BLOG.CNYCAFEMOMUS.COM: Recent Comments

Comment on October 29 Met simulcast: Don Giovanni

2011-12-14T01:23:56Z

David: This is one fine review. I have attended Met performances of Don Giovanni since the late 60's, and this was the best yet, even though Levine (who for decades has reminded me of Szell) could not conduct.

Comment on Dec. 10 Met simulcast: Faust

2011-12-13T03:16:07Z

This critic is brutally harsh on just about everyone involved. I also think it is unfair to criticize the looks of a singer such as Marina Poplavskaya, such as the way her face is shaped, etc. I am most often on a totally different wave-length than this critic. What production has he liked and praised recently as far as MET opera goes.
BTW, Los Alamos does sort of have a town square fit for an out-door celebration; it's called Ashley Pond.
I wonder also if this critic has even read Die Physiker by Friedrich Duerrenmatt

Comment on Dec. 2 Syracuse Stage: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe

2011-12-07T02:56:34Z

Okay David, now I want to hear what else you have to say about "Collaborators." I agree: the National Theatre productions we've seen so far this year have been fabulous -- and right at Shoppingtown! Is there another theater company in the world that can do work like that?

Comment on October 29 Met simulcast: Don Giovanni

2011-11-22T08:47:53Z

I was so angry about the bad reviews of this wonderful production that for the first time I wrote to the Met!
I said only the jaded critics want "imaginative" productions (singers in t-shirts, on stilts, etc).

Comment on Nov. 12 Jupiter String Quartet

2011-11-16T11:10:29Z

Sounds like an amazing performance. I really should try to make one of these. I'm sure it would be good for my soul. Thank you for sharing this performance with us.

Comment on October 29 Met simulcast: Don Giovanni

2011-11-08T02:54:30Z

I thoroughly enjoyed David's review of the Don. I saw the same performance with Louis Langree conducting. The performance was amazing. The tempo was appropriately brisk and All the singers masterful. The roles of Elvira and Dona Anna are very difficult requiring an almost Verdian strength combined with a Mozartian clarity.

For our performance, unlike David's, Marina Rebeka as Anna was expressive and her voice was a beautiful instrument which soared appropriately. Kwiecien, Elvira, Erdmann and Bloom all sang with great musicianship and art. I thought Pisaroni's Leporello anchored the ensemble with great acting and a magnificent resonant voice .Langree conducted with perfect tempo, and paid attention to without overaccenting the mood of the moment (e.g., fear, passion, sorrow, disgust, frustration etc.).

As an amateur, I find I learn something new with every hearing of a masterwork. On this occassion it was the very last ten minutes which astounded me. The Don, totally stuck in his compulsivity to penetrate hearts and break vaginas, would rather go to hell than change. The sextet which follows is accompanied by a joyful and triumphant orchestra. But for the first time I paid attention to what the singers were actully saying. Donna Anna starts by telling Ottavio, who has been dutifuly running around for an entire opera sword in hand swearing vengance, that she is not quite ready. Oh really? This is the same Anna who may have enjoyed the Don a bit too much. It is not clear if she is one of those with a pathologic attachment to her father, or if Otavio, he of the limp sword at the end of Act I, in some way doesn't measure up.

Moving stage left we have Donna Elvira, for whom no indignity is sufficient to keep her from wanting another screwing by the Don. And what does she want?...to go to a convent. Now we know what convents are for. On to Leporello, yet another character who protests too much, while cataloging all the Don's conquests, setting them up and helping him escape .Now that he has freedom, what does he want? Another master!!

Finally, to the peasant couple. Masetto is emasculated and treated like dirt, and Zerlina, showing more character in the end than Anna or Elvira, are also now both liberated. And what do they want? In a word, sung by both simultaneouly,"dinner." Mind you, we are not talking the "Four Seasons." More like potatos and mutton. And then only in the last minutes of the opera do you realize, They Are All Stuck!!! Not just the Don. Oh Mozart, you rascal!

Comment on October 29 Met simulcast: Don Giovanni

2011-11-03T18:32:09Z

Hello David, I also have complained about the video technique of Gary Halvorson. Does this guy know anything about the opera he's working on? In the Anna Bolena he showed that he has a great deal of difficulty working with ensembles. Where is Brian Large when we need him?

Comment on October 29 Met simulcast: Don Giovanni

2011-11-03T17:05:26Z

100% perfect opera, played as composed by Mozart & da Ponte. I was finally able hear "Deh! vieni alla finestra," uncut (except by CD), as Leporello later says, "I've heard that before." but seldom. A wonderful morning (Pacific time), and ticket purchased for both encores. I have seen Kwiecen as the Don, he was a 'delight' to see flicking and smirking about the stage. What a gift from Peter Gelb and the Metropolitan Opera, and your great blog.

Comment on October 29 Met simulcast: Don Giovanni

2011-11-03T02:27:29Z

Excellent review of this production, which is to say I agree on just about every point.
Have heard Rebeka & Kwiecien often live in Germany, and enjoyed their work greatly there. Both Kwiecien and Pisaroni will be in Santa Fe again this summer, so I have much to look forward to.

Comment on October 15 Met simulcast: Anna Bolena

2011-10-19T21:26:08Z

We had opportunity to sit in front row of the Met for this production.We did not get a good look at anyones molars but we were plenty close to the singers and right on top of the pit.Prof.Rubins review is excellent.The singers sang with great skill and musicianship.The quality of the voice was superb.The only problem is that the female voices should be lighter,less Russian.The piece itself does not have many moments that melodically sweep you away, as in Lucia.The music and orchestration are ,however, sophisticated , balanced and nuanced. The opera is beautifuly crafted, but not inspirational. In this context it is particularly important to have more lightness in the female voices to open up the piece, make it more transparent.Its the kind of work that I suspect on another hearing will offer up more discoveries to the listener.