Such good English, these two. I wonder what language they use for their pillow talk.

I love Renée Fleming's rendition, sure, but COT DAMN, Cynthia Haymon!!!

Speaking of, remember when I was 19?

Old news, but still...

Zachary Stains on his (well, Vivaldi's) L'Ercole at the Festival di Spoleto last year.

And hey... NSFW.

This entry was originally authored and posted by me on The Stranger's Slog:

Oh, hay. Have you churren made it to Seattle Opera's new Don Giovanni yet? No? I don't blame you, but here's a preview:

If you haven't read Paul Constant's excellent review of it, do so right away. He lays bare the problems with the production and directing approach (though, to Seattle Opera's credit, the teenaged boner for cliché indicators of wit rears its… um… head all-too-frequently in even the world's most prestigious houses and productions), and he accurately names the two most compelling singer-actors in the cast.

But since I've been obsessed with opera since I was fourteen and could talk about it for hours—peppered, of course, with plenty of "Fuck that bullshit"- and "What a ridiculous douche"-type comments about anyone from the stagehands to the singers to the management—I will further explore the details of the performance and production, including first-wave feminism ("Oh, ha ha, that."), the non-topic of rape ("They were seduced!"), the Pastry class, the suspension of the suspension of disbelief, my usual bitchin' and praisin' about the singing itself (as if you care), and a butt-dump of video and mp3 examples.

Ewa Podleś in Saint-Saëns's Samson & Dalila at Paris's Opéra Bastille, 1991.

This weekend Maury reminded me that I own a recording of what I believe is Ewa Podleś's only Dalila—as a cast alternate to Marjana Lipovšek in 1991. I have to say, it's pretty glorious.

I won't bore you with words, since I'm still in the process of rediscovering the recording, but look, anytime you can catch Podleś in a flowy gown, really, it's time to pay attention.

Hark!

But then, why would you want the snack when you can have the whole meal?

Natalie Dessay & Juan Diego Flórez in the Royal Opera's La fille du régiment. Photo, Alistair Muir.

Cute little interview with Juan Diego Flórez and Natalie Dessay about their upcoming Royal Opera House performances of La fille du régiment. (Incidentally, these are the same production and leads coming to the Met next season.) It's Dessay's debut as Marie, and it seems like she's taking her change of voice in stride. Clips of her October Lucia at the Bastille show a increased richness in the lows, but they don't seem to have curtailed her bugaboo screaming technique for the tops. Still, she seems like she's sort of a fun drunk with a reckless streak in real life, which makes her excellent at playing crazy (you've all seen here Ophélie). Watch her pathetic and frightening laughter at the end of the Mad Scene.

Do you think three surgeries on her vocal folds are hindering her career? Node way!

Thompson: You mentioned that your voice has changed recently. I've also seen that you've been open about the surgery you needed to cope with nodules on your vocal cords. Is everything OK now?

Dessay: I hope so. I wanted to be open about this problem because there's a culture of shame around these things among singers, as if it's taboo. My technique wasn't faulty, I didn't do anything wrong, but I still got nodules. In France, we use the expression "to have a cat in your throat" when your voice is sore. So after my surgery, I named my cats "Polyp," "Nodule" and "Cyst" because I was so glad they were outside.

Natalie Dessay and Rolando Villazón in rehearsal for their recital.

And speaking of Dessay and new roles with her new, more mature sound, has anyone heard her Violetta? Probably not, since she's not debuting the role until 2009 at Santa Fe (where, btw, I heard Pat Racette do her first Traviata). However, Natalie did give a little preview—the very first in public—of what to expect from her Violetta in this concert in Paris last year. The cherry on top is Rolando Villazón as her Alfredo. Surprise! I have it for y'ns.

Um...

Oh, and if Covent Garden gets the Vicar of Dibley to play the Duchesse de Crackentorp for their Régiment…

…who's taking it at the Met? I guess I could wish for

or



but really I want it to be