Thanks to my friend MAP who reminded me while there was still time to get tickets, I finally got to go to this gala this year. Every year, I forget to get tickets and then it’s too late. It was almost too late, as the best seat I could get was all the way forward on the side of the stratospheric top tier, but whatever, the singers stood dead center and I could see them just fine.
Angela Meade came out first and tore it up for the scary double-aria from Verdi’s Attila. It was fantastic – this evil aria has just about everything Verdi could throw at a soprano. And what I am starting to realize I love most about Meade is her fearless chest voice. It sounds kind of funky, but unlike most singers today, who try and drag their high voice as low as it will go and only chest out when totally necessary, Meade rips out her pretty mighty chest pretty much every time she goes low. From my vantage point, I felt like she got a little overwhelmed by the orchestra behind her. She screamed out a pretty fantastic high-whatever (e-flat?) at the end which seemed a little too quiet from where I was, but from reading other reviews and the fact that I was practically straight above the stage while she was facing the back of the hall, I’m willing to bet she was plenty loud enough.
Her other offering was the Act I finale of Norma with some tenor and Zajick. Having heard her sing this before, I wasn’t so thrilled – I could have gone for something a bit more exciting or new. It was fine, great ending. Zajick rules, what’s new?
Zajick sang a long boring choral thingy from the Maid of Orleans, which, I guess if I was familiar was, would have been exciting. It didn’t really seem very solo-ish though, mostly just chorus with Zajick tearing in on and off. Didn’t seem like gala material when there were so many other great things Zajick could have been doing for us.
And then, dream-come-true, Zajick did the big duet and curse from Cavalleria Rusticana. I listen to her singing this regularly from a few years ago. Nobody does the big scary curse note better than her – soprano scream followed by filthy chesty bellow. Usually, with other singers, we get the scream (if we can even here it in the blasting verismo orchestra) and then the lower note is not sung in chest and totally inaudible. Some people laughed at the speaking part of the curse (why? Zajick is so scary!!). I hope somebody recorded this for me. Please! Zajick’s partner was the tenor from Nabucco, Yonghoon Lee. I’ve not like him in the 4 Nabuccos I saw – he has this annoying splaying sound with too much over/under tone action that I really dislike. Suddenly singing verismo, all of that worked spectacularly. His sound was thrilling. He and Zajick just screamed the hell out of each other.
The other offering by Lee sucked just like Nabucco, I think it was also Verdi. So I think he needs to sing only verismo where his too-much-going-on translates quite well into tension and emotion.
Stephanie Blythe came out and sang something pretty I’d never heard. Of all the singers in the gala, her voice is by far the most spectacular. Sure, Zajick is loud and tears things up, sure Guleghina (not here, but usually) is the loudest thing heard for miles in any direction. Sure Meade seems to have unending coloratura and chest and highs. But even from my high-up off-to-the-side craptastic seat, Blythe’s voice surrounded me in a way no other does. And it’s a huge deep baritonal voice. She also is thrilling to listen to at pretty much any volume or note. With many singers they only have a part of their vocal range that hits a special place – Zajick has the highs and the lows but no middle, most sopranos are crap below a certain high note, tenors are pointless except money notes, baritones have good lows and highs but the middle is boring, etc. Blythe is exciting on any note. Making pretty (was it French?) unfamiliar arias that would otherwise be dead boring, sound fantastic and thrilling. She could convincingly and thrillingly sing the phone book.
Bryn Terfel sang a funny aria from L’elisir d’Amore. He is so good at funny. And he heckled people coming in late, which is always great to watch. And then he started pulling beer bottles out of seemingly bottomless pockets. And then he shook one at an old man in the front row and tried to hand it off. It was hysterical. And then he ripped off the cap of another and drank the whole thing. I guess he’s welsh, so it’s not surprising that he’s a drinker. Highly amusing.
Mr. Woofy from Nabucco was there, doing his usual. Good, not great, but still pretty good.
And then Kaufman. Dreamy as always. He sang Turiddo’s end to Cavalleria Rusticana to spectacular effect. He sings too damned much piano, but it’s so so good anyways. The louds were thrilling. The rest, baritonal. The pianos heartwrenching. As much as I like him, I have to say I’ve heard Bobby Alagna do better with this both in Carnegie and at the Met. Kaufman just doesn’t have that Italian moodiness and personality type to do the tortured lover or the mama’s boy or the other kinds of stereotypical Italian boys. Fantastic singing despite not being the right stuff for him.
Later he and Terfel sang a duet from Don Carlo. For some reason I had it in my head it was the love aria when the baritone is dying, but I think it was from an earlier scene. It was good, but kind of long and boring.
Guleghina came out with her fantastic new voice and proved to all that she’s back and better than ever. Vissi D’arte. No flat. No wobble. No nothing bad whatsoever. I think her goal was to out-Radvanovsky Radvanovsky in this by singing it as slow as possible with the longest most stretched-out high notes ever. And her pianos were not her usual crystal weirdness (exciting but strange), but actual proper pianos. And then she really just refused to leave the stage. She bowed longer than any curtain call at any opera ever. It was great. She needs to be doing the Aida this spring. She could rock the high C in the Act III aria like nobody else with chest to boot for the Act I aria. And with her newly invented voice she could even do the crazy Callas E at the end of the march. Here’s hoping for cancellation. (If so: sorry Urmana, see you at the next Atilla).
Kaufman and Rachvelishvili sang the final scene of Carmen and were both on fire. She has some fantastic highs and chests. He, no longer a bad impression of an Italian stereotype, transformed into psycho-hot. They also semi-acted it which really worked. She was mean, like cut-a-bitch mean with some smoldering looks thrown in between scowls. Probably the best singing of the evening. And even though she’s not supermodel thin, she is probably one of the hottest opera singers around. They had so much chemistry you wonder if they’ve actually had sex together.
Then the finale was the stupid annoying ending of Fallstaff. Not that there’s really a lot of music for that many superstars to sing that’s also funny and cutesy to end a gala, but what a way to ruin the dark sexy mood from Carmen.
So next year, better seats. For this many stars singing so many great things, it’s worth it to not be in the rafters. Also, too damned many old people up there with noisy candy wrappers and somehow falling asleep during exciting music.
