This At Least Was Obvious, Wasn't It?

Sunday

Dec162007

John Gibbons

Sun, Dec 16, 2007 at 08:50

17 Comments

I’m not saying it wasn’t worth the twenty bucks to take in the live Metropolitan Opera performance of Gounod’s Romeo et Juliette on the big screen yesterday, although I listened at home with my soon to be glow-in-the-dark cats, thank goodness. It’s always worthwhile to hear and see opera live from the likes of the Met, but I was saved by the snowstorm. A frustration that I’ve frequently mentioned in these pages concerns the difficulty of explaining to people the inadequacy of the majority of classical music reviews. This may make me sound like a a mean or arrogant person, but I can assure you that somebody who goes to the trouble of acquiring a first rate musical education, and then devotes his life to classical music in both professional and personal capacities, can tell whether a performance is good or bad, every time. It’s just the way it is, and unless (as is sometimes the case) there are personal or professional reasons to, ahem, prevaricate, musicians admit the truth, to each other, at least. And few of us take the newspaper notices seriously, although when you get a good review, naturally you clip it and send it to your agent or your grandma. Musicians aren’t stupid! How many times have I talked to a performer who preludes his assessment of a performance with “don’t tell anyone I said this, but…” Lots of times. If I had a dollar for everytime, I could take my wife to a nice restaurant or buy those expensive but probably necessary glow-in-the-dark operations for my cats.

Anna Netrebko and Roberto Alagna may be wonderful singers most of the time, but they both struggled mightily yesterday, with pitch, tone, register, and to some extent, French diction. Placido Domingo’s conducting was, let’s say, plebeian. I’m sure they tried their best, and maybe there were vocal issues related to having a cold or something, but that is what happened. This was a ballyhooed production, so one assumes that the effort was there. Nobody likes to be embarassed before a large audience. It’s well known that audiences boo in Europe (La Scala and Bayreuth, especially) but never in America. I don’t personally boo, because an inadequate performance isn’t the end of the world and I don’t want to hurt anybody’s feelings, but this business of automatic standing ovations has got to go. And unless a piece is new, it’s rather pointless to applaud the composition. Why applaud Tosca or Rigoletto? One applauds (or not) the performers. Anyway, one has a right to be critical. Look at the price on your ticket.

I love French opera, although not necessarily Gounod; I especially prefer Massanet. But Gounod, Meyerbeer, Bizet, Halevy, Offenbach, Thomas, and especially Berlioz are quite capable of providing a wonderful evening, but adequate, let alone great, performances of the French repertory are awfully hard to come by. Why?

1. Singers aren’t trained in it enough. You can fall off a log into an institution that will give you a great background for Italian and German repertories, but not the French.

2. For many singers, French pronounciation and diction are hard. They just are. Not everyone can be Nikolai Gedda.

3. French opera costs too much to be put on regularly, especially since audiences no longer clamor for it. You need a ballet troupe, for instance, and big choruses, at least for the Grand Operas, and the scenic requirements can be daunting. What’s the point of putting on Meyerbeer if it ain’t grandiose? And French operas are typically long, which costs money as well. Do you wanna pay for the requisite rehearsal time?

It’s a shame. I want my Les Hugenots and Esclarmonde. Oh well.

For an excellent Romeo et Juliette, try the Michel Plasson recording, featuring Alfredo Kraus.

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Reader Comments (17)

When John mentioned that audiences aren't begging for French opera, it reminded me of last week's (?) PBS special, hosted by Renee Fleming, on Top 15 Met Broadcast Moments as selected by readers. There was no French opera at all. Limitations were that it had to be a broadcast, and perhaps there wasn't enough French to choose from, but that, itself, is an indication.

Dec 16, 2007 at 10:04 |

Bonnie Gibbons

I heard the broadcast on WQXR;it was not perfect
but not terrible.Roberto Alagna is the Paris born
son of Sicilian parents and is bilinguil in French
and Italian.If I had my druthers,I would like to
see the Met do a REAL masterpiece of French opera,
namely Padmavati by the sadly neglected Albert
Roussel.This is a fantastically colorful and exotic
tle of medieval India under Mogul occupation.
Agreat EMI recording has recently been reissued,
with Marilyn Horne,Nicolai Gedda,and Jose van Dam.
Don't miss this.

Dec 16, 2007 at 10:36 |

robert berger

That Roussel piece sounds absolutely great, thanks for the tip, I'll try to get it. Yeah, my wife told me that about Alagna, but being a perfect speaker of a language doesn't mean you sing it with perfect diction; diction is a skill like everything else. You know, coaches and conductors school native speakers all the time in singing diction, even where the singer is a native speaker. I didn't say it was terrible, but I had high expectations and was disappointed. Thanks again for mentioning the Roussel, I'm gonna hunt for it right now!...oh, and you know, Dukas Ariane et Barbe Bleu is an out and out masterpiece. I also like Chausson, Le Roi Arthus, although it's not on the Dukas level. I will report on the Roussel after I get it and hear it, count on it.

