tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17999907.post7502721732080186782..comments2024-01-24T08:24:14.555-05:00Comments on My Favorite Intermissions: "I'd say ample for a regiment!"Maury D'annatohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14136129943169313348noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17999907.post-65824739610040094452008-05-05T10:56:00.000-05:002008-05-05T10:56:00.000-05:00I went Friday night, and my favorite part was Feli...I went Friday night, and my favorite part was Felicity Palmer busting out "Che faro", in the second act. I was laughing so hard at the universe gratifying my Gluckiness. Yes!<BR/><BR/>An esteemed friend of mine thinks Florez pinches the vowel on the 'mon' too much, and I have to agree, but it's still a glorious thing to hear.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01835412376364738567noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17999907.post-36726339467015373972008-04-29T10:47:00.000-05:002008-04-29T10:47:00.000-05:00I saw the HD broadcast of Fille this past weekend,...I saw the HD broadcast of Fille this past weekend, and I sympathize with your reflections. While JDF did not do a bis, his performance was so self-conscious of the audience reaction that it did not ever really become part of the story being told. Dessay wins us over by totally immersing herself in her character. JDF seems to want to be himself all the time. Maybe it's not inappropriate for bel canto since is emerged in a time of celebrity. Sigh, I still prefer acting.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17999907.post-24845793582743212532008-04-27T13:27:00.000-05:002008-04-27T13:27:00.000-05:00I think audiences have become more eager to cheer ...I think audiences have become more eager to cheer and have standing ovations recently (I can't comment on the Met, but this has been my expirience in England). it feels now that an audience (certainly for opera, but also sometimes for a musical) doesn't feel like it's had a good evening unless there is a standing ovation, with cheering at the end. Almost so that the audience members can go home and say 'it was wonderful, absolutely brillian, there was a standing ovation and everyone was cheering.'<BR/>I've been to productions where it was very mediocre and still had a standing ovation!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17999907.post-28618203790394105472008-04-27T02:58:00.000-05:002008-04-27T02:58:00.000-05:00Thanks for an excellent report. I was particularly...Thanks for an excellent report. I was particularly interested to read what you wrote about JDF, as I saw the HD telecast and found his attack on the high notes (and rhythm) staccatoish - exactly as you stated, something I havenĀ“t read anyone else point out. Furthermore there is a sharp ring to his high notes, at least as they appeared on the HD. <BR/><BR/>Not that these things really detract from his performance, which I found was wonderful, but good to know that he is not completely above criticism after all :)mostly opera...https://www.blogger.com/profile/05653818157295091506noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17999907.post-83796893681809422742008-04-24T10:31:00.000-05:002008-04-24T10:31:00.000-05:00I suppose Florez could have celebrated his success...I suppose Florez could have celebrated his successful traversal of "Pour mon ame" by having a go at "La donna e mobile" and some might have been just delighted. But then I'm imagining what happens when all the co-stars get into the act and the audience is no longer able to proceed with the assumption that a performance of La Fille du Regiment isn't actually going to be a performance of Rigoletto or even Matilda di Shabran by the time of it's conclusion. I guess we've all had dreams that pursue this sort of random trajectory, and we all want to see the opera performances of our dreams, so hey, this turns out to be a fantastic idea. Bravo!stewballhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08780572827422587725noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17999907.post-24786286188283414662008-04-24T07:57:00.000-05:002008-04-24T07:57:00.000-05:00On 'Va, pensiero," again, see Roger Parker's book ...On 'Va, pensiero," again, see Roger Parker's book 'Leonora's Last Act' - it was "Immenso Jehovah" near the opera's end that was encored (go figure), though once the Risorgimento mythos sprung up around Verdi , "Va, pensiero" became patriotically charged and its tradition as a number that had "always" been encored became fixed. <BR/>It reminds of me of rock shows where when the band says "this is our last number" everyone knows they'll be coming back for a several-song encore after a few minutes of clapping, but everyone participates in the fiction all the same.<BR/>Frankly I'd like to see a soloist come back encoring an aria from another opera altogether, mess with the integrity of the work on a whole other level and reassert the primacy and authority of singer over composer. Then we might recapture something of the bel canto era that would force us more profoundly to rethink our assumptions.