The Baltimore Sun on Renée Fleming:
The soprano will be saying no to some repertoire in the future. Donizetti and other bel canto composers will be put aside soon. Manon and La traviata also "will probably disappear," she says. But there are tantalizing plans for Wagner's Lohengrin.
To Vima, Rolando Villazón interviewed:
[I dream of singing] Lohengrin, the title role in Wagner’s opera. I hope one day my dream comes true.
Classic FM, Anna Netrebko interviewed:
I want to try Wagner's Lohengrin because it is beautiful and I want to sing it.
Now, vote you sexy reader!!! Rolando+Anna or Rolando+Renée? Or neither?
The soprano will be saying no to some repertoire in the future. Donizetti and other bel canto composers will be put aside soon. Manon and La traviata also "will probably disappear," she says. But there are tantalizing plans for Wagner's Lohengrin.
To Vima, Rolando Villazón interviewed:
[I dream of singing] Lohengrin, the title role in Wagner’s opera. I hope one day my dream comes true.
Classic FM, Anna Netrebko interviewed:
I want to try Wagner's Lohengrin because it is beautiful and I want to sing it.
Now, vote you sexy reader!!! Rolando+Anna or Rolando+Renée? Or neither?
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17 comments:
Rolando+Renee.Classy!
Wow! René also wants to sing Elsa?
And Rolando wants to sing Lohengrin? Well my vote is for Anna and Rolando.
Pero si René parece su madre...por más botox que se ponga (o precisamente por eso )!!!
La química existente entre ellos = 0
I vote Renée and Anna, as Elsa and Ortrud, like in the classic Kubelik recording with Janowitz and Jones! I have Fleming's "live" Eva in the Bayreuth 1995 Meistersinger and she is wonderful!
Rolando is not a wagnerian, he should at least start with Loge, David, Walter, Erik (after singing Tamino, Lionel in Martha, Alfred in Die Fledermaus, Camille de Rossilon in Die Lüstige Witwe) before daring to move to the Swan-Knight himself.
And he should stop singing/immitating Lensky, it is a sacriledge to Sobinov and Lemeshev! Would Smirnov sing La Cucaracha? I think not! (Sorry for this, I know how much you like him, I adore him too, but one cannot sing everything!)
I don't think this plan would be possible very soon, but in my dreams, my prefered couple would be Rolando+Anna, but i don't know if we will see both in those roles.
Neither? Obviously?
Oh c'mon Demis! Just because Lemeshev, one of the most important tenors in the history of music, sealed Lenski with his interpretation doesnt mean that others cannot give it a try. I mean, after Chaliapin and Christoff there shouldnt be any other Boris, after Callas there shouldn't be any other Norma etc. etc. And regarding La Cucaracha, well, if he chooses to sing some Mariachi music, Kozena chooses to sing songs of her native country, Baltsa chooses to sing Theodorakis, Edita Gruberova has also recorded children songs from all over the world (including the greek "Pera stous pera kampous") etc. etc. Should they all exclude all this music from their repertoire and just stick to opera? C'mon, it's the 00's! The era of strictly-opera singers is long gone...
Renee and Ana can sing whatever they want. But please no Villazon. Demis, you are right, he should stop singng Lensky. Singing Parsifal? Ha ha ha... Villazon, the swan knight?
My vote is for Rolando and Renee. Aren't we all tired of Rolly and Anna as a golden opera couple? Seriously, I think Wagner requires more refined artistry, which in my opinion Netrebko lacks. Somebody like Waltraud Meier would be my ideal choice.
Only those hating Rolando Villazón may wish a Lohengrin on him...
To try and sing over that massive orchestra will be the end of his voice. At least at the current state of his career. I suppose he has been spending too much time with Daniel Barenboim recently..
I completely agree with Mostly Opera's comment if we take things seriously. I was treating the whole thing as one of this "imagine if" questions.
By the way, I really hope his agents will not ruin him.
c'MON, do you really believe that our Roli doesnt know if he can/can't do it? He's not Gheorghiu, for God's sake, he's a down to Earth guy who just happens to "sell" and who happens to pay for that with an army of publicists/image makers etc etc running behind him (and who would also force him to sing Otello, if it meant some extra $$$ )
Parsifal - I think RV´s vocal crisis last year was mainly a result of him misjudging things - ie. not being able to withstand pressure from those mistaking his dark voice with a dramatic tenor. Such as accepting to sing Cavaradossi in Berlin this season (which he wisely cancelled). And Don Carlos.
Dorota - I am not convinced this Lohengrin thing is a complete joke, as this is not the first time I hear talk about it. Furthermore he keeps some very Wagnerian company in Berlin, who could well convince him to do it..
Renée Fleming and Anna Netrebko may sing Elsa without problems, imo - whether they will be good, remains to be seen, I suppose...
You are right of course, the era of the strictly-opera singers is past, I don't know if it's a good thing or not. For me operas, these world masterpieces of Art, are very serious and I question the stature of a nude Netrebko for example to succeed in them. These people must at least look serious, otherwise I can't take them seriously either. The same goes for classic theatre: remember Vougiouklaki being ridiculed in Epidaurus? Why was that? Because of her "light" past, not her performance....
As for the Villazon cross-over artist, he should try new things but things higher, more difficult and researched, like this baroque repertory or arie antique, not find an easy way in traditional music. I cannot blame sopranos for singing Norma - even though there is no Norma after Callas - because they strive for something exquisite and difficult, I admire the effort.
Fleming put a lot of effort in singing Tatyana, she even learned Russian before attempting the part. Let Rolando do this at least, the video of him recording the "kuda, kuda" aria without knowing what he was saying, and having a Russian language teacher next to him correcting him every two seconds was deplorable, not funny.... (I still adore him!)
Don't kill me Parsi but I'm with Demis on this. I think exceptionally gifted artists like Rolando should stick to opera (and yes, for me opera is also serious stuff) at least at this stage of their career. Given his recent problems he does need to focus or re-focus and not waste his energy and precious voice singing Granada on German TV chat shows, for example. Otherwise we will never hear him singing Don Carlo again. And that would break mine as well as his heart since from what I read this role is very dear to him.
When a singer says "I would like to sing X"..everybody takes it too seriously. I mean, they can be as fond of any opera as we are..but then there's reality and it can be different. I also would like to sing Carmen because is my favourite opera...but everybody laughs at me when I say it..why we take what singers say as a fact ? :) Maybe Rolando likes Lohengrin and sees it as a dream..ok, we all are entitled to have dreams :)
I don't know Lohengrin yet but I have to vote for Renée and Rolando - that sounds nice doesn't it? Of course, when the word was out that she might do Norma and she nearly lost her mind in fear. Ah well, anything she sings is find with me (except no more Traviata, please).
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