Birdsall

All Wagner concert, Rheingold....sounds terrific!!!!! Have fun!!!

Calleja is an acquired taste, in my opinion, and I tend to like him, but it took me a while to get used to his vibrato. I understand people not liking him, but many go nuts over him here.

I had no idea who that was until I read the link. I wonder why MCB keeps trying to connect ballet with sports. I guess it might work. I have no idea.

The list seems to be mainly about draws (people who can help fill the auditorium), and overall most of those would be draws, although as Helene says Connolly and Tomlinson might not be big draws in the U.S. I think Tomlinson would draw more than Connolly. I would have put Nina Stemme, Juan Diego Florez, Rene Pape, and Olga Borodina on the list and take out Terfel, Alagna, Connolly, and Tomlinson off the list for various reasons, but that is my personal opinion. I think my choices are big draws and must sees....Hvorostovsky should be on the list too. Maybe take Voigt off and put him on.

I wanted to post this for everyone who plans to fly in and/or out of St. Petersburg. This info will help anyone avoid what happened to me. I flew Delta from the U.S. to Amsterdam and then St. Petersburg and flew into the "international" airport (Pulkovo 2). When I left I was dropped off at the same airport (Pulkovo 2) assuming it is the international airport and the one I flew into, but my flight was Air France going back through Paris, and I was informed that I had to go to Pulkovo 1.....I panicked, but it is not that bad. You go outside and people ask you if you need a taxi (they are regular citizens) and they will take you to Pulkovo 1 which is not that far by car but you can not walk to it. I advise bartering with the person and saying all you have is 500 roubles or something like that. I hear that many want more, because they know people are desperate b/c they are at the wrong airport. I actually had 700 roubles in my pocket and American dollars but I said I only had 500 roubles and nothing more. So it worked out for me and I caught my plane. The guy who acted as my taxi to Pulkovo 1 told me that the domestic airport (Pulkovo 1) is being renovated and enlarged to eventually have ALL flights and eventually they will close Pulkovo 2 (the old international airport). But currently depending on the airline you have to be careful and know which airport you need. Flying in is obviously no concern but later when I calmed down I noticed that my Air France info did say "Terminal 1" which means Pulkovo 1, but the word terminal made me think it was just a terminal in the international airport, but it actually meant the Domestic airport despite being an international flight. I hope all this makes sense, and I hope it helps someone avoid the panic that I experienced returning. It sounds like this problem will eventually be eliminated once they close the international airport (that is an old Soviet style airport) and have everything at one airport.

I think Russians are less apt to be "out" or over the top flamboyant, and you had to buzz to get into one of the bars probably like in 1950s America. You had to know that it was a gay bar and buzz. A guy answered and I asked, "ach crest? Open?" pronouncing the Russian in my mangled Russian and then simply saying it in English, and he said, "This gay bar!" and looked at me with a frown, "You gay?" I said, "Yes!" LOL The whole trip was an adventure for me. One guy I met spoke no English so I used Google Translator to hold a conversation! I also used hand signals and acting.....I am resourceful when I want to do the things I want to do! But my own personal opinion of gay life in Russia from my short view of it is that it is not much different from here. They may not be as bold as American gays are at demanding rights, but at one time we were not bold either. Sorry to stray off topic, but I suspect this subject is very interesting to many. To put it back on topic sort of I danced up a storm like I was 20 again! I also saw many of the Mariinsky dancers in street clothes when I went to the backstage entrance just to run an errand for someone. It is interesting to see them. I think I saw Kolegova, Skorik, Gonchar, Martynyuk, Shirinkina, Yevseyeva, Batoeva, Ivannikova, Stepanova, Marchuk, Kuznetsov, Zyuzin, etc. I did not bother any of them, but it was so much fun to simply see them rush past looking like normal everyday people. Some looked even more glamorous in street clothes. Others looked more casual.

