Anna Netrebko and Rolando Villazon in the dress rehearsal of Manon at the Los Angeles Opera.
28 September 2006
Too darn hot!
Anna Netrebko and Rolando Villazon in the dress rehearsal of Manon at the Los Angeles Opera.
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16 comments:
Some of the greatest demi-naps I've ever had have been at the Met. I think it has to do with complete sensual serenity. I even dozed off during the first act duet in Otello--with Domingo and Dame Kiri. But Parsifal is not exactly an adrenaline fest, especially in the first act...
I don't know -- I kind of adore Netrebko. And this clip shows both her and Villazon to good effect.
As for Gurnemanz and the Norns ... I confess the Gurnemanz narrative is a bore, but with Rene Pape singing it last season, I could have listened all night. And the Norns? They're just about one of my favorite parts of the Ring!
cole d. napata - Brilliant!
Why the H*LL is this hideous singer taking over opera - are we that hard up for some chick with dark hair and a decent (but only decent, not great) body? SHE IS NOT A BEL CANTO, OR FRENCH, OR COLORATURA SINGER AT ALL - no way, no shape, no how. That she thinks it's acceptable in any measure to attempt this repertoire with NONE of the basic requirements of its music is to vomit on the history of amazing singers we have heard doing this rep. AGHHHH!!!! She drives me f*cking crazy, and now we have to suffer thru her attempt at Puritani. If only she would just stay home with girlfriend du jour and let someone, anyone else sing these roles...
Girlfriend du jour? Is that a sapphic reference or party girl reference?
Sapphic, definitely....
I once dozed off in Dublin during "Don Carlo" and also at a Bucharest production of "Seraglio" (in Romanian!) but, in my defense, both of those experiences came after long days of sightseeing. That's my story and I'm sticking to it!
Netrebko seems to be alienating many people ina sort of a la Fleming/ Gheorghiu way. I think that she is a very good singer.
Her Gilda opposite Paolo Gavanelli in London was a delight last year.
There is something reminiscent of the Karajan years about the way she is being publisied by her record company, which is such a shame.
As for Villazon. I really liked him in Tales of Hoffmann. I also thought that he was relatively secure in Rigoletto in last year's revival at Covent Garden (second cast without Netrebko).
And then my opinion changed. I got to see him in Onegin. His Lensky was truly great. I mean REALLY great. it was a spectacular performance.
It is sad that they seem to have become an advertising tool, which is such a shame when they are both relatively early in the careers.
I certainly do not hear the faults that have mentioned in this thread about Netrebko's voice. I do hear a voice that needs to mature.
Do all voices have to emerge on the Opera Scene, fully-fledged?
My 2 cents:
1) I'm a HUGE Wagnerite and really get into the pre-60's Wagnerian singers...however, I just can't bare to sit through Parsifal as gorgeous as it is...Urmana almost lured me to see it...and then I had to remind myself that it is rude to fall asleep in a performance. I also really have a hard time tolerating that 45 minute long duet in Tristan und Isolde.
2) The only time I actually began to fall asleep in an opera was in the Met Gotterdammerung back in 2000. I used to sit in the spotlight booth - directly above the Family Circle (sadly, after 9-11, this luxury was no longer available to me and I've been rather upset every since - also, it became extremely difficult to sneak backstage at Carnegie Hall which was always VERY easy for an instrumentalist - you just had to act like you belonged there!) - and I ADORE the Ring more than anything in this world, especially Gotterdammerung...but even I nearly sleep through that whole scene with Hagen and Alberich (It is Gotter, right? Not Seigfried? It's been a while since I've listened, so I'm not recalling well) - either way, the stage was PITCH BLACK with like a single solitary candle set between the two men - you couldn't see anything...and of course the music is just so slow and laborious...
3)I ADORE the Norns - they are one of the BEST parts of Der Ring...yes, I hate the repetition of the story part...but their music is SO cool!
