levine and other serious musicians, along with scholars and critics, think the music says something, maybe in the end it really will. Certainly, it has happened to other composers, most notably Beethoven and Schoenberg: the recognition in their time only by advanced thinkers like themselves.

...

Carter's musical fecundity at the border of a second century is a testament to the human spirit and an example everyone can aspire to. The paradox of the superb performances — many by renowned Carter specialists — over the course of the five days is that the clearer the music became, the less there seemed to be in it.

Glad it happened. Glad it's over.

Obama in Berlin

2008-07-24T14:28:00.001-04:00

I know my country has not perfected itself. At times, we've struggled to keep the promise of liberty and equality for all of our people. We've made our share of mistakes, and there are times when our actions around the world have not lived up to our best intentions.

But I also know how much I love America. I know that for more than two centuries, we have strived - at great cost and great sacrifice - to form a more perfect union; to seek, with other nations, a more hopeful world. Our allegiance has never been to any particular tribe or kingdom - indeed, every language is spoken in our country; every culture has left its imprint on ours; every point of view is expressed in our public squares. What has always united us - what has always driven our people; what drew my father to America's shores - is a set of ideals that speak to aspirations shared by all people: that we can live free from fear and free from want; that we can speak our minds and assemble with whomever we choose and worship as we please.

Those are the aspirations that joined the fates of all nations in this city. Those aspirations are bigger than anything that drives us apart. It is because of those aspirations that the airlift began. It is because of those aspirations that all free people - everywhere - became citizens of Berlin. It is in pursuit of those aspirations that a new generation - our generation - must make our mark on history.

People of Berlin - and people of the world - the scale of our challenge is great. The road ahead will be long. But I come before you to say that we are heirs to a struggle for freedom. We are a people of improbable hope. Let us build on our common history, and seize our common destiny, and once again engage in that noble struggle to bring justice and peace to our world.