tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2455126179375366490.post6177506712792677712..comments2023-12-20T11:32:15.997-05:00Comments on Billevesées: Anna BaloneyWilliam V. Madisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18120331095634473021noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2455126179375366490.post-17996652549547833532011-04-06T15:03:20.188-04:002011-04-06T15:03:20.188-04:00Yikes, I think you're right! This is what happ...Yikes, I think you're right! This is what happens when I try to write essays without my extensive library of Callas books at my fingertips -- I'll make the correction now.William V. Madisonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18120331095634473021noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2455126179375366490.post-81234114630105325962011-04-06T14:36:28.687-04:002011-04-06T14:36:28.687-04:00Billy, me boy, I don't think Callas ever sang ...Billy, me boy, I don't think Callas ever sang anything from "Anna Bolena" in NYC. Are you thinking of the "Pirata" at Carnegie in 1959? She did sing the mad scene in Dallas, and we have that famous rehearsal. Maybe that is what you were thinking of?<br />Sorry to be such a pedant! I thought it was a really thoughtful post, in any event!Mikebenchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11383824651835385386noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2455126179375366490.post-8483125077595646632011-04-06T10:26:06.164-04:002011-04-06T10:26:06.164-04:00Completely agree with you that Donizetti's ope...Completely agree with you that Donizetti's operas can be thrilling dramas (even in concert! the best Bolena I ever heard was Stoyanova's, in a Carnegie Hall performance) -- I mean, he wouldn't have been hired to write 70 of them if they hadn't knocked people out? <br /><br />-- also that stage directors can be very casual about this sort of thing and nowadays don't show much sign of understanding opera, which is a dramatic machine in which the music is the fundamental fuel and basic construction as well. You don't put sugar in your gas tank and expect the car to run; similarly, you don't cover important singing with irrelevant stage business and expect to have an exciting opera. <br /><br />The Tudor Trilogy wasn't Donizetti's idea; it was some public relations flak at NYCO in the 1970s who came up with that. They really don't work as a unity. You know this, Guillaume. Now if you want to do a Tudor Series, you should add Mercadante's Il Reggente or Pacini's Maria Regina d'Inghilterra or Rossini's Elisabetta Regina d'Inghilterra or Saint-Saens's Henry VIII. I think someone did a Jane Grey, too.<br /><br />All the "Tudor" operas omit any reference to the Protestant Reformation, probably because no in Italy in the 19th century gave a hoot (or had heard of it). You really need a bit of it to understand Anna's position. (And the positions of both Marias.) Even Verdi only gives it a brief nod in Don Carlos. I wonder if it's mentioned in the Tudors TV series? (Won't watch the thing, a. because I don't have cable, b. because historical TV and film, with rare exceptions, merely irritates me.) <br /><br />I very much enjoyed the radio broadcast from Vienna, Anya of course, but also Garanca (who reminded me of Verrett), and am looking forward to the fall. And desperately envying you for having heard Troyanos as Seymour. (As I envy everyone who ever heard TT in any role I didn't hear.) <br /><br />The other part of the opera that should always thrill is the end of Act I, "Ad Anna? Giudici?" which, like Stoyanova, Netrebko caught beautifully -- not just the fury, the insulted pride (as Callas et al. do), but on the third "Giudici!" a tremor crept into her voice as if she suddenly realized the trap was closing and she might be in real trouble. Very cool!John Yohalemnoreply@blogger.com