A few bullet points on Traviata at the Met

Here is below an email which I send to a friend I had dinner with last Thursday in New York. He went to hear Bach B Minor Mass with the NYPO under Alan Gilbert and I went at the Met to the premiere of the revival of Traviata with Damrau, Pirgu, Domingo conducted by Y Nezet-Seguin:

·         This is a revival of a known work coming after a visible Parsifal so a few things may not have been prepared as thoroughly. In this case, it was the chorus. The orchestra was crisp and detailed but the coordination with the chorus was just not there and particularly in act 1. Maybe, they did not have enough rehearsal time.

·         This was a Traviata without a real Alfredo. Pirgu is a Fenton but no more or he had a rough night. He was underpowered by the other singers and was often flat (although tenors being tenors, he tends to be more applauded than they deserve.)

·         Damrau was all through the work musical and secure. The coloratura at the end of Act 1 was wonderful, Gruberova-like, but until act 3, she was not dramatic enough. This is her first night and her first Traviata so she will grow. The staging asks her to do quite a lot in Act 1 and she may not be the best singer-actor there is (or memories of Netrebko are just too strong). Act 3 though was really different, and she was genuinely moving in the Addio aria. Once she is at ease in the entire work, she will be a Traviata to recon with.

·         Domingo started with difficulty. I was asking myself whether this was not the one role too many, until Di Provenza il mar where the line, the (tenoral) intensity was superb. It is a privilege to hear him and I cherish every occasion.

·         This was the first time I was hearing Nezet-Seguin and he impressed me. The music had a nice rhythm. String attacks were clean and coordinated (essential for Verdi) and above all, he has a sense of the line with clear gestures on where a phrase is going. I definitely hope to hear more of him in the future.

·         The Decker staging was well revived. Audience seemed to like it. There were many young people around me … well, there are such things as date-movies so there is no reason not to have date-operas.

James Levine to resume conducting

Music-lovers of the world, but mostly from New York, rejoice, James Levine is due to come back to the Met on the 2013 - 2014 season for 3 runs of Berg's Wozzeck, Mozart's Cosi fan Tutte and Verdi's Falstaff. No Gargantuan Wagnerian evening but three masterpieces, the Wozzeck being one where he is second to none, actually, all three.

He will also be at Carnegie Hall on May 19 for a Sunday afternoon Met Matinee concert. His concert should include Beethoven's fourth Piano Concerto with E Kissin as soloist but also and mostly Sibelius's 4th Symphony.

Please, do not change the program, I just grabbed one of the last ticket ...

Levine-less Walküre at the Met

I was all of last week in the US and was able on my way back to Switzerland to catch the second instalment of the new production of the Ring at the Met. I did not go there (and spend significant sums of money) to see the visual pyrotechnics of Robert Lepage but to hear James Levine's special way with Wagner.

... which explains my disappointment to read in the program that Levine was sick and was replaced by his assistant Derrick Inouye. There had been already a number of runs of the work under Levine so one can safely imagine that there were many touches from Levine himself that remained. A good example was the piano tones of Bryn Terfel for Wotan's farewell, long-lined and adapted to the Welsh baritone style and power. There were also however a couple of moments where Levine's unique togetherness was not there. Sieglinde's phrase upon the stunning redemption leitmotive was in place but Levine would have been totally at once with the singer. He is simply the best accompanist ever.May I finally say again how such a superlative ensemble the Met orchestra can be. Of all Opera Orchestras around the world, they are second to none and could easily sustain comparison with their Viennese colleagues.

Yet one has to realise what enormous efforts and stress this must have been for Inouye to take over at such short notice. This is not a simple work and the evening proceeded with no major hiccup which is quite something. So I was on the one hand disappointed that Levine was not there but if we had had this say in Geneva, I would have been bowled over.


Needless to say, this is a concern that Levine is really sick. We do not know what it could mean for his future engagements but the Met seems genuinely to care for him and be ready to accommodate for potential cancellations. In Europe, there would have been reactions from the public. At the Met, everyone I spoke has admitted that this is not the first nor the last and that his appearances are "worth the disappointments".

