Opera Impressions

Grand Finals of the National Council Auditions

The original "Idol" competition Finals took place last Sunday at the Met. Talented opera singers from around the world competed for prize money and for the prestige, exposure and path to success that winning this competition provides. I have always found attendance at the Regionals in Boston to be quite heart-warming and inspiring. This was my first opportunity to attend the Finals at the Met.

This year 15,000 singers participated in 45 districts and 15 regions across the United States and Canada. There were nine finalists who participated in this last stage of the competition at the Met. Of these, five winners were selected.

The winners were: sopranos Rachel Willis-Sorensen, Leah Crocetto and Lori Guilbeau; baritone Nathaniel Peake and tenor Elliot Madore.

Joyce DiDonato was supposed to be the Host but was caught in bad weather and could not fly to New York City. Marilyn Horne replaced her as the host. Marco Armiliato who had conducted La Boheme the night before conducted the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra.

Frederica von Stade was the guest artist performing at what was billed as her last performance at the Met.

Congratulations to all those who participated in the Finals. I enjoyed all of the singing. Now, I am inspired to watch my copy of the DVD of "The Audition" which is the story of this competion a few years back.

La Boheme, Again

OK, I admit it. I have become jaded. I attended the recent performance of La Boheme at the Met and I found myself very reluctant to again encounter the Zeffirelli production. Not that there is anything inherently wrong with the Zeffirelli production. It is just that after more years than I care to count and more performances than I can remember, I am tired of it. Actually, I dread it. They should change the libretto so that Rodolfo sings to Mimi, "of all the artist's garrets in all the towns in all the world, you walk into mine." Why Paris? Why this same room, the same table, chairs, food basket to be lowered from the ceiling? Why the same old inn in which Marcello and Musetta live? Why the same Cafe Momus? This proves the old adage about too much of a good thing.

To be fair, there were some minor changes in the movements of the characters on stage. That was refreshing. And the cast was good.

The Barber of Seville

I love this opera! It is really engaging, fun and has some great arias. I particularly like the arias for the bass roles of Dr. Bartolo and Don Basilio. The role of Dr. Bartolo was sung in this performance by Maurizio Muraro and the bass role of Don Basilio by the ever-dependable and enjoyable Samuel Ramey. Both singers did a fine job in my opinion. I was happy to see Diana Damrau perform as Rossina. She was out sick the week before for La Fille du Regiment and apparently still had a cold for this performance. I noticed no ill effects. Ms. Damrau rendered a shimmering performance of the arias in the role including Rosina's famous aira Una voce poco fa.

Here is Don Basilio's aria La calunnia e un venticello sung by Nicolai Ghiaurov and Dr. Bartolo's aria A un dottor della mia sorte sung by Claudio Desderi.