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Live broadcast boasts performances, interviews, behind-the-scenes look
By Elaine Guregian
Beacon Journal arts and culture critic
Published on Thursday, Sep 25, 2008
You don't have to tell an opera fan that less isn't more: More is more. After 41/2 hours of the Metropolitan Opera gala Monday night — most of the broadcast splendid, only a little of it silly — I was tired but also ready to sign up for the whole third season of 10 Live in HD (high-definition) broadcasts. From the applause and comments I heard around me at Montrose Movies, I know I wasn't alone.
Monday's live broadcast started with lots of interviews hosted by the personable mezzo Susan Graham at the Met's home at New York's Lincoln Center. The evening was centered on the soprano Renee Fleming, who sang in fully staged performances of the second act of Verdi's La Traviata, the third act of Massenet's Manon and the final scene from Richard Strauss' Capriccio.
Before the actual singing and between performances, there was behind-the-scenes coverage, as well as footage from Times Square, where viewers were seated in folding chairs to watch on giant screens. There, superstar soprano Deborah Voigt — just Debbie to her friend Graham — did the interviewing.
Glamour abounded, with a close-up on Fleming's extravagant costumes designed by John Galliano, Christian Lacroix and Karl Lagerfeld (also documented by the photographer Annie Leibovitz in the October issue of Vogue) and the jewels used that evening. Enticing previews of upcoming shows added substance around the glitz.
It was reassuring to hear the great conductor James Levine say that he's feeling fine (he looked well and rested) after his recent surgery. Mayor Michael Bloomberg showed up to endorse the Met. Good for him. It was fun to meet on camera Nico Muhly, a young composer (Juilliard, Class of 2004) who has been in music world news. His latest project, he revealed, is an opera that stirs those popular operatic subjects, erotic love and deception, in the cauldron of the Internet.
Leading into the final portion of the program, Capriccio, Graham had lifestyle guru Martha Stewart demonstrate how to doctor a glass of Champagne (make that a capital C, please; Stewart was pouring Veuve Clicquot). Fun, but it would have been more to the point to explain the premise behind the opera coming next on the broadcast. Capriccio is one of Strauss' lesser-known works, and the excerpt left some Montrose Movies viewers scratching their heads.
Though it may seem like an arcane subject to argue about, creative types have for centuries debated which should dominate in theatrical music: music or words. Strauss set Capriccio in the 18th century, at the time when the composer Christoph Willibald Gluck was writing music like his 1762 opera Orfeo ed Euridice (to be broadcast Jan. 24). Gluck is famous for advocating that music serve the text.
In the scene performed from Strauss' allegorical Capriccio, Fleming's character is a countess who is being courted by two men, a poet and a musician; which will she choose?
There were some glitches in our theater Monday night: no sound for the first couple of minutes, and no subtitles for a substantial part of La Traviata. But everything smoothed out, and there we were, with terrific camera work bringing us close to hear Fleming, beautifully supported by leading men like Ramon Vargas and Thomas Hampson. The star created notably different personalities in each opera, and she finished sounding incredibly fresh.
Happily for us, Fleming will perform in recital in the Tuesday Musical series on April 7 at E.J. Thomas Hall. For tickets, call 330-972-7470.
Those who are hungry for live opera right now! can head north for Opera Cleveland's Marriage of Figaro, in performances Friday, Sunday and Oct. 4 at PlayhouseSquare. Call 216-575-0903.
I predict a big crowd at Northeast Ohio theaters on May 9, when Youngstown native Lawrence Brownlee, a tremendously gifted tenor, sings the role of Prince Charming in La Cenerentola (Cinderella).
And here's the latest announcement from the Met: Beginning Oct. 22, it will offer online subscriptions that allow access to 120 audio recordings and 50 full-length videos of performances. Subscribers to the new Met Player service will be able to watch and hear 170 full-length operas, including recent high-definition broadcasts. Subscriptions will cost $14.99 a month or $149 a year. Detailed information and free previews will be available Oct. 22 at http://www.metplayer.org.
Elaine Guregian can be reached at 330-996-3574 or eguregian@thebeaconjournal.com.
You don't have to tell an opera fan that less isn't more: More is more. After 41/2 hours of the Metropolitan Opera gala Monday night — most of the broadcast splendid, only a little of it silly — I was tired but also ready to sign up for the whole third season of 10 Live in HD (high-definition) broadcasts. From the applause and comments I heard around me at Montrose Movies, I know I wasn't alone.
Get the full article here.
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