"Phiilisteen"?? Mary Jo-Heath says.............??????
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As Leonard Bernstein used to insist it's STINE NOT STEEN -
As is often the case, I got the impression that she had not bothered to look at the script more than 10 minutes beforehand. Ira is more interesting. Very likely he is required to use a written script so that he does not camp things up and scare the sponsors but he is better at making it sound spontaneous.Originally posted by DracoM View PostComment
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Ira "camping things up" ? Perish the thought.
If the temple pillars are as wobbly as the singing they ain't gonna need much to bring them crashing down...Comment
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Agreed . There's some truly lovely music in there. Saints-Saëns œuvre has so much more than an Organ symphony and an animal carnival ( wonderful though both those are )Comment
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Originally posted by Heldenleben View Post
- it was the first Opera I ever saw at (English National) Opera North during their first season in 1978, with Gilbert Puy (pronounced "Pee") as Samson, and I've been very fond of the work ever since.
Saints-Saëns œuvre has so much more than an Organ symphony and an animal carnival ( wonderful though both those are ) - there are some works I find a bit dull (I've never really got on with the Piano Concertos), but more which delight. (I'd recommend the Piano Trios to anyone who doesn't know them.)
[FONT=Comic Sans MS][I][B]Numquam Satis![/B][/I][/FONT]Comment
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'STINE'!
This is the only Saint-Saens opera I know, but there are many others. As I've always liked S&D, I was wondering what might be the one to explore next?Comment
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Not an opera, but I think his Requiem deserves to be better known.Comment
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I fear I had to turn it off: the huge vibrato in all voices wobbled around the melody lines, and a chorus that seemed rather less good than an Anfield crowd on match day.
Maybe the only person happy with the proceedings would have been 'Maestro' Mark Elder's bank manager, because I doubt Mr Elder himself would have been all that thrilled, would he?Comment
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Have to say the Met September performances ( with Alagna/Garanča ) were better sung than last night's . Rachvelishvili , after her amazing Amneris last year , seemed to have 'expanded' her vibrato perhaps in sympathy with Kunde who was a tad over - approximate .
For Saints-Saëns opera fans - there's a recording of Henry VIII on YouTube with no cast list. From wiki there seems to have been a performance back in the nineties with Caballé in Barcelona. Time for a revival ?Comment
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That's usually how Americans pronounce it. Ironic, though, because 'philistine' is surely an accurate description of at least three quarters of a typical Met audience. I do love the way they start applauding ten seconds before the end of Parsifal. They've even been known to applaud the set in some operas.Originally posted by DracoM View PostComment
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The release of the Stokowski performance of Turandot on the recent Birgit Nilsson live box set is effectively ruined by the audience applauding the set over the opening bars of the opera.Originally posted by Darkbloom View Post
Mind you, it's not just American audiences. I've heard recordings of Bayreuth audiences applauding before the final chords.Comment
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<<...........Bayreuth audiences applauding before the final chords.>>
OR, more likely booing over the last decade!!Comment
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Not only Opera North's first season but the very first opera performed by the company and previously rehearsed by the orchestra (apart from a warm up run through of the Mastersingers overture). This was in the stalls of the Leeds City Varieties (audience seating removed) which will be well known to anybody who remembers the BBC TV 'The Good Old Days' and also noted for a rather different kind of show!Originally posted by ferneyhoughgeliebte View Post - it was the first Opera I ever saw at (English National) Opera North during their first season in 1978, with Gilbert Puy (pronounced "Pee") as Samson, and I've been very fond of the work ever since.
- there are some works I find a bit dull (I've never really got on with the Piano Concertos), but more which delight. (I'd recommend the Piano Trios to anyone who doesn't know them.)
I heard a bit of last night's broadcast in the car whilst waiting to go into a gig (yes, various orchestras still wheel me out of retirement from time-to-time); the excitement of those ON early days seemed totally lacking in last night's broadcast from New York. Of that original ON orchestra I think eight are still there (at least one over normal retiring age but "going on for a bit longer"); conversely several are now retired and at least four now deceased but, although it seems like yesterday, it was over 40 years ago.
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