Diana
Damrau and Placido Domingo debuted Thursday night as Violetta and Germont pére, and
some enterprising opera lover captured some of the live audio stream.
Mike Silverman of the AP said Damrau "was nothing short of
sensational," and Domingo's "portrayal of the stern father was
unusually tender and melancholy."
On the other hand, Marion Lignana Rosenberg for The Classical Review was less thrilled. But she clearly
does not like Willy Decker's vision of this opera in the first place. (I happen to disagree
with her.)
The March 30 matinee performance will be broadcast (on the radio only) starting at 12:30 PM, via the usual Met Saturday outlets. Meanwhile, here is the Act 2 duet "Dite alla giovene."
Damrau is indeed glorious; I have yet to hear her sing something less: her Konstanze, Susanna, Sophie and Countess Adele are peerless. I only wish the Geneva Mignon had been taped--and not just for Damrau. Sure it's not Italianate, but since the last Violetta of any distinction was Scotto I have no difficulty in accepting Diana. PD's Germont is a better fit than his Rigoletto; he is a marvel, but I have to agree he is not a real baritone; even so I enjoyed hearing the clip and in some ways prefer him to Hampson on the DVD. I also agree with you re the staging. A pity this performance will never be memorialized.
ReplyDeleteYes, I'd like to get a chance to see this version of this production. But at least we'll get to hear the whole thing in a few weeks.
DeleteThat's a pretty cranky review from MLR, though she was right in some points. Vocally speaking, Domingo wasn't the strongest Germont ever, and Damrau tended to floor it, volume-wise, at points where a little more subtlety would probably be in order. BUT it was first night for both of them in these roles, so I'm willing to bet that the kinks will work out.
ReplyDeleteSo true. I wonder what she would have thought about their singing if she'd only heard the broadcast, or seen a different production. It seems like she hated the whole thing before she even got in the cab to go to the opera house.
DeleteSeeing makes such a big dfference for good or bad. I heard Natalie Dessay on the radio last year (I couldn't make it to the cinema.) I thought her Sempre libera was unbearable and switched off the radio. But when I saw the video on YT, I was impressed with her overally performance. Her acting overrode (or counteracted, or gave context to) her vocal performance.
In this case, MLR was hating the staging so much, I wonder if she actually heard the singing at all!