Okay, kind of fell off the blogging wagon recently; not off to the best start. Anyways, seen a lot. First up – Bolena #2. Way better than opening night. Sitting in the Family Circle; my intern AZ’s first opera ever (she says: “Wow, was that really an hour and a half?” after the second half, so good sign, right?).
Mostly the same as opening night; Trebs’ first aria was still kind of lame and boring. Seymour was announced as sick but singing; her voice just had a little more wear-and-tear and there were some serious screeches on the high notes, but more than made up for with excellent acting.
The duet with Percy was totally on fire; he looked crazed and desperate, she looked ANGRY. The high D at the end of Act I was still in that annoying bird-chirp tone, but as significantly better than opening night.
Act II fared much better than on opening night; Henry was a lot louder. The confrontation duet with Seymour was spectacularly bitchy, the pleading for Anna’s life seemed less boring now that I’d heard it once before.
And then Percy. Fearing the strangulation from opening night would return, I’d have to say listening to his big aria was more stress than enjoyment, but he did it and sounded great. Did they cut some of it though? It seemed almost twice as long before; although maybe that’s just because it was so painful to listen to?
The mad scene was spectacular. No crazy grinning, but still totally out of character. The clapping seemed a lot more genuine overall in this performance – opera lover audience instead of rich people who know nothing. The final cabaletta was chestier than before, which was spectacular. I wonder if now she’s done it a few times she knows exactly how much steam to keep on reserve for the finale; here, she clearly had more than enough and rewarded us with some spectacularly angry singing. Last note, as before, was amazing – facing away, walking through a door behind a thick sound-blocking wall and still HUGE sound.
No comments:
Post a Comment