Opera lovers in the house?

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Opera lovers in the house?

Posted: 10/19/04 at 12:33am

Just wondering if you're out there. I just bought Jose Cura's Verdi arias album and I'm diggin on it. Who's your favorite opera singer?

Word. Word, indeed.

re: Opera lovers in the house?

Posted: 10/19/04 at 12:45am

Opera lover here!

I've been trying to find some stuff on a guy named Alfred Boe, I've heard some of his "La Boheme" work which was amazing. He has this light tone that draws you right in.

re: Opera lovers in the house?

Posted: 10/19/04 at 12:45am

If you want lyric tenor arias, pick up a collection of Gigli or Bjoerling (or Corelli or early Pavarotti -- pre-1980). Cura's not in their class, yet. My top ten opera singers:

Callas
Ponselle
Gigli
Bjoerling
Gino Becchi
Simionato
Vickers
Leontyne Price
Gobbi
Del Monaco

Plus the Wagnerians:
Nilsson
Melchior
Lieder
Flagstad

"What a story........ everything but the bloodhounds snappin' at her rear end." -- Birdie [http://margochanning.broadwayworld.com/] "The Devil Be Hittin' Me" -- Whitney

Updated On: 10/19/04 at 12:45 AM

re: Opera lovers in the house?

Posted: 10/19/04 at 12:46am

I'm not a total opera lover, but I do study opera at university.
I'm working on a production of Donizetti's L'Elisir D'Amore right now!
Opera is fun....I'm just more of an MT girl.

re: Opera lovers in the house?

Posted: 10/19/04 at 12:48am

See, it really comes down to preference doesn't it? Pavarotti, Bjoerling, both decidedly lyric tenors. Freakish high ones at that. But del Monaco, and the aforementioned Cura are both dramatic tenors and that's what i tend to flock towards. And do I get any Carreras love from someone?

Word. Word, indeed.

Updated On: 10/19/04 at 12:48 AM

re: Opera lovers in the house?

Posted: 10/19/04 at 12:56am

Oooh oooh oooh!!!
Aspriringguy, I love Alfred Boe! I'm not sure if he's doing anything though. I would check major companies. I know Jesús Garcia (my personal favorite Rodolfo) has done stuff with Washington Opera, and the Philadelphia Opera. He's actually in a show there this month called Don Pasqual. Which brings me to something I've been meaning to ask everyone...Is anyone going to see this? I really want to go, because if I don't get to see Jesús in this, I may NEVER get to meet him.

"What a mystery this world. One day you love them and the next day you want to kill them a thousand times over." The Masked Bandit in THE FALL

re: Opera lovers in the house?

Posted: 10/19/04 at 12:57am

How about Thomas Hampson? Bryn Terfel?
Please, the other topics on this board are KILLING me!!!!

Word. Word, indeed.

re: Opera lovers in the house?

Posted: 10/19/04 at 12:58am

Is anyone else going to the Met's La Boheme? I absolutely LOVE Marcelo Alvarez and he's playing Rodolfo in this production.

Word. Word, indeed.

re: Opera lovers in the house?

Posted: 10/19/04 at 1:06am

Total opera lover
Favorites (that i saw) - Vickers, Gedda, Krause, Morris, Ramey, Von Stade, Horne, Scotto, Stratas, Soderstrom

#10

re: Opera lovers in the house?

Posted: 10/19/04 at 1:10am

Love it.

Sing it.

Performing "Fidelio" in Carnegie Hall in March '05.

"Two drifters off to see the world. There's such a lot of world to see. . ."

#11

re: Opera lovers in the house?

Posted: 10/19/04 at 1:29am

Question to any who remain:
do you find that you like the more classical sound in Broadway voices or more of the pop sound that seems to have encroached upon it? Granted, I know that some show require that pop sound. So, bearing that in mind, thoughts?
Or, thought, if only one remains?

Word. Word, indeed.

#12

re: Opera lovers in the house?

Posted: 10/19/04 at 2:03am

i LOVE opera! i know this is a bit off the legit track, but i still get chills listening to aretha sing "nessun dorma". i just get caught up in the moment with her. i maean really... aretha... filling in for pavarotti... who knew?

Ocean Breeze soap. It's just like taking an ocean cruise only there's no boat and you don't go anywhere.

#13

re: Opera lovers in the house?

