OperaNow! #131: Did We Speak Too Soon?

After my review and commentary on New York City Opera, someone calls it as they see it when reviewing a singer?...Opera News Awards are full steam ahead...The Met debates their tour to Japan in the wake of radiation problems...Komische Opera in Berlin to add titles in French and Turkish...Woman and dog get the nod on Britain's Got Talent...Classical Music still keeps the kids away!

Oliver looks at Pierrot's Tanzlied with examples by Karl Hammes, Horst Günter, Matthias Goerne, Richard Bonelli, Thomas Hampson, Bo Skovhus, and Hermann Prey.

Plus Guess Who Died? and Doug Dodson's E-News.

Enjoy the special bonus pod, "Backstage at Berkeley" with the cast of Castleton's "The Rape of Lucretia"...only on the iPhone and Android App!

Comments

[gaspsiagore]

Well done, guys.

[mshields]

Bravo to Doug Dodson on Sunday's Death and the Powers at COT. I thoroughly enjoyed the show and thought that Doug was fantastic in his role as an agency of the US. Unusually sparkling, indeed. I am sorry that the show had such a short run because I thought it was worth seeing twice. I thought the rant was one of the best parts of the show and absolutely dead on true. I do love John Zorn and think that his distinctly "downtown" aesthetic needs to move uptown, but I agree that the monodramas where a risky choice in the current climate and it would seem that NYCO has come out on the bad side of the risk.

[zach]

why pick on karita mattila? with mattila is think what the reviewer wrote is just the complete opposite of the truth. her high notes are getting a bit worn, as is the case with most aging singers, but the rest of her voice is still very beautiful which just flies in the face of his/her ridiculous claim that she couldn't produce a healthy sound in any register.

listen to this, taken from the same run of queen of spades in question: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PoiHaei2KuY

anyway, i don't understand why mike and oliver (as singers) encourage these types of reviews. what if someone were out there writing such things about you guys?

there should be respect for singers that have had long careers, but that doesn't mean that we can't admit that they don't sound as good as thet did in the past. this can be done without slandering them. about mattila, tommasini wrote that "she does not have the same vocal bloom as before and was troubled at times by constricted top notes". Point taken. But to go on about how she can't produce a healthy sound and that she should no longer sing at the Met...that is the kind of filth left better in the anonymous blogs.

i have rambled on too much. nice podcast, although oliver's corner was still a bit long.

i want to hear more about the opera that doug is singing in. it sounds interesting.

thanks.

[The OC]

Marcus is right. Doug and his trio added a new level of energy to a show which already was high octane. I was proud to cheer for my young (barely drinking age) colleague.

Below I have added to links to supplement Oliver's Corner on Pierrot.

The first was a promising resource that didn't quite deliver, but which has A LOT OF POTENTIAL as a way to document, share and preserve these things called Masterclasses. As I said on the podcast, you will find a link to a pdf of the score of the Tanzlied at this URL. I have yet to investigate other's on the MSM website. I applaud the idea. If somebody has time to burn and find others worthy of the idea, please share them here or e-mail operanow. Hampson begins the class on Pierrot around the 51:00 mark. I thought he would have to say more about interpretation and style. Instead, he blathers on about technique.

The other clip is his live rendition of the aria from 2006's Met Gala for Joseph Volpe.

http://www.dl.msmnyc.edu/events/2009/february/10/thomas_hampson_voice_master_class_webcast

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ViDvgNnEWw&feature=player_embedded

[Craig]

What a shame that NYCO has fallen on such hard times, as reported by Michael. The Nemorino (of the Elixir that Michael hated) has sung here in San Francisco – he was an Adler Fellow for a few years. He’s sung well whenever I heard him, if a little underpowered in heavy orchestration. Really, really sorry to hear this development.

We should note that NYCO was not only the home of Ramey, Sills, Treigle, and the other greats that Michael named, but also the first major American opera company to give a full season contract to an African-American singer: Camilla Williams as Butterfly in 1946.

Still staying on the Errata segment, I’m glad that Oliver came clean about how much people get angry at him for ranting about the same singers again and again. Almost everyone I know likes Calleja, but Oliver famously hates Calleja and always complains about him whenever he’s on the radio. I liked Calleja a lot in the recent “Lucia” with Dessay. So I guess that means that I need to be educated by Oliver about how to properly attune my ears to real, great singing (by those still alive and singing in the opera house – I know the greats from the previous Golden Ages, thanks). Please don’t mention Florez, for once. I know his voice and love his voice for several roles. (Even so, I can’t believe you used Florez as an example of great singing during the MEZZO-SOPRANO segment in episode 130.)

OK, back to the second half of the podcast …

[Craig]

Oliver, I apologize for misremembering your Florez reference during the mezzo segment. You held him up as an example of great acting for mezzos, not as an example of great singing. While I wish you'd found a mezzo who could act like a dude, Florez serves as a fine example of a non-gorilla-type dude.

I regret that my bad memory led me to mischaracterize your reference. Again, I apologize to you.