Oh, by the way, the Mariinsky 2 theatre looked almost finished to me from the outside. It grew on me as I walked by it each day. If the interior is state-of-the-art for backstage, sprung floor, dressing rooms, etc. it will be great. It is also a good idea to locate it behind/beside the original Mariinsky, since I can picture many tourists having tickets for one theatre and arriving at the wrong one, so this way they will only have to rush next door! Originally, I did not like the look of it, but now it has grown on me.

Back form St. Petersburg where I saw Sleeping Beauty, The Tale of Tsar Saltan (opera), Carmen Suite/Symphony in C, and Raymonda. I also managed to a get a last minute ticket to a ballet gala at the Hermitage Theatre and Viktor Lebedev made that sort of cheesy touristy show worth it! I will go in more depth, but I literally arrived home late last night and just woke up sick. Sleeping Beauty: seeing the prologue fairies come out with what I call their "seaweed ocean flowing arms" in person was a dream come true. It was magical. Anastasia Kolegova was terrific! To me her personality has the Lopatkina imperial hauteur without the coldness. Carmen Suite: I think this might be Kondaurova's best role. She is spicy and bitchy in this role more than others I have seen. I might be in the minority but I think she is better at modern roles. Symphony in C: wonderful debut by Batoeva.....she is a GREAT dancer. Lopatkina was Lopatkina (cold and regal) which works for the 2nd movement. I like Lopatkina, but I have come to the conclusion she is now The Diva Lopatkina in most everything she does now. Yevseyeva was very good in the third movement. Gonchar danced in the last. Raymonda: I went thinking Shirinkina was all wrong for the role. She is petite, has a very sweet "Masha in Nutcracker" persona, etc. But she did a lot of extra things like entrechats in the 2nd act variation and during the final act coda she came out and balanced on one leg for quite a while before the music started. I could tell she prepared this role with care and worked very hard and won me over. I think she had a very slight stumble in the first act, but overall she was lovely. I think she lacks the gravitas that the final variation requires (or maybe that I personally like to see), but I actually was won over by her. The ballet gala at the Hermitage seems like something more for tourists (bits and pieces from famous ballets and mostly unknown dancers....although I was a tourist, so why not?), but Viktor Lebedev astounded me not only with his elevation but I never saw such deep cambres!!! I want to see more of him! I was an opera lover way before I became a ballet lover, so I could not pass up a chance to see Rimsky Korsakov's The Tale of Tsar Saltan which includes the famous The Flight of the Bumbleebee in it. This is an opera that I would probably never get a chance to see in my lifetime. It was very cute and fun to see, but it confirmed my feelings that the opera at the Mariinsky is not up to international standards for the most part unlike the ballet. Gergiev tries and tries, but for whatever reason the singers are just not singing at an international level. Still mediocre singers work fine in a rare Russian opera for me, so I enjoyed it. I also saw a thing called the Magical World of Dance which was obviously geared for children at the Concert Hall. It had some nice excerpts from ballets and dancers like Batoeva, Kuznetsov, and others performed. I will try to remember what was performed. I blew all my roubles the first night there (Friday night) on drinks and dancing at gay bars! So I woke up with a hangover and rushed to the Concert Hall to see The Magical World of Dance (my first morning there), and had no roubles to buy a program (which was only in Russian anyway for this event). So if I can remember what I saw I will try to post. There were pieces from Firebird, Nutcracker, Satanella, Bayadere, etc. It was a GREAT program to involve children in ballet. I enjoyed it very much. They even called children on stage to try some moves. A great time......as for some of the discussion above, there is still the major sense of Imperial Russia when you see the Mariinsky Ballet, in my opinion. It is still worth seeing them. Yes, Kampa was in small roles in every ballet I saw. Vasnetsova's Clemence (which was outstanding) showed up Kampa's Henrietta big time without meaning to).

