Monday
Mar042013
OperaNow! #180: Oliver Plays 34 Singers
Monday, March 4, 2013 at 3:36PM 
The Met to reduce (some) ticket prices...Can opera play at the movies?...What does an operatic career look like?...Chicago Opera Theater goes gay for pay...Kiri Te Kanawa coming to Downton Abbey...Opera is for snobs (and people should be watching soap operas????) The Texas Tenors.
This week in Oliver's Corner - You shall know our velocity: The Rossini Rondò Finale.
Plus, Guess Who Died?
This week features Michael, The OC, Doug Dodson, Jenny Rivera and John Greenbaum.
Reader Comments (11)
great oliver's corner this week. how can someone not like rossini?
i was very glad to hear mariella devia at the end because she sings like no one else. her ornamentation is so sophisticated. but was disappointed not to hear ruth ann swenson. anyway, i also heard
montserrat caballe
joyce didonato
june anderson
there are some voices i recognized but i can't recall the names so i'll leave that to other people.
moving on...
i do not agree with john greenbaum about the hd broadcasts. the hd experience is not supposed to be like being in the house. the hd experience is very enhanced by the close ups and camera angels. also, the backstage interviews are intermission features. so when the host is interviewing the singers back stage the audience inside the house is probably in the lobby. the argument that looking backstage takes you out of the moment may seem like it's good, but it's not because when the lights go up and everyone starts walking for the exit during intermission you already know that set changes and costumes changes are going on backstage.
in the theaters instead of sitting and looking at a blank screen for 15 - 20 minutes they treat the audience to interviews, previews, and a look behind the scenes. i think it's great. when they show the hd performances on tv they edit out most of the backstage stuff anyway, so i don't understand how it could be worse on tv.
i think that since we have the hd simulcasts today it makes me wish they had started doing them sooner. also, for the historic telecasts from the 70s and 80s, imagine if they also had interviews with the singers. i think the interviews actually enhance the recordings. if you think about saving the recordings for posterity, then being able to look at the singers out of character and know what they were thinking about or how they felt after giving a great performance, you would only be enriching our experience, not detracting from it.
Because of my excitement to show as many singers as possible, some clips were unreasonably short and may stump you, even though I felt I gave enough clues.
Here is the rundown of clips/cues for you to have a better chance of guessing:
clip 1: Singer A - the 24-year old prodigy in the "maestoso" section of the rondò
clip 2: Singer B - an earlier generation, the same material as A, much faster (LIVE)
clip 3: Singer C -orchestral intro of rondò theme and opening phrase "fra il padre" with 2 octave scale to high Bb and 2 octave drop to lo Bb - the clue: "mwah!"
clip 4: Singer D - same material as C but with more distinct, "glassy" tone quality (LIVE)
clip 5: Singer E- shorter version of same material, current Italian singer, I am a jerk (LIVE)
clip 6: Singer F - first variation of "fra il padre" ending in turns up the two octave scale and that two octave drop, a smile in the voice, surprising evenness of entire scale and a singer who triumphed "en travesti" (LIVE)
clip 7: Singer A - the second variation of "fra il padre" ending in chromatic 2 octave scale and the ensuing joyful coloratura stretta
clip 8: Singer G - just the coloratura stretta, a Baltic singer with bizarre diction but unique ideas about phrasing
clip 9: Singer D- the coloratura stretta to the end, a voice capable of searing tone going hysterical
clip 10: Singer H - from second variation of "fra il padre" to the end, THE Rossini singer of our time, a tone quality that never falters and never alters, fast, slow, high, low. (LIVE)
hope that was helpful
If you would like to follow along
http://www3.cpdl.org/wiki/images/sheet/ross-tan.pdf
Seriously, that "mwah!" clue is totally funny every time.
Please, more coverage of non-tenor, non-soprano singers. Thank you.
hard to tell if the most recent comment is a thinly veiled gripe.
episode 179 was testosterone-laden, no?
or are you asking for more mezzo's and countertenors too?
