Met leaks: Gelb signs Salzburg star

Met leaks: Gelb signs Salzburg star

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norman lebrecht

February 11, 2019

The Metropolitan Opera will announce its season very shortly.

One of the highlights to leak our way is the Met debut of the Lithuanian soprano Asmik Grigorian, who took Salzburg by storm last summer as Salome in the Richard Strauss opera.

Grigorian, 37, will make her Met debut as Salome, followed by a second appearance as Madam Butterfly.

Also on the leak:

Joyce DiDonato will sing Handel’s Agrippina.

Eric Owens and Angel Blue will open the season as Porgy and Bess.

Disclaimer: Since Slippedisc.com is on Peter Gelb’s personal blacklist, there is no way this information could have reached us from any source close to him, now could it?

Comments

  • Alexander says:

    Beautiful singing she can deliver to the audience, and
    (what is timely for the Met) she can also fill the house in with her voice till the balcony
    …………………………
    PS just curious which part will Peter Geld offer to Elena Stikhina after her triumphal Suor Angelica ? Attended her “La Traviata” recently – ’twas a kind of Mirella Freni’s rendition (at least) with a Monica BelLucci like drama play ( somewhat of “Malena” or so). Also can say that her Tatiana in “Onegin” is the best in the world nowadays to my ears ( kind of a young Netrebko with Elena’s “special” dazzling tops in the third act).

  • Novagerio says:

    Her name is Asmik Grigoryan. As you might know, her father was the armenian tenor and Marinsky star Gegam Grigoryan.

    • nimitta says:

      And yet her own website and FB page list her as Grigorian.

    • Nik says:

      Sorry, but you are wrong. She spells it Grigorian. Google her.
      Her father’s name appeared in various transliterations: Gegam/Gegham Grigorian/Grigoryan.

    • Tristan says:

      and the hype around this performance is typical for our time – Behrens with Karajan was a sensation but not Grigorian neither Welser-Moest nor Castelucci – however Gelb needs some advice as he has hardly any idea nor any good taste – not sure if she will succeed on stage of this monstrous house

  • Pedro says:

    All this information is in Fandom future Met Wiki. Nothing new.

  • John Kelly says:

    Try this for a sample. I can’t wait to hear her. She really can act. Funnily enough she also sings pop music (check YouTube)…….She is also singing Marietta at La Scala in May/June (Korngold)
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mAUHUpCe8cs

    • Tiredofitall says:

      Yikes…this is not exactly a steller performance. Could be the director’s fault or her own exuberance affecting her breathing and climaxes. Sloppy.

    • David Hilton says:

      Really? I don’t see it. Or hear it. The acting seems at the level that you would expect in a major house; nothing memorable. And as for the singing. This is quite a trying voice to listen to for any length of time. I see this Puccini excerpt was recorded in 2011. Has Miss Grigorian’s voice improved in the past decade, as she approaches 40? That seems unlikely.

  • Petros Linardos says:

    The youtube clips point to a wonderful singer. Why do we need to see her with that headless mannequin? Are other photographs so hard to find? She is managed by Askonas Holt, for God’s sake.

  • Mark says:

    Porgy and Bess, really ? What’s next, Showboat and Guys and Dolls ? (eyeroll)

    • BrianB says:

      Gershwin’s OPERA bowed at the Met in the 1980s. Try and keep up.

    • Stuart says:

      Shocking: an opera company scheduling a production of an opera. Oh, by inference, you consider Porgy and Bess some sort of musical unworthy of presentation in an opera house. How old fashioned. Listen to the Rattle recording and open your mind. It is more accomplished than many operas that get productions these days.

  • Good news! Asmik Grigorian is really great.

    This review is from Wozzeck in Amsterdam (concertante, NTR ZaterdagMatinee). Grigorian’s Marie was the best ever:

    https://basiaconfuoco.com/…/08/19/wozzeck-zaterdagmatinee/

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