Kitsch or Schmaltz? Kaufmann & Co stream deadly-dull greetings
Daily Comfort ZoneThe Vienna State Opera would like to wish us all something or other in this horribly artificial rendition of ‘Silent Night’ by a gaggle of fleeting stars and a ballet flock of dying swans.
Singing along are Jonas Kaufmann, Ludovic Tézier, Günther Groissböck, Kate Lindsey, Pretty Yende, David Butt Philip, Angel Joy-Blue, Andreas Schager, Patricia Nolz, Joshua Guerrero, Serena Sáenz, Tanja Ariane Baumgartner, Roberta Mantegna, Monika Bohinec, Ambrogio Maestri and Martin Häßler.
Audience warning: Unsuitable for anyone under the age of 85.
Not exactly “sleeping in heavenly peace” when no shot lasts more than 3 seconds.
No dying swans here! Those are the Willis, the ghosts of unmarried women who died after being betrayed by their lovers in Act II of “Giselle”.
Had they been swans, they would sport Classical tutus; here they are clad in Romantic tutus. Only obsessive/compulsive ballet-goers like me care about stuff like this.
What the Willis have even remotely to do with the holiday season is beyond me, but as a part of Staatsoper, our wonderful Staatsballett deserves to be included, but maybe a different clip would have made this less painful.
It sounds superb, a group of world-class singers. Whether it’s kitsch for you, you can decide for yourself. The video is not really well done – too hectic, you would like to see the singers singing, but musically very good. You forgot to mention pianist Stephen Hopkins.
Here is “Silent Night” wrapped up in a free film, Joyeux Noel.
https://upmovies.to/watch/yGDpryG6-joyeux-noel.html
Since it would seem that my comments are not read and/or not taken seriously, for the second time today I am quoting myself, this time regarding the Vienna State Opera:
Roscic could try improving his posture, but that is not going to stop the way in which he is ruining the Vienna State Opera, where I used to be a regular for more than 40 years. The downfall, however, did not begin with Roscic, but rather during the 19 years that Holender was at the helm. The decline was gradual, but it sure as hell was there! Meyer did nothing to stop the trend, and Roscic is depending upon on the likes of Ariosi & Co. to complete the disgraceful decline. The very idea that someone like Roscic is occupying the position that was held in the past by conductors such as Gustav Mahler, Karl Böhm, Herbert von Karajan and Lorin Maazel is nauseating! Mahler had to change his religion – at least officially – in oder to stay and the other three were simply run out of town. The hate campaign against Maazel, which I witnessed personally, was a perfect lesson in how one organizes HATRED.
There was a time when a Christmas/New Year’s greeting from members of the regular ensemble of the Vienna State Opera would have made those contributing to the present vocal desaster keep their collecting mouth shut in shame. Unfortunately back then, in the “good old days”, quality prevailed at the Vienna State Opera, but unfornately “streaming” did not yet exist. Most of the today’s so-called “stars” would most likely not have even been accepted in the Chorus of the Opera … much less as soloists.
Unsuitable for “anyone under the age of 85”? No, unsuitable for anyone alive and a disgrace for what used to be one of best opera houses on earth!!!
Bah Humbug! I rather enjoyed it. What do you want? Moonlit scenes of snow and a barn in Immst?
Do you mean Imst-Pitztal? Please to say that fast ten times.
Although this group includes many valued singers, it says much about the current status of opera that only Kaufmann is what used to be called a “household name.”
i have heard worse
on a cruise ship choir
No “household name”? Tézier, Groissböck, Lindsey, Yende, Schager, Maestri? What on earth do you want – great singers or stars of the Yellow Press?
None of these singers are stars of the “yellow press”, although one in particular outdoes himself cluttering up Instagram from wherevr he may be. Of those which I have heard live, only one of them was what I would qualify as “great”!
Close your eyes, and the music is beautiful. The most beautiful Christmas hymn of all. Oh, Little town of Bethlehem is the next most beautiful. And, while listening, I challenge all but the most cynical to avoid crying and thinking of the devastation wrought in Israel and Gaza, and Ukraine this Christmas.
Why not end the year as you began it, with yet another swipe at Jonas Kaufmann. Click bait for all the detractors and for those harking back to another era where it is claimed everything was better. Well I don’t agree. Happy Christmas. Bah humbug!
They need to sing this with scores? Seriously?
Not for the scores but for the lyrics! Only a few of them are German. A little thinking wouldn’t hurt.
I watched and listened to it. It was disgusting. What a waste of some talent. Couldn’t they have just sung the song together on stage without all the herky-jerky camera shots and cutesy expressions. Maybe the Met isn’t so bad afterall.
Yes, the singing was OK. What annoyed me was the intercut shots of the singers larking about and apparently making fun of each other.
Come on. If you’re going to complain about Christmas kitsch from Vienna, you can begin and end with this travesty: https://youtu.be/TCE8HCxlDTk
It shows how superficial opera singers are today. They are all contributing to the downfall of this art form.
Why to accept to make a fool of yourself…. Beats me
Very funny. You complain about kitsch – just in the country of Christmas-kitsch. Most of Christmas-celebrations in the USA are unsuitable for anyone older than 5. Excuse me, but somewhere there is a limit to your libel against Kaufmann, who only played a minor role here, and the Vienna State Opera.