A perfect blend...
I'm asking for more mezzos, countertenors, altos, contraltos, baritones, basses, baritione-basses, and baritenors. I know sopranos and tenors rule the opera world by sheer number of roles, but my favorites are all the others, so I'd like more discussion of them, too.
"Please, sir, I'd like some more."
That is all.
If I was going to gripe, I'd pull back the veil and shine a spotlight. It's not directed at you specifically, Oliver, or at Oliver's Corner. I'm just missing my favorite voices, that's all.
PHEW! Thank god for the OC's post above - though I must say, I made my list ahead of reading it :) The MOST challenging "drop the needle" yet, but here it goes...
1. Julia Lezhneva (only got this because of the inadvertent name dropping - hadn't heard her before but she sounds fantastic ALTHOUGH I must agree with Michael a bit and wonder whether she'd be able to do this live, and I wonder how her very light tone would carry in a theatre)
2. Caballe (wicked "boing, boing" joke)
3. di Donato (the insider joke that gives and gives)
4. June Anderson (I think I like her the best of all of them - a singer who always seemed to get trashed when she was active but who will probably be deified once she really retires...)
5. This one is tough...I'm going to guess Sonia Ganassi only because she's the only current Italian I can see singing this on Youtube...or, maybe Mariana Pizzolato ?
6. von Stade - very recognizable tone
7. Julia Lezhneva again
8. Kasarova - agreed, very odd consonants, almost Russian/Czech sounding
9. Anderson encore
10. Devia (who makes a great case for a high coloratura vs. mezzo in this role)
I'm actually most familiar with Ricciarelli in this role as I've had the CD of the complete opera for a looong time. Not everyone likes her, but I've always loved her tone, and her way with the words.
Now, to John's NYCO critique. Haven't seen the production of course, but some of his comments made me squirm a bit. They sounded a little old-fashioned or something. I mean, if you go to opera these days it's very rare to see singers who don't act - I mean even the big divas and divos do a pretty good job of it at the MET. So, I'd agree with Jenny and say that a big part of the problem in this Turn of the Screw might have been the direction or lack thereof. From what I can tell, it's a cast of young singers who I'd imagine would all be quite well trained as actors, as well as singers and have probably done about 20 YAP programs each.
As for the comments re: MET HD. There's an article in the Huffington Post also griping about the intermission interviews - I'll have to try and check out the New Yorker (not sure if it's online or not). Personally, I'm really tired of them and agree it breaks the illusion the singers just worked so hard to create on stage. Also, the questions get very repetitive and predictable and really, what is the singer going to say? I was surprised to hear Gelb admit that the HDs are cannibalizing his own live opera audience - a blackout in the NYC area would make total sense - they do it for sports (so I hear!) so why not opera?
Keen to read the blogpost about what it takes to be a singer - it seems to me that most young singers these days automatically default to opera as their aim. Sure, that might be where the money is (or at least it looks that way) but let's face it - even the best young singers might expect to only get a couple decent contracts per year. Why not think more creatively about potential work and focus a bit more on concert/choir/chorus/recital opportunities. There may not be much money there either, but at least you're a bit more diversified. I don't know how people afford all these programs and auditions - surely there must be a better, less expensive way?
Great banter you guys, always a pleasure.
Gianmarco wins again.
Yes, that was Ganassi LIVE in the Zedda-conducted recording. There are worse. I really am loathe to point out singers' flaws. I have so many myself. The example is meant to show how difficult this music is and how super-human the elite singers are in comparison.
YES, Ms. Lezhneva delivers in a live performance. Feel free to watch the link below, captured when she was an old maid of 21 years.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FyYblfWW4gI
YAH! Sweated that one out for sure. OK, she's amazing in the youtube clip - so poised and doesn't seem to be doing any work at all. Do wonder though about the mic and the amplified sounding acoustic - but who knows. Trust the Brits to have a Classic Brit Awards (can't imagine the equivalent in the USA or Canada), and bless him there's crazy Rolando clapping away at the end!