That makes sense, and opera singers use their diaphragm and stomach......so the technique has to be relearned, because skinny singers probably use muscles and heavy singers use a combination of muscle and weight (the weight helps push more air up and out). So without the extra weight, suddenly you need more muscles controlling the diaphragm. I don't know the exact mechanics, but I have had a voice teacher explain this. I think someone who learns to sing while thin and gains weight and then loses it knows how to adjust, but if you have been heavy your entire life and learned to sing while heavy, I think it is a big adjustment to relearn your technique, and some voice teachers are scared to help a singer re-learn his/her technique, because people develop habits (both good and bad) and re-teaching how they use their body could totally ruin the voice.

I think the gastric bypass is the direct result. A soprano who is singing with a good technique is usually in her prime around 50 and maybe showing tiny signs of wear if she has sung heavy repetoire, but many great sopranos sang into their 60s decently, and I think she is 52. Hypothetically, she should still be in good or possibly excellent form. I could be wrong but I think the Salome in Chicago that she sang was her first or one of her first appearances after the surgery and I heard a totally different voice (loss of strength, loss of size of voice, high notes not as good, etc.). Of course, she was learning how to use her muscles differently due to no longer having weight to depend on to help force the column of air out. I have heard even when you lose weight without surgery you sometimes have to relearn your technique. Ever since that surgery she has never sounded superhuman like she used to sound (in my personal opinion). She improved after the Salome that I heard but I still hear a voice that is a shadow of what it once was. Of course, all of this is my own personal opinion. Some people still love her. I want so very much to love her as a singer, but for me her tone is now very ordinary. Before the surgery I thought she had everything (high notes without strain, low notes, agility in the voice....she even trilled as Lady Macbeth, large voice, etc). I was actually waiting for her to gravitate toward the dramatic soprano repetoire back then, but she was careful and then after surgery she started taking on more and more heavy roles (Minnie in La Fanciulla, Brunnhilde, etc) when I feel she should now avoid heavy repetoire. Now I hear she will do Marie in Wozzeck next season! Gran Dio!!!!

Yes, Voigt is better looking and probably happier and healthier. She has become a more interesting actress. However, I think her voice used to be a force of nature. The selfish side of me misses that force of nature. She can still give decent performances, but it no longer astounds you in pure vocal terms, in my personal opinion.

When I was living in Tampa an elderly woman fell almost every single HD transmission. This is because the dumb movie theater had varying lengths of steps instead of a ramp going down. It was a stadium type movie theater, and people expected steps going up to the stadium type seats but the ground floor seats had steps instead of a ramp, for some reason. These steps were lit up on the edges but they had unexpected changes in length. Some of the steps were long platform steps and others were short steps. It was horrifying to see an old woman fall flat on her face almost every single time I went. I picked up a couple who fell near me and said they were okay. One could not get up and we called 911. I started warning elderly people as they walked past me to be careful. I suspect that the movie theater got away with this b/c all the steps were lit (did what they legally had to do), but it was still hazardous! I had a similar situation in NY at a restaurant near Lincoln Center. The restaurant is on the second floor and you enter these glass doors and you immediately see stairs leading up to the restaurant and "Watch your step" sign but you think they mean the stairs and you are looking around as you enter to see if a hostess will greet you and to see what paintings are on the wall and BAM! I tripped completely on a long landing step that comes soon after you enter and I was flying into the stairs. I had to hold out my fingers to avoid slamming my face into the stairs, so my fingers took the full brunt of my 6 ft. almost 200 pounds frame!!!! When I got home my doctor said nothing was torn or broken, but it should heal in 3 months. My fingers ached horribly for 6 months despite what he said, and I finally went to acupuncture and just a few times of acupuncture made them almost as good as new. The restaurant has a colored strip on the landing step and a "Watch Your Step" sign but you still don't expect that landing step at all on the ground floor despite all those legal precautions. The fact that they have a sign and colored strip tells me that I am not the only person to fall. So watch out if you know the restaurant that I mean. I can't remember the name but it was a seafood place. Anyway, I think some movie theaters can actually be dangerous for elderly people (and clumsy people like myself) to navigate!!!!!

