Di-va! Di-va!

Oh, I love it. Infighting, finger-pointing, he-said, she-said, hiring, firing, damaged reputations. No, it's not just Capitol Hill, it's opera.

Leonard Slatkin, who left the Metropolitan Opera's production of Traviata under a cloud of disgrace this season after one disastrous performance. His ill preparation or general ill-suitedness to the repertoire was blamed. But now, Slatkin strikes back. He blames Angela Gheorghiu, the famous beautiful diva nicknamed Draculette by her detractors. Who knows? But I want more gossip! More scandal! More backstage tales!

For what it's worth, I like listening to Gheorghiu but have never warmed up to watching her act. She has never found a head tilt or a facial expression she didn't like. Sometimes you can get dizzy just looking at her.

La donna e mobile

From one baritone to another; I've been geeking out over Swedish singer Peter Mattei recently. He sings primarily in Europe, but the Met gets him every once in a while. I'd really love to hear him live, particularly in Don Giovanni. I've read him named the greatest Giovanni since Siepi, which is saying something. The Giovanni of my heart will always be American Samuel Ramey, who I saw perform it on a Salzburg Festival telecast when I was but a wee thing. But even the crappy minimalist production available on YouTube featuring Mattei just blew me away, and far better is this concert version of the famous seduction duet.

Two random notes about Mattei:

1) Sigh. What's a fan to do when you can't get to see a live performer live? Another post will follow shortly on this theme regarding Michael Sheen's upcoming Hamlet.

2) As I was remarking recently to a fellow blogger, sound is a funny thing. I don't know what exactly it is about the frequencies of Mattei's voice, but he sounds just okay out of my computer speakers. Then I plug in the good-quality headphones and almost fall out of my chair. Granted that the computer speakers can make anything sound crappy, but generally speaking, a good singer will still sound good. Somehow, all the resonance gets sucked out of Mattei's voice. Thanks, Toshiba.

Prince of Foxes

I just finished a relaxing evening reading Joseph Volpe's memoir about his years as dictator -- I mean general manager -- of the Metropolitan Opera. Volpe, who started as a carpenter there, was general manager for most of my life, and had quite a hard-nosed reputation. Definitely worth a read for his side of the controversies and tragedies but also of the ins and outs of juggling operas, scenery, budgets, and social obligations in probably the toughest job in the business. No real laugh-out-loud anecdotes, but worth it for the opera fan!

I meant the good kind of travesty

I got a ticket off craigslist for the sold-out live broadcast of the Metropolitan Opera's new production of La Sonnambula yesterday. I was not previously familiar with this opera, but Bellini is always a safe bet, as is Nathalie Dessay, and the new production is by Mary Zimmerman. Who is not always a safe bet. I didn't have time to read about the production till I was googling for running time before bolting out the door, and the first thing I found was a review that had the word 'travesty' in the headline. At that point, I figured I was better off reading nothing.

Starting from that benchmark, it was not as bad as I expected, but Zimmerman decided to do a rehearsal-style production that lent absolutely nothing to the opera. In the first place, while this might be novel for the Met, it's far from original, and it's been done better. The earliest one I can think of was a Cosi fan tutte at Glyndebourne, around when all the Peter Sellars-type modern settings, deconstructions, etc. started to appear. For Mozart's opera, in which everyone is in disguise and being farcical to begin with, rehearsal highlights the artificiality and dramatic qualities of the piece. In a melodrama about true love in a village and maidens' purity, etc., the modern setting doesn't work quite as well, and I can't figure out what qualities the rehearsal was supposed to emphasize. What is more, it wasn't quite a rehearsal of La Sonnambula; it was Sonnambula set in a rehearsal, so the actual characters were opera singers, stage managers, etc. Yet it then breaks into full Swiss village dress at the end, as if rehearsal had moved to stage. It wasn't painful; it just didn't do anything particularly well.

Zimmerman was booed on opening night at the Met, which is stunning -- so rarely happens. This ain't La Scala. But I understand that one or two major tweaks have been made, and a conservative audience might well have just been driven over the cliff by the original business.

Nonetheless, there were some hilarious touches in the direction. A real highlight was when Lisa, the second-best gal, is shunning the touch of the second-best guy and goes for the bottle of Purel. That got a big laugh.

The Met did a very nice job again with the broadcast, complete with Deborah Voigt hosting and interviewing the stars, Dessay and Juan Diego Flores, and the prompter, a nice behind-the-scenes look. Flores was a little pitchy on the high notes yesterday, but has an extremely bright, pure tone that appeals to me (though it blasts through movie speakers really loudly). Very few opera stars look like good actors next to Dessay, though, who is like a tiny charm machine. She makes up in vocal technique and intellect what she lacks in sheer power, and is utterly convincing in a ridiculous ingenue role. Beautiful singing that overcame a pointless production.