Singing was uneven. The Fricka of Stephanie Blythe was a disappointment: she was a notes-generating machine but no line and no sense for the words. Eva Maria Westbroek was uneven, a little flat in places and with some German words which were a little unclear, thus hurting the lines but she had some moments with nice phrasing. I just hope that she is not doing "too much" but my best memory of her remains as Krysothemis in Paris in 2005.

Is Deborah Voigt fit for Brünnhilde ? She has lost some weight and was in few places a little flat. She also may not have the sheer power required for the beginning of Act 3. Beyond this, she understands the text and when not overpowered has colors on the voice. Not an ideal Brünnhilde but definitely a singer that should sing the part.

Hans-Peter Koenig was a dark sounding Hunding who was really nasty and menacing. Kaufmann gave what has been at least for me, his best incarnation to date. Whereas I find that he can be too artistic in Italian roles, he was at ease with a long ringing Wälse, beautiful phrasing and dramatic spirit in particular act 2. He deservedly brought the house down. Terfel like Voigt may not have all the power required for the role but compensates by subtle singing. Words are crystal clear and he understands them deeply.

A final comment on Lepage's much vaulted staging. The settings and videos effects are original and beautiful and impressive, most of all the Act 1 snow storm and the ring of fire at the end. Yet, there is no Personen-Regie in between some visual pictures. It is difficult to say that this is an improvement over the traditional (old-fashioned ?) Schenck production which also was weak on characterisation. But you know what, in the end, I found myself closing my eyes, opening them from tie to time and feeling that not much had changed and concentrating on this outstanding work.

Domingo, the Michael Jordan of Opera

The world, musical or not, is celebrating Placido Domingo's 70th birthday. All the accolades we are hearing are true: immense repertory, rock-solid technique, unique capability for phrasing, presence and acting skills, ...

There is though one quality which has not been so discussed which I would like to mention: when Domingo is on stage, he does not play the star, he actually makes other singers perform better. Like say Michael Jordan in Basketball, the overall level raises.

One personal memory, I heard him in what could have been his last Bohème in New York in February1991. Mimi was sung by the Korean Soprano who Hei-Kyung Hong. It is Rodolfo who has the first lines of the marvellous Act 1 duo O Suave Fanciulla.When Mimi entered, Hong did not have a volume that matched Domingo (and there may not have  been tons of rehearsals) but in a split-second, Domingo had adapted to his partner and ensured that we had a glorious balanced duo.

This unique artistry from a once in a lifetime singer.

Beckmesser "in China"

Just a quick FYI. I will be in the US for my work end of January and will go via NY to see the MET premiere of Adams' Nixon in China with a review for Concertonet.

I am thrilled to hear this and at the Met. I heard the same team play it in Bobigny in 1991. Previously, I ha discovered Adams's work via the monumental Harmonium in Boston with the BSO under Rattle. I remember going into the Boston Metro and then going out to walk back to the campus where I was studying so as to stay into the same sound world.



Adams has already been performed at the Met with Doctor Atomic but this will be Peter Sellars first entry there. When I was studying at the Harvard Business School, I was musical critic for the Harbus, the school newspaper. Sellars and C Smith took their Trump-tower inspired Nozze di Figaro (was it L Hunt as Cherubino ?) and I took half of my section to hear it. I also tried to interview Sellars for the Harbus but he was too busy and could not find the time. I met him in Bobigny at the performance of an Eschylus play and was impressed by sharpness. Maybe I should try to do an interview of him if my schedule allows for it.

In any case, if you go via NY, this is a must-see.

PS: The snow storm in the US prevented me from going. This being said, Adams music lives on ...

For better or worse ... some rants on Levine's health rumors ...

There has been a lot of discussions and articles on James Levine's health. He has had to spend another extended time off the podium, missed a lot of events in Tanglewood and was replaced on various cases at the Met.

In his usual insinuating style, English critic Norman Lebrecht has hinted that he will be replaced by Riccardo Chailly in Boston and also mentioned that both Pappano and Jurowski will depart from Covent Garden and Glyndebourne in 2013 at a time when the Met could be available. The Boston Globe (sorry, I have not kept the link) had also some negative and more direct disapproval comments, highlighting the high cost of maintainting Levine in his position.

