Yannick gears down for Wagner debut

Yannick gears down for Wagner debut

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norman lebrecht

April 16, 2017

The designated music director of the Metropolitan Opera will conduct his first Wagner opera in the house on April 25.

It is a fairly low-key Flying Dutchman revival with Michael Volle as the Dutchman, Amber Wagner as Senta and Jay Hunter Morris as Erik. The opera has not been seen at the Met for seven years.

Comments

  • Daniel Poulin says:

    http://bitperfectsound.blogspot.ca/2017/03/shostakovich-symphony-no-4.html
    For those who wonder why Yannick Nézet-Séguin is so highly considered by major orchestras. He just conducted in Montreal an amazing performance of Shostakovich’s Symphony No 4 and the concert is available on Ici Radio-Canada TV (The French Language side of the CBC). The famous (now retired) music critic of La Presse Claude Gingras told me that he was flabbergasted by the performance. He watched it 3 times already! (score in hand).
    YNS is without the shadow of a doubt one of the greatest conductors of the times.

  • Ungeheuer says:

    And good luck to all four, and they will need it, because they will never be able to surpass this quartet: the underrated conductor Peter Schneider, Cheryl Studer as Senta, Alan Titus as the Dutchman, and Jorma Silvasti as Erik, at Bayreuth, no less. Crème de la crème. Listen to this stunning finale:

    https://youtu.be/ks2Pa9TgUYQ

    • Otero says:

      Thanks for the link, it was indeed a superb performance. I had forgotten how lovely Silvasti’s tenor was and Studer at her best. I’d love to hear Amber Wagner here in the U.K.

    • Olassus says:

      Cheryl Studer was in decline after 1993 (this is 1999).

      Agree that Peter Schneider is underrated. Wasn’t he Hildegard Behrens’ husband in the 1980s?

      • Ungeheuer says:

        I could care less if she was “in decline” after 1993 or right after she was born. For in these 1999 Der fliegende Holländer performances she was stunning. If she was “finished” by 1999, as so many such as yourself continue to claim, her Sentas, a highly demanding role, should have been an outright disaster. They were not. So sorry to disappoint your prejudices.

        • Petros Linardos says:

          I attended one of the 1999 Bayreuth performances of the Hollander, about two weeks after this recording. I definitely enjoyed it, especially the orchestra, but did not find it as good as you are suggesting. Cheryl Studer’s wobble did not stop me from enjoying her warm voice and wonderful musicality.

          • Ungeheuer says:

            Never heard wobble associated with this soprano. You probably meant vibrato. Which probably also brings into question your credibility.

          • Petros Linardos says:

            Thank you for your kind words. I only expressed my opinion, and am not a singing expert.

            I can always use more knowledge and would like to pluck some of yours. Can please assess the sound Studer makes at 12:18 of your link?

          • Ungeheuer says:

            Petros, sorry, not falling for your trap. You figure it out.

          • Petros Linardos says:

            @ungeheuer
            This was an honest question, not a trap.

    • Marshall says:

      My first live Dutchman was George London and Leonie Rysanek. I was young enough that the Dutchman’s entrance was frightening. I’ve seen and heard some great ones after that.

      But let’s only live in the past. Some of you do anyway. How do we know it will be “low key” ?
      Isn’t that what makes it exciting-being alive-that we may experience the unexpected, the unanticipated? In any case if he is such a great conductor he’ll have his chance with the Met orchestra.

      • Ungeheuer says:

        You do make a good point. Problem is they throw these singers at us who have no pedigree. E.g. this Amber Wagner soprano. And musical pedigree is one of the most important elements for this listener. Then the people in the industry who foolishly believe in democratic casting (as if it had anything to do at all with civics and politics) expect us to root for their product as if it really mattered. Then their non-pedigreed singers fizzle out in 3 years time, with good reason, and the powers that be move on to their next best thing and so on and so forth. As for YNS, we will see. But again, I don’t have high expectations about his ability to make a memorable performance that will imprint itself upon us. Can’t speak about Michael Volle.

  • Don Ciccio says:

    But this revival has the great Dolora Zajick as Mary; talk about an underrated singer.

    I would have loved to hear her Ortrud that she sang in LA (I think) a few years back.

    • Ungeheuer says:

      Except no one attends fliegende Holländer for Mary

      • Don Ciccio says:

        But some would follow Zajick in anything she does. She’s worth following.

        • Ungeheuer says:

          Not really. The voice has long been in decline. Her last Met Azucenas were effortful and unlistenable. Plus her German is not a known quantity.

          • Don Ciccio says:

            Haven’t heard her Azucenas but last time she sang in Dialogues des Carmélites in Washington her voice was fine. So I am looking forward seeing her.

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