By the time I became an opera addict, Pavarotti was finished performing. But I will never forget the first time I heard him on a DVD of La Boheme.

Be sure the catch the NY times article.

Always on top of things, La Cieca has wonderful podcast of Pavarotti already out.

And, as always, Sieglinde has an entertaining story for all of us ultra-critical bloggers.

I’ve been debating for the last hour whether to buy the Solti or Karajan version of the Ring… Now before you pounce on me and tell me to go for the Solti (I know it’s the most popular, authentic version), please here me out:

I love the Solti recording for everything everyone says about it – singers are incredible and energy is fantastic! But what no one told me (and thankfully, I checked the Solti on iTunes before buying anything) is that the Solti orchestra is definitely having issues. The sound is so harsh and the intonation and tone in the strings makes me wince constantly. Maybe my taste is geared towards a warmer sound. But Karajan’s Berlin Phil is in top shape and I love the balance towards the strings (certainly shows them off well).

But I like Solti’s timing intrepetation better and so I’m stuck… Go with the quality of sound I want without the incredible singers or with the interpretation I prefer but lose the heavenly sound?

Perhaps I’m doomed. But I’d be curious to hear what others think out there… Normally this wouldn’t be a big deal and I’d buy both versions. However, that’s a bit more money than I’d like to spend. There are other great opera recordings to get!

OK, look here. It doesn’t really matter how good Paul Potts is… although it’s amazing to have such an incredible, essentially untrained talent. He probably won’t make it as an “opera singer” and will perhaps be more of an Andrea Bocelli – putting out solo albums rather than full scale roles.

But all you people who think classical music is dying… Look at this! You think any piece of “popular” music could touch so many people to the core in 30 seconds? No. “Nessun Dorma” is a masterpiece of music.

This video gave me hope. Hope that my generation can bring classical music in accessible ways to audiences of all ages, everywhere. People had never heard opera before, didn’t know the meaning of the words, and still… they felt it.

Classical music is already making a comeback, let’s get with the program!

From Met Opera News:

Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, the Met, and New York City Opera have announced A Tribute to Beverly Sills, a free public event dedicated to the memory of the great soprano. The program will be held at the Met on Sunday, September 16, 2007 at 5 p.m. and feature performances by Natalie Dessay, Plácido Domingo, Nathan Gunn, James Levine, Anna Netrebko, and Craig Rutenberg. Tickets will be free of charge and available at the Met box office on a first-come, first-served basis starting at noon on September 16, the day of the event (limit two tickets per person).

If you’re willing to stand in line forever… go, go, go!!

Aida by Guiseppe Verdi

(runs from Sept. 29th to Nov. 8th)

PEOPLE MAKING THE MUSIC:

Conductor – Kazushi Ono

Interesting conductor who is making his debut with the Met. Music Director of the Tokyo Philharmonic from 1992-1996. He now is music director of La Monnaie, an opera company in Brussels. There is actually a DVD of Ono conducting Aida with La Monnaie and there’s a short (not particurlarly telling) clip on the web. I’m always looking forward to new conductors at the Met and Maestro Ono certainly has the experience and resume to be conducting here.

Aida – Angela M. Brown/Micaela Carosi

Ms. Brown broke out into the international opera world with an incredible Met debut singing this role in 2004. Having missed that, I’m definitely looking forward to hearing her.

Amneris – Dolora Zajick/Olga Borodina/Luciana D’Intino

What a treat! Ms. Zajick is one of my favorite all-time singers and Ms. Borodina has also impressed me in previous productions. Not to mention the fact that Amneris is probably my favorite “bad girl” in opera (unless we’re talking Carmen, I suppose)… I love her in that last act.