I am a huge Levine fan and am shocked by these to be frank. Lebrecht's tabloid sensationalism is documented in many places so there is no need to add anything, but the Globe is also missing some important points.

I spoke to several musicians in Boston and a few fellow critics in New York and the picture I got was very different:

• Levine may have had some rough time with critics and audiences, but this is more due to a modern and adventurous programming, which should be the pride and envy of many orchestras. 
• Work with the musicians is very happy. Again, I spoke with various of them and in particular some of the new members and they are conscious of the exceptional opportunity it is to have him.

Levine has during more than 30 years build by far the best orchestra in the US and probably the best Opera Orchestra in the world. The BSO he inherited from Ozawa was and still is a superb ensemble and the work he has done, repertory wise is unique and unfinished.

So think of the situation as in a marriage. If you have been married with someone for decades, you do not kick your husband/wife if he/she is unwell. You stay married for the best and the worst of the times. When you are lucky to have as a chief conductor someone like Levine, you stand by his side when he has health problems.

For those who wants a taste of Levine's unique capability to accompany singers, listen to the harmony between Renée Fleeming and the orchestra at the end of the aria. It takes decades to build this so what are a few cancellations in front of such artistry ?

Who is pushing the enveloppe ? ... Art versus Enjoyment

Bob Shingleton's On an overgrown path raises the question of who is pushing the envelope for classical music. I can think of 2 names which are clear examples although not simple ones:

• If you do not come to the Met, its new manager Peter Gelb is ensuring that it goes to you via the now celebrated simulcast movie theaters performances. If on the one hand, he is still struggling to get New York audiences to appreciate anything than the stagings they have had for several centuries (see Toscagate here), opera is definitely finding new channels via the broadcast which have combined quality reproduction and live feelings.
• The closes that Classical Music has of a Lady Ga-Ga is Lang Lang. No offence to the pianist but even Karajan did not have a line of scarves and shoes at his effigy. He definitely is reaching audiences that would not hear classical music otherwise (as judged by the fact that his concerts are populated by people who applaude after every movement and loose attention when he plays very advanced ultra-modern composers like ... Prokofiev or Albeniz). He also can be congratulated by having a wide repertory, ie not always playing Tchaikowsky's First Piano Concerto ad nauseam (or the Yellow River concerto, which the Chinese equivalent and a much better piece). He is immensely talented but he is a showman that distorts the works by extreme of tempis with little sense of the music architectures. Yes, he is bringing music to new ears but he is serving him and less the composers.

It is important to push audiences and bring them to our worldbut the challenge is to do this while not vulgarising works whose value can be appreciated only by active listening of the audience. As we say, art not enjoyment ...

En vrac ....

The Met 2010 - 2011 season has been announced. Opening night will be Wagner's Rheingold under James Levine who will follow later with a Walküre. Both productions will replace the "realistic" one of Otto Schenk and will be done by Robert Lepage. There will be a number of shared productions: the wonderful Traviata from Salzburg by Willy Decker replacing the ridiculous Zefirelli one,  the ROH Don Carlos from Nicolas Hytner as well as Peter Sellars's historic production of Nixon in China conducted by John Adams himself.

For comparison, I heard Adams conduct this piece with the same staging and probably the same singers in December 1992  in the Bobigny Theater. Around 25 years will have been needed to have this absolute masterpiece finally be presented at the Met ...

There are also some strong names: Sir Simon Rattle conducting Pelleas with Madalena Kozena as Mélisande, Peter Stein producing Boris with René Pape under the baton of Gergiev and William Christie conducting Cosi. With the mix of usual suspects returning, I have to say that once again, this looks very good and I am convinced that Gelb knows what he is doing.

On other news, Bayreuth casting is available. Please note that Edith Haller will sing Sieglinde. Yours truly heard her in 2007 when she sang Friea, Helmwige, the Third Norn and Gutrune and was very impressed by her.

Best recoveries to Placido Domingo who is showing signs of being human and guess who is the likely successor of Thielemann in Munich ?