Light! This out-Wagners Wagner. They might as well segue into Einsam wachend.
14.03.2026 12:05
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Light! This out-Wagners Wagner. They might as well segue into Einsam wachend.
Yes, no doubt. And having the exact voice type that the music requires.
I haven't heard the rest, but this is all wrong. Beautifully done, but wrong.
...Pêcheurs de Perles) are sister roles and should be sung in the same manner, by fresh-voiced lyric sopranos who know how to keep it simple.
Yes, almost all of the others are stylistically wrong, some wildly so, with two possible exceptions (Micheau and Angelici). Freni's Micaëla sounds like Adriana Lecouvreur, Kiri Te Kanawa's like Arabella. The temptation to cast a spinto is great but should be resisted. Micaëla and Leila (Les...
I just discovered this, which is very impressive on all levels. Devieilhe has Micheau's fragility and Angelici's vocal charisma, plus a wonderful stage presence and a perfect understanding of Bizet's style.
I don't really have a favourite at this point; but if I were hard pressed, I would probably select Martha Angelici. Lovely expressive singing, crystal-clear diction, and drama aplenty. (Is it me, or does she go a bit flat in a couple of places?)The quest for the perfect door handle continues.
The less said about Katia Ricciarelli, the better.
Simon Rattle conducts what sounds so far like the best orchestral performance, but the soprano fails to project as she should, and I have a hard time focusing on her as the entire horn section seems to dream of the second act of Tristan.
Jeanette Pilou and Lorin Maazel get the recitative exactly right, but things go awry in the aria, which is surprisingly rushed. (She recorded the role opposite Crespin's Carmen, which I really like.)
Janine Micheau's very French Micaëla is very touching: the terror is audible in her voice, and she understands that this is the prayer of a devout Christian who sees God as her only hope, but the voice sounds too mature for the character. Still, a huge improvement.
Te Kanawa's Micaëla is the exact opposite: perfect singing, too little fire, and a very exotic accent. She makes Bizet sound like Bernard Herrmann's Salammbo on a good day.
...the repeat: drama! passion! excitement!
...should be no hint of verismo as the style is much closer to Gounod. Freni recorded it many times, but somehow fails to convince entirely. The voice is too mature-sounding and the line too choppy, but I really like the sudden influx of energy in the middle section and the crescendo just before...
Micaëla is very young and the voice needs to be fresh-sounding and girlish, but the sensuous melody seems tailor-made for a spinto with a much riper sound. The scene's high-octane emotional content must somehow be suggested, but the line must remain stately and unbroken, almost Apollonian. There...
Patsy and Edina once set out to find the perfect door handle, and I am on a quest to find the perfect recording of Micaëla's aria. I have no idea why, it is not one of my favourite scenes from Carmen, but there you are. It turns out to be a very difficult piece that makes contradictory demands.
Quite apart from anything else, I find Grümmer so much more engaging on every level. The innuendo is very much there, but she doesn't sing in italics, as die Generalin so often does.
Die Generalin, being rather too pleased to be called a snake.
Und er nennt mich seine Schlange.
I think I feel about Puccini much the way George Bernard Shaw felt about Faust. There is nothing more dangerous than over-familiarity with works that become part of the furniture. Did he understand that Faust was an extraordinary opera? I for one certainly think so; so is Tosca, for instance.
The three sit at a table and talk
Frank O'Hara, Elaine de Kooning & Franz Kline by Arthur Swoger
An amazing photograph from May 20, 1957
Everything
suddenly honks: it is 12:40 of
a Thursday.
- from O'Hara's "A Step Away From Them"
Yes, by all means! As long as they're well done and taken as seriously as other operas that are not seen as obvious crowd pleasers.
The Paris Trittico, for instance, was none of these things. I didn't quite agree with some of the artistic choices, but they were thoughtfully made and worthy of consideration, which is all I want/need.
You're lucky to be in a position to compare. I agree that Puccini is a supreme master, and I don't mind him being a seller as he clearly deserves it. I mind the lazy, dumbed-down productions, the sloppy singing, the inadequate casts, the sense that anything goes as long as it's loud.
Yes, it's a very difficult role, and one that is worth doing well. Maybe that means it should be done a little less often? But with proper care, and not by someone who just stands there screaming at the top of his lungs?
Des Grieux with Cousin! That must have been fabulous.
I've been unlucky, no doubt. I have been very impressed by some of his recordings.
It isn't just the voice, it's a matter of temperament as well. I mentioned La Rondine - the Pappano recording with Gheorghiu as Magda has Alagna at his best. In the early days, he was a fine Rodolfo. Some Puccini roles suit him (or used to suit him); just not Calaf.
Back in the 90s, in the right repertoire, he was wonderful. Werther, Nadir (Les Pêcheurs de perles), that sort of thing. Calaf? Good heavens, no.
Ha! I don't know about "more worthy," and I think Tosca is one of the great C20 operas, which is the reason it should be done well or not at all.