tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8851616.post6224962970545808130..comments2023-09-12T11:16:57.372-04:00Comments on Likely Impossibilities: New Met Faust bombsMicaelahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17424063023952527613noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8851616.post-37940944451589312312012-02-01T19:18:59.306-05:002012-02-01T19:18:59.306-05:00Albi: I am not an expert and whilst I agree with ...Albi: I am not an expert and whilst I agree with a lot of the comments above, I felt a little uneasy with the fast pace and decibel level of the orchestra, At times, particularly in Salut I felt the orchestra was in a race with the tenor and wished for the sensitivity of an Abbado, Pappano or Amiliato who appear to follow the singer, rather than lead. I base my comments upon viewing the HD film and of course there may be a difference in the decibel level live.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8851616.post-43697432060455605202012-01-13T11:57:21.335-05:002012-01-13T11:57:21.335-05:00I just saw Faust; I had to send a note to GELB! Th...I just saw Faust; I had to send a note to GELB! The soprano is second-rate, period. Any American Master student could have done better. She doesn't have a strange technique, she has NO technique. She has extreme lip and jaw tension. The sound is uneven because there's no column of breath with support. When she inhales she exhibits neck tension which belies serious flaws in training. The coloratura passages were a mess and as others have said, the high notes were tortured! She is billed as a spinto but she does not have the easy SIZE of a spinto that is at home with heavier roles. I know because I am a spinto and heavy roles, once they are worked into the voice are pretty effortless. She has to force which causes that hard sound.<br />All of this seems to me the result of a new approach to opera that is visual. I like good staging; but it serves the singer, not the other way around. Opera is about great sound. Unforgettable moments of epiphany where SINGERS touch our souls. I don't care if the person looks the part, is svelte, or young. In fact, in the past, most of the Met's roster would still be honing their skills in local companies and touring productions. But there is a rush to use them while they are YOUNG and pretty. They aren't seasoned so what we are getting are singers who are not yet developed and it shows. Who is going to buy a ticket for this? Seriously, scholrs and musicologists must be apoplexic! I know as a singer that it's painful to watch Marina Poplavskaya. She will soon experience severe vocal problems and disappear to teach some poor trusting students who don't know better. What a tragedy!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8851616.post-375518036678400242011-12-22T12:34:47.895-05:002011-12-22T12:34:47.895-05:00What a pity that the MET is incapable of creating ...What a pity that the MET is incapable of creating a production that does justice to the music and we have to keep our eyes closed half the time to enjoy it... I did not think they could top the devilettes dancing around in the church scene in the last production and turning what should be a terrifying scene into a joke, but here we have Mephisto and Marguerite sitting happily side by side while weirdos bounce up and down on the balconies....<br />My favorite memory of a Faust is of Mirella Freni crouching at the door of a church unable to enter, and through the darkness inside you hear Ghiaurov's voice.... it was so simple... and so effective. When are they going to figure out that less is more?katihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17821258078237848524noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8851616.post-19583272191545104402011-12-11T15:53:44.165-05:002011-12-11T15:53:44.165-05:00Couldn't disagree more...This was the best per...Couldn't disagree more...This was the best performance of Faust I've ever seen. Nezet-Seguin conducted a precise & swift moving Faust, his beat could be felt in every singer's performance. Kaufmann is the great tenor of our time & he was thrilling; Pape was a superb Mefisto - a great improvement over his performance a few years ago; and Poplovskaya was again a terrific singing actress, riding the waves of Gounod's beautiful music with her large expressive spinto. The production didn't make much sense, but who cared, I was so happy to be there.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8851616.post-3350495417806643592011-12-07T23:33:12.498-05:002011-12-07T23:33:12.498-05:00Hi Zerb, I thought about your review when I saw th...Hi Zerb, I thought about your review when I saw the production last night. My review is up too. What I find troublesome about Popslavskaya and I agree that right now she can't seem to produce a consistent tone at all. She can sound beautiful one moment and harsh and squally the next. There seems to be no rhyme or reason behind why she sounds so great one minute and so terrible the next. I suspect that she's essentially a short soprano, maybe perhaps even a lyric mezzo with extreme problems producing high notes.Ivy Linhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03626556117524314236noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8851616.post-28208226108571164172011-12-04T23:07:57.518-05:002011-12-04T23:07:57.518-05:00I'd guess that if other things don't catch...I'd guess that if other things don't catch up with her first Popslavskaya is not going to be in for the long haul for vocal longevity--that's some oddball technique she's got going there.<br /><br />It has been pointed out to me that I may have gotten the above interpretation wrong and this production did not show Faust revisiting his past but the rather more conventional trope of him getting another shot at life. I say that this makes NO SENSE WHATSOEVER with the bombs and such, because his love life is whack and he builds the bomb anyway, but I don't even know anymore.Micaelahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17424063023952527613noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8851616.post-115125552065996382011-12-04T20:43:07.088-05:002011-12-04T20:43:07.088-05:00Poplavskaya's prominance COMPLETELY escapes me...Poplavskaya's prominance COMPLETELY escapes me. As you say the voice is (ahem) not good, she's a cold stage presence, she finds it difficult to connect with the audience. And she's impossible to work with - unbearably diva-ish antics already at this early stage in her career. Surely she'll fade soon.