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Gay City News, May
28, 2010 |
BY DAVID
SHENGOLD |
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Carmen,
Metropolitan Opera, 28. April 2010 |
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The Jonas Sensation
Kaufmann ignites Met “Tosca”(siehe
Tosca Kritiken) and “Carmen”
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“Carmen” (April 28) as a production has
problems that could easily be resolved:
First, cut the dreadful Vegas-style
Christopher Wheeldon choreography that
disfigures and trivializes the “Prelude” and
“Interlude.” Second, stop the soldiers in
the first scene from molesting Micaela (no
way they would do this to someone asking for
their comrade officer). And, do not rotate
the stage at the opera’s shattering
denouement to show Escamillo towering over a
risible plastic bull.
Kate Aldrich, pretty and with a great
figure, had the “confident Carmen” routine
down to the point of seeming generic. She
worked really hard, with a decent
middleweight sound despite some frazzled
high notes and pitch lapses. She was more
natural than the chilly supermodel Garanca
this past fall, but she struck no sparks.
Jonas Kaufmann’s José struck many sparks
–– vocally, physically, interpretively ––
and ignited the performance onto a different
plane with a sensational “Flower Song,”
ending with a great demonstration of messa
di voce and diminuendo. His singing was
detailed, polished, and remarkably beautiful
throughout, with well-sifted echoes of
Corelli, Gedda, and Vickers in the mix.
In addition, Kaufman’s a hell of a tragic
actor, the best José in my experience since
Domingo opposite Crespin when I was a kid.
He alone made the performance truly
memorable, though Maija Kovalevska’s Micaela
did some lovely singing.
It is difficult to reconcile Mariusz
Kwiecien’s near-disastrous Escamillo –– no
top , no bottom, major static ––with the
world-class “Figaro” Count he recently sang
in Chicago. Swanning in tight pants is not
enough in this tricky role.
Eve Gigliotti made a promising debut as
Mercedes, her sensuous mezzo a good match
for Elizabeth Caballero’s Frasquita and
something of an admonishment to Aldrich’s
neutral “all-American” sound. The feeble
Morales wouldn’t have stood out in a
conservatory production –– another example
of looks driving the industry’s casting and
publicity agenda to the exclusion of style
and experience.
Altin Antinoglu led decently –– no more, no
less. |
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