Radames – Marco Berti

Amonasro – Andrezej Dobber/Juan Pons/Mark Delavan

Ramfis – Carlo Colombara/Vitalij Kowaljow

The King – Dimitri Kavrakos/Reinhard Hagen

THE PRODUCTION GUYS:

Production – Sonja Frisell

Assuming that this is the same production I saw, it is awesome! (Except that people had made me believe two years ago, that there were going to be real elephants on stage… Can’t believe I fell for that one!)

Set Designer – Gianni Quaranta

Costume Designer – Dada Saligeri

Lighting Designer – Gil Wechsler

Choreographer – Rodney Griffin

Stage Director – Stephen Pickover

THE JACOB RATING:

3 stars out of 5. OK, it’s not my favorite opera, but with interesting singers and a new conductor… how can I resist?

On that line of thought, I was SO excited to catch this bit of news. I have been jealously awaiting the arrival of John Adams’ Doctor Atomic at the Met. There are two bits of good news finally. The opera is officially scheduled for next season (2008)! And, it’s going to be a new production. I had heard that the premiere production in San Francisco had been less than satisfactory even though the music was fantastic.

I hope *this* turns out to be a 2 million dollar production. First Emperor, ahem.

Just as cool, but a little farther down the road, is the commission of a Osvaldo Golijov: my latest, favorite contemporary composer. This is the composer who wrote the wildly popular “Dreams and Prayers of Isaac the Blind” (a klezmer piece for clarinet and string quartet) and as well as the Latin American-influenced “Pasión según San Marcos”. Whatever he comes up with for the Met, I’m sure it will be the most musically eclectic opera ever performed at the Met. Too bad we have to wait to the 2011-2012 season. I might not be in New York by then. But what are planes for anyway?

The officially released news states that due to illness, Rolando Villazon will be canceling the next couple months of performances. This is, of course, a slight blow to the Met since they’ve been advertising the Villazon/Netrebko package ever since I can remember going to the Met. However, I must say that the replacements intrigue me quite a bit – although both were already scheduled in other operas.

Joseph Kaiser was going to make his Met debut in the Magic Flute in November 13th. Now he’ll be coming about month earlier to take the October performances of Romeo and Juliette. The opera blogosphere, in general, seems to be very supportive of him, although I had to chuckle when I found out he was not one of the winners of the Met’s National Council Auditions in 2005 (I wonder where the winners are now?). But since then, he’s apparently worked himself up the ladder to become of the promising new young tenors. I’ll be looking forward to hearing him.

Despite all attempts to forget, Roberto Alagna will forever be associated getting booed out of La Scala last year – at least in my mind. He’ll be replacing Villazon in the September performances and then moving on to star in Madama Butterfly in October at the Met.

The day after Lucia di Lammermoor starts off the new Met season, then will come what will undoubtedly be the most hotly discussed and absolutely sold-out performance of the entire season. Why? Anna Netrebko and Rolando Villazon. As yes, the Bragelina couple of the opera world. OK, just kidding. But seriously, as opera gossip goes, ask anyone what they think of Netrebko and you’ll get an emotional response (positive or negative).

Before I discuss what I *really* think of the voices of the most popular opera couple, there are two things to clarify. The first is simply to make sure of the fact that you all know that N&V are not actually married in real life. According to them, this is a professional relationship. Fine. The second thing that we all need to face whether we like N&V or not is that they are being treated like movie stars by the Met. I mean, look at this publicity photo on the Met’s website:

C’mon guys… is this an opera photo or a Romance movie? OK, I rest my case. My main problem with this kind of publicity is that this could start becoming an expectation of audiences and thereby keep many incredibly voices from being heard. Do we want opera to become like the movies or pop music where a “beautiful” person with no talent can make a million dollars?

Now let’s talk about talent. Having seen them both perform before, here is where I stand. I first heard Villazon in Rigoletto and was really impressed. I am not a fan of most tenors, but I have to say that I am looking forward to hearing him again. Netrebko I saw in Don Pasquale and was… well, not impressed. She’s clearly talented and brings a lot of energy to the stage. Perhaps as she matures, she will realize that there are times when she can just face the audience and deliever a powerful performance. As it is, there is waaaay too much show going on and not enough music. This is my humble opinion for whatever it is worth.

