Handel’s Ariodante at Carnegie Hall 2017
… was fabulous 😀 the drama, the singing! the hair. Now waiting with baited breath (and a nice assortment of screencaps) for it to cross the Atlantic.
Since I got a bit of traffic on this quip, here are some more screenshots with JDD, since we won’t see her in Europe:
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Posted on May 1, 2017, in ...and then I heard that, baroque, mezzos & contraltos and tagged ariodante, carnegie hall, handel, joyce didonato, live streaming, sonia prina, the english concert. Bookmark the permalink. 15 Comments.
opera, innit? 
Great screencap! Pretty much summing up what we just talked about over at Anik’s.
that was my intention 😀
“my sword will prove that you lie”
I think Polinesso smirk is sharper than the optically challenged all-bluff Ariodante 😉
but the music-sheet smack was priceless. wish the honor fight was also down that route.
ps- and i’m still pissed Polinesso got escorted offstage while there were sooo many chairs on the side.. would have been more fun to escort her to the front row audience seat.
Yes! I love that idea 😀
yes, that’s why I chose it. I love good use made of things on hand. Music stands can be powerful too, as is “attacking” the conductor, plucking the bow from a the first violin or snatching the harpsichord (where possible).
it is 😀
It was indeed fabulous. I took the bus down for it and had a great time, despite sitting among some very grouchy older folks who clearly disapproved of my outfit, Sonia Prina’s outfit, Sonia Prina in general, and the clapping from the audience after each aria.
I thought the cast was amazing, but I was surprised to see Karg singled out for so much praise in various blog posts etc. I liked her voice but I thought she sounded very rushed in a lot of her faster passages, and I didn’t think Bicket was driving things fast enough for that. But she does have a nice sound and her acting was good (she and JDD were adorable together) so overall my impression of her was positive.
On the other hand I agree with the general consensus that Mary Bevan was a wonderful surprise.
I need to make some time this weekend to watch the live stream and relive everything.
thanks for coming back and with a report 🙂 I’m now curious what you were wearing. Did those old folks disapprove of SP as herself or as Polinesso specifically?
I guess I really enjoyed Karg’s tone and style, they carried really well in the livestream. I’m not usually so responsive to sopranos so I was very surprised.
Rereading my comment I made it sound like I was dressed scandalously, but it was actually not that exciting. Brightly colored sweater, lightweight gray pants, hair in a plain ponytail, etc. – too casual for their expectations of what one wears to the opera, I guess. I would blame the long bus ride but I don’t really dress up for these things at home either.
I think the objection to SP was largely based on how she was constantly all over Dalinda. I gathered they were the type of people who believe that a concert performance should be focused solely on producing beautiful sound, without being tainted by the distraction of drama. Especially not the kind of drama that involves sexy touching.
I also suspect the gentleman immediately to my left disapproved slightly less than he was letting on to his wife. 🙂
haha, putting on the proper facade! At Alcina (with JDD) at the Barbican people some people complained that with all the women making out on stage they couldn’t tell who was who. Protesting too much 😉 Opera is funny in the way people’s idea of what is proper attire ranges from outfits that put to shame the costumes on stage to clothes that had seen better days 😉 Your outfit sounds very fine to me (I highly approve of bright colours in any environment!)
Sonia Prina in general
😀 , i thought NY was progressive.. there’s also an older woman next to me trying to reprimand me for taking a photo DURING clapping! then she proceeded to leave after Act II.. pfff.. i thought if she could just focus on the music instead of rigid formality. about the same reaction also on parterre (the blog): ripping SP apart… we (Towanda, me, and Agathe) suspected the guy is afraid of any woman who can make her own decision.. and prefer the “standard” version coming in with flowing dress, beautiful make-up and singing smoothly (through all registers) while standing still and being “beautiful”..
I’m curious where you sat. Karg’s voice came up to the 3rd balcony quite nicely and warm. I found it surprising that her voice on medicitv was almost exactly the way i heard it in the hall.. only difference is in the video her voice (and pretty much everyone except Prina + male ) was saturated. I was also surprised Bevan’s voice was rather “small” on the video because it was blooming in the hall (might be thanks to the special rush from attention of Polinesso’s 😉 ).
I sat about halfway back on the right side of the parquet. It was a good view, but I thought the sound was not as nice as when I sat in the dress circle for Juditha Triumphans. I think on the whole it’s better to sit higher up and bring binoculars.
I liked Karg’s actual tone/voice, I just thought her execution felt rushed, as if she held each note a hair too long and had to hurry up to get to the next one in time. Maybe there was something off about how the sound traveled to where I was.
I just read that Parterre blog post, wow… I particularly liked this: …Prina’s Polinesso (wo)manhandled Dalinda so outrageously that the ingenue’s infatuation became utterly unbelievable. Apparently being touched in a seductive way by the person you are attracted to should have been a turn-off? Someone needs to work through their hangups about whether Good Girls enjoy that kind of thing. (Nice job with the alliteration, though.)
I also laughed where in one sentence he mentions his vast collection of Ariodante recordings, then in the next reassures us that he never bothers actually listening to any of them, as he is usually too busy with more obscure works (presumably so he can brag about it later).
he mentions his vast collection of Ariodante recordings, then in the next reassures us that he never bothers actually listening to any of them, as he is usually too busy with more obscure works (presumably so he can brag about it later).
too cool for school 😀
Prina’s Polinesso (wo)manhandled Dalinda so outrageously that the ingenue’s infatuation became utterly unbelievable.
maybe he just doesn’t know how women like to be touched?