4) Concerning Netrebko:
I have yet to hear this voice live, and (I feel the same way about Ms. Angela Alagna there)...I really am not crazy about the few things I've heard either on the net or on their cd's and so thus I refuse to pay good money to go hear their vocals live - I just can't bring myself to do it - unless there was someone else in the cast (like friends of mine) who I would be obliged and happy to see perform.
Yes, she is a very attractive woman and she looked STUNNING in that Salzburg concert. However, it is definitely clear that Ms. N has been given faulty advice concerning her repertoire. Her voice, certainly not a bad one, seems to be rather 'unstable' in the respect that she sings such varied repertoire in varied fachs that don't suit the size or color of her voice - at least at THIS point in her career. The voice has a ton of potential...but to keep pushing oneself through these rather dramatic roles (written for dramatic coloratura sopranos and the like in many cases - Puritani, Rigoletto, Traviata) is and has been having a very negative effect on her voice.
What I have to say is this: It is clear from several videos and from the Salzburg special that she is a rather intense performer and her ideas in expressing the text and the characterization are very strong - at least from what I've seen. This is certainly something very good to have! The downside is that often singers with such a strong talent in this area who have voices for repertoire that is unable to truly satiate their appetites for interpretive dramatacism, they are quickly drawn to the roles that do provide them with characters of considerable depth and emotion - hence why SO MANY sopranos are drawn to Tosca or Norma or Lady Macbeth when they have NO BUSINESS singing those parts!!!
This is something that I noticed particularly in her rendition of the "D'Oreste, d'Ajace" from Idomeno in Salzburg.
The aria is written for a DRAMATIC soprano - one with good flexibility in the voice and with enough vocal power to really drive it home with this aria (Elettra's final aria in the opera).
Netrebko, a light lyric coloratura would fair better (although still considered to be more of a lyric role than a light role) with having sung an aria from Illia's role. For example, Netrebko seems to be able to make a vocally fantastic Blonchen, but a dramatically sufficient Constanze without the voice to truly back it up at this point.
I am not making negative criticism just to be negative or to put her down - I think she has some very good merits and quite a bit of talent...but I do think it is safe to say that Netrebko's repertoire is a bit erratic and inconsistent within itself and is putting her more at a disadvantage than she realizes.
She sang the extended version of the opening Recitativo accompagnato to the aria...and quite honestly, I was taken aback by what I was hearing - the voice seemed in great shape, lined up, she was resonating on each note and nothing stuck out as being unhealthy or weak or inasthetic...but then as soon as the orchestra swelled and launched into the aria proper...it was INSTANT that one could tell that her voice is not suitable to that aria or role. Someone like Frittoli, or Vaness, or Gruberova (even Sutherland) really have the voices to sing that part the way it needs to be sung. Frittoli's voice may not be as large, but the color and timbre of her voice and her solid technique allow her the ability to sing a role like that very successfully. I was unable to aurally enjoy Netrebko in this aria - however, her interpretation and her physciality in performing it were quite riveting!
I always wished I could hear Verrett or Ponselle or Callas sing that aria - I think they would have been extraordinary! Maybe even Regina Resnik could have pulled it off with some stank!!
My comment about AN and Mrs. Alanga has to do with the fact that neither seem to record very well but I have been told by so many that they are much better live and in person...unfortunately, I find that I hear things in their singing on their recordins and the few videos that I've seen that lead me to believe that there isn't really a large difference between what they sound like on recording or what they sound like in person...of course, I won't know until I hear them in person - but as I've said, I refuse at this point to go ahead and spend money to hear them specifically when I can spend my money on singers whom I know to be great artists with great voices and who don't live off of their publicity (and no, that isn't a shot below the belt!)
AN was oversinging the "D'Oreste, D'Ajace" because it is far too heavy and dramatic for her voice - if she sang it more lyrically with her own voice, it would not fit the character or the way the music is written.
