Tuesday, March 11, 2008

New T n' I

J: dude.
J: the T-stan got boo'd
A: yikes
A: he was having issues
J: he was pretty bad
A: that is a tough assignment
J: act 3 was interminable
A: oof
A: i didn't hear much
J: on the other hand, this was like DVo's Ohio.
A: so good
A: so tits
J: DVo was so freaking tits
A: did you get other nights?
J: yeah I got some crap seats to one of the matinees
J: they sort of can't bring this guy back
J: I mean is Clifton Forbis really not doing anything?
A: Gelb must be mad texting him right now
A: what up clifton...pls call when u hav a sec
J: Clif. pls call asap. thx.
A: heh
A: i'm so happy for DV tho
J: oh man, it was so good
A: heps has the whole week to think about it
A: gelb: "Call Forbis...and get Heppner some fucking tea with honey for the love of god"
J: hah
J: the state of Tristans is sad
A: seriously
A: like, there is almost no one on the FACE OF THE EARTH who can pull it off well
A: appears to be the takeaway

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

No one sounded this good last night. No one.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6V0mDgwu7po
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J--mJzxcF3U
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=muwWNxXA_gg

Lisa Hirsch said...

You know, I figured one of those links would be to a Nilsson video. No such luck.

A & J, Peter Seiffert's the guy Gelb should call.

Alex said...

Was he in the SFO run? I'll admit the rest of the b-cast I heard is kind of a blur next to Der Brewer.

Lisa Hirsch said...

No - it was Moser, whom you don't want. Seiffert sang Tannhauser; good voice, good musician, endurance for the ages.

Brightshadow said...

Thank you Lisa -- yes -- Peter Seiffert can sing it and does. Just not here. Brewer can and does -- just not here. Everyone tells me Salminen was the only tolerable person in the piece. Why put it on if you haven't got a cast for it? (Ditto Norma last fall.)

Lisa Hirsch said...

Brewer is the best, really. A gorgeous voice, stunning control, huge size. I am fearful that we won't be hearing her in SF again. Gockley has Nina Stemme under contract for Bruennhilde, and I'm guessing he's thinking thinner will be better for the films, even though Brewer has about twice the voice of Stemme. I liked Stemme a lot in Flying Dutchman, but Bruennhilde??

Alex said...

YouTube seems to be in on it. What is up with the paucity of Brewer clips???

Here's some narrative n' curse action from Stemme which is swell: http://youtube.com/watch?v=5qR0xaH46uc

But I agree, it's unclear if this is really a good reason to deny us the Brewn-hild we're all dreaming about. I'm not going to go calling the opera movie phenomenon a pernicious trend as of yet, but I fear we may have to move the threat level to orange if Brewer's size is really keeping her out of it. That is crap.

Lisa Hirsch said...

Brewer is down for cycle 1 in spring 2009 at the Met! Cannot remember who is singing Bruennhilde for cycles 2 and 3, however, and I'm sorry you're not getting her Isolde in the flesh.

Anonymous said...

Great blog, thank you for posting!
Free Add URL to 4,000+ Websites & 25,000+ Locals!

Anonymous said...

Thought you would like to know about this concert and pass the word on to others whom you think would be interested. Thank You, Sonia Sudak


DANIEL ABRAMS' Opera For Piano concert on Oct. 15, at the Mannes College of Music, will include the American premier of his Musical Portraits from Wagner's 'Ring' (each"Portrait" is based on the musical motif of that character, a particular scene of importance, and/or a verbal statement of consequence).
The program also includes ABRAMS' Chaconne on "Dido's Lament" from Dido And Aeneas , Variations on "Voi Che Sapete" from The Marriage of Figaro, and Variations on "Ein Engel Leonora" from Fidelio. Opera For Piano retains each pieces original style, preserving its complex moods and subtle powers -- as if the composers themselves had written the operas as piano music. They are not transcriptions, but music that Abrams' deeply loves and wished to be able to play on the piano. Abrams considers this series his most important legacy to music and feels that Opera For Piano is adding some glorious music to the performing pianist's repertoire.
DANIEL ABRAMS has been internationally acclaimed as both a pianist and as a composer. He had a double Fulbright in piano & composition (which was renewed for a second year) to the Royal Academy of Music, and performed extensively throughout Europe as an American Cultural Ambassador. His highly heralded New York debut at Town Hall in 1957 brought him major management and years of concertizing. Also, appearances on many TV and radio shows (including The Today Show, the Mike Wallace show, Joe Franklin, Pegeen Fitzgerald, etc.) In 1962, shortly after surviving a plane crash while on a concert tour in S. America, Abrams accepted a teaching position at Goucher College and The Johns Hopkins University. While in Baltimore, he founded and conducted (for 16 years) the Hopkins/Goucher Community Symphony. He has continued to perform as soloist with orchestras and in recitals, but has restricted his appearances to the area in which he lives.
Among my favorite reviews was the one he received from The New York Herald Tribune for his four concert cycle of the Mozart piano sonatas at the Kaufman Y: Mr. Abrams, as has been noted before, is born to the piano; he cannot help but make beautiful sounds and he brings to whatever he tackles not only musicianship, technique and interpretative prowess, but a very special kind of intellectual radiance that quite sets him apart. In short, the five sonatas heard contained a veritable galaxy of refinements--indeed, the sort of refinements that seem slowly to be creeping out of contemporary piano playing.

More information: www.Daniel-Abrams.com/Opera-For-Piano

Concert information: Mannes College of Music, 150 West 85 St (bet. Columbus & Amsterdam) NYC
Wednesday, October 15 8 pm No charge: seating begins at 7:30 pm