Dec 16, 2007 at 11:12 |

John Gibbons

Well, maybe you should have started your post saying that you do not (necessarily) like Gounod and that (probably) Anna and Alagna are not your favourite opera singers. You do not boo at the opera house, but you are doing that here. Plácdio was booed at the MET while he did conduct La Bohème with Anna and Villazon one year ago. I think that the french diction of Anna is pretty good and Alagna is one of the best tenors in french repertoire. And some of us in Europe we also love french repertoire such as Roméo et Juliette, Manon, Werther or Carmen. And I speak french too. Concerning the performance of yesterday, it is true that Anna slightly cracked at her first aria but she recovered wonderfully and she was brilliant at the fourth act.

Dec 16, 2007 at 13:13 |

Carlos

Yes, Carlos, Anna was better in the 4th act. Her first aria got me in a bad mood, and it's possible I was ungenerous thereafter. All of us opera fans have our personal favorites, and that colors our judgement. I don't think Juliette is the best role for Netrebko, and I do in fact generally like Alagna in French repertory, but not in yesterday's balcony scene, where the singing was indeed questionable, and it's my favorite part of the opera. But this performance was mediocre; I'm surprised at such defenses of it, at least a little bit. I either forgot or didn't know about booing at the Met last year, but it is true that American audiences are exceptionally generous. I read "Opera News" magazine, but live in Chicago, so I'm not your Met expert.

Dec 16, 2007 at 13:49 |

John Gibbons

I know and enjoy Anna Netrebkho's work, mostly in the Russian repertoire which kind of straddles all the different soprano fachs. For instance, I thought she was superb in her Met broadcast debut as Natasha in "War and Peace" a few seasons ago. I began listening yesterday but gave up after the balcony scene because I just got the feeling that both singers were struggling with intonation, wavering in the coloratura passages, and kind of yelling. I know Alagna is a French specialist but am not that familiar with him and chalked it up to not his best day. With Netrebkho I found myself wondering "is this her repertoire?" because I have never heard her sound so iffy. I think in general the feeling I had was that they just weren't "nailing it." And when the music is so coloratura, it's thrilling to hear when the singers own it completely -- and conversely makes you a little nervous when they don't. I'd like to add that criticizing one performance is not the same as trashing the singers. I love Siegfried Jerusalem, for example, but it cannot be denied that he's hanging by a thread by the time he dies in the Levine ring cycle video.

Dec 16, 2007 at 18:19 |

Bonnie Gibbons

I didn't put good ol' Wifey up to the previous comment, I promise! We didn't even listen together! You take 10 opera lovers, sit 'em down, play 'em the same thing, you get 10 different opinions. There are people out there who don't like Jussi Bjoerling or Hans Hotter.

Dec 17, 2007 at 09:23 |

John Gibbons

I have long been a great fan of French opera and I agree that we don't see nearly enough of it. I have a great love for Massenet, but I think that part of my appreciation stems from the way that the text "sits" on the music, and the rhythmic intricacy. If a listener has no comprenhension of French, it would be difficult to appreciate that. Since my French is not fully fluent, I'm sure miss out.

Susan Graham is marvelous in french. I wish she would sing Werther here. Of course the recordings of Beverly Sills' performances of Thais and Manon are absolutely delicious (although her Thais comes with Sherrill Milnes' terrible french diction).

Much as I love Renee Fleming and appreciate that she can cause opera companies to stage Thais, Manon or Louise, I'm afraid that her slower tempi tend to cause these works to drag. That being said, her diction is always wonderful.

When Alagna sang Romeo here in Chicago a few years ago, I though he did very well. Unfortunately, his wife was along for the ride and I find her vibrato irritating. It's so broad that she obscures the melodic line.

Dec 18, 2007 at 11:11 |

Adrian

Well, Adrian, it's great to hear from another Massanet lover. There are too few of us! I think, if I may make so bold, is that when you mention how M's words "sit" on the music you're putting your finger on the same thing that causes me to proclaim that M is the greatest composer of recitative since Monteverdi. Hearing Sills sing "eternellement" from Thais or "petit table" from Manon is well, how can I put it? Just bringing these passages up gives me goosebumps.

Dec 18, 2007 at 11:50 |

John Gibbons

I've heard Netrebko live in Russian opera several times in San Francisco, where she got her start, and she's lovely in that repertory.

John, even people with good musical educations disagree about performance quality on a pretty regular basis. (Compare, for example, some of Joshua Kosman's SF Chronicle reviews with what runs in SFCV.) I learned everything I know about what constitutes good singing from listening to great singers and reading about them. Those were not subjects of significant academic interest when I was in school, and probably still are not, at least in the US.