So there can be an opportunity for the people behind the cameras - the director, basically - to help us to see more than we might if distracted, to keep us on target - but subjective darkness descending, examination of spear points? No, when many cameras are available, some principles of cinema need be kept in mind - the sequence of the shots edited together can make or break your experience of the whole event - but, yes, if it "works" in the theater, it'll work the same way on screen if you let it, don't cut it up, don't make sausage meat out of it. I agree with you completely, but to play Devil's Advocate.....I know in film (both from taking a film class in German Studies and having an aunt who was an art director) simply filming what happens is not the goal of a director and I am guessing not the goal of a video director either. Each director is creating (in his or her mind) a piece of art separate from the actual sequence of events that an audience sees. That is why that lousy Tristan und Isolde video director had the picture fade in and out while Tristan was dying. She was making an artistic choice and statement by making us feel Tristan's tentative state of consciousness. I personally think it was a FLOP decision on her part. This is also why we get furious when a movie version of a beloved novel comes out. They sometimes combine characters (due to length of novel) or cut out scenes or combine scenes or even redo the story somewhat. This is because directors do not feel they are taking a great work of art and simply translating it into a visual image. They feel they are creating a whole new work of art and not simply a recreation of the novel. Sort of like how the ballet Don Quixote was a new and totally different work of art than the novel. And that happens when the person is also filming opera and ballet. They often have their own agenda which frustrates us.

I think we will always be upset by cameramen! Some of their choices bewilder us, because they may not actually be as familiar with the operas (or ballets) as we are. One of the worst camera work or maybe editing on a video that I ever saw was in the otherwise wonderful Tristan und Isolde video with Waltraud Meier and Ian Storey from La Scala. She is singing about meeting Tristan and the camera focuses on a light. She does plan to extinguish it as a sign to Tristan to meet her (so the light plays a pivotal role), but give me a break! We want to see Meier's face as she sings, not minutes focusing on her cape or a light! Then, as Tristan is dying the video director (I assume) has the picture go black multiple times as if we are dying and our eyes closing multiple times. The same video director did the La Scala Aida with Alagna and she does the same thing and focuses on spears and other inanimate objects while singers are singing. You look at objects over and over. Meanwhile, the singer's face is missed. So I guess this is more a video director's choice in the editing process..... But I think the Lopatkina Swan Lake video cuts off her legs at the beginning of her fouettes if I remember correctly. There are always going to be infuriating camera moments in video or even movie transmissions. Even if we were doing the filming we might infuriate someone, because we each might consider a particular moment more important than another. In the Met's previous traditional Ring (video) during Wotan's farewell to Brünnhilde, you get an overhead shot also.....an angle no audience member would ever have. I have to admit that I do not like that sort of thing either. I do like to basically see the opera the way I might see it in the theatre, although I do think close ups at choice moments is important too. I think a close up of Wotan saying goodbye to his daughter is appropriate. A shot overhead is unnecessary. Overhead shots in ballet sometimes make some sense b/c seeing the patterns can be interesting, even if it is not what we usually see in the actual theatre. In cameramen's defense, however, I have been to a performance and focused on one performer and then missed something in the action on the other side of the stage and been mad at myself. So these things happen even to us. So it makes sense it happens to the cameramen too. But overall, I understand someone being frustrated with the cameras at the movie versions or videos.

I actually found out that the video is from a ballet set to Bach's music. The poster of the video was making a joke because of the ramps. But laugh about it now, because something like that is bound to happen in ballet one day! Then, we'll be crying! LOL

A good way around this is to sit far away in operas. You actually hear how large or small the various singers' voices are, and it can astound you. And take binoculars to get close ups of the singers' faces from time to time. When I have attended special things like a Ring or an opera with a particular singer I adore I go ahead and pay the big bucks, but if it is mainly an opera I am interested in seeing but have no favorite singers in the cast then I buy a cheap ticket and take binoculars, and it actually is okay, b/c opera is about the singing to me, and you hear sometimes way better in the faraway seats. Ballet is different. It is much more important to see and have a good seat.

