Tristan und Isolde in HD – I love you so much I could die!

Stuart Skelton and Nina Stemme as Tristan und Isolde

This post/review of the Met in HD performance of Tristan und Isolde is a slightly expanded (and better proof-read) version of a comment I posted at The Earworm's review of last Monday night's performance. 

I enjoyed the Met broadcast on Saturday. I have to confess it’s my first time sitting straight through Tristan und Isolde; and I found myself drifting a bit during Act 3. That said, I confirmed my conviction that you really just need to “give in” to Wagner’s pace; let time stand still, as it were; and the piece doesn’t seem quite as long as it really is.

All of the singing was glorious; but I wished for better acting from Tristan and Kurwenal (and less barkiness from K). I find I have a tendency to close my eyes during these broadcasts, not because I don't want to see the scenery or the singer but because it allows me to wallow in the sheer sound of both voice and orchestra! Nina Stemme...well, she's awesome; I do need to open my eyes when she sings, because she also is an engaging actor. Stewart Skelton and Ekaterina Gubanova also sang beautifully; and of course René Pape is in a class of his own as King Marke. Really, everyone sang well. 

I was not bothered by the updated setting, though the set was nothing if not dreary. For me, the cargo ship setting enhanced the feeling of Isolde being kidnapped. The sailors menacing the women was creepy but appropriate. A little part of me wanted Isolde to be a bit dressier; but, her dress and demeanor accentuated the “captive” aspect.

Sunday Brunch – Verdi Requiem: Domine Jesu Christe (excerpt)

Decca offers us a teaser from the La Scala Verdi Requiem recorded earlier this year. It will be available in the U.S. on DVD, Blu-ray, and CD on September 3. Have you pre-ordered yours yet?

Mozart Requiem for Mozart

Stephansdom

I recently rediscovered a lovely performance of Mozart's Requiem—sung as part of a full Mass almost 20 years ago to celebrate Mozart—It contains some striking contrasts, performer-wise. And it’s a performance I will enjoy watching and listening to again.

This is the last Mozart performance of the lovely and tragically short-lived soprano Arleen Auger—a quintessential Mozart singer who succumbed to cancer in the prime of her career. It's also one of the last performances of the elderly Sir Georg Solti (and I hope I don’t sound unkind if I say he probably should have stopped conducting sooner.) The always-slightly-under-the-radar Vinson Cole was early-mid career; and Cecelia Bartoli and Rene Pape were just getting their feet wet (RP was not yet thirty!). 

Parsifal at the Met – Previews from the Dress Rehearsal

The Met released two videos from the final dress rehearsal of their new Parsifal. 

Amfortas! Die Wunde! (JK)

Lohengrin at La Scala – Impressions from the Cinema

Not surprisingly, one picks up a lot more of an opera performance when sitting attentively in the theater and paying attention to the screen; not checking email; not looking up odd words in the subtitles; not googling the baritone to see what else he’s done, etc. There was a post not long ago over at operaramblings about this phenomenon. 

This production is way more powerful than it was on YT. Guth’s ideas about this story are predictably dark, but not necessarily as weird as some of his other productions.

The La Scala Lohengrin – I think I may be in love with Annette Dasch (Sort of an Actual Review)

Watching Annette Dasch's Milan Elsa—similarly bewildered as her Bayrueth Elsa but more girlish—I thought, “I really love this girl.” Elsa von Bayreuth is already set up as a martyr, and one feels distanced from her. But Elsa di Milano is more of a dreamy, innocent girl; she seriously doesn’t know what she’s getting in to. Elsa's fascination is not romantic love at all to me. She's intrigued. She's attracted. It's like she just found a puppy (a really, really cute puppy). When it dawns on her that Lohengrin might really be Gottfried, (and egged on by Ortrud) she just has to find out. 

Kaufmann is Lohengrin at La Scala: The Video (Another Pre-Review)

Well, I finally found it! I am probably a bit late to the party. I've only viewed bits on my iPhone, and the quality there was not great, but given the other comments at YT, I would guess that's a connection issue on my end.

I don't think I've ever heard JK sing better. Annette Dasch sounds better to me than in the Bayreuth recording; and she stepped in more or less at the last minute here. Evelyn Herlitzius may just be the best current Ortrud (sorry, Petra Lang, I still love you, too.) René Pape is suitably regal.