See Me

My panel last week for The Best American Science Writing 2007 was video-recorded by the good people at Seed magazine, and you can see it, if you are interested, here.

The panel included Robin Marantz Henig, Sylvia Nasar, and Patricia Gadsby, and we had a lot of fun. You'll learn about what the brain is doing when we lie, the world's most reclusive genius mathematician, and the best way to boil an egg.

Me and Marcel P.

Listening last night to the third act of the Met's live broadcast, on Sirius, of Lucia, I thought about Marcel Proust, who, about a hundred years ago, subscribed to a service that allowed Parisians to listen to performances from the stage of the Opera in Paris over their telephones. Must have been the perfect entertainment for the reclusive opera lover in his cork-lined room. And here I was, a century later, listening over (DSL) phone lines to live opera.

One question, though: Is there something about the microphone placements or the netcast-sound quality that makes every singer sound like their vibrato is a mile wide in the upper part of their registers? That is how it's sounded to me the last two nights that I've listened, and without a reality check in the hall, it's hard for me to be completely sure of what I heard, so I'll go easy on questions of vibrato.

With that qualification, let me say that I thought Dessay sang with great security and her usual ability to invest every note and ornament with purpose. Giordani sounded fatigued--yes, it's easy to say that, given his heroics over the weekend. Still, his voice was hoarse and sounded effortful--although he was able to command some melting tone and Corelli-like diminuendi. (And had no pitch problems.) Heretical as it may be to say, I wonder if they couldn't have given Giordani a break and dispensed with the Wolf's Glen scene.

It's probably not fair to judge a performance on the basis of one act, but I thought Levine did a swell job. The orchestra sounded much better last night than I'd heard in a while--maybe they're on their best behavior with the music director in the pit? He brought a nice sense of detail to small moments, without being fussy. I loved, for instance, the way the orchestra echoed precisely the inflection of Raimondo's "Eccola" at the start of the Mad Scene. Also, kudos to the decision to do away with the flute obbligato that echoes Lucia's cadenza. To quote from Ashbrook's Donizetti and His Operas:

"Nor should it be assumed that the established tradition of a cadenza with flute obbligato at this point stems from [Fanny] Persiani [the first Lucia]; according to [19th-century music critic and writer Henry] Chorley, she altered her cadenza depending on her vocal health and mood, and since the flute participation must be fixed in advance, it would be highly unlikely that she used it." (Cambridge University Press, paperback edition, 1983, page 376)

How much more haunting is it to have Lucia's solo voice at that moment!

For me, the secret to conducting Donizetti is not to hold the reins too tightly or too slackly. OK, that's a little too easy to say, and I guess the same could be said about many composers. But what I mean is that if you conduct Donizetti's music too vigorously, as though it's prototypical Verdi, it will buckle under the assault. And if you leave out the rhythmic point, then it's simply boring.

Levine knew exactly how to play it, giving flexibility and scope to the singers while still maintaining the music's thrust. The storm that begins the Wolf's Glen scene was not overly wild, burnished even, but still dramatic. The introductory music to the mad scene was not goosed to sound pregnant with meaning. There wasn't the clattering and banging that some conductors bring to scores of this vintage.

I'm looking forward to listening to Annick Massis's Lucia on Otober 25th--she is an impressive coloratura soprano, who sang a wonderful Giullietta with OONY some years ago, and whose performances on various Opera Rara recordings of lesser-known Donizetti scores are superb.

Another Young Conductor Gets a Big Post

The conductor youth movement continues, with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra announcing the appointment of the 28-year-old Latvian Andris Nelsons (Konzertdirektion Schmid) as their chief conductor. (Via ArtsJournal.)

Getting to Ys

Le Figaro sends its envoye special to Toulose for a rare revival of Lalo's masterpiece, Le Roi d'Ys. Mezzo Sophie Koch (IMG Artists) gets special praise.

Le Capitole ressuscite "Le Roi d'Ys" de Lalo

Sills as Zerbinetta

A web site devoted to the late Beverly Sills has a treasure trove of material, including many free audio recordings--including her stupendous 1969 concert performance of Zerbinetta's aria in the original 1912 version of Ariadne. The tessitura is actually higher than in the revised version, which is itself a test of any coloratura soprano's mettle. This is the kind of thing that formerly would only be available to the intrepid acquirers of "private recordings." Worth the visit.

More on Henze's New Opera

From Die Zeit, a visit with Henze, who seems depleted after his latest illness ...


Volker Hagedorn, Hans Werner Henze: In the cradle of the Phaedra myth - signandsight

French Politico-Literary Gossip

A new French website, with the Gallic name nonfiction.fr, is reporting that Bernard-Henri Levy had a hand in the writing (of a significant part, if not all) of Segolene Royal's upcoming book, which will be published by the same house that publishes Levy.

It's a well understood convention here in the States that politicians have help in writing their books; I am less sure what the thinking is on that subject in France.

The Malibran Mobile

Cecilia Bartoli is publicizing her new album, Maria, with a traveling exhibition of her collection of Malibran artifacts. Literally a traveling exhibition: it's all contained in a mobile-home-sized van that is touring Europe.

Americans won't get the chance to see the exhibition without going to Europe, but they can buy the "super deluxe" version of the CD, which contains a 200-page limited edition book and a "making-of" DVD.

Little Einsteins Invade Lincoln Center

At least they won't have trouble getting a taxi after the show.

Last Night at the Met

Last night I went to the Metropolitan Opera for the first time this season. It looks to me as though the audience had internalized Peter Gelb's glamorization campaign--far more well-dressed people were in attendance than I remember from previous seasons. Since I am a firm believer in dressing up for the opera, this is for me a positive development.

I saw Le Nozze di Figaro in the energetic but unimaginative Jonathan Miller production. It's all farce and low comedy; the characters' humanity really has little chance of coming through. The blocking in some places is on a sixth-grade-play level, especially in the third act.

Not helping was Philippe Jordan's finesse-less conducting. His tempi in the first two acts was too fast; the second half was slack. He failed to build the musical tension of the last act so that it could be gloriously released with the Count's plea for forgiveness.

There was also sloppiness between stage and pit; at one point in the second act everything broke down.

Anke Vondung made a winning debut as Cherubino. She has a beautiful voice, and I imagine she is still trying to determine how best to apply it to the Met's acoustic. Erwin Schrott (infamous for his shritless Don Giovanni at Covent Garden) is a charismatic and likeable Figaro. His voice, with its hint of a burr, is, when he chooses to sing, both warm and powerful. Too often, though, he gooses his performance with grumblings and mutterings and other extramusical effects. He needs to dial it down a notch.

Pertusi's dark, highly covered voice was effective for the Count, although his acting is somewhat too broad. Lisette Oropesa filled in for Isabel Byrakdarian as Susanna and did an adequate job; she did, however, encounter some pitch problems. Hei-Kyung Hong sang the countess with authority. Her vibrato is widening, she blurred some of the passagework, but she can still sing with the kind of tone that commentators like to call "creamy."

It was an enjoyable evening, all told. I wouldn't be surprised if the performances improve as the cast starts to gel.