On Saturday we caught the first chunk of the BBC Radio 3 broadcast of Rusalka from the Met. Unfair, I know, to judge a performance from its first couple of scenes (we heard Rusalka and Jerzibaba but not the Prince).
I know that Renee Fleming gained plaudits for her recording of Rusalka with Sir Charles Mackerras at the helm. But her account of the song to the moon was pure diva. It was too slow and seemed to be milked for nearly every ounce of 'expression'. The result made Fleming sound far too old for the character, too mature. By contrast Stephanie Blythe sounded wonderful as the witch, beautifully focussed with a nice sense of line and definite malevolence. Her performance made me want to continue to listen!
Which I couldn't, of course, because we were en route to the Hackney Empire for The Magic Flute, part of English Touring Opera's Spring season. A review will appear in due course.
Monday, 16 March 2009
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Popular Posts this month
-
Wagner: Das Rheingold - Ingeborg Børch as Fricka, Keel Watson as Wotan - Regents Opera 2022 (Photo Steve Gregson) On Sunday 21st May 2023, R...
-
Halevy: La Tempesta - conducted by Francesco Cilluffo at Wexford Festival Opera 2022 (Photo: Clive Barda ArenaPAL) Conductor Francesco Cill...
-
Wagner: Die Walküre - Keel Watson (Wotan) - Regents Opera 2023 (Photo: Steve Gregson Regents Opera's new production of Wagner's Die...
-
Wagner: Die Walküre - Justine Viani (Sieglinde), Catharine Woodward (Brünnhilde), the Valkyries - Regents Opera 2023 (Photo: Steve Gregso...
-
Jataneel Banerjee's Gaṅgā at Tete-a-Tete Opera Festival in 2022 (Photo Claire Shovelton) Composer Jataneel Banerjee's new chamber o...
-
Donizetti: L'esule di Roma - Nicola Alaimo, Albina Shagimuratova, Carlo Rizzi, Britten Sinfonia - Opera Rara at Cadogan Hall (Photo Ru...
-
Dragon Voices: The giant Celtic horns of Ancient Europe; John Kenny; Delphian Reviewed by Robert Hugill on Nov 22 2016 Star r...
-
Paul Verlaine and Arthur Rimbaud A Dangerous Obsession: The Relationship of Paul Verlaine and Arthur Rimbaud ; Ben Vonberg-Clark, Julien...
-
Handel: Saul - Rupert Charlesworth, Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen - Komische Oper, Berlin (Photo Barbara Braun) Handel: Saul ; Luca Tittoto, Aryeh N...
-
Carys Davies, a previous member of WNO Youth Opera and current RWCMD student, in WNO’s main scale production of The Magic Flute . The step b...
No comments:
Post a Comment