Sunday, May 28, 2006

Hrm

This kind of slipped by before, but after Tosca it sticks out like sore thumb. James Morris is really going to sing Sachs in next year's Meistersingers? Really? I haven't heard the video from 95 but I'm sure its fine, just as he is fine in the Ring video from 91. But it is not fine anymore, as he made abundantly clear to everyone who envied Mr. Blaine in his bubble listening to him earlier in the month. It's one thing to deal with for all of Scarpia's 25 minutes of singing, quite another to contend with it for 6 hours. Has anyone heard him do this recently? Should we be afraid?

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Met Meistersinger video is from December 2001...

Just don't buy a ticket if you're worried about it, or wait until it opens and someone tells you how he is. You can always listen to it for free on the radio -- well, so far "always" -- in which case you are guaranteed your money's worth or more.

Anonymous said...

I have found Morris unlistenable for some years now - the sole exception being the "Mefistofele" prologue at the Freni gala, in which he sounded amazingly fresh. (It's compact, yes, but a BIG sing.) Then again, for me, the only thing more insufferable than "Die Meistersinger" is "Die Meistersinger" with leathery crooning... Auguri, v.f.

Alex said...

My bad about the video date. I should watch it. I actually think I would really like Morris as Sachs.

VF--how can you call it insufferable? Wagner + 6hrs = nonstop comedy gold!

Maury D'annato said...

For what it's worth, from a fellow non-buyer of his Scarpia, the Wagner at the gala sounded significantly better. But was also about 1/60 as long. Though also more dramatic (I assume, largely unfamiliar) than anything in Die M. So I'm not sure. Can't we just skip to the part where Morris passes the torch to Pape or something?

Anonymous said...

how can you call it insufferable? Wagner + 6hrs = nonstop comedy gold!

Ma poule, I am older than you and lack the stomach for Epcot Nuremberg and head-in-the-sand disingenuousness.

Can't we just skip to the part where Morris passes the torch to Pape or something?

What he said. And a staging that is not wilfully brain-dead, please.

Bises, v.f.