tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6903412090968698007.post1952791227024743315..comments2023-06-06T10:13:28.691-07:00Comments on Salazar's Opera Family Circle: Live Performances that Need a DVD releaseAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03854740487802078604noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6903412090968698007.post-23876812785353387462011-08-19T07:38:57.070-07:002011-08-19T07:38:57.070-07:00So many wonderful choices!
Scotto's Gioconda...So many wonderful choices! <br />Scotto's Gioconda glued me to my chair, as did Freni's Margarita (incidentally, just that wee little clip made me cry, glued as I was to my chair). No little praise is due Domingo and Kraus and Ghiaurov in those two snippets--incredible all the way around, for me! It seems to me that Kraus' arias just fall from his mouth, fully and perfectly formed in advance by his soul/brain/technical mastery/purity of sound and intonation.<br />The depth, color, and fruitiness of voice in Price's Aida have always put me in another place (figuratively and literally,since somewhere in my house is a well-worn videotape of most of that performance, which my younger daughter watched again and again as a small child; I know this because her older sister or I had to sit with her and read the subtitles. Time and time again). <br />The stellar cast of Figaro deserves immortality on DVD as well. Seems to me that I saw Terfel and some others do that same production at the Met a few years back, and what hit me with great force about that performance was the balance, the musical collegiality of the entire group that wove the music, the story, and the singers into a truly seamless fabric.<br />There was a Flying Dutchman at the Met a year or two ago; Deborah Voigt was to sing Senta, but was unwell, and the part was sung with wonderful purity and unaffected eloquence by someone whose name escapes me. I have seen Senta sung on DVD with more musical sophistication, a higher level of drama, and a good deal more craziness, but this substitute Senta brought a simplicity and honesty to the role that spoke directly to (my idea of) her character. <br />My opinions, as always, are visceral and not scholarly. Please excuse whatever is stupid--I'm new to this game. pgAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com