Sep 24 2008
A night at the Opera
September 22, 2008. Buenos Aires, Villa Urquiza. The newly remodeled 25 de Mayo theatre, once a cinema, would host one of the live broadcasts from the Met on its opening night for the 2008-2009 season in a few minutes. It would become the first theatre in South America to have signed an agreement with the Met, a historical event.
The HD live broadcast was a little too American for my taste, I must confess. However, I also have to admit that these people know how to make a show. After all, opera is also entertainment, even if more elitist. It seems that the new deal now is to take opera to a broad new audience. That sounds exciting, and interesting if James Levine is behind the idea. Now, does it feel a little weird to be applauding at the end of each act as if the singers were really there? Yes, it does. The screen, High Definition or not, is only showing images of what is going on thousands of miles away. This is a live experience from afar, in a theatre where a bunch of formally dressed strangers smile in ecstasy as if they were at the Colón.
On the other side of the screen, a star-studded event begins. Act II of La Traviata, Act III of Manon and the final scene from Capriccio create the background against which America’s leading soprano of this early century — Renée Fleming — will charm audiences worldwide with her voice, her charisma and her modern diva looks. Personally there is something that I can’t quite capture about Fleming. It could be a question of taste, and then I would be at a loss for words. I saw her years ago live at the Colón, when she was an unknown, in a version of Le Nozze di Figaro. I found her laughter rather disturbing at the time. Later on, the world would prove me wrong, as she would become a leading lady of opera on an international level, and in her own right. Of course, I had never listened to her in the best of her repertoire: French and German opera. It suffices to compare her rendition of a lustful and regretful Manon winning back her Des Grieux (a stunning Ramón Vargas — Gosh, what good bones can do for people’s voices, even if singers don’t really look the part– ) or a meditative Madeleine in Capriccio to realize where her strengths lie. Yes, give me Fleming as Thaïs (coming later this year as part of the Met’s season offerings) any time, and put her on Strauss mode uninterruptedly, and I will see her talent in full bloom. But she can only play a correct Traviata for me. She does not have the Italian excess of emotion the part needs. It is not like her.
The evening slowly draws to a close. I have witnessed a special moment in Opera’s history. In the multimedia world we live in, this kind of event should gradually become the norm. Too sad this is happening simultaneously with a forced deprivation of a real season at the Colón — will the remodeling ever conclude? Anyway, little does it matter what the future brings to this bewitched city in the form of opera intimacy, in a real theatre, with the right acoustics and the history that shapes the circumstances. For now, only for now…we can enjoy live performances at the Met here in Buenos Aires.
Woolfian: Me arrastra con el relato, casi estoy ahí….casi mirando con mis ojos “niños” para la Opera. Se requiere mucha delicadeza en la palabras, para hacer de ellas el medio exacto, donde mostrar una pasión, sabido es que las pasiones son rebeldes a las palabras y usted lo hace parecer sencillo.
Ojala alguien supiera la fecha exacta en la que la “restauración” del Colón estara finalizada, creo que todos en el fondo de nuestra cabeza pesimista, oimos el temor golpear.
La saludo con cariño
Emi,
¡Qué honor, arrastrarla con el relato! Le agradezco sus palabras. Me emociona. Yo lucho entre las lenguas, pero termino volviendo al inglés para decir esas cosas, evocar tantas memorias rotas y otras que se rearman después de tanto tiempo.
¡Qué lindo lo de sus ojos “niños” para la ópera! No hay nada mejor que conservarlos así, siempre a la espera de un nuevo descubrimiento. Déjelos mirar y deslumbrarse siempre, ya sea que abran el Colón o no.
Le dejo un abrazo y nos encontramos en breve.
W.
It seems that they´ll never finish the remodeling, it´s exasperating.
What a lovely evening you´ve had! I hope to be there next time. Oh, and Fleming, you know, she has a lack of “piripipí” – I can´t find the right words in English, I think that this one suits her ; ) -.
Dear Manon,
I couldn’t have said it better! She lacks the “piripipí” you mentioned, and probably that’s what makes me a little reluctant to welcome Fleming in the same way as other people do. There’s nothing technically wrong with her, and she is far more moving than icy Te(a) Kanawa, but still…Of course, after Maria, the concept of divas is not the same. She could play the darkest role with intensity and yet remain a diva. I have not seen anybody else do that, and I doubt I will see anyone do that again before I die.
Thanks for dropping by, and it would be great if you could attend the Met screenings. The next ones are supposed to be held on Saturday afternoons, and I understand the theatre wants to sell performance tickets as an “abono”. Whatever, I think it’s worth it, even if not the same as the “real thing”.
Regards,
W.