[Devon Estes]

About the critics guys - just remember, what is written is not always what's published. The editing process can be quite unjust. And also, there are quite a few critics out there that value things more than 100% accurate intonation and are willing to not even mention something the don't consider a major fault, but only part of the live performance experience.

[Brian]

To Michael -- Kevin and I were at the same performance of Monodramas. Too bad we didn't see you. Frankly, if you didn't like Machine de l'etre, you would have hated Neither so it's probably for the best that you left.

I like 20th and 21st century works more than the average person, so I'm biased, but I generally enjoyed the program, except for the production of Neither. Frankly it was so bad that it really detracted from my ability to say whether I liked the piece or the performances.

But here's my real point: Michael, you said that Machine de l'etre was really a performance art piece and didn't belong on an opera stage. Here's what I don't understand. You don't mind musical theater being performed in opera houses, so why object to performances of other technically non-operatic works? Where else should a work that was intended to be presented with singers, an orchestra and staging be presented? And even if most opera companies don't do works like this, maybe this was an argument for why they should or at least considering doing pieces like this. Maybe you didn't like the actual works selected or the productions of them, but do you really want to categorically say that opera companies should mount productions like this?

Just food for thought,

Brian of Brian & Kevin

[Michael]

@Brian. Sorry we missed you guys. You would have been the highlight of the day.

My point was that while such works are interesting and important, given NYCOs current state, it seemed a waste. The audience ( lack of) seemed proof. They need to get butts in the seats, and they weren't there. Why not do a recent work that hasn't had many productions? It seems that Georgie is trying to create a midtown Miller theater. A noble experiment, but not the time.

[Michael]

No need to apologize. I obviously needed to clarify. :)

[Craig]

Michael, which recent works would you have suggested instead? (I'm not snarky this time, but sincerely wondering). The Monodramas seem like a tough sell, but I don't know NYC. You've got 10 million people there, so maybe they could have expected to sell out a run. I think it'd be tough to do that here in SF.

Also, do you mean recent, chamber operas? Or recent, full-scale operas? I'm just wondering. Thanks!

[gianmarco]

Liked that this podcast contained some good, old-time rants. I think Michael is lamenting the choice of repertoire (the Monodramas) at what appears to be a crucial time in the survival of the NYCO. It seems to me that this season, they took the tack of "we'll be edgy, different" [with the Bernstein and Monodramas], thinking that would distinguish them, and the people would come. Maybe that didn't work? You would think though that in a city like NY of all places, there would be room for a major company to do this sort of thing.
Loved Oliver's Corner, especially since this is an aria near and dear to my heart. I was sort of surprised you all kept saying "any 22 year old baritone can sing this" - really? It's kind of a challenging aria actually, not only for tessitura, but moreso I think for the demands it makes in terms of long phrases and legato. But it's gorgeous, and since Puccini wrote virtually nothing for baritone, at least there's this! Oliver - I'll have to listen to Skhovus's recording again (have it here somewhere) as I couldn't really hear the effects you talked about with regards to his interpretation (the straight tone/poppy aspects). But great analysis of the piece - look forward to more of the same.
Surprised you didn't talk a bit about some of the comments made about the last podcast...

[Ciaran]

Deadly podcast guys! Really enjoyed Oliver's corner. Pierrot's Tanzlied is one of my favourite baritone arias, so I thoroughly enjoyed it. Keep it up :)

[Terry]

I just listened to this podcast today. Doug's E-News was incredible. I think that article is perhaps another argument for the need for anonymity in reviews. But I really wished I could have seen the performance... to see Johanna Novom play the violin AND two recorders all the while remaining fresh-faced, that would have been a sight to see. Contrary to Devon Estes comment about the editing process being unjust, as newspapers have trimmed costs, the editing process has become almost nonexistent. The SF Examiner article is a clear demonstration of this.

I agree with Michael's comments about the lack of honesty and boldness in reviews. I forget who, but someone mentioned that many of today's reviews seem more promotionally than critically driven. I agree with that assessment as well, and am sure the droning lament about the death of the art form, either opera or classical music, is one of the motivations behind this new approach. However, it is the clarity of a reviewer's honesty and boldness that I desire most. There are no absolutes in a performance. Not being a clone, I will not share the same opinion as Tommasini or Midgette or someone anonymous. So the only thing that will help me to gauge the qualities or characteristics of a performance I have not seen (possibly yet), is to understand how my opinions mesh or conflict with the reviewers' for the past performances we have seen together. But for reviews without clearly and fearlessly expressed opinions, this becomes more and more difficult.

[Aaron]

you guys have clearly never seen die tote stadt live - the baritone has to sing very loud to top the orchestra. All these lame recordings of weeny baritones singing this song are really irrelevant. The first recording hit the nail on the head, this song has to be sung loud and fast because the orchestra is loud and the opera is long. I don't know why recordings of this song are getting slower and more "sensitive" because every source from the composer suggests otherwise.

[The OC]

Aaron,
Is it possible that the role of Frank and Fritz can be sung by two different baritones, in which case Fritz's only big sing is the Tanzlied?