Friday, June 15, 2007

The Ring, Announced

Casting for the Kirov/Gergiev/Tsypin Ring is now announced.

A week ago, anyhow, so maybe this is news only in my world. Valery Gergiev is Ossetian? I don't know whether you knew that – I mean, did you know that?

The highish number of unfamiliar names I find oddly cheering. It's exciting to think one of them may break out of the pack and be this year's find. I'm hoping it's Leonid Zakazhaev because we need one of those most. Or Victor Lutsuk, who needs a stage name. It just rhymes with too much.

Olga Sergeeva seems like a piece of good news. She acquitted herself admirably in the stand-alone Walkuere some 2-3 seasons back, though I don't remember being dumbstruck by her. She's young, yet.

p.s. yes I'm going, to part of it.

8 comments:

jondrytay said...

Save yourself, Maury. Save yourself now. Life is too short to go to even PART of The Ring.

Chalkenteros said...

They can get you for almost anything. The Metropolitan Opera is a mean, nasty Republican place.

I'm hoping for Leonid Zakazhaev, too. I think Tomassini had some nice things to say about him a while back. But what else is new?

jondrytay said...

Speaking of young singers, do you guys get Cardiff Singer Of The World on TV over there? There are some very exciting singers in it this year, even if my personal favourite- the South African baritone- didn't make the final, and an Aussie soprano who was wearing a sofa and missed every top note she went for, did.

Maury D'annato said...

amer: wait are you a ringophobe? Begone! I jest--stay! But me, I love the Ring, except not really Rheingold which you could say I just kind of like if I'm in a certain mood.

We totally don't get Cardiff Singer of the World. I did just watch those clips of the guy on "Britain Has Talent, No, Seriously" with the sweetly schlubby guy singing "Nessun Dorma." He sounded like a big vocal mess but I'd still be happy to hear he won.

jondrytay said...

He's a shoo-in. He's up against a husband-wife acrobat and a bunch of scary child-dancers.

Shame you don't get Cardiff- it's had a good record at talent spotting over the years. Mattila was the first winner, Hrovstovsky won it (over Bryn Terfel)de, Karnaeus, Anja Harteros... Hidden away on BBC4 but that's better than nothing I suppose.

Princess Alpenrose said...

I was going to comment on the Ring news (okay here goes: COOL!), but I see now that you all need to go over to operadaddy.blogspot.com right now to read the true (and killer funny) insider's view of Cardiff '07.

Needless to say (because we are mad for operadaddy) he should have won!

Anonymous said...

You ARE kidding about Olga Sergeeva, right? THE WORST Brunnhilde EVER. No, seriously. No one could quite believe she had not been fired, the way she was singing. Terrible actress, almost got a stage manager fired for making an entrance 15 minutes too early while Placido Domingo was having an Act II moment... A big MESS. Perhaps she's improved since then. I hope so.

Maury D'annato said...

Hi anonymous. Well, I don't know. I remember liking her but I don't have any really specific recollection. Certainly didn't know about the entrance thing, though that doesn't have much to do, I think, with whether she's a good Brunnhilde. Anyway I was in good seats and enjoying Domingo and Dalayman (it was Dalayman, right? Not the one I mix her up with?) and (wasn't it) Gergiev and also I got so worked up that Wotan was finally not Morris that I just enjoyed the whole thing, may not have been in super critical mode.