tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2665236978084294968.post7808730229004887525..comments2024-03-18T09:22:11.316-04:00Comments on OPERA OBSESSION: Le veau d'or est toujours debout: Faust at the MetLucyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02549302523503271428noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2665236978084294968.post-73967955183960091372011-12-12T21:30:44.050-05:002011-12-12T21:30:44.050-05:00@GBliss Glad to hear the musical and dramatic valu...@GBliss Glad to hear the musical and dramatic value of the performances continues to be high. Better frustrated than bored by a production, I suppose, but so much more <i>could</i> have been done with it.Lucyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02549302523503271428noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2665236978084294968.post-69579241297677424962011-12-11T20:40:48.553-05:002011-12-11T20:40:48.553-05:00Alas, not able to see in person so I content mysel...Alas, not able to see in person so I content myself with the HD simulcast. I left yesterday's equal parts exhausted and exhilarated...and also confused. Exhaustion and exhiliration were due to the strong vocal performances, the score, the suave intensity of Rene Pape, the dynamic stage (screen?) presence of Jonas Kaufman... Confusion stemming from what you clearly diagnosed: the atomic scientist concept is not maintained in a logical and consistent way. It is an intriguing idea, but one that is relegated to a few costumes, some props, and a few flashes of light. But at the end of the day, the music and the great performances form the pit to the stage won me over.GBlisshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01519221122197455034noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2665236978084294968.post-70764833625667268502011-12-03T13:45:08.911-05:002011-12-03T13:45:08.911-05:00@Placido Zacarias This may be largely a question o...@Placido Zacarias This may be largely a question of taste, but I do think you're being a bit unfair, if you've not yet seen Poplavskaya live. I think the DVD direction hampers "Tu che la vanita" rather; seeing Elisabetta as an isolated figure on the stage adds to the effect. I don't think falling to her knees is "the most expressive idea," but that's a choreography peeve of mine. I can think of singers with more lyrical phrasing, but she colors her voice expressively. De gustibus...Lucyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02549302523503271428noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2665236978084294968.post-21438077474004848332011-12-02T19:25:15.966-05:002011-12-02T19:25:15.966-05:00Her Elisabetta? Have a look at this, from 6:44 on:...Her Elisabetta? Have a look at this, from 6:44 on:<br />http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vKrK13o_9M&feature=related<br />the most expressive idea with the worst acting.<br />Or take this example:<br />http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwip9hG5mzw<br />These are the worst situations I can recall right now. Do doubt she tries, but it ends up looking so metrical an unnatural...<br />At least that's what I think.Plácido Zacariashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15710735406060511794noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2665236978084294968.post-31681321680490712322011-12-02T17:03:07.255-05:002011-12-02T17:03:07.255-05:00@marcillac I enjoy our debates so much, but agreei...@marcillac I enjoy our debates so much, but agreeing on things is nice too. :) As you say, getting that much out of the score was really a treat. You'll get no arguments from me on prioritizing JK and Pape, either.<br /><br />@Placido Zacarias Hmm... although I found Poplavskaya wooden on Tuesday, that's not been my experience either of the other times I've heard her live. In the past I've found her vocally expressive, if unsteady. Her Violetta was intensely moving to me, and her Elisabetta (<i>Don Carlo</i>) had a specificity in fairly limited gesture which made repression and fury at her powerlessness clear (I thought.) She's not one of my favorite singers either, but I wouldn't write her off as a bad actress.Lucyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02549302523503271428noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2665236978084294968.post-69445165908634303282011-12-02T11:46:55.211-05:002011-12-02T11:46:55.211-05:00Hi Lucy.
"I was also disappointed because, fr...Hi Lucy.<br />"I was also disappointed because, from the balcony, her reactions to Faust seemed... stoic"<br />That's because you were in an opera house - not because you were in the balcony. I've seen Poplavskaya both in video records and Live in HD, and her acting is just like that. I wonder if we should even call it acting. She's really a bad actress... and definitely not one of my favourite singers either!<br />P.S. I'm going to Faust live in HD on Dec 10.Plácido Zacariashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15710735406060511794noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2665236978084294968.post-68865738401185965482011-11-30T19:49:51.861-05:002011-11-30T19:49:51.861-05:00Um, yeh. Agree with all of that. Not a comprehen...Um, yeh. Agree with all of that. Not a comprehensively thrilling evening by any stretch of imagination but very rewarding in some important respects nonetheless. <br /><br />Meph. presents the most opportunities and in the context of the opera in particular it somehow seems wrong when he doesn't walk away with the show. I would expect no less from Pape, and he did in fact deliver.<br /><br />Jonas wasn't as dynamic as elsewhere (attributable at least in part to both the nature of the character and inadequacy of direction) and had a couple of (for him) slightly rough passages but there was also some genuinely beautiful singing that would have been worth the trip even in the absence Pape and the superb orchestral performance. That performance, so precisely described above, really made the most that anyone could reasonably hope for from a score that is a genuinely pedestrian in spots and even over some stretches. <br /><br />The production was incomplete in conception and flawed in execution but one has learned to limit one's expectations with respect to the Met's dramatic efforts.<br /><br />Overall, it goes without saying that no opportunity to hear either Jonas or Pape should be missed, much less both of them together. The terrific conducting and superb orchestral execution was a nice bonus.marcillachttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10890948953007381186noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2665236978084294968.post-29701649325043287992011-11-30T17:26:21.963-05:002011-11-30T17:26:21.963-05:00@Gale Martin Well, of course there are plenty of p...@Gale Martin Well, of course there are plenty of places to experience ecstasy in opera! And the orchestra was at their fabulous best last night... but my beloved Met is not a Mecca for creative/thoughtful productions.<br /><br />@Christie Yeah... I still don't think the concept was a fatally flawed one; unfortunately it just wasn't pulled together. Poplavskaya can be a rather uneven singer, so keep your fingers crossed. I was also disappointed because, from the balcony, her reactions to Faust seemed... stoic. Which, my mother and I agreed, lacked plausibility for several reasons.Lucyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02549302523503271428noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2665236978084294968.post-52110889909360490052011-11-30T15:15:33.041-05:002011-11-30T15:15:33.041-05:00Not going to lie: I was skeptical when I heard tha...Not going to lie: I was skeptical when I heard that the setting was going to be during and between the World Wars. I wondered if there was going to be any way for the singers to salvage the set design. I'm still going to see the broadcast, but I'm glad that I know now that it's a wonky performance. Shame about Poplavskaya-I was looking forward to hearing her for the first time!Christiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08276355652503715188noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2665236978084294968.post-46605721744357381652011-11-30T14:56:38.607-05:002011-11-30T14:56:38.607-05:00I listened to the show on Met radio last evening. ...I listened to the show on Met radio last evening. Your review confirmed some of my own observations. So, two of the productions I most wanted to see at the Met turned out to be disappointments--this and Don G. Hmmm. I hope there are other places to experience ectasy in opera.Gale Martinhttp://operatoonity.comnoreply@blogger.com