Roméo et Juliette by Charles Gounod

PEOPLE MAKING THE MUSIC:

Conductor – Plácido Domingo

Well, many put Domingo down for his conducting. But does the Met orchestra need a conductor? Or do they really just need someone with musical conviction who can inspire and gain their respect? I think Domingo more than qualifies to take the podium for this run.

Juliette – Anna Netrebko

Stéphano – Isabel Leonard

Roméo – Rolando Villazón

Mercutio – Nathan Gunn

Frère Laurent – Kristinn Sigmundsson

THE PRODUCTION GUYS:

Production – Guy Joosten

This is the same production from 2005 at the Met. Apparently it is a bit “weird” as this review would have us believe: http://www.andante.com/article/article.cfm?id=26199

Quote:
“Apparently taking his cue from the prologue of the Shakespeare play, which refers to “a pair of star-cross’d lovers,” Joosten injected astronomy into the opera. While the sides of the stage were brown with trompe l’oeil paintings of Veronese architecture and the floor was a tan checkerboard pattern, at the center was a raked turntable with an astrological table (with the signs in French). There were various backdrops visible through a stage-high round portal, showing a galaxy, the moon and the sun (shining and in eclipse). It was as if the Teatro Olimpico was remodeled into a planetarium.”

Set Designer – Johannes Leiacker

Costume Designer – Jorge Jara

Lighting Designer – David Cunningham

Choreographer – Sean Curran

Fight Director – Dale Anthony Girard

I do not wish to be overly harsh to Netrebko… but after hearing that Ms. Dessay was singing Juliette in 2005, I can help wishing that I could have been there for that. Oh well. Here’s my rating:

THE JACOB RATING:

3 stars out of 5. In otherwords, I’ll be there and will let you all know about it.

EDIT >>>>>>>>

In a strange turn of events, Villazon has canceled all his appearances for the next several months. The big news is the replacement for all the October performances with the Joseph Kaiser, making his Met debut! Roberto Alagna will take the performances in September. Thanks to Zara for mentioning this!

Here’s the breakdown of this new production:

Lucia di Lammermoor by Gaetano Donizetti

PEOPLE MAKING THE MUSIC:

Conductor – James Levine

This is ALL you need to know. If Levine is conducting, it is gonna be AWESOME!!!!

Lucia – Natalie Dessay

This is Ms. Dessay as Lucia at the Opera de Lyon. Although I personally have not heard her sing, she was chosen as soloist for the Met Orchestra’s Carnegie Hall performance in May. Bottom line: I am expecting to be double-wowed.

Edgardo – Marcello Giordani

Enrico – Mariusz Kwiecien

Raimondo – John Relyea

THE PRODUCTION GUYS:

Production – Mary Zimmerman

Comes from the theatre side of things. She is a highly acclaimed playwright and director. Here’s a snippet from a NY Times review of “The Secret in the Wings”:

“Ms. Zimmerman provides many enchanting morsels of minimalist stagecraft. A forest takes on threatening dimensions as embodied by actors sprouting leafy limbs in place of heads and hands. The failed suitors chase after bouncing red rubber balls representing their detached heads. To suggest a death by shipwreck, an actress steps into a gold frame placed on the floor, which is lifted to symbolize the rising water line.”

It sounds like she might do some pretty interesting things with Lucia. I just hope she doesn’t go too minimalist on us. Opera and minimalist staging just doesn’t work in my opinion. (I was one of those people who suffered through those “glowing shapes” of Lohengrin.)

Set Designer – Daniel Ostling

Costume Designer – Mara Blumenfeld

Lighting Designer – T. J. Gerckens

Choreographer – Daniel Pelzig

THE JACOB RATING:

5 stars out of 5. In otherwords, don’t miss it!