Posted: 10/19/04 at 3:17am

see, i read this as "oprah lovers" and i thought it was gonna be about free cars and abusive spouses. but now i see it's opera, and i have to say yes i dig it, but i don't know any opera singers other than like, rene flemming or whatever. hopefully i will be less ignorant in due time.

edit: addy- you sing opera? duude, who knew you were so multi-talented? that is WAY cool.

Updated On: 10/19/04 at 03:17 AM

#14

re: Opera lovers in the house?

Posted: 10/19/04 at 3:28am

I saw Deborah Voigt tonight at "Stuff Happens" at NYTW -- one of the great voices on the planet and she looked fabulous (she's lost a LOT of weight and the hair and ensemble were flawless).

BB Wolf -- Carreras burned out WAY too early. Even before his health issues (leukemia), his voice was already showing signs of seriously problematic strain by the the late 80s (listen to his Boheme with Hendricks in '88 -- simply painful). But, for a few years in the early 80s, he was the real thing -- his Don Jose at the Met around '86 was classic (as was his Rodolfo in Boheme with Stratas in '83?).

As for my general thoughts, pop vs. opera vs musical theatre vs. jazz vs gospel vs. everything else, great singing is great singing and I have no preferences. I love Aretha and Callas and B.Holiday and J.Holliday and Price and Dinah and Kiley and Mahalia and Jimmy Scott and Piaf and Donny Hathaway and Garland and James Brown and Merman and Chaka and Simionato and Gladys -- they are all equal in my ears...... to me no genre is superior to another -- that's just snobbery and bias and I have no place for that in my life. Genius is genius. Period. I move seemlessly from one genre of music to another (you should hear what comes out of my CD player when it's on shuffle -- to me it all makes sense, but all but a handful of my friends find it jarring and difficult to follow).

I must say that intermixing the genres is an odd experience, none more so than Aretha singing "Nessun Dorma." I still am not sure what I think of that performance. Friends of mine who love opera and Aretha hate it -- but, I'm conflicted. It's wrong, very wrong -- melisma and Puccini are like oil and water, but Aretha's overall peformance is so infused with passion and emotional commitment (like everything else she's ever sung), how can anyone dismiss it?

I'm hard-pressed to name any other performance that is so utterly wrongheaded, yet so utterly brilliant at the same time.

"What a story........ everything but the bloodhounds snappin' at her rear end." -- Birdie [http://margochanning.broadwayworld.com/] "The Devil Be Hittin' Me" -- Whitney

#15

re: Opera lovers in the house?

Posted: 10/19/04 at 3:31am

I am a big Opera lover. My boyfriend works for the Lyric Opera of Chicago and so I am able to see some of the best. I don't think it is a perfect art form, but when it works there is nothing like it. I love Terfel, Cura, Flemming, Voight, Bartolli, Graham...

PEACE.

#16

re: Opera lovers in the house?

Posted: 10/19/04 at 7:59am

Big opera lover here. (I think it comes with being Italian!)
My favorite singer is Dame Kiri Te Kanawa. She has warm, buttery tones that are simply magical. To me, no other soprano sing's Verdi's Desdemona or Mozart's Countess better than she.

I also love Kathleen Battle, but we don't get to see much of her in New York these days.

Yes, Thomas Hampson and Sam Ramey are magnificent. In his prime Pavarotti was very good, but there was an arrogance about him that always came across in his performances.

Yes, I plan to see BOHEME at the Met this season. It's my favorite opera (yeah, I like a good cry!) and the Zeffirelli sets and costumes make that recent Broadway production of the opera seem downright tawdry. I'd also like to see the Met's new staging of DON GIOVANNI.

"Long live God!" (GODSPELL)

#17

re: Opera lovers in the house?

Posted: 10/19/04 at 8:01am

My boyfriend is the opera buff in the family, while I'm the musical COMEDY buff.

It was always his dream to have a Met subscription, so two years ago we finally plunked down the money and bought a mini-subscription. Then last year they were doing the Ring Cycle, so we took a subscription of five PLUS the four Rings.

17 hours of Wagner, and I've earned my opera stripes. But I still prefer productions that are theatrical and opera singers who can act. (I.e., Callas over Sutherland, Stratas over Te Kanawa, etc.)

This year we're down to a more reasonable 5 operas. Last week, the season started with the new Julie Taymor production of The Magic Flute, which was indeed magical (despite what Anthony Tomassini said).

