Saturday, January 21, 2006

In which Maury is kind of a stick in the mud

Cannot listen to Met b'cast because I'm going to Zauberfloete on Tuesday and I have so little liking for the opera itself I'll be sick of it if I listen today. Plus it'll ruin the fun element of surprise with a cast full of people I've never heard/not heard much of. They say this Miklosa is top drawer. So hey it looked like someone was re-casting that Schreker thing I liked so much a few weeks ago and that, after I run out for cheap luncheon resources, is probably what I shall listen to today. If anyone reading is listening, feel free to drop comments about how it is so I'll know whether to be half-heartedly excited or wearily resigned.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I was in the house this afternoon, and can say that Miklosa is definitely worth hearing. Also Mary Dunleavy, who is appropriately spunky as Pamina but knows how to make the audience listen to her pianissimo at the end of "Ach, ich fuhl's". Also Eric Cutler, who you may remember as the other tenor in La Juive, though his voice is actually quite high-lying for the role. (Definitely an Arturo in the making.) Paul Daniel's conducting is fast, so you won't have too long to be bored.

Maury D'annato said...

Grandson of Indiana Elliot and Joe the Loiterer, I presume?
Thanks a mil for the rundown! I missed Juive but I'm thinking Cutler was in Wozzeck and I found that cast uniformly capable. Looking forward in particular to Dunleavy after hearing about here these many years but never being in the house the right night.

Anonymous said...

Thank God I am not alone.

I hate Zauberflöte, Masonic symbolist ouvre or not. Sure it's got some great tunes, but strung together with what?

When I get too hard on myself because I can almost imagine a world in which beautiful singing is enough, in which plotless vocalize is the only form of currency, I remember Zauberflöte and think, "No, girl, you're just a voice queen."

Honestly, Canadienne's Pamina was the only thing that saved the (Skin)Flute for me this season. She sang Ach ich fühl's up for breakfast.

P.S. I haven't spoken to Our Mutual Friend yet, but we're doing a concert/lecture together soon and I can't wait.