richard53dog

Ha, ha. But isn't everyone in that same boat?? I guess second best to being there is sharing the images. Richard

I feel so happy for these 2 US dancers, what august company they are in. Richard

FF, I tend to agree. If you don't know the myth, it's sort of hard to follow the narrative trail. Richard

The opening credits alone are a classic. Soooooo clever. Richard

chrisk217, I'm so glad that you enjoyed the video, I haven't seen it but I did see a performance on a Kirov tour, and Masurin sang it. And yes, he sang the entire role just a shade flat. OK, here's my 2 cents and rusty memory. At the time , either in the program notes or some other article, I seem to recall being told that the shy pitch thing is connected with that genre of character . Seems weird to me, but it may be a legit tradition. The opera is such a fantasy I guess anything is possible Forwarding 4 or 5 years later, I saw Masurin make his Met debut as Gherman in Queen of Spades. It wasn't the most polished performance but he did sing that on (mostly) on pitch. Anyone else on this? Am I off base? Richard

Yes, isn't it? Live from Lincoln Center has really programmed a lot over the years. And although slightly as this is a ballet board, there is still a contingent here that are also opera fans. And all the Met Opera telecasts from 1977 are NOT included. Sure they are from Lincoln Center, but the Met has chosen to brand them Live from the Met (although they are almost never "live" these days") NYCO has evidently been agreeable to have their telecasts under the general Live From Lincoln Center umbrella. Also ABT hasn't had any entries for a while. I guess they have been taping from othere venues Richard

I went for the 1976 ABT Swan Lake with Makarova and Nagy. Richard

Silvy, Isn't the movie delightful? I rewatched it a few months ago after a lapse of many years. There is much symbolism in the opera, maybe the biggest element is the Freemason images. They were (are?) a very secret society. In Mozart's time they may have been a counterforce against the Hapsburg's monarchy, but I'm a bit shaky on this. My grandfather was a Freemason but would never tell me too many details about their secret greetings and rituals. Richard

Boy, what a list of credits. And I wonder if the list is even longer, the stage credits look like Broadway and she may have put in a good amount of time on the boards in other US and foreign cities. I first saw her in the Rose Tatoo in the Fall of 1966. Yikes! Time marches on; almost 40 years ago! Richard

A very, very beautiful woman. The first time I saw her at the Met was in La Traviata and just for a second I caught my breath when the curtain rose, she was that stunning. Richard

Many, many years ago I sent an almost over the top fan letter to Maya Plisetskaya. She didn't send a note but did send a signed, beautiful color photo of herself as Odette. Richard

I've always thought Slutskaya was frumpy looking, even as she's experimented with different looks . Clearly, I've never been a fan. She's always looked mechanical to me. Also keep in mind she's now 27, among much younger athletes Richard

Good for her. I wish her all the all best! Richard

Old opera fans talk the same way. "we don't have Zinka anymore" . Although I have a big, big gap in my ballet attendance in the later 80s and 90s, I go all the way back to the mid-late 60 and saw the dancers Julio mentions plus many others . There were lots of dancers with intense, personal charisma. There are today also. The numbers vary, there have been bigger clusters at different times, but there are many dancers today that put a very personal stamp on their performing. This is something that is very important to me Two points, one , as I already noted is that some periods do have greater numbers, but it cyclical. The second, and this is the biggie, is that if you are looking for the new Nureyev YOU WILL NOT FIND HIM. I think this is one of the mistakes people make. The strong performers, across the different fine arts fields, project their OWN identity, not some watery imitiation . I find many dancers today compelling, but in different ways than favorites from almost 40 years ago (I'm getting old!!!!!) And I think Julio ironically would stand out just fine in earlier eras. Richard

Again, from the Barcelona interview , Gorchakova says she left the Kirov at least partially because of Gergiev's "mad reheasal schedules". Although I think itmay be a fair statement to say that she has an axe to grind. http://www.classicalvoice.org/articles/NU_gorchakova.htm Richard

I'm on the same page as Zerbinetta here. I was very intrigued by Helene's report on the Minghella . I put Puccini operas in storage sometimes after I've seen them too many times in a short time frame and it's time for Butterfly to come out. This sounds like a great opportunity for a reaquaintance. Richard

Someof those interviews; whew! I remember reding the Barcelona one when it was published a few years ago. This is one of the ones Zerbinetta mentions that you can still see via google. I heard her about a half dozen times during the 90s. Early on she sang Renata in Prokofiev's Fiery Angel in a Maryinsky production; this was thrilling but the role is a killer. Still, I'm happy I saw it, they just don't put this on all that much. I think all the Renatas started taking a toll, and then as Zerbinetta also notes, she sang on her "principal". Again it was a thrilling sound, but not wise from a career perspective. The last few times I saw her or tried to she either cancelled or sang with great effort on her top range with flatting. Jaroslavna on a Maryinsky visit to new NY sounded to me like a singer with a lot of problems. Richard

I would say the same, with a Vishneva/Malakhov combo. The chemistry is SO important. I wasn't overwhelmed by the Vishneva/Corella pairing last Summer. Vishneva was very exciting, Corella was also very exciting but I also saw a Kent Bocca pairing. While Kent does not have the incredible magnetism that Vishneva has for me, the Kent/Bocca performance is the one that really sucked me in. It must have been tough for Vishneva who also had a partner change in Swan Lake Richard

I'm right there with you on that. I thought it cried out to have a big-B Body in it. Two elements that combined, are far less than the sum of their parts. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I thought so too. Whelen ended up looking very angular. Surely there was another dress that would make the most of her fine points. (she does have an air of elegance, etc.) Richard

Boccatango will be up here in NJ next week. There is a performance in NJPAC in Newark on the 17th Richard

Carbro, You are right, of course. I'm not sure what chance I have of seeing Ballet Argentino though. But one can hope. Richard

I had read he was going to retire "this year" but I had sort of convinced myself that it meant 2007. What a very vivid personality! I will miss him. Richard

ATM711, I like this DVD a lot too. Yes, it's dark and probably looked better on stage, but I (mostly) like Wright's work too. I thought the PG13 Act 1 is ok, but tend to get antsy by the princesses. I am absolutely captivated by Norquist's Odette. She's not a toweringly tragic Odette: she's more gentle than that, but she uses that sad, sweet smile...... I also like the way she executes the mime, again this is important for me. She's not a wickedly vampish Odile, but her somewhat understated characterization works for me since she is imitating a very gentle Odette And yes, it's nice not to have a jester . I get more annoyed by a jester than ABT's horrible swamp thing Richard

Certainly in a related product area, Darci Kistler is shown in ads for Movado watch. I thought these might have finished their run, they are not exactly new, but 2 months ago I got another Playbill with this ad as the back cover. Richard

Sad indeed, and too soon. Wendy must also have been an opera person. Some five or so years ago Glimmerglass and the NYCO commissioned a bill of three one act operas and Wendy wrote the libretto to one. The whole bill was called Central Park I seem to remember PBS telecasting the premiere at the NYST. Wendy must have been a real New Yorker in the best definition of the term. R.I.P. Richard