bosiemoncrieff
Headphoneus Supremus
I wrote a bit about Tuesday's Fidelio at the Met. I stand by those remarks, but add a few more from Onegin:
First, my experience with Tchaik's instrumental works has been one of interest but not overweening respect. I don't regard his piano or violin concertos as definitive exemplars of the genre as I do those of Beethoven and Brahms. At one point I was even known to term him 'the Rihanna of classical music.'
Onegin shocked me in its emotional impact and reach.
First, the story (Pushkin's) was one of adult seriousness. I won't summarize it here, but unlike many operas, it examines love with sober realism. Tchaikovsky gives his characters ample opportunities to reveal their feelings in well placed and written arias. The structure of the opera is episodic, such that there are large gaps that the audience must piece together. For a russian at the time of the premiere—or indeed the present day—this is not a tall order. Even for an American, though, the events are connected sufficiently that the experience of filling in gaps is neither difficult nor unpleasant—especially with the program notes. Unlike Beethoven, who writes for voices as though they were virtuosic instruments (a fault that perhaps Wagner shares), Tchaikovsky's vocal lines are consummately lyrical. There are perhaps a few too many set changes, but the production would have to have been quite modern indeed to elide them into a Wieland Wagner-esque ethereality.
Anna Netrebko was a vision. Indeed, after seeing her, I want to know when she's going to try Eva, Senta, Elsa, and Elisabeth on for size. Sieglinde might be a bridge too far—the triple crown of Wagner certainly would be—but her voice has a dark and luxurious musk that made her performance in Elixir (opening night 2012) just unspeakably sensuous and wonderful. Just to be very crude for a moment, you expect your bel canto sopranos to be a "Q701" and she shows up as an "LCD-2." That she is also a striking beauty and a gifted actress makes the question the more urgent. Wagnerians have typically been bad actors (Martha Mödl and Frida Leider excepted), and every gifted actress and actor we can rope in (PLEASE DO TRISTAN JONAS KAUFMANN!!!!) will make an indelibly fine impact on the recorded history of Wagner performance.
Very few composers excel in both instrumental and operatic music. My list previously ran Vivaldi, Handel, Mozart. I now emphatically add Tchaikovsky to that list. As to the twentieth century, I will get there in due course.
EDIT: Jk adding Richard Strauss rn
First, my experience with Tchaik's instrumental works has been one of interest but not overweening respect. I don't regard his piano or violin concertos as definitive exemplars of the genre as I do those of Beethoven and Brahms. At one point I was even known to term him 'the Rihanna of classical music.'
Onegin shocked me in its emotional impact and reach.
First, the story (Pushkin's) was one of adult seriousness. I won't summarize it here, but unlike many operas, it examines love with sober realism. Tchaikovsky gives his characters ample opportunities to reveal their feelings in well placed and written arias. The structure of the opera is episodic, such that there are large gaps that the audience must piece together. For a russian at the time of the premiere—or indeed the present day—this is not a tall order. Even for an American, though, the events are connected sufficiently that the experience of filling in gaps is neither difficult nor unpleasant—especially with the program notes. Unlike Beethoven, who writes for voices as though they were virtuosic instruments (a fault that perhaps Wagner shares), Tchaikovsky's vocal lines are consummately lyrical. There are perhaps a few too many set changes, but the production would have to have been quite modern indeed to elide them into a Wieland Wagner-esque ethereality.
Anna Netrebko was a vision. Indeed, after seeing her, I want to know when she's going to try Eva, Senta, Elsa, and Elisabeth on for size. Sieglinde might be a bridge too far—the triple crown of Wagner certainly would be—but her voice has a dark and luxurious musk that made her performance in Elixir (opening night 2012) just unspeakably sensuous and wonderful. Just to be very crude for a moment, you expect your bel canto sopranos to be a "Q701" and she shows up as an "LCD-2." That she is also a striking beauty and a gifted actress makes the question the more urgent. Wagnerians have typically been bad actors (Martha Mödl and Frida Leider excepted), and every gifted actress and actor we can rope in (PLEASE DO TRISTAN JONAS KAUFMANN!!!!) will make an indelibly fine impact on the recorded history of Wagner performance.
Very few composers excel in both instrumental and operatic music. My list previously ran Vivaldi, Handel, Mozart. I now emphatically add Tchaikovsky to that list. As to the twentieth century, I will get there in due course.
EDIT: Jk adding Richard Strauss rn