The problem with that is that the allure for me is to see it as it is happening live. I even read an article that the Met's HDs (because they are live) are much more popular than the pre-videotaped European operas on Emerging Pictures (pre-taped b/c of the time difference). For me (and possibly others) seeing a pre-taped opera is like watching a dvd except I do not have the remote to pause it. But seeing it live as it is actually happening creates an excitement.

I wonder too. For one reason or another I'm only seeing one HD this season, but I've seen as many as a half a dozen, and I plan to catch a few when they're rebroadcast this summer.But the regional company here, which introduced me to live opera 20 years ago, and which now performs in the same theater that shows the broadcasts, last year charged almost twice what HD tickets cost. Between seeing their Boheme and taking the opportunity to see . . . well, anything from the Met's HD season, none of which my local company will probably ever do, despite the fact that this is a moneyed, educated town . . . the choice is easy. Yes, it is rare for a regional company to do things like Thais, the Ring, Tristan und Isolde, Parsifal, Armida, etc. (all HD transmissions from the Met). So for many it is the only way to see these things. Regional companies have to have a heavy dose of La Bohemes and Rigolettos to survive.

That video makes me prefer the original idea of this thread! I never thought I would be willing to go along with the original idea! But after seeing that video I would prefer what the original poster suggested!

The other issue I have always wondered about is whether these HD transmissions harm regional opera companies. I agree with abatt that the best way to see opera is "live" in person. There is nothing like the human voice carrying above an orchestra into your ear in the same room. By the way, I think the new Met Ring looks terrible on the movie screen, not just in person. But anyway, my thought is that if you can go see Kaufmann as Werther and Fleming as Rusalka, etc. at the movies you might not care to see Joe Smith as Werther at your local company or Mary Jo Smith as Rusalka. The star system is still alive and well in the opera world. When a regional company gets even one well known star, I suspect it actually helps ticket sales. But often they can't afford stars, so they are relying a lot on Also Rans, Has Beens, and Never Will Bes..... I guess my point is that if people can see international level singers at the top of their game in HD for a cheaper price than seeing "nobodies" in person, I suspect some people will just go to the HDs. The only thing you totally miss out on is the size of the voice and the unique acoustics of a live experience (orchestral sound also), but if given the option: 1) no opera or 2) lousy regional opera (some of it can be rather good but that's not my point) or 3) international level opera at the movies......a lot of opera fans will choose the latter if on a limited income. I noticed when the HDs first started the host would almost always announce paying a visit to your local company. But then the big economic crash came and they stopped saying that. They started saying, "Come to a live performance at the Met," but now that things are picking back up, they have started saying we should visit our local companies again! LOL I find it sort of humorous.