You all seem to be connoisseurs of male singers, so the one to watch out for from this cast is the young singer from the Met Artist Development Program who took over the role of Papageno. His name is Rodion Pogossov and he was enchanting.

#18

re: Opera lovers in the house?

Posted: 10/19/04 at 8:04am

PJ I love the Ring Cycle. I am working on having a better understanding of the art form.

"All I ask of you is one thing: please don't be cynical. I hate cynicism -- it's my least favorite quality and it doesn't lead anywhere. Nobody in life gets exactly what they thought they were going to get. But if you work really hard and you're kind, amazing things will happen." Conan O'Brien

#19

re: Opera lovers in the house?

Posted: 10/19/04 at 8:08am

I had a subsciption for the Met for well over 20 years. However, when the service charge for the subsciption rose to over the price of a single seat, I refused to renew. What nerve they have! I mean, it's unreal to charge $45 so that someone can stuff the tickets into an envelope and mail them off.

Has anyone bought Met tickets on the phone? The last time I did this the service charge was $10 PER TICKET!!!!!!!!!!

"Long live God!" (GODSPELL)

#20

re: Opera lovers in the house?

Posted: 10/19/04 at 8:13am

A singer I haven't seen mentioned yet that I really like is Jessye Norman.

My parents met while they were both singing with the same opera company, so I have a soft spot in my heart for it.

Anyone ever see the movie 'Meeting Venus' with Glenn Close? It makes me laugh.

#21

re: Opera lovers in the house?

Posted: 10/19/04 at 9:23am

FYI - info about my performance: PM me if you're interested in attending...

March 3, 2005, 8 pm

CARNEGIE HALL
BEETHOVEN Fidelio

Beethoven's only opera is an inspired testament to humanity's constant quest for freedom. The opera will be performed in concert and will be preceded by our annual Gala Benefit.

Deborah Voigt, soprano
Harolyn Blackwell, soprano
Thomas Moser, tenor
Stanford Olsen, tenor
Tom Fox, baritone
James Morris, bass

I, too, have a subscription to the MET. And, BB - I'm going to La Boheme.

"Two drifters off to see the world. There's such a lot of world to see. . ."

#22

re: Opera lovers in the house?

Posted: 10/19/04 at 9:33am

Margo said about Aretha's "Nessun Dorma": "I'm hard-pressed to name any other performance that is so utterly wrongheaded, yet so utterly brilliant at the same time."

Now THAT should be a thread: "Performances That Were Utterly Wrongheaded Yet Utterly Brilliant"

I'll start--Betty Buckley as Mama Rose. Completely lacking in charm or humor, yet frighteningly devoted to making her kids stars--even if it kills them. More like a musical version of Medea than anything else.

#23

re: Opera lovers in the house?

Posted: 10/19/04 at 12:26pm

I remember seeing Jennifer Holliday on the Oscars one year. She was doing one of the nominated songs, Barbra Streisand's "The Way He Makes Me Feel" from Yentl. First of all, she looked ridiculous -- her hair was braided into crazy geometric shapes and was full of ribbons and glitter; she was at one of her heavier weights (250+ at least) so was wearing this diaphonous mu-mu that just made her look even bigger. As soon as she began to sing, the lights got to her and sweat began pouring down her forehead...... and that's just how she looked. She tortured that poor song -- a simple romantic ballad -- into a melisma festival, complete distorted vowels, grunts, barks and gargles. It was quite a performance of something, just not the Bergman song she'd been asked to sing. SO WRONGHEADED, but I was riveted.

DGrant --
Jessye Norman is fine on record, but I always found watching her to be way too distracting. All that stuff she does with her mouth and bulging her eyes and the cartoonish overenunciating -- I'm always worried that she's going to reach over and eat the conductor.

"What a story........ everything but the bloodhounds snappin' at her rear end." -- Birdie [http://margochanning.broadwayworld.com/] "The Devil Be Hittin' Me" -- Whitney

#24

re: Opera lovers in the house?

Posted: 10/19/04 at 12:29pm

Margo - you have just made me capable of getting going with my day

And by the way, I've only heard her, not seen - so I can only imagine what it's like live!

#25

re: Opera lovers in the house?

Posted: 10/19/04 at 12:37pm

Margo, that post made me laugh so much. I am an avid Oscar watcher and I had so totally forgotten that nightmare until you reminded me. Thank you for that brilliant description of a truly frightening moment.

PEACE.

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