Tír Na HiFi

fergus wrote:I am trying to convince my darling wife to accompany me Jared but a six hour opera is a hard sell!!!


Regarding the Giulio Cesare; I would be interested but it will depend on whether or not it is one of those modern or an original setting.

Fergus, you wouldn't be able to sell 6 hours of Wagner to me, let alone your wife!!

The Handel seems to be set in a strange combination of late Victorian, 1920's and 'modern' with some togas thrown in for good measure... I'm a little sceptical too, but I'm going for the music..

Jared wrote:
The Handel seems to be set in a strange combination of late Victorian, 1920's and 'modern' with some togas thrown in for good measure... I'm a little sceptical too, but I'm going for the music..

Thank you for that Jared; I will skip that one so.

Jared wrote:
Fergus, you wouldn't be able to sell 6 hours of Wagner to me, let alone your wife!!

Well Jared, my wife is obviously made of sterner stuff than you as she has consented to accompany me on Saturday LOL!
It is my first visit to a MET broadcast so I am looking forward to it.

fergus wrote: It is my first visit to a MET broadcast so I am looking forward to it.

I'd be most interested to hear what you make of the experience... they pack the intervals with insightful interviews with cast, conductor, set designer etc, which are well worth hearing, although you might find you need a leg stretch and some fresh air in between as, Wagner or not, it can be a full-on experience, as I discivered during the 4 1/2 hour Berlioz 'Les Troyens'....

....enjoy your evening.

How was the Parsifal?
I´d love to hear the comments of those who went to the HD screening.
I managed to hear the second act on the radio while driving to my nephew´s birthday party.
I loved Kaufmann of course, that´s hardly a surprise, his voice is a marvel and I´m a big fan. I also was most impressed with Katarina Dalayman who sang a superb Kundry, confirming her outstanding recording with Jaap van Zweden, and I was also thrilled with Danielle Gatti´s conducting. The MET orchestra was outstanding. I didn´t get to hear Pape though.
But I would love to hear how was the rest of the performance and the production.

^^ Pepe, I caught the end of the first act whilst washing up and the last 25 mins whilst in bed reading... looking fiorward very much to reading Fergus's comments..

incidentally next month, I have two live screenings in 3 days to look forward to...

April 27: Handel: Julius Caesar (Met)
April 29: Verdi: Nabucco (ROH - with Domingo)

Parsifal was the first visit that I have made to the Live MET broadcasts. The production was a modern day setting as they said that they were trying to bring Wagner’s concepts and ideas to a modern day audience. I think that they succeed very well in that! It had all of the intensity and more that this work needs.

I will get the negatives (for me) out of the way quickly. The visual aspect of the production was quite powerful yet I found that the sets were the weakest part of the production. This is not because it was a modern setting. Although I would have preferred it in its original medieval setting I thoroughly enjoyed this production. I would have preferred the original setting because firstly that is what the composer wanted and secondly I think that it would have had much more visual impact if the original had been given the same intensity of treatment. The problem for me with the sets which, in themselves were really very good, was that at first they were very effective but in each successive act there were no scene changes so over the course of a long act the scenery tended towards the visually boring after a while. However, to be very fair this is a very minor quibble and what I am trying to say that instead of being a great setting it could have, with a little more imagination, been an astounding one.

All of the cast sang exceptionally well and for me both René Pape as Gurnamz and Peter Mattei as Amfortas were outstanding and stole the show. Not only was the singing superb but the acting from one and all was also excellent which was a bonus.

The orchestra played very well indeed and they were conducted by Daniele Gatti whose interpretation was both intense and inspiring. Gatti is obviously passionate about this music and directed without a score!

So, my first Live MET broadcast was a spectacular success! It was a memorable and most enjoyable performance full of passion and intensity that will live long in the memory.

fergus wrote:Parsifal was the first visit that I have made to the Live MET broadcasts. The production was a modern day setting as they said that they were trying to bring Wagner’s concepts and ideas to a modern day audience. I think that they succeed very well in that! It had all of the intensity and more that this work needs.

I will get the negatives (for me) out of the way quickly. The visual aspect of the production was quite powerful yet I found that the sets were the weakest part of the production. This is not because it was a modern setting. Although I would have preferred it in its original medieval setting I thoroughly enjoyed this production. I would have preferred the original setting because firstly that is what the composer wanted and secondly I think that it would have had much more visual impact if the original had been given the same intensity of treatment. The problem for me with the sets which, in themselves were really very good, was that at first they were very effective but in each successive act there were no scene changes so over the course of a long act the scenery tended towards the visually boring after a while. However, to be very fair this is a very minor quibble and what I am trying to say that instead of being a great setting it could have, with a little more imagination, been an astounding one.

All of the cast sang exceptionally well and for me both René Pape as Gurnamz and Peter Mattei as Amfortas were outstanding and stole the show. Not only was the singing superb but the acting from one and all was also excellent which was a bonus.

The orchestra played very well indeed and they were conducted by Daniele Gatti whose interpretation was both intense and inspiring. Gatti is obviously passionate about this music and directed without a score!

So, my first Live MET broadcast was a spectacular success! It was a memorable and most enjoyable performance full of passion and intensity that will live long in the memory.

I am very happy that you enjoyed it Fergus. Parsifal is certainly a difficult opera and if you liked it that much then it must have been really good. I´m sure it will be released on dvd and Blu Ray, so I´ll get to see it then.

Jose Echenique wrote:
I am very happy that you enjoyed it Fergus. Parsifal is certainly a difficult opera and if you liked it that much then it must have been really good. I´m sure it will be released on dvd and Blu Ray, so I´ll get to see it then.

If it is released do let me know Pepe and I will buy it!

It will probably take a year or so, but you will be the first to know my friend.
By the way, some friends who saw it here were ecstatic!