Sandy, it is nice to hear your enthusiasm for both opera and ballet. Inject me with some of that enthusiasm, please! LOL I used to have it for opera but now only for ballet. I am the opposite of you. I spent the last 20 years + traveling to go see operas (and singers) and collecting opera cds, dvds, etc. Opera was the Love of My Life when my sister died 20 years ago. I craved it more than anything. I even told my partner, "Opera comes first. You are second!" I would squeeze in ballets if I could. If I were in a city and no opera was playing. If there was a touring company or local company performing, etc. But opera always took first priority. I kept wanting the ballet bug to bite me, and although I enjoyed what I saw (and knew absolutely nothing about what I was seeing) I still kept trying. It also didn't hurt that very short ballets are contained in some operas, although usually they use very new choreography. It took my partner moving me to Gainesville, FL and my walking away from a career I loved to cause me to fall into a deep depression and suddenly opera betrayed me and was not working. It had been my crazy meds for 20 years and BAM! It no longer worked out of the blue. I have sort of been out of work for 3 years now and unable to get a job in my career, so after years of trying to "love" ballet and it simply wouldn't stick, suddenly I plunged into ballet, and ballet is now my new crazy meds. Keeps me sane. So off I go to Russia in a week! It is hard to find opera people, by the way, except online. My friends would go once with me as an experience but rarely wanted to go a second time. They enjoyed it, but they checked it off their list. "Well, I've been to an opera and had a good time. What's next on my bucket list?" was their attitude. You are doing the right thing. Dozens of operas will get you to learn the variety (time periods, styles, etc). I agree that Met HDs have helped expose a lot more people. Some look down upon seeing opera in a movie theater, but I think it is better than nothing. People forget that some of us are stuck in small towns with no opera! What I meant about video being slow to take off is that back in the late 80s early 90s opera on video still wasn't a big thing. But opera on cds was. I think video took off once dvds became the norm. Believe me, it was a real drag to watch an opera on VHS tape. You had to rewing or fast forward to go back to a part you wanted to watch again. And the picture quality was not as good. By the way, I think Wagner is much better with the visual element. I think Wagner is fine with just audio, but the Ring is definitely enhanced big time with the visuals. Bel Canto opera is easier to enjoy as just an audio experience if you can't get to a bel canto opera in person. Bel canto is more about the singing and the acrobatics with the voice, so I think it is just as enjoyable to listen to an audio CD of Lucia di Lammermoor as it is to see the opera. But that is my opinion. But I would agree that it is preferable to have the visual when it comes to Wagner's Ring. But audio is better than nothing, and there are some outstanding recordings (audio only) that you should consider buying!!!!!! I read the supertitles (or seat back titles if at the Met or Santa Fe Opera) too, especially if it is an opera like Il Pirata that I am less familiar with, but there are some like La Traviata or Norma that I could probably come close to singing all roles in the shower!!! As you listen more and more you will memorize whole sections of operas that you love even if you don't really speak the language. I can get by if lost in Italy, but I really don't speak the language. I call my Italian "Operatic Italian" but I could probably sing most of Norma or La Traviata. Luckily, I speak German, so Wagner is easier to follow for me, although Wagner's German is a bit weird (poetic or wacky) so not always easy to understand.....plus, the singers do not always have great diction. But it is not absolutely essential to know the language. You will be amazed how you will memorize whole scenes and understand them, even if you don't actually speak the language. Have fun seeing the ballets this weekend, especially Concerto Barocco which is lovely!!!

Just ignore me, by the way! I just went on too long! I am VERY JADED when it comes to opera. I sort of went cold turkey once I found ballet (and ballet started giving me the highs that opera was no longer giving me), but I did go see Kaufmann in the HD Parsifal at the movies recently, and he gave me that thrill that made me fall in love with opera. Very few singers do that. So I have hope for myself that I will find the thrill again in opera! LOL I am actually looking forward to his HD Werther next season!!!! Oh, and I went to a rare Verdi opera a couple of weekends ago in person: Un giorno di regno.......it was his second opera, I believe, and he hadn't found his own voice yet. Sounds almost like Rossini or Donizetti. And I found it interesting, but don't ask me about the singers.....I want to dwell on the positives in this particular posting!!!! LOL