I learned about this factor in vocal music, luckily, early on - though many young singers (that includes singers in their thirties!) still haven't quite understood this concept.
When I started singing (and I'm referring to when I was 15 years old, circa) - I, having come from an instrumental background, equated coloratura singing - singing with more notes on the page - as being much more advanced than singing things that were more lyrical with less movement on the page and more sustained notes. So, I used to turn on recordings of Aida and Gotterdammerung and Boheme and Traviata and sing alot with all those tenor parts. My favorite to sing was Butterfly. And I never pushed, I never tried to sound "dramatic" because I didn't know what that was - I knew nothing of fachs or voice types or characterizations - I was obsessed with the beauty of the music and the genius of the composers - I didn't give a rat's ass about words or stage action at the time. And when singing became very serious to me...I was sad to learn that I would never sing Radames or Otello or Manrico or Calaf...because I am a leggiero, light lyric tenor - not a spinto or dramatic tenor. I believed at first, that I could sing the same music that heavier voices could sing...just that MY interpretations would be much more lyrical and pretty.
I ask you all: Who wants a 'pretty' Manrico or Don Jose?! Of course, we want beautiful legato singing when needed and having an attractive tone and core sound is always welcome - but we need to hear these parts with voices than can comfortably pour forth the dramatic intesity and depth of these characters and of the music.
Could you imagine Juan Diego Florez singing Andrea Chenier? Absolutely not and if he ever tried people would be shocked and severely disappointed - and that has NOTHING to do with how good of a singer or artist he is - it just isn't his voice type! Same thing if Lily Pons tried to sing Tosca - it would be legendary in that it would be the greatest joke in all operatic history!
These examples are rather obtuse, but the same principles apply to 'middle of the road' voice types and roles.
So the idea of AN who is a lyric coloratura soprano singing anything from Elettra who is CLEARLY a spinto/dramatic soprano - with the occasional fuller lyric sopranos capable of singing parts of it - is really something to raise eyebrows about.
It is absolutely true that AN has some very interesting colors in the voice - as shown in the recitative prior to the Elettra aria.
Also - regarding Verrett...She was ALWAYS a soprano who managed to be successful as a mezzo soprano - generally the best in high mezzo roles...listen to her Lady Macbeth or Norma or Trovatore - it's outstanding!
NEWINNYC listen to Verrett in Macbeth or Trovatore as il tenore suggests or Don Carlo or Carmen and you'll know what the "stink" was about. I saw her on stage in Africaine and Orfeo and believe me they were two of the more memorable experiences - amongst many after 50-odd years of opera going - that I've had in an opera house.
NEWINNYC - guess we all have our favorites that we defend to the death. Only saw Cossotto once in Paris as Azucena - along with Scotto and Milnes and a tenor whose name I forget - why do I always forget tenors names?? - it was a dynamite performance.
I understand she wasn't the nicest person to work with but as a performer she knew how to come out a grab an audience by the balls. And that night grab she did.
As to the Verrett Macbeth I am eagerly awaiting a DVD of the opening night of the Scala production from Premiere. I just know I'm going to be playing that one until the little lazer can't take it anymore.
What a gay person on Parterre Box - Quel scandel! Oh sorry wrong opera - that's Fille isn't it?
What was her explaination NEWINNYC? You're right that it has become part of opera lore - including the Zef apparantly saying he would never work with her again.
Have you ever heard her as a mere youngster on the Gli Ugonotti Scala - with Simonato, Corelli, Sutherland and a bunch of the guys? Even at that age she had that - you should excuse the expression sinces she was singing the Page - ball grabing way with her.
even if some don't care for it....
Yeah, I wonder why they hate America so?
newinnyc:
In other words, if you don't like Renee, you must be a terrorist or something.
I've heard Anna live several times. Hence my disappointment.
And, heck, if you're doing a survey, I'd be curious to know how many Fleming bashers have heard her live.
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