1 – “I wish Claus Guth finds a sexy good-looking millionaire who loves him desperately to the point of not allowing him to leave their love nest for one second” This is the only positive way I can find in my soul to wish that he NEVER AGAIN direct a Mozart opera in his life.
2 – Why , o why Abbado has not invited Anja Kampe to sing the Fidelio that he is finally recording… ?!
OK, now that I got this out of my chest, I can be a nice person again.
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Re: 2 – Great is my joy that Abbado is recording Fidelio… and burning my curiosity: who IS going to be his Leonore?
Hallo, Lucy! Actually his Fidelio has already been recorded live in Luzern. I advise you to listen to the broadcast to understand my dismay. I even wonder if it is indeed going to be released after all…
Really RML?
I kinda liked it. I must’ve missed something. Please expand on your critique.
Yes, I’m trying to get through Cosi fan tutte and I have to restrain myself not to throw my own TV set out of the window… I have not written my review yet (I cannot make more than 30 minutes a day – I find it so bad that I feel like puking), but Nozze and Don Giovanni are already on http://www.operadiscographies.com .
In any case, I have the impression that he is so delighted with his own ideas that everything is distorted to accommodate them: characters behave as mentally challenged people, I notice a misogynist approach in him, he has poor idea of musical timing, his sense of comedy is as good as nonexistant and – most important of all – there should be a restraining order to prevent Bo Skovhus to come near him.
Actually I quite agree on Guth (the personal regie is very purposeful but I find the concepts in Figaro and DG intolerable – haven’t seen the Cosi). Great resources with the discographies. Will have to check it out when I get the chance.
I was rather referring to the Abbado Fidelio
Lucky you – the Così is very bad for one’s health. And thanks for the kind words on the discographies.
The Abbado Fidelio… I thought that the Leonore was in a very, very, very, very bad evening. I guess I have seen ONE Leonore worse than that – live, not in recordings. I reckon that live the experience could have been quite different, but the broadcast shows an oversmoky voice that barely pierces through. I thought that Kaufmann, Fischesser and Mattei were very good, the Pizarro was ok, the Marzelline was so, so and the Jacquino was poor. As for Abbado, I heard things that I didn’t know to exist in the score, but Böhm is still miles ahead in structural understanding and sense of drama. That is not a problem per se, for I find Böhm’s DG Fidelio one of the most perfect things in this galaxy.
Ah, thanks for the clarification on the (possible) recording. I’ll have to catch it on the rebroadcast of the 4th and know the worst.
I liked Claus Guth’s Tristan in Zürich… it has an interesting idea and a very good personal Regie. But I guess I understand when you say that he is delighted with his on ideas… well, in Tristan, his ideas worked fine. Don’t know the Cosi, but his Giovanni is weird.
I give a credit to Zürich – I generally have good luck with their opera house’s productions. And I can see he could maybe produce some good results in Tristan, but definitely NOT in Mozart, as you saw in Salzburg. I guess if one wants to be funny, one cannot take him or herself too seriously…
After listening to Renee Fleming and Dmitri sing “Mira, d’acerbe lagrime” from “Il Trovatore” on a ridiculous PBS special, I hauled my TV set to the window. It’s still perched on the window ledge and if the “Boccanegra” duet doesn’t improve, that TV set is outta’ here. (This is all part of a PBS “Renée Fleming & Dmitri Hvorostovsky: A Musical Odyssey in St. Petersburg” program. Arrrgh!!)
I can imagine self-abandon, complete absorption in the art of music and spontaneous and convincing facial expressions from all involved…