Sunday miscellany

Caught Tannhäuser at the Met yesterday. The afternoon's high points: the performances of Kurt Moll and Thomas Hampson. Like only a tiny handful of artists I've experienced (the late Alfredo Kraus among them), Moll brings dignity and importance to his every gesture and utterance. The upper and lower extremes of his voice are not quite intact, but that magnificent black-oak tone remains firm and resonant. Hampson, I thought, fussed a bit over the words in "Als du in kühnem Sange," but he also gave some lilt and sparkle to Wagner's vocal line—something that few singers manage to do. His "Abendstern" was beautifully shaped, with a silken legato, and I will never forget the sight of him doubled over with exhaustion and sadness after Elisabeth disappeared from view.

Peter Seiffert hit his stride only in the Rome narration. His account of the Pope's rebuff was arresting: raw, dripping with bitterness, and alive with a thousand different colors and shadings. Tall and fleshy, Seiffert makes an imposing rogue minstrel, and with a strong director he could be fabulous in this role. (C'mon, girls and boys, who's your pick to stage the next production of Tannhäuser? Do I hear Francesca Zambello?) Deborah Voigt was not in her best voice, but it was a joy to see her move with such confidence and ease. I had heard good things about Michelle DeYoung, as I had about Seiffert and Voigt, but all seemed out of sorts yesterday. Well, it was the last performance of a long run…

I thought that young Jason Goldberg did yeoman's service as the shepherd. Yes, I prefer an adult woman in the role (Kathleen Battle, Dawn Upshaw), but there's nothing wrong with hearing a boy soprano from time to time. Mark Elder's conducting was musical but plodding: Those fifty-odd minutes in the Venusburg felt like a long, muggy summer week, even with all the naughty Pilates-class gyrations. (Note to choreographer: Next time around, more buggery, please.) Conducting-wise, the pre-stasis James Levine is hard to beat.

I may be wrong, but didn't the minstrel-knights used to have decent costumes? What's with all the Naomi Wolf earth tones? (A lot of good they did Al Gore.) Yeah, it's the thirteenth century, but it's a *court,* for Pete's sake, and these are men in skirts: The no-gay-friends excuse can't possibly apply. As with the Met's loathsome Ring, the lighting for this production keeps getting murkier and murkier. Of course, I first saw this Tannhäuser in 1977, with the Elisabeth of Leonie Rysanek, a radiance never to be equalled. Leonie will get her own post come March.

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From today's New York Times: The fox is in M*cr*s*ft's henhouse (and salivating). Tee hee. Help spread Firefox, and download it now. (There are Italian and French versions, G-d bless.)

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vilaine fille believes in making lemonade of the lemons that life hands us: DID, for example, which at least guarantees that we never cease to astonish ourselves. Unbeknownst to me, I seem to have taken over the Peruvian postal service, which has issued a stamp honoring Juan Diego Flórez. (Egads, though, isn't this a tad premature? Flórez is *31.* Where does he go from here, the currency?) Thanks to Voce di tenore for the tip.

A tous, un bon début de semaine !

Comments

[Will]

The deterioration of MET productions never fails to amaze me. Even a lackluster Broadway musical will get many more performances than a hit MET production, but they remain bright and shiny. Within a couple of revivals, MET shows begin to deteriorate. It can't just be the travel to and from storage--the MET has worked well to reduce the wear and tear on scenery and costumes of going into and out of the repertory.

I'm not sure how it happens, but I do make sure to see all new productions the year they are premiered, before the costumes get cannibalized for some other opera, before the director's original concept is toned down or revised into something else, before it all begins to get gray and tatty.

[vilaine fille]

Ha! But a condo might be an improvement. While pointedly archaic, the production was handsome in its day; now, nearly thirty years later, it is mind-numbingly dreary. I *think* the costumes used to be more colorful, making for a less wearisome show.

[terminaldegree]

One of my colleagues went to see Tannhaeuser the other night. Someone was outside trying to sell scalped tickets to "Townhouser." Hmmm...I never realized the Wartburg was a condo. :)