That said, you are dead right about Domingo, who is a total mediocrity as a conductor. Greatest living tenor ! great or even interesting conductor.

Lastly, it's not just French repertory that singers aren't trained it. French style has been dying since WWII. There aren't singers around with the kind of skills, sound, and diction that French opera singers routinely had a century ago.

Dec 18, 2007 at 12:44 |

Lisa Hirsch

Good to hear from ya. The French rep is in trouble, and has been, but it needn't die out completely, if there are some committed fans out there. Without big Euro-style state subsidies, French grand opera is unlikely to make headway here, and I suspect generally, that Europe as well is in a sort of cultural milieu not terribly conducive to this rep. If I criticize, that doesn't mean that I reject some performer outright, and if I generalize, that doesn't mean I don't recognize exceptions! And in my case, given my taste for hyperbole and even absurdity, sometimes readers can't tell when I'm joking, like when I say performers should make more wrong notes. And then I turn around and criticize wrong notes! Mr. Berger, above recommends a fascinating sounding Roussel opera. I ordered it, and can't wait to hear it. You know, that reminds me...there are some sacred performers whom one is not allowed to criticize, it seems...Marilyn Horne, for instance. A great virtuoso, but the timbral quality of her voice is not generally to my taste. She's on the Roussel. And singers change, for various reasons. Listen to early Carreras, for example; he was great! I hear health problems compromised his voice. And last year I heard Sam Ramey, in Don Carlos and Bluebeard's Castle, and it was a big, big problem, although he's often been really good before. And even Hrovostovsky, I'm waiting for his Eugene Onegin dvd with great impatience, and he's great, but I heard him as Germont...again, problematical. That doesn't mean I hate him! (you know, like kids who whine, "you hate me" when they're denied some request...

Dec 18, 2007 at 13:44 |

John Gibbons

Lisa, thanks for your comment on Marilyn Horne -- I have never really liked her timbre and felt "guilty" about it. My voice teacher really loves the voice. I also agree with you on Carerras -- I have no idea whether it's valid, but one of the rumors is that his battle with cancer affected his voice. Now onto Ramey -- we heard him do Bluebeard at Chicago Opera Theater last season and... yes, it was wobbly. So was his Grand Inquisitor on the otherwise stellar Met Broadcast of Don Carlos. (Hvorostovsky was solid, Borodina was gorgeous and Rene Pape was ridiculously moving.) I am looking forward, with some trepidation, to this Saturday's broadcast of "War and Peace" -- a favorite of mine (Ramey = Kutuzov). (BTW I recorded the 2002 broadcast of that opera and Hvorostovsky did not disappoint me -- but this Saturday the Prince Andrei is Alexej Markov, whom I've never heard.) I have a feeling the highlight will be Kim Begley in the apparently very difficult role of Pierre.

Your message is apropos because I just got the "Onegin is on its way!" email from Amazon. I know what I'm getting because I was among those who saw it live in the movie theater. It was obviously shaping into one of those "were you there?" moments. (You might want to search on Salon.com for Garrison Keillor's captivating review.) Hvorostovsky has a darker, deeper voice than he used to, but he still owns this role. And I was ready not to like Renee Fleming (my mental picture of Tatiana is not her) but I would not have changed a thing in her performance. The final scene is almost uncomfortably intense. The direction by Robert Carsen is minimalistically gorgeous but I can't wait to hear what you think of his conception of the Polonaise (it isn't danced).

Dec 18, 2007 at 16:11 |

Bonnie Gibbons

Oh, I would have changed one thing in the Onegin: imagine how moving it would have been for Nicolai Gedda (or someone of his age, style and stature) to walk into Tatiana's party scene and lovingly sing Monseur Triquet's couplets. Oh, well.

Dec 18, 2007 at 16:14 |

Bonnie Gibbons

Jumpin' Jinkers, Bonnie! I think you got Lisa's message mixed up with my response. This being the Christmas season, I wonder if you haven't had too much eggnog! I hope nothing is messed up about the log-ins. Otherwise I might be responsible for "the unspeakable Taruskin's" comments, or somebody besides myself will appear to obsess about glo-in-the-dark cats...

Dec 18, 2007 at 18:21 |

John Gibbons

According to today’s New York Times, the Met’s Roméo et Juliette was their biggest hit to-date with a worldwide audience of 97,000. With gross sales of $1.65 million, the broadcast would have been #11 at the movie box office! There will now be competition from the San Francisco Opera with six annual broadcasts beginning in March. But the SFO will show digital rebroadcasts so they can edit and chose showing times. Complete article available at http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/19/arts/music/19oper.html?_r=1&ref=arts&oref=slogin

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