Villazon/Nebtrebko Romeo
- From: "REG" <Richergar@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sat, 31 Dec 2005 20:14:58 GMT
A friend let me hear a recording of the LA R&J, and in the context of what
we've been talking about with Villazon and Netrebko, I thought I might make
some comments
First, overall, the LA production I think was light years ahead of New York
from a musical point of view, and a lot of that has got to be due to the LA
conductor, Frederic Chaslin. This may be the first time I didn't find R&J a
real bore, and lots of it has to do with Chaslin's tempi. There is none of
the dragging that characterized de Billy at the MET, and so lots of the
choral scenes, which seemed vaguely "important" in de Billy's
interpretations, were, rather, vital and rousing with Chaslin.On the other
hand, he was not just a quick baton.....for example, I heard at the MET both
DiDonato and Hanslow as Stephano, and even though DiDonato is a relatively
major coloratura in Europe (I don't know much about Hanslow), neither of
them were particularly adept in the little aria....the tempi were rushed,
and the triplets were in both cases blurred. Under Chaslin, Anna Maria
Panzerella, whom I didn't know, did a much better job. The basic tempo was a
little slower, and there was a brief pause before setting into the triplet
section (also taken a bit slower, I think) which made everything be
articulated well, and, as usual, gave the listener a better real sense of
"speed" than the objectively faster performance.
Villazon was a totally different singer in LA, and I can't believe that
Romeo is much different a role than the Duke. He is freshed voice, and has a
secure, high C", sustained, at the end of the third act. I know there's lot
of speculation of why he sounded so differently this year as the Duke, and
in some European bcasts, and I only wish to add two observations, for what
they are worth. First, he really does seem to be, in the R&J, trying to make
a Domingo type of sound...the naturally dark sound sounds EVEN darker than
it has to at times. Secondly (and I don't know how much emphasis to give
this), in Romer's great apostrophe to Juliet at the end of the second act
"Va, aime", he has real difficulties in the sustained line in the passagio,
and there are one or two brief moments where it sounds as if the voice may
fall apart. I know this is hard to sing, and every singer has bad moments,
but I don't think I've heard quite this kind of difficulty from such a young
and smart singer before. In the context of fresher and lighter voiced MET
performances it wouldn't be worth commenting on, no more than a moment's
phlem, but in the context of the darkness, I wonder if he is just carrying
up the lower part of the voice too much, and too high. I've been listening
again today to the Rigoletto from the MET, and what stuck me (aside from the
lower level all around of his vocal success) was that in the Addio with
Netrebko, where he HAS no choice other than to move the voice quickly and
"get it out", the sound is brighter and more pointed - more like the LA
voice and the voice we've heard before.
Finally, I like Netrebko a lot as Juilet, and she sounds fresher here than
as Gilda, but the basic sound remains the same (as opposed to Villazon). My
one caveat about her is that she tends to sing almost everything with the
same kind of vocal coloration. The sound is quite lovely, and she is not a
boring singer, but there rarely if ever seems to be much lightening or
shading of the basic sound. In a way, it's Sutherland-like (to try to
explain it) - once you've heard her vocal scale, there's rarely an attempt
or surprise in terms of coloration. Maybe that will change over time, or
with other conductors.
Just as a codicil, I think I found all the LA singers generally better than
their MET counterparts, including the Friar Lauwence (Reinhard Hagan) and
even the Duke of Verona (Michael Gallup)> It is funny that Rigoletto sends
(or tries to send) Gilda from Maontova to Verona, while this journey was the
other way around.
.
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