Don't get me wrong. There are a a few great singers singing today (ones that also do the drama justice), and when you hear them, you know it. When you hear someone like Nina Stemme as Brünnhilde or Jonas Kaufmann in almost anything he sings the hairs on your head tingle. You are literally blown away. Of course, these types are always special. Yes, Gesamtkunstwerk is what it is all about, and ideally we would get singers who act up a storm and sing wonderfully at the same time, but we rarely get that. If we are lucky we get decent singing and adequate acting, but hardly ever a night to remember for the rest of our lives. And that is okay too. Mediocre nights at the opera are okay. They can satisfy like an average dinner can also satisfy us in some ways. But I personally (and this is my opinion) would rather have amazing singers in front of crappy sets and crappy lighting and wearing crappy costumes rather than what I think is the norm today: crappy singing with outstanding costumes, sets, and lighting. Before I slowed down on my opera attending I started joking with a friend, "It sure is sad that I am going tonight mainly to see the sets! To this I have sunk. I am excited about the sets!" LOL I guarantee that a soprano who can do the strip tease herself in Salome is almost never someone who is going to sing Salome well. That role requires someone to have a powerful and pretty heavy voice (but a silvery sound). I would rather have a fat singer in Salome who goes off stage and a dancer strips in her place rather than a beautiful svelte soprano who can not do the singing justice but can do the Dance of the Seven Veils. Not to mention most svelte sopranos are most likely going to shred their vocal cords singing Salome, because more than likely they are too young to be singing such a role! So it is a really difficult problem in opera. Who serves the drama better? The soprano who does not look the part AT ALL but sings the hell out of the role or the soprano who is totally wrong vocally but looks the part? In more than any other art form you have to suspend disbelief in opera. In the past a huge woman like Monserrat Caballe could sing Salome who is supposed to be a sixteen (not sure exact age) year old beauty. Historically, opera has had no choice because Artistic and General directors used to hire singers mainly based on whether they were actually right for the role. When you find the right voice you snap her up regardless of weight or looks. I think this is a phenomenon in opera that started out of necessity. I suspect before hard rock took off, the average person knew what good singing was and so the average person on the street back in the 1950s probably could tell good singing from bad singing. So opera companies had to hire the right singer for the right role. Now that screaming in hard rock and speak-singing (Madonna for example) in pop and whatever it is in rap......this is the only thing people hear, they don't know if the opera singer they are hearing is good or bad. I have been told by non-opera lovers that "All opera singers sound the same..." and I had a non-opera lover friend attend an opera with me and he was enthralled by the worst tenor I ever heard in my life....totally off key and screeching up a storm. I didn't have the heart to tell him how lousy I thought the tenor was. I think people just hear bellowing in an opera-ish sort of way and think it must be wonderful. By the way, notice the huge amount of audio bootlegs or audio studio recordings of opera. Ballet, for example, requires the visual. Opera doesn't for most collectors. People trade opera (audio only) like it is going out of style. There are videos too but they were much slower in taking off. The singing in opera is what most people crave. Yes, everything else is on the wish list, but the Number One thing we crave is good singing, although I have met the rare opera lover who doesn't care about the singers, but I think that is very rare. I spent a long time collecting over 100 Norma bootlegs in my years of opera going. I had Angela Meade's Caramoor Norma debut on cd within days of it happening. It was like searching for the Holy Grail to get all these Normas. Maybe this one would be the one. With hindsight I could have saved time and energy and just collected the ones with Callas, maybe a couple of Caballe ones......Sutherland's first studio recording has some exciting extra music......etc. But all those other recordings of sopranos I have in Norma can really be trashed, I hate to say. By the way, Meade does some very decent things, and she will sing the role at the Met next season. But I don't think she's the Norma we've all been waiting for our whole lifetime. Back to the drawing boards.

Or give me fat Voigt back any day!

A good Wagnerian mezzo/soprano of a previous generation who is no longer around but taught many singers still singing today believed weight lifting was deadly to the voice, because it caused neck muscles to thicken. She would get mad if her singers started lifting weights. But most of the male singers now do it, b/c they get more gigs. The crazy productions have them on stage in their underwear half the time. So they get gigs due to being buff but they can't really sing the roles. The emphasis is no longer on "voce, voce, voce".....it is on looking hot and whole careers are being made by looking hot and singing adequately. You now pay top dollar to hear "adequate" or "decent" singing, not amazing singing. The days of amazing jaw dropping voices are over, because the emphasis is on being "hot".... I mentioned in another topic that Deborah Voigt was once one of the outstanding voices of our time, but after gastric bypass surgery she is a shadow of her former self voice wise (although she's probably a happier person and she does act better). She was a prime example of voce, voce, voce. I don't think she would have ever been drowned out by an orchestra back then. She had it all. I will take a Dolora Zajick or a Piotr Beczala any day over some "hot" singer!!!!