Tonight I am off to the third performance of San Francisco Opera's The Makropulos Case. It is so wonderful, I regret not being able to attend every performance. During the fourth performance on next Saturday I will be in Berkeley hearing Bryn Terfel sing Schumann, Finzi, and Ibert. Since I have never heard Terfel before, I am making an exception about recitals, which I generally disdain. For the last performance of Makropulos I will be hearing at Los Angeles Opera for Lohengrin. The cast includes Ben Heppner in the title role, and as I have never heard him live either, it may be worth missing the JanΓ‘Δek.
The Opera Tattler
Reviews of Performances and their Audiences
Posted in Bryn Terfel, Cal Performances, Los Angeles Opera, San Francisco Opera, The Makropulos Case
22 responses to “On the Upcoming Fortnight (Terfel & Heppner)”
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The past fortnight was waaaaay cooler than this.
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You may well be correct. Though of course I have no idea, given I am not an arbiter of “cool.”
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You are absolutely an arbiter of cool. I’m going to Makropoulos tonight as well.
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No, I am the arbiter of cool, and young Immanuel is correct. See you this evening at “Makropulos.”
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Terfel is a wonderful singer, but for my money, Heppner is incredibly overrated.
In fact, I’ve heard him sing Lohengrin, opposite, of all people, Karita Mattila, and it was like watching Laurence Olivier playing on the same stage with the three stooges.
I hope you’re not going to LA JUST to see Heppner mutilate Wagner.
Unless he’s improved.
A LOT.LikeLike
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Which stooge did Mattila play?
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For the tattling record, the person with the obnoxious cell phone with a loud, Latin ringtone that rang twice during quiet moments in Act 3 of “Makropulos” tonight was seated in the orchestra, V124.
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There is something about the construction “On the Upcoming Fortnight” that does not sound quite right (& it is not just because you are an American using the word “fortnight.”). “In the next fortnight” perhaps?
Such a pity that you will miss the final performance of Markopulos Case on Sunday next.LikeLike
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Hee hee. Hope you enjoyed Makropulos!
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Lovely to see you as always!
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I am going to LA for Thanksgiving, so hearing Heppner is more incidental than anything else.
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Perhaps “about” instead of “on.” The title is peculiarly tortured, agreed.
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I object! Danny Montenegro is visiting this weekend and coming with us to Terfel so it’s going to be ΓBER rad!
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Just saw Makropulos, fabulous!! Karita Matilla was amazing. I will be curious to hear about LA’s Lohengrin, Delora Zajick is singing Kundry! I will look for your posting.
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“Young Immanuel”. I like that.
Being correct. I like that even more! πLikeLike
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Having heard Heppner live at the Met two years ago in “The Queen of Spades” I’m not sure you should hold your breath. I was decidedly unimpressed. It’s amazing how quickly his star plummeted. Opera’s a cruel business indeed…
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Glad I’m not the only voice-in-the-wilderness who thinks Heppner is… eh, unimpressive.
I could NEVER figure out why he had such a stellar reputation.
Maybe he sounds better on his recordings?
I heard him live first, wrote him off, heard him live a second time and had my initial writing off confirmed, and would never have wasted my money on his recordings.
Sound engineers can work magic, however, and maybe if you have a pretty voice (I’ll give him that much), and you do enough takes, and the engineer tweaks and splices all night long, you come out sounding like an opera singer.
Meanwhile I’d see reviews in Gramophone touting him as the greatest heldentenor since Vickers, and I’d wonder if they were really talking about the same guy.LikeLike
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Heard Heppner 4 times in the 90’s and thought the voice was amazing. The healthiest dramatic tenor I had ever heard. The hype was well earned. What you heard in recordings was indicative of the voice I have heard.
Unfortunately Heppner has been a spendthrift with his voice and the last few years he has been shaky and filled with cancellations. The tentative and rocky Lohengrin I saw last night is the first time I’ve seen Hepper sense his prime. His voice last night was half the size it used to be. If this is the voice you’ve been hearing lately I can understand your confusion. 10-15 years ago this voice was the force of nature you heard in the recordingsLikeLike
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November 23, 5:15
Off to hear the second cast of Aida, which opens tonight.
Comments and tattling when I return.LikeLike
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Later.
This second cast is a tremendous improvement over cast number one!
Most impressive, Canadian soprano Michele Capalbo delivered an exquisite Aida. She has an unusual, dark voice and she can sing the gorgeous liquid floating high notes, reminiscent of Joan Sutherland in her prime. Acted wonderfully, looked the perfect Aida. Hope to see her back on this stage soon.
Quinn Kelsey, who sang Marcello in ’08, performed a lively Amonasro that was quite different in style from Vratogna’s rendering.
Carlo Ventre turned in a workmanlike Radames. He’s not Pavarotti, but he’s several flights of steps up from the Radames in September.
Worth seeing again, which I will, next Monday.LikeLike
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Tattling…
Restless audience, and especially at the beginning a lot of overly enthusiastic applause and cries of ‘Bravo!’
House was full. I believe they’ve been offering discounts on these performances, which are well worth seeing at the full price.LikeLike
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Thanks for the report, Hank! I’m so glad to hear that we have a competent Aida this second time around. Carosi was simply dreadful with her park and out of tune bark. I hope she never shows her face in SF again!
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