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17999907.post-8097282765617872582008-04-23T12:46:00.000-05:002008-04-23T12:46:00.000-05:00I saw Florez in recital a couple years ago in Berk...I saw Florez in recital a couple years ago in Berkeley. He sang the Fille aria on the regular program, and then repeated it as a final encore. When ya got it, flaunt it. (As a side note, von Stade was in the audience shouting bravos with everyone else and looked fab.)winpalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03138998162300005843noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17999907.post-23791367694018700892008-04-23T10:21:00.000-05:002008-04-23T10:21:00.000-05:00anonymous: thanks for that about "Va, Pensiero"--I...anonymous: thanks for that about "Va, Pensiero"--I had no idea it wasn't the chorus originally bis'd. That tradition, too, strikes me as a little...I want to say self-congratulatory. "Here's where we clap until the chorus takes a big visible breath, because that's how it's done, and we know it." But then so much of the act of connoisseurish listenership has a self-congratulatory air, so maybe it's a silly distinction I'm making.Maury D'annatohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14136129943169313348noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17999907.post-76530834647196469142008-04-23T10:17:00.000-05:002008-04-23T10:17:00.000-05:00Kathy, of course it's all a matter of taste, but y...Kathy, of course it's all a matter of taste, but yeah. I, in turn, am reassured to find someone else doesn't find it ideal--makes me feel less like I'm being needlessly picky.Maury D'annatohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14136129943169313348noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17999907.post-23030180231408152552008-04-23T03:44:00.000-05:002008-04-23T03:44:00.000-05:00And what's wrong with screaming our heads off afte...And what's wrong with screaming our heads off after a performance? As a director, I used to tell the cast, "The audience wants to enjoy the show. They don't know what you're going to do (exactly) so act like you meant to do what ever it is you're doing and they'll love you for it."<BR/><BR/>Now, this isn't quite true. Certainly in productions where we know the piece, there are expectations we have of the performers - but there is still room (or should be) for the performers art to come through.<BR/><BR/>And, while a performance may not be as good as someone else's performance (thus the reason for critics to determine the quality of one vs another), we, as the audience have paid money to be entertained. IF we feel we have been then we should show our appreciation - and applauding rauchously is fun.<BR/>vbqyvyxxChip Michaelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11591409283730621210noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17999907.post-26892449116077553762008-04-22T21:22:00.000-05:002008-04-22T21:22:00.000-05:00Florez encores the aria on the Fille DVD from Geno...Florez encores the aria on the Fille DVD from Genoa, and my impression, possibly mistaken, is that he's been doing so generally in productions of the opera -- so maybe less a question of it becoming a "reflex" than of it having been a foregone conclusion that has not so much to do with the Met per se. And as such, probably thoroughly in keeping with 19th-century performance practice (just as the reprise of "Va Pensiero" itself is traditional [though not dating to the premiere, as is often supposed -- a different, duller chorus was encored in 1842, oddly enough]).Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17999907.post-25266995240177060612008-04-22T18:21:00.000-05:002008-04-22T18:21:00.000-05:00Maury,I always enjoy your reviews. And I too wond...Maury,<BR/><BR/>I always enjoy your reviews. And I too wondered about the staccato attack on the Cs - it didn't seem to sound quite right to me. But I don't like the comedies as much as the tragedies, so I wasn't sure if it was supposed to be that way. Glad you mentioned it, because it made me feel I wasn't crazy!Kathyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17998601314635109146noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17999907.post-14965097978060057452008-04-22T15:28:00.000-05:002008-04-22T15:28:00.000-05:00onkle: no, you're absolutely right; I just thought...onkle: no, you're absolutely right; I just thought the sentence was funnier with "mosh." Sometimes I do that. It is a small dishonesty on my part.<BR/><BR/>I'm glad you liked the reviews. Yes, I should go in for more theater after the season ends. I go so rarely. It's kind of a shame.Maury D'annatohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14136129943169313348noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17999907.post-21541630681565048652008-04-22T14:23:00.000-05:002008-04-22T14:23:00.000-05:00Maury - I think you mean crowd surfing instead of ...Maury - I think you mean crowd surfing instead of moshing. Moshing is technically the subtle art of hurling your body at others in a large pit. <BR/><BR/>But thank you for your always insightful and humorous reviews. Any plays in the future after the Met season?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com