<br /><br />Oh and the Minotaur is coming back to the ROH in 2013. Good news as I missed it the first time and it's meant to be great.Capricciobloghttp://www.capricciomusic.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8851616.post-18162212035132559982011-12-03T12:13:55.619-05:002011-12-03T12:13:55.619-05:00Sorry, Henry, I'm not a big Gounod fan either ...Sorry, Henry, I'm not a big Gounod fan either (as you probably got from this review--the fact that the musical performance was pretty good didn't go too far with me) but I have NOTHING against catchy tunes or showy writing for the female voice and don't think modern stuff is innately superior for any reason other than it's new. Actually I LOVE catchy tunes and showy writing for women, really, when properly deployed.Micaelahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17424063023952527613noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8851616.post-56483595844920187132011-12-02T01:09:47.046-05:002011-12-02T01:09:47.046-05:00I love Birtwistle's music and I LOVE his opera...I love Birtwistle's music and I LOVE his operas: "Punch & Judy", "The Mask of Orpheus", "The Second Mrs. Kong", "Gawain" (the revised version), "The Last Supper" and "The Minotaur" are all terrific. I love the libretto for "The Second Mrs. Kong" by Russell Hoban, I think it's brilliant.<br /><br />http://www.ocelotfactory.com/hoban/mrskong.html<br /><br />Now, if you go to opera for things like "catchy tunes" or "showpieces for female singers", Birtwistle's operas probably wouldn't be your cup of latte, but they simply WORK as theater. "The Minotaur" DVD is highly recommended and there's great recordings of "Punch & Judy" and "The Mask of Orpheus" available.<br /><br />Instead of Gounod's trifle, the Met should be doing Busoni's great "Doktor Faust", which has been done only once, a run in 2001.Henry Hollandnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8851616.post-47876854306981311382011-12-01T18:52:13.510-05:002011-12-01T18:52:13.510-05:00I have to admit to knowing squat about Birtwistle ...I have to admit to knowing squat about Birtwistle (he's not produced in the US much at all, I don't think)...Micaelahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17424063023952527613noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8851616.post-2906986099087598232011-12-01T17:15:56.257-05:002011-12-01T17:15:56.257-05:00I heard a rumour (reliable source) that the Theate...I heard a rumour (reliable source) that the Theater an der Wien is interested in staging The Minotaur, but I imagine they would go for a new production. Beyond being competent and character-focused I'm afraid the ROH production didn't leave much of an impression on me.Zwölftönerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07582250507195487652noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8851616.post-53033870577996257662011-12-01T06:31:15.277-05:002011-12-01T06:31:15.277-05:00The ROH production I'd really like to see take...The ROH production I'd really like to see taken up by somebody somewhere I might get to see it is Minotaur. That's a really interesting piece.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8851616.post-22589168079074725302011-11-30T19:22:01.330-05:002011-11-30T19:22:01.330-05:00Ooooo this just made me think, what would happen i...Ooooo this just made me think, what would happen if Richard Jones directed Faust? I think it could be good!Micaelahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17424063023952527613noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8851616.post-80954465119939903782011-11-30T19:20:02.256-05:002011-11-30T19:20:02.256-05:00Doundou Tchil--it was more wishful thinking than a...Doundou Tchil--it was more wishful thinking than anything else, I know the Met generally wants new stuff and the McVicar staging is almost ten years old. It's just so good! It's the first Faust I've seen that I actually really liked.<br /><br />I wish we were getting a revised Anna-Nicole here instead of Muhly. There were somethings about it that bothered me but I think with a few tweaks it could be pretty great, and it deserves to be widely seen. And the Jones production is fabulous, no need for a new one yet.<br /><br />I would prefer not to begrudge the opera houses their marketing programs, though, even if I disagree with their choices. You need to get people talking, that's their job!Micaelahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17424063023952527613noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8851616.post-7203697387781457962011-11-30T16:09:37.946-05:002011-11-30T16:09:37.946-05:00Unfortunately the Met and ENO have a partnership a...Unfortunately the Met and ENO have a partnership agreement. When ROH pulled off the coup of getting Turnage to write his first opera in years, the Met went into overdrive and came up with Nico Muhly. Massive marketing programme, Muhly sold as a new Britten. Unfortunately he bombed hugely (same term, haha !) which is perhaps why Muhly's latest is discreetly rescheduled.Doundou Tchilhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07469682216179706743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8851616.post-56120843992709786532011-11-30T15:07:01.089-05:002011-11-30T15:07:01.089-05:00Thanks for the review. I'm going to see the HD...Thanks for the review. I'm going to see the HD broadcast in a few weeks, so this gives me something to base my expectations on. I had my suspicions about the set when I saw it advertised earlier this year, but hey. The Met's going to do what it's going to do. Still, I'm looking forward to seeing Pape and Kaufmann do their thing.Christiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08276